​How strange creatures ate more than 550 million years ago ● Why Chinese writing is unusual ● Woodpeckers know and use medicinal plants

How bizarre creatures ate more than 550 million years ago

The Ediacaran is a geological period spanning from approximately 635 to 540 million years ago that marks the appearance of some of the earliest forms of multicellular life. The fauna of this period, exclusively aquatic, is extremely bizarre compared to modern life forms. So strange that researchers have not been able to answer most of the fundamental questions related to their appearance and distribution.

One of these questions, namely how some animals ate at that time, has been answered thanks to a unique procedure carried out by researchers from the Australian National University. More precisely, since 2018, specialists have been able to isolate and analyze sterol molecules from fossils. Based on this, they were able to conclude that the analyzed samples, some of which belong to species of Kimberella, Dickinsonia and others, are in fact animals and not plants.

A step that these researchers recently succeeded in was to identify the remains of the last meal of a specimen of Kimberella, a mollusk-like creature. It turned out that the animal was feeding on bacteria and some types of algae, molecular traces of which were found in what experts identified as a feeder.

In the case of specimens of the Dickinsonia species, leaf-like animals that could reach one meter in length, such a tube could not be found. In its absence, experts assume that the animal would have achieved external digestion, but much more data is needed to make a certain statement. Instead, the discovery of cholesterol molecules in the fossilized tissue of some specimens confirmed that Dickinsonia was an animal, not a plant.

Why the Chinese writing system is unusual

Most writing systems ever invented followed a similar pattern. More precisely, simplification over time. The Chinese writing system, which has become increasingly complex over thousands of years of history, is amazing.

An international group of linguists analyzed more than 750,000 Chinese characters and their evolution over the past 3,600 years. Thus, they could observe how writing became more and more complex, despite the well-founded ideas that spoke of its simplification.

A study published in the specialized journal Open Mind claims that, contrary to what is known about the evolution of writing systems, the number of Chinese characters has increased significantly over time, and with them, their complexity.

Again, the surprising fact is that the basic principle of the dynamics of communication is to create a balance between simplicity and complexity, a balance that does not exist in Chinese writing.

Drops know and use medicinal plants

Bustards, thought to be extinct from Romania as well as from much of their former range, the Eurasian steppe, still exist in small numbers in western Europe, northwest Africa, and east-central Asia. In fact, about 70% of the total population of bustards is found in the Iberian Peninsula. Due to its rarity, woodpeckers have been little studied over time.

A recent study by Spanish ornithologists, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, reveals a hitherto unknown aspect related to the feeding method of the heaviest flying birds in the world.

After analyzing 623 samples of feces collected at different times of the year, experts discovered more than 90 plants that are part of the dropper’s menu. It is interesting that two of these plants, field poppy (Papaver rhoeas) and cow’s tongue (Echium plantagineum), are used with passion during the rush period, respectively in the month of April.

While the poppy is a plant avoided by livestock and used mainly in traditional medicine as a sedative, cow’s tongue is considered toxic to both humans and animals when consumed in large quantities. In the case of woodpeckers, these two plants are used both for their nutrition and especially for the destruction of parasites.

The fact that they are consumed during the race, when energy consumption is high and the immune system is low, indicates, according to experts, that the litter knows the properties of this plant and uses it specifically for treatment against parasites or for strengthening. their immune resistance.

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