Flightless Research Articles

The Bimodal Epithermal Astronuclear Reactor (BEAR): A Long-Lived, Universal Space Nuclear Powerplant

A neutronic model of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion reactor based on the NERVA Peewee design using High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel in a Zirconium Carbide matrix has been thoroughly characterised and continuously modified over the last few years at the CSNR. The initial design (Emu, for the flightless bird) created in the summer of 2020 and presented at the NETS 2021 conference, has undergone significant adjustments in this time. Two major investigations have been undertaken and evolved over time; one into the requisites for the provision of electrical power to the propelled spacecraft via the circulation of a noble gas mixture in a closed Brayton cycle, and another into the use of planetary regolith as a reflector, reducing neutron leakage at what would otherwise be the reactor’s end of life in vacuo, rekindling it for an extended period of time as well as providing a very easy ultimate disposal solution, replacing the control drums with rods. It was determined that there are no insurmountable obstacles to performance in either mode.

Evolution of odorant receptor repertoires across Hymenoptera is not linked to the evolution of eusociality.

Communication is essential for social organisms. In eusocial insects, olfaction facilitates communication and recognition between nestmates. The study of certain model organisms has led to the hypothesis that odorant receptors are expanded in eusocial Hymenoptera. This has become a widely mentioned idea in the literature, albeit with conflicting reports, and has not been tested with a broad comparative analysis. Here we combined existing genomic and new neuroanatomical data, including from an approximately 100 Myr old fossil ant, across a phylogenetically broad sample of hymenopteran lineages. We find no evidence that variation in the size and evolutionary tempo of odorant receptor repertoires is related to eusociality. Post hoc exploration of our data hinted at loss of flight as a possible factor shaping some of the variation in OR repertoires in Hymenoptera. Nevertheless, our analyses revealed a complex pattern of evolutionary variation, and raise new questions about the ecological, behavioural and social factors that shape olfactory abilities.

CARE-ing for Indigenous nonhuman genomic data - rethinking our approach.

Earlier this year, an international group of scientists published a paper in ScienceAdvances on the draft genome of the little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis), one of about nine species of extinct flightless birds endemic to Aotearoa (New Zealand). The genome was sequenced from the ancient DNA of a "poorly provenanced" fossil bone acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum. It held important clues about the moa's evolutionary history and aspects of its biology.

A nuclear genome assembly of an extinct flightless bird, the little bush moa.

We present a draft genome of the little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis)-one of approximately nine species of extinct flightless birds from Aotearoa, New Zealand-using ancient DNA recovered from a fossil bone from the South Island. We recover a complete mitochondrial genome at 249.9× depth of coverage and almost 900 megabases of a male moa nuclear genome at ~4 to 5× coverage, with sequence contiguity sufficient to identify more than 85% of avian universal single-copy orthologs. We describe a diverse landscape of transposable elements and satellite repeats, estimate a long-term effective population size of ~240,000, identify a diverse suite of olfactory receptor genes and an opsin repertoire with sensitivity in the ultraviolet range, show that the wingless moa phenotype is likely not attributable to gene loss or pseudogenization, and identify potential function-altering coding sequence variants in moa that could be synthesized for future functional assays. This genomic resource should support further studies of avian evolution and morphological divergence.

Anatomy of Liver and Radiographic Study on Hepatic Duct in a South African Ostrich Struthio camelus australis

