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By observing the seahorse’s unusual sex roles, scientists hope to learn more about how they came to be

The seahorse is a strange fish. Many of the traits it possesses have evolved in a direction unlike any other family of animals underwater—its bent S-shape; its head at a 90-degree angle to its body; its prehensile tail; and, most curiously, the male’s brood pouch. A lab at Texas A&M University led by Adam Jones is currently studying these structures in the hope of understanding how it was that male pregnancy evolved in seahorses and how it affects the traditional sex roles in the fish.

Male seahorses don’t just carry the eggs and young in their brood pouch. Once they receive the female’s eggs, the outer shell of the eggs break down and the male’s tissues in the pouch grow up around them. After fertilization, the male tempers the environment as they develop, maintaining blood flow, salt concentrations, and providing nutrients and oxygen just as a mother’s placenta would. The traditional male and female roles are as well reversed with mating behavior—the males are choosy, while the females compete.

Observing the rituals in this way—with males and females in opposite roles—has given the researchers a unique look into the workings of the reproductive process and is informing their hypotheses about how they came to be.

Via PhysOrg

Researchers confirm what has been long suspected: the fearsome predators are indeed closer to chickens than lizards

Confirming what had been a long-held hypothesis among paleontologists, scientists have now verified at the molecular level that the closest living relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex are indeed birds; most specifically ostriches and chickens. Skeletal evidence has strongly borne this theory out in recent years as data from fossils has accumulated, but this new study of bone proteins definitively shows that more of the T. rex genome is similar to birds’ than to living reptiles’.

This was the first time proteins have been successfully extracted from dinosaur bones and analyzed to establish lineage. They were taken from preserved soft tissues in the bones of a 68 million-year-old T. rex excavated in 2003. Once extracted, they were compared with similar proteins from numerous other species of birds, reptiles, and other animals thought to be evolutionarily connected. The research will be published today in the journal Science.

Via NY Times

A new NIH database provides great info on the effects and interactions of natural medicines

Perhaps you’re the type of health nut who takes four or five different vitamin concoctions each morning to support weight loss, anti-aging, good digestion, clear skin and high energy. Or maybe you’re just curious about the medicinal effects of black tea, cranberry juice and licorice. Well, you’re in for a treat. The NIH has put together a very good database of the results of numerous studies about natural remedies, detailing the demonstrated effects on the human body, recommended doses and contraindications.

Many Americans believe that just because a capsule or tincture comes from a health food store and is filled with plant-derived ingredients, it’s safe. But “natural� doesn’t equal “good for you.� (Consider the effects of belladonna, which can be used to treat eye diseases—or as a lethal poison). Plants can contain potent chemicals that might interact with your prescription medications in unexpected ways.

Feeling blue and considering taking St. John’s wort? Do a little research before popping a pill. Turns out the “happy herb� can interact badly with SSRI antidepressants, birth control, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs… and even Imodium.