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=**Wiki Post #1: Genetics**=
 * (March 24th, 2013)**

**Albino Animals**


White color is expressed as clean and innocent color for a long time ago. Beside, in many book, angels are flying the sky wearing beautiful white dress. But, in nature, white color is the most dangerous color for the animals. Each animals have their own color to protect themselves or hide from the predators. White colors take the basic defensive measures from the animals and help the animals to be target for the predators easily. Most of albino animals cannot survive until they become adults. Also, because of their different appearance, their group usually do not accept them, so they found by zoologist or hunted by the predators alone. The animals called albino animals. With their unique appearance Albino animals are selling in high prices. According to the Associated Press, 7 alligators that smuggled in Brazil valued at $9,700 in U.S. dollars.





An albino animals has a white skin or furs with light colored eyes. The genetic disease called albino appeared to humans, mammals, reptiles, insect, and plant when an organism cannot produce enough pigment called melanin. Melanin make the color of skin, hair, and eyes. People with albino disease have a very pale skin with whitish hair and light eyes. Because of the blood vessels inside the eyes, the eyes can appeared as pink or red color.

 A person with albinism usually have low eye vision, and can feel discomfort in bright light. Melanin helps protects the skin from UV(ultraviolet radiation), but their skin is lack the pigment, so the skin can burn easily under the sun. This problem can leads to the skin cancer.

The genes that results in albinism can be found in the chromosomes called “autosomal”. The chromosomes contain genes for general body characters. We have a two copies of chromosomes from our father and mother each. Albinism is a recessive trait, so a person without albinism can have high probability of carrying the albinism gene. Even though neither of parent does not carry defective gene, an albino baby can born with 25% chances.

**Dinah the alligator**


VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&client=mv-google&gl=CA&v=AOCkcS4zaZQ&fulldescription=1&nomobile=1 By Jeff the zoo Guy.

An alligator named Dinah has an albinism and lives in Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee. Because reptiles are cold-blooded, they need to be keep warm by the sun. But, her skin is very sensitive, so unlike other alligators, she has to be inside under a heat lamp.

** Snowflake the gorilla **


Snowflake is the most popular albino animals. He lived most of his life at the Barcelona Zoo and had 22 non-albino babies. He was founded by farmers when they killed all the gorillas from his group. He died in September 2003 suffering a skin cancer which caused by his albinism.

**Onna Birri the Koala **


“Although albino koalas have been known to exist in the wild, Onya-Birri is the only one known to science. ”

Further Reading + Sources [] About an albino alligator Dinah and the life of albino alligators.

[] The website provide many albino animals pictures and information

[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Information about ALBINO

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Talking about albinism and albino animas' condition

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[] Information about 7 famous albino animals

=**WIKI POST #2: Evolution (April 12th, 2013)**=

The Evolution of Amphibians
Transitional Fossil: Fish to Amphibians media type="file" key="Transitional Fossil- Fish to Amphibians.wmv" width="300" height="300"


 * Jennifer A. Clack, a professor of the Cambridge University researched a fossil from 370 million years ago. The fossil can support the evolution of fish to primitive amphibians.

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During the Devonian period, an innovative event happened to vertebrates. Legs evolved from fins of fishes and the first amphibians formed. Amphibians are animals such as frogs and toads that can live both on land and in water. Most of amphibians are the member of cold-blooded vertebrates. Millions years ago, they had less competition for foods and could protect themselves from their predators, because they were the first animals to laded in the ground. Some fossils proved that the evolution of legs has happened inside the water.======

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 * Diagrams to show the postural shift in the paired limbs in the transition from fish to amphibian.
 * A to C, Pectrol limb; D to F, pelvic limb; A,, D, fish position; B, E, transitional stage; C, F, amphibian position

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About 390 million years ago, fished began to evolve themselves to become amphibians. As the results, lobe-finned fished called Crossopterygians formed. They developed their lung for the first time, but they still had to use their gulls in order to breath. Also, leg- like bone features fromed inside their fins. When Crossopterygians move, they used their bodies and tails while fins were used for balance. One of the type of Crossopterygians was Eusthenopteron. The animal was the one of the first fish to came out from the water. Scientist predicted that they may needed to find new pond during a drought. ======

The lines represent skeletons of the fish and the primitive amphibian. The fish used the body to move, the primitive amphibian used its legs.