The South African Ostrich Struthio camelus australis, an acarinate flightless ratite bird, native to the African continent has been introduced in many countries including India in the recent past for meat as well as egg purpose. Although this largest extant bird is gaining popularity globally, the functional anatomy of this majestic giant has received relatively less attention. The liver, the largest gland in the body of an Ostrich (weighing approximately 1.5-2 Kg) is also the heaviest among all the birds. The Ostrich lacks gall bladder and thus, the bile needs to be produced continuously as in the case of certain mammals like horses and elephants. The present study aimed to investigate the gross morphological and radiographic characteristics of the liver of the Ostrich. The liver was divisible into two primary lobes: an undivided right lobe and a divided left lobe. The later consisted of dorso-cranial, intermediate, and ventro-caudal lobes. Notably, the ventro-caudal lobe was observed as the largest, while the intermediate lobe was the smallest. The right lobe, larger than the left, was connected to later by a thick isthmus at its cranial extremity. Using barium sulphate injection and positive contrast radiography, the intrahepatic course of the hepatic duct was visualized, revealing two distinct divisions and tributaries thereof for draining bile from the right and left lobes, respectively. A radiographic study of the intrahepatic course of the hepatic duct revealed a single right intralobar duct and two left intralobar ducts. The distinct isthmus was drained by the branch of the left intralobar duct.

Act88F pseudo-acetylation of lysine 50 (K50) negatively regulates muscle function in Drosophila

Non-histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) are an increasingly important area of study that contribute to our understanding for protein function in the control of health and disease. Protein PTMs, such as acetylation, are emerging as key regulators of striated muscle function, yet our understanding of how non-histone protein acetylation affects muscle physiology remains fragmentary. Previous reports from our lab identified lysine (K) 52 of skeletal muscle alpha actin (ACTA1) to be acetylated, yet no reports have shown a role for ACTA1 acetylation in muscle function. Act88F is 93% homologous to ACTA1 and K50 is identical to K52 of ACTA1. Thus, for these studies, we mutated K50 with a glutamine (Q) on the Act88F gene in the indirect flight muscle (IFM) of Drosophila to mimic acetylation. We examined physiological function (i.e. flight and climbing) as well as biophysical changes between acetylated Act88F and the associated myofibrillar proteins involved in contraction and relaxation (myosin, tropomyosin, and troponin). We report that Act88F K50Q pseudo-acetylation resulted in a flightless phenotype and decreased climbing ability. In addition, we report that Act88F K50Q flies had increased IFM damage as examined via fluorescent imaging. Interestingly, Act88F K50Q did not change actin-myosin binding, actin sliding velocity, or Ca2+ sensitivity in actin-motility assays. However, Act88F pseudo-acetylation did decrease actin filament length, but only after interacting with myosin, implying that Act88F acetylation increases actin filament breaking. These data suggest that Act88F acetylation at K50 worsens muscle function by destabilizing filamentous actin, resulting in muscle tearing and damage to the IFM, which results in loss of flight. This work suggests that actin acetylation, at least on lysine 50, in response to environmental stressors or diet could greatly change muscle function and sarcomere integrity. This research was funded by the Dennis Meiss & Janet Ralston Fund for Nutri-epigenetic Research, the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the NIH (P20 GM130459), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH (R15 HL143496), National Institute of Aging of the NIH (R21 AG077248) and NSF EPSCOR Track II (OIA-1826801) to B.S.F. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Improvement of Data Operations Management using CMMI and DMBOK in Soekarno-Hatta Meteorology Station

Soekarno-Hatta Meteorology Station is a Technical Implementation Unit within Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG). It has the duties to manage, and process data for safety, regulation, and aviation navigation efficiency by distributing the processed data to their stakeholder, such as Air Traffic Service (ATS), flight operators, and pilots. Furthermore, research was also conducted in the station regarding the creation of Aerodrome Climatological Summary (ACS) annually. Loss of flight document data occurred in 2019 due to a ransomware attack, causing the cessation of the data operation process on the flight document. Unfortunately, there is no data recovery resulting in the unavailability of flight document data. This accident is very crucial because flight document data should not be lost within a 30-day timeframe as it is needed in case of any flight accident mechanism. It shows that Data Operations Management needs to be improved to support the business process. This study aims to evaluate the maturity level of data operations management in Soekarno-Hatta Meteorology Station by a conceptual model based on DAMA-DMBOK and the level of maturity is assessed using the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). The result showed that the average activity reaches level 2. Six activities are at level 1, namely obtaining externally sourced data, plan for data recovery, set database performance service levels, archive, retain, and purge data, support specialized database inventory and track data technology licenses, support data technology usage and issues. The rest of the activities will require action to improve their maturity level as given in the recommendation.

