Utah University Scientists Simulate Swimming of Extinct Animal

An octopus spreads its tentacles under water near the shore in Dunsborough, Australia, on March 18, 2021. (Social media: Reuters)
An octopus spreads its tentacles under water near the shore in Dunsborough, Australia, on March 18, 2021. (Social media: Reuters)
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Utah University Scientists Simulate Swimming of Extinct Animal

An octopus spreads its tentacles under water near the shore in Dunsborough, Australia, on March 18, 2021. (Social media: Reuters)
An octopus spreads its tentacles under water near the shore in Dunsborough, Australia, on March 18, 2021. (Social media: Reuters)

Paleontologists at the University of Utah have visualized the swimming mechanisms of Orthocone, an animal that lived 66 million years ago, and belonged to the Cephalopod family.

In a study published in the latest issue of the journal PeerJ, paleontologists David Peterman and Kathleen Ritterbush used math and physics to make 3-D printed replicas of this animal, and took them to actual water tanks (including a University of Utah swimming pool) to see how this ancient marine creature moved in water.

This is not the paleontologists' first attempt in the so-called "virtual paleontology," having worked with digital ammonoid models of extinct Cephalopods to test hypotheses about their evolution and lifestyles. But in this research, they explored a different animal from the same family.

The resultant 3-D printed models were nearly two feet long. Using math and physics, they adjusted the centers of mass and counterweights within the models, representing the balances of soft tissue and air-filled voids that the orthocone would likely have maintained in its life. The resultant model is balanced the same as the living animal, allowing very detailed analyses of their movement.

They found that this type of cephalopods called orthocones likely lived a vertical life, jetting up and down to catch food and evade predators. They also have spiral shells, called torticones that added a gentle spin to their vertical motions.

The results showed clearly that the most efficient method of movement was vertical, since moving side to side created a lot of drag.

"I was surprised by how stable they are. Any amount of rotation away from their vertical orientation is met with a strong restoring moment. Orthocones may have been able to jet upward fast enough to evade animals similar to crocodiles or whales. They may not have been as lucky against fast swimmers like sharks," David Peterman, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah said in a report.

"Thanks to these novel techniques, we can trudge into a largely unexplored frontier in paleobiology. Through detailed modeling, these techniques help paint a clearer picture of the capabilities of these ecologically significant animals while they were alive," he added.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”