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At the end of the Devonian Period, a primitive amphibian called I chthyostega was a true tetrapod. It could walk on the land and live more comfortably with developing its lung and skeletons. Unlike Crossopterygians, the animal uses lungs directly to acquire oxygen. The stronger skeletons helped the animals to live on the land more comfortbly. The primitive amphibians used their limbs for locomotion and their tails for balance.======

Amphibians started to adapted to the life on the land from 310 million and 250 million years ago. Their nostril became functional for breathing air. Also, they evolved their hands and feet with five digits. The amphibian was enable to grow their body bigger as their backbone grow stronger. During the Permian Period, Rhachitomes were the dominant amphibian group and diversified. Etyops was the one of the group, and had a very strong skeleton with heavy armored skeleton. It could protect itself from its predators. Eytops main meal was a fish.

[[image:smithlhhsb122/Limbseries.jpg width="722"]][[image:smithlhhsb122/KvD_Padian_s040_thumb.jpg width="720"]]

 * Through the evolution, a pectoral fin divided into many digit
 * The limb division cannot bridge the evolution of fishes and amphibians

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Different types of amphibians were lived during the period. Microsaurs was a small primitive amphibians that lived in swaps. Diplicaulus was very common during this period. It ate other small amphibians. It is an arrow like amphibians that spent most of its life under the bottom of ponds and streams. While Sauropleurs did not have a leg, Aistopods had diminished limb structure.======

Ventured out form the water is the biggest evolution in amphibians ever.

Further Reading

1. http://www.sciencephoto.com/ The site provides good quality of science images and footages

2. http://www.howstuffworks.com/ <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> The site contains all kinds of articles that has explanations of how the world actually works.

3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/ This site updates the latest science research news

4. http://www.treehugger.com/ <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">TreeHugger provides articles and videos within 9 different categories (design, technology, transportation, science, business, living, energy, slideshows, and social).

References


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=**WIKI POST #3: Evolution (May 17th, 2013)**=

**The Evolution of Birds**
//The picture shows the evolution of birds from dinosaurs to today's birds.//

<span style="font-family: '맑은 고딕'; font-size: 10pt;">In Germany, about 150 million years old fossil discovered from a swamp in the 1860s. The fossilized creature named as an archaeopteryx which is the oldest bird fossil ever known. The creature contained many features of birds like wings, hands and feathers. The idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs became popular and many scientists tried to find the origin of birds by discovering many other fossil records

<span style="font-family: '맑은 고딕'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">

//The structures of A rchaeopteryx fossils; the organism contains features of today's birds. //

**ARCHAEOPTERYX**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Like birds, the archaeopteryx had feathers along with its wings and tail. It had three toes armed with claws, and long legs. The fossil clearly showed that it walked and flew like a birds in today. The spine was extended into a bony tail which was very similar to reptiles. Unlike the other birds, it had teeth and long bony tail. Furthermore, many of the bones in Archaeopteryx's hands, shoulder girdles, pelvis, and feet were distinct, not fused and reduced as they are in living birds.

//The types of ancient feathers; the middle fossil is from a dromaeosaurid.//

**THEROPODS**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Small carnivore dinosaurs called theropods had unique features like the Archaeopteryx. When the fossils discovered in the 1970s, scientists made a hypothesis that the theropods were the ancestors of birds. They predicted that the dinosaurs were the first organisms that evolved feathers. The short and hair-like feathers grew on their bodies, especially on their heads and neck. Insulation also provided by the feathers. Their feathers were branched and downy, while the Archaeopteryx had a vane-like structure which was identical to feathers of birds in today. Also, dinosaurs from dromaeosaurid had a asymmetrical feather which may have been used for gliding.

// A diagram about the evolution of bird's hand structures. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first theropod dinosaurs used to have hands with small fifth and fourth digits and a long second digit. As they evolved, the fifth digit and the fourth digit disappeared from Coelophysoids and Allosaurids. Their hands become more helpful to move their joint to fly. From Ovlraptorosaurs, the short arms change to long wings. Later, they had long feathers with short forelimbs. The oviratorosaurs fossil from the Gobi desert proved that the feathers used for warming the eggs like chicken. // The oviratorosaurs dinosaurs covering the eggs in the nest. // After Archaeopteryx discovered, many scientist have been looking for ancient bird fossils to support their hypothesis. By discovering many fossils, they predicted that birds diversified rapidly. The most of the fossils was relating to the dinosaurs from Cretaceous Even though the ancient dinosaurs and birds extinct, today’s bird is increasing its population and diversities by the natural selection.

=<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 19px;"> Bird Evolution and Adaptations =

media type="youtube" key="A5kzxOtvCjc" width="560" height="315" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">//Made from Discovery Channel; the video explains the evolution of bird using information of feathers, bonds, and other characteristics.//