The Bimodal Epithermal Astronuclear Reactor (BEAR): A LONG-LIVED, Universal Space Nuclear Powerplant

A neutronic model of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion reactor based on the NERVA Peewee design using High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel in a Zirconium Carbide matrix has been thoroughly characterised and continuously modified over the last few years at the CSNR. The initial design (Emu, for the flightless bird) created in the summer of 2020 and presented at the NETS 2021 conference, has undergone significant adjustments in this time. Two major investigations have been undertaken and evolved over time; one into the requisites for the provision of electrical power to the propelled spacecraft via the circulation of a noble gas mixture in a closed Brayton cycle, and another into the use of planetary regolith as a reflector, reducing neutron leakage at what would otherwise be the reactor’s end of life in vacuo, rekindling it for an extended period of time as well as providing a very easy ultimate disposal solution, replacing the control drums with rods. It was determined that there are no insurmountable obstacles to performance in either mode.

A qualitative and microbial evaluation of emu meat stored under different temperatures

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) are flightless birds native to Australia. Emu farming is becoming popular among farmers for business. Emu meat is the best alternative to red meat as it contains low fat and cholesterol. Shelf-life of emu meat is very short, making it more challenging for meat processors and retailers. This study examined the shelf-life of emu meat under ambient (28 ± 2 °C) and refrigeration (5 ± 1 °C) temperatures and, the evolution of qualitative and microbial characteristics over time. Meat stored under different temperatures showed a decrease in extract release volume (ERV), while opposite results were observed for pH, MSC and TBARS. TVB-N content of meat during ambient and refrigerated temperatures increased with aging and ranged from 3.50 to 9.10 mg/100 g, respectively. Total Viable Count (TVC) and differential count were determined. TVC for ambient and refrigerated temperatures ranged from 4.54 ± 0.11 to 7.28 ± 0.26 and 4.54 ± 0.11 to 6.99 ± 0.22 log CFU/g, while yeast and mold count (YMC) were 2.57 ± 0.19 to 4.54 ± 0.20 and 2.57 ± 0.19 to 4.56 ± 0.10 log CFU/g till spoilage. However, Salmonella spp. was not observed. Emu meat stored at ambient temperature spoiled after 18 h and at refrigerated temperature it spoiled after 120 h, showing that refrigerated meat stays fresh longer than ambient meat.

The island syndrome in birds

AbstractThe island syndrome is a widespread biological phenomenon that describes a suite of morphological, behavioural, demographic and life‐history changes associated with island dwelling. These similar evolutionary responses among disparate groups of animals and plants represent a remarkable case of convergent evolution. Among animals, birds are a highly suitable group to study the island syndrome; they are a comparatively data‐rich taxon, are frequent island colonisers, and sometimes display extreme adaptations such as the loss of flight. However, the avian island syndrome literature is fragmented, and multiple components are rarely considered together even though many are inextricably linked. We reviewed multi‐species comparative studies, single‐species or population‐level studies and anecdotal accounts, to summarise and assess the support for individual components of the island syndrome for birds, and to identify suites of traits that should be considered together. The weight of evidence for island syndrome patterns in morphology is substantial, but is more partial or even anecdotal for various aspects of behaviour, life history and physiology. Full validation of the island syndrome in birds will require the less‐studied components to be treated in a comparative framework, and for covarying components to be examined in an integrated way. An improved description of the scope of the syndrome will pave the way to understanding its drivers.

