This is a reconstruction of the prehistoric mammal Spinolestes in the Cretaceous-period Las Hoyas wetland. This image is not associated with the current study but demonstrates a dark-furred mammal from the Mesozoic Era. (Image Credit: Oscar Sanisidro) NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsOn both page and screen, were used to seeing dinosaurs and prehistoric birds as vibrant creatures exhibiting unique and diverse patterns in color and texture. But what about the mammals roaming the earth alongside them?In a new study published in Science, an international team of scientists has discovered that early mammals had dark and dull fur, no matter the species. This uniform fur coloring had evolutionary advantages and allowed mammals to avoid becoming prey to their more colorful neighbors.A Mesozoic Mammal FindThanks to a comparative analysis of fossilized mammals, researchers can now confirm that Mesozoic mammals, who lived about 150 million years ago, uniformly exhibited dark fur. The color of their fur has also given insights into how early mammals evolved and how they interacted with other species and their changing environment.The color of an animals fur is quite complex and can tell us things about how they behave. For these early mammals, their dark fur suggests that they lived a mainly nocturnal lifestyle. Its likely that their fur looked similar to that of modern nocturnal mammals, such as moles, mice, rats, and nocturnal bats.Unlike other modern mammals, however, these early ancestors fur was dull and plain and didnt exhibit any patterns, like stripes and spots, that we see on many mammals today.A Breakthrough in ColorMuch of this evolutionary and ecological data about early mammals has remained unknown due to the scarcity of information about the pigmentation and coloration of extinct mammal coats. For this study, the team used a similar technique to the one used to reconstruct dinosaur coloration.Fossilized melanosomes are key to this reconstructive technique. Melanosomes are the specialized subunits within a cell that are responsible for pigmentation. Luckily, these can be easily located and tested for mammals using well-preserved fur specimens, of which there are plenty from the Mesozoic era.Using living mammals first, the researchers analyzed melanosomes from 116 specimens. With these analyses, they were able to then create a predictive model for reconstructing fur color that was then applied to six fossilized mammals.It was through this predictive model that they discovered the distinct evolutionary pattern of dark fur in early mammals.The Advantages of Dark FurThe absence of patterns and shiny coats likely assisted these mammals with camouflage and allowed them to blend in more easily with their surroundings. Additionally, its probable that dark fur assisted in the mammals ability to regulate their internal temperature and added to their mechanical strength.Interestingly, these findings reveal that, although early mammals significantly differ biologically and ecologically, their color system remained mostly unchanged.That was until the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. Once their dinosaur competition was wiped out, mammals rapidly diversified. This diversification allowed mammals to develop new fur colors and patterns that were better suited to their newly broadened environment and to become the spotted and striped mammals we know and love today.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:As the marketing coordinator at Discover Magazine, Stephanie Edwards interacts with readers across Discover's social media channels and writes digital content. Offline, she is a contract lecturer in English & Cultural Studies at Lakehead University, teaching courses on everything from professional communication to Taylor Swift, and received her graduate degrees in the same department from McMaster University. You can find more of her science writing in Lab Manager and her short fiction in anthologies and literary magazine across the horror genre.1 free article leftWant More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/monthSubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In1 free articleSubscribeWant more?Keep reading for as low as $1.99!SubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In