Exploring ‘endangered living fossils’ (ELFs) among monotypic genera of plants and animals of the world

The recently proposed concept of ´endangered living fossils’ (ELFs) integrates high-endangered status and evolutionary singularity for any species. In this review, I gathered monotypic genera (single-species genera) that satisfy the three ELF criteria: (i) scarcity and narrow distribution of populations, i.e., considering every species categorized ‘critically endangered’ or contemporary ´extinct´ by IUCN criteria; (ii) evolutionary singularity, i.e., both morphological and phylogenetic singularities of a single-species lineage as a result of a null net diversification rate; and (iii) ancient divergence, i.e., split from the closest extant relatives predating a particular geological epoch. A total of 3,706 monotypic genera of vertebrates and angiosperms were analyzed. I found 109 critically endangered and contemporary extinct genera of which 57 were ELFs. The emergent patterns are: (1) taxonomy (generic level) is a reliable first approach to identifying ELFs; (2) ´morphological singularity´ displayed by monotypic genera does not always help identify ELFs on islands; (3) species of monotypic genera tend to be more threatened than average species; (4) extinction appears to be biased against some animal and plant groups; (5) contemporary extinct genera are strongly associated with distribution on islands, particularly for flightless birds vulnerable to human prosecution; and (6) the ELF approach is a relatively quick method to identify the species of floras and faunas most urgently in need of protection in the world. This approach is complementary to any method searching for phylogenetic diversity (e. g. EDGE), which is also discussed. I argue that ELFs should be prioritized in conservation because they are the most threatened lineages representing an exceptional evolutionary heritage in the world.

The feeding apparatus of Rhea americana (Aves, Palaeognathae): Jaw myology and ontogenetic allometry.

In birds, the jaw musculature is a crucial adaptive feature involved in feeding. The morphological traits and postnatal growth patterns of jaw muscles constitute a useful proxy to interpret feeding function and ecology. This study aims to describe the jaw muscles of Rhea americana and explore their postnatal growth pattern. A total of 20 specimens of R. americana representing four ontogenetic stages were studied. Jaw muscles were described, weighed and their proportions with respect to body mass were calculated. Linear regression analysis was used to characterize ontogenetic scaling patterns. The morphological patterns of jaw muscles were characterized by their simplicity: bellies with few or no subdivisions and similar to those described for other flightless paleognathous birds. In all stages, the muscles pterygoideus lateralis, depressor mandibulae, and pseudotemporalis had the greatest mass values. The proportion of total jaw muscle mass decreased with age from 0.22% in 1-month-old chicks to 0.05% in adults. Linear regression analysis showed that all muscles scaled with negative allometry with respect to body mass. The progressive decrease of jaw muscle mass relative to body mass in adults could be related to the generation of less force, which is in accordance with the herbivorous diet of adults. In contrast, the diet of rhea chicks includes a large proportion of insects thus, this greater muscle proportion could be associated with the ability to generate more force, thus providing better abilities to grasp and hold more mobile prey.

Blood flow rates to leg bones of extinct birds indicate high levels of cursorial locomotion

AbstractForamina of bones are beginning to yield more information about metabolic rates and activity levels of living and extinct species. This study investigates the relationship between estimated blood flow rate to the femur and body mass among cursorial birds extending back to the Late Cretaceous. Data from fossil foramina are compared with those of extant species, revealing similar scaling relationships for all cursorial birds and supporting crown bird–like terrestrial locomotor activity. Because the perfusion rate in long bones of birds is related to the metabolic cost of microfracture repair due to stresses applied during locomotion, as it is in mammals, this study estimates absolute blood flow rates from sizes of nutrient foramina located on the femur shafts. After differences in body mass and locomotor behaviors are accounted for, femoral bone blood flow rates in extinct species are similar to those of extant cursorial birds. Femoral robustness is generally greater in aquatic flightless birds than in terrestrial flightless and ground-dwelling flighted birds, suggesting that the morphology is shaped by life-history demands. Femoral robustness also increases in larger cursorial bird taxa, probably associated with their weight redistribution following evolutionary loss of the tail, which purportedly constrains femur length, aligns it more horizontally, and necessitates increased robustness in larger species.

Towards Automated Ethogramming: Cognitively-Inspired Event Segmentation for Streaming Wildlife Video Monitoring

Advances in visual perceptual tasks have been mainly driven by the amount, and types, of annotations of large-scale datasets. Researchers have focused on fully-supervised settings to train models using offline epoch-based schemes. Despite the evident advancements, limitations and cost of manually annotated datasets have hindered further development for event perceptual tasks, such as detection and localization of objects and events in videos. The problem is more apparent in zoological applications due to the scarcity of annotations and length of videos-most videos are at most ten minutes long. Inspired by cognitive theories, we present a self-supervised perceptual prediction framework to tackle the problem of temporal event segmentation by building a stable representation of event-related objects. The approach is simple but effective. We rely on LSTM predictions of high-level features computed by a standard deep learning backbone. For spatial segmentation, the stable representation of the object is used by an attention mechanism to filter the input features before the prediction step. The self-learned attention maps effectively localize the object as a side effect of perceptual prediction. We demonstrate our approach on long videos from continuous wildlife video monitoring, spanning multiple days at 25 FPS. We aim to facilitate automated ethogramming by detecting and localizing events without the need for labels. Our approach is trained in an online manner on streaming input and requires only a single pass through the video, with no separate training set. Given the lack of long and realistic (includes real-world challenges) datasets, we introduce a new wildlife video dataset–nest monitoring of the Kagu (a flightless bird from New Caledonia)–to benchmark our approach. Our dataset features a video from 10 days (over 23 million frames) of continuous monitoring of the Kagu in its natural habitat. We annotate every frame with bounding boxes and event labels. Additionally, each frame is annotated with time-of-day and illumination conditions. We will make the dataset, which is the first of its kind, and the code available to the research community. We find that the approach significantly outperforms other self-supervised, traditional (e.g., Optical Flow, Background Subtraction) and NN-based (e.g., PA-DPC, DINO, iBOT), baselines and performs on par with supervised boundary detection approaches (i.e., PC). At a recall rate of 80%, our best performing model detects one false positive activity every 50 min of training. On average, we at least double the performance of self-supervised approaches for spatial segmentation. Additionally, we show that our approach is robust to various environmental conditions (e.g., moving shadows). We also benchmark the framework on other datasets (i.e., Kinetics-GEBD, TAPOS) from different domains to demonstrate its generalizability. The data and code are available on our project page: https://aix.eng.usf.edu/research_automated_ethogramming.html

It is time for ancient DNA to sweat the small stuff.

When one thinks of the field of ancient DNA it conjures images of extinct megafauna, from mammoths and woolly rhinos, through to the giant, flightless elephant bird (but hopefully not dinosaurs - despite the pervasive idea of 'dino DNA' from Jurassic park). These taxa have fascinating evolutionary histories, and their extinction stories need to be told. At the other end of the vertebrate scale, however, is the often neglected 'small stuff' - lizards, frogs, and other herpetofauna. But here's the rub - extracting DNA from the bones of this 'small stuff' is not only difficult, it often destroys the sample. In this issue, Scarsbrook et al. (2023) describe a new way to study the ancient (or historical) DNA of small vertebrates that is minimally destructive. The authors use the method to reconstruct the dynamic evolutionary history of New Zealand geckos and make new insights into how remnant populations should be managed. This work provides some key insights into New Zealand geckos but also opens up opportunities of biomolecular research on the smallest of vouchered vertebrate samples held within museum collections.

A new flightless species of Phoberus Macleay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Trogidae) from the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa

The loss of flight is common in the keratin beetle genus Phoberus Macleay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Trogidae)-20 out of the 49 species in this genus exhibit metathoracic-wing reduction in various degrees rendering them flightless. In this paper another flightless species, Phoberus villeti Strümpher, new species, is described and illustrated from the Amathole mountains in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The new species is micropterous having tightly fused elytra (only wing rudiments visible), rounded humeral angles and a characteristic rounded body shape. However, it is most notable for its large size (~12 mm) and the distinctive tufts of yellow setae present on the elytra.