A Fijian crested iguana resting on a coconut palm on the island of Fiji in the South Pacific. The four species of iguanas that inhabit Fiji and Tonga today are descended from ancestors that colonized the island within the past 34 million years, probably by rafting 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from western North America. Nicholas HessShareAbout 34 million years ago, a group of iguanas went on an epic journey. This lofty band of reptiles traveled about 5,000 miles from the western coast of North America all the way to Fiji. Biologists believe that this is the longest known transoceanic dispersal of any land-based vertebrate. The findings are detailed in a study published March 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).The outlier iguanasThere are more than 2,100 species in the suborder Iguania. This large group includes other reptiles including chameleons, bearded dragons, and horned lizards. The Western Hemisphere family of lizards are the green ones that most people think of when they picture an iguana. There are 45 different species of Iguanidae in the Caribbean and the tropical, subtropical and desert areas of North, Central, and South America, including the marine iguanas of the Galapgos and the chuckwallas in the American Southwest.However, the four iguana species found on the Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga are a bit of an outlier. They sit there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and scientists have long debated how they got there.Moving around oceansOverwater dispersalwhere terrestrial organisms go from one land mass to another via a body of wateris the primary way that newly formed islands are populated with plants, animals, and even humans. This process often leads to the evolution of new species and ecosystems.This study suggests that the original ancestors of Fijis iguanas coincided with islands formation by volcanoes. Scientists estimate their arrival at roughly 34 million years ago based on genetic evidence. Fiji iguanas (Brachylophus) and their closest relatives, the North American desert iguanas (Dipsosaurus) show signs of genetic divergence. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Biologists initially proposed that the Fiji iguanas may have descended from an older lineage that was initially more widespread around the Pacific, but has since died out. Another theory was that iguanas traveled from tropical parts of South America and then through Antarctica or even Australia. While there is no genetic or fossil evidence to support these earlier theories, a new genetic analysis does.We found that the Fiji iguanas are most closely related to the North American desert iguanas, something that hadnt been figured out before, and that the lineage of Fiji iguanas split from their sister lineage relatively recently, much closer to 30 million years ago, either post-dating or at about the same time that there was volcanic activity that could have produced land, Simon Scarpetta, a study co-author and University of San Francisco paleontologist and herpetologist, said in a statement.That they reached Fiji directly from North America seems crazy, study co-author and University of California, Berkeley herpetologist Jimmy McGuire said in a statement. But alternative models involving colonization from adjacent land areas dont really work for the time frame, since we know that they arrived in Fiji within the last 34 million years or so. This suggests that as soon as land appeared where Fiji now resides, these iguanas may have colonized it. Regardless of the actual timing of dispersal, the event itself was spectacular.Built-in travel snacksTodays sailors can typically reach Fiji from California in about one month. However, it would take a group of iguanas a bit longer. The reptiles must hop on some flotsam, ride through the doldrums, and across the equator to Fiji and Tonga.Fortunately, iguanas are large and herbivores and can go long periods of time without food and water. Their rafts were also made from uprooted trees that would have provided them with food to eat along the way.You could imagine some kind of cyclone knocking over trees where there were a bunch of iguanas and maybe their eggs, and then they caught the ocean currents and rafted over, Scarpetta said.A male Central Fijian banded iguana, Brachylophus bulabula, from Ovalau Island, Fiji. CREDIT: USGS. Peter GilsonBased on some fossils found in eastern Asia, biologists believed that some now extinct populations of iguanids lived around the Pacific Rim and island-hopped their way to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They may have used the Bering Land Bridge to journey to cross over from North America and then through Indonesia and Australia, or followed the Humboldt Current along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Earlier genetic analyses of some iguanid lizard genes were inconclusive about how the Fiji iguanas are related to those found elsewhere.Different relationships have been inferred in these various analyses, none with particularly strong support, McGuire said. So there was still this uncertainty about where Brachylophus really fits within the iguanid phylogeny. Simons data really nailed this thing.Scarpetta collected genome-wide sequence DNA from more than 4,000 genes from the tissues of over 200 iguanian specimens from museum collections. The genetic data showed that the Fiji iguanas are most closely related to the iguanas in the genus Dipsosaurus. The most widespread species within the genus is the North American desert iguana, which is adapted to life in the searing heat of the deserts of the American Southwest and northern Mexico. Other species within this genus are native to Santa Catalina Island in the Sea of Cortez.Iguanas and desert iguanas, in particular, are resistant to starvation and dehydration, so my thought process is, if there had to be any group of vertebrate or any group of lizard that really could make an 8,000 kilometer [4,970 mile] journey across the Pacific on a mass of vegetation, a desert iguana-like ancestor would be the one, Scarpetta said.The genetic analysis determined that both lineagesBrachylophus and Dipsosaurusdiverged about 34 million years ago. This revised analysis does not align with the earlier theories of the origin of the Fiji iguanas.When you dont really know where Brachylophus fits at the base of the tree, then where they came from can also be almost anywhere, McGuire said. So it was much easier to imagine that Brachylophus originated from South America, since we already have marine and land iguanas in the Galapagos that almost certainly dispersed to the islands from the mainland.This new analysis rules out the idea that the iguanas originated in South America. Additionally, because the Fiji Islands themselves emerged from the sea also about 34 million years ago, the iguanas might have landed on the islands just in time not long after. Other Pacific islands aside from Fiji and Tonga may have also harbored iguanas. However, volcanic islands disappear as quickly as they appear, so some evidence of other Pacific Island iguanas may have been lost.The team will continue to analyze genome-wide data for Iguanian lizards to better understand their evolutionary relationships and learn more about their interactions through time and space.

Nature, Published online: 17 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00827-4Spending on research, including at the NIH, will see modest cuts this year. But the threat of big reductions in future remain.

Nature, Published online: 17 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08858-7Author Correction: B-cell-specific checkpoint molecules that regulate anti-tumour immunity

When astronauts return from a prolonged visit to space, they are often carried out of their capsules and placed on stretchers for a medical examination. The 'stranded' astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will be no exception. Here's why.

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.@graykolori explained how she made her Queen Mel Medarda project look Arcane-style, showed her hand-painting workflow, and explained the lighting setup.Read here: https://80.lv/articles/tips-methods-to-make-3d-model-of-arcane-s-mel-medarda/

Concept Artist Natcha Ngamtweerat shared with us the process of making the Painters Bedroom project with Blender, whose character is enhanced with Victorian-style furniture, explaining how the warm and cozy atmosphere was achieved through coloring and lighting.Read the interview: https://80.lv/articles/how-to-create-a-cozy-bedroom-with-rich-details-storytelling-in-blender/

A Ressit user Eugenia, also known as Sunday Eggs, showcased the experiment with interactive foliage runtime in Unreal Engine 5, presenting a peaceful and relaxing demo.In the clip, the artist places lifelike plants throughout the scene, and as they move, their leaves shake and flutter naturally, like in real footage, creating a visually appealing image.Eugenia shared some technical details of creating such a subtle and mild visualization of plants physics. Every plant was rigged in Blender, followed by an extensive setup of the assets in Unreal Engine. Once the plant is placed, it enters a sleep state with a disabled physics simulation, and when disturbed again, it wakes up.The creator also showcased a game prototype of the UE5-powered relaxing plans-themed game:Follow Eugenias game development journey on X/Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.Also, check out this realistic scene made by MAWI United with UE5, featuring lifelike forest vegetation:Dont forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Check Out These Lifelike Plants with Subtle Physics Created with UE5 appeared first on CG SHARES.

In Maya, the Duplicate Special command lets you generate several copies of an object with transformations applied automatically. When instances are used, all the duplicated objects share the same shape node, so any changes made to one will be reflected in all instances. This trick, as nicely demonstrated, will save you a lot of time and make it easier to work in the center of your scene while keeping symmetry on.Rakan Khamash, currently a Lead Character Artist at Warner Bros. Games, has previously lent his skills to several major titles, including Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment. He occasionally shares his knowledge through talks and tutorials, so if youre interested, we recommend checking out his tutorial on floaters:Also, check out Rakans amazing 3D takes onHobie Brown and Venom and follow his ArtStation page for more:Rakan KhamashRakan KhamashRakan KhamashDont forget to join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Learn How To Duplicate Special With A Twist From Warner Bros. Games Lead Character Artist appeared first on CG SHARES.