New Data on Hesperornithids (Aves: Ornithurae) from the Campanian of the Lower Volga Region (Late Cretaceous, Russia)

Taxonomic diversity of Late Cretaceous hesperornithids (Aves: Hesperornithidae) of European Russia and Eastern Europe as a whole remain poorly understood, and the morphology of these large flightless birds is poorly known. New finds of Hesperornithidae in the Karyakino locality (Saratov oblast, Russia) confirm the coexistence of two forms of these flightless seabirds in the Campanian (mid-Late Cretaceous) of the Lower Volga region. A femur is described for the first time for Hesperornis rossicus Nessov et Yarkov, 1993, indicating that this large species is morphologically distinct from North American H. regalis Marsh, 1872.

NEW DATA ON HESPERORNITHIDS (AVES: ORNITHURAE) FROM THE CAMPANIAN OF THE LOWER VOLGA REGION (LATE CRATACEOUS, RUSSIA)

Taxonomic diversity of the Late Cretaceous Hesperornithidae (Aves: Hesperornithidae) of the European part of Russia and Eastern Europe as a whole remain poorly understood, and the morphology of these large flightless birds is poorly known. New finds of Hesperornithidae in the Karyakino locality (Saratov oblast, Russia) confirm the coexistence of two forms of these flightless seabirds in the Campanian (mid-Late Cretaceous) of the Lower Volga region. For Hesperornis rossicus Nessov et Yarkov, 1993, a femur is described for the first time; it indicates a morphological distinctiveness of this large species as compared to the North American H. regalis Marsh, 1872.

New avian remains from the early Eocene of La Borie, southern France

The giant flightless bird Gastornis laurenti Mourer-Chauviré and Bourdon, 2020, has been described from a mandible, maxilla and quadrate discovered in the early Eocene locality of La Borie (middle Ypresian, reference level MP 8–9). This locality has yielded abundant fossil vertebrates. We describe here new postcranial remains of G. laurenti, a coracoideum assigned to Tegulavis corbalani nov. gen., nov. sp. (cf. Galliformes), a tarsometatarsus attributed to Papulavis annae nov. gen., nov. sp. (cf. Aramidae), and the tibiotarsus of a small gruiform related to either Walbeckornis or Messelornithidae. The study of the postcranial material confirms that the species G. laurenti differs from other species of Gastornis in many features. The avifauna from La Borie is not very diversified but matches well with the paleoenvironment, which consists of an alluvial flood plain with sparse vegetation, in a tropical climate.LSID of publication: urn: lsid: zoobank.org: pub: 5BA44166-BBEZ-41E7-BG8C-8A1DBCBA14AB.

Free-roaming dogs but not invasive mammals established in the wild endanger the flightless kagu of New Caledonia

Species on islands that evolved without mammalian predators are commonly considered naïve to these introduced animals and therefore potentially vulnerable to predation. The endemic kagu Rhynochetos jubatus, a flightless bird, is the most emblematic species of New Caledonia. As the natural top predator of the ground fauna in rainforest, it is an excellent umbrella species for conservation on mainland New Caledonia (Grande-Terre) where it lives. Here, we assess the impact of invasive mammalian species on kagu and propose specific conservation actions. We conducted intensive research over 20 years and directly measured effects of each introduced species at each stage of the kagu life span. At the population level, we assessed kagu and predator abundance at sample sites in 2001–2016 throughout Grande-Terre. At the individual level, we studied reproduction and mortality in three kagu populations in 1991–1993 and 2002–2022. We found no evidence that any of the invasive mammalian species established in the wild pose a threat to kagu. Instead, only domestic dogs, which are not established in the wild, cause significant predation and associated extreme population fluctuations. Free-roaming domestic dogs limit suitable kagu habitat to less than half of the current rainforest. Island-wide, community-based management of dogs could lead to a significant increase in kagu numbers and, as the kagu is the top predator of ground fauna, produce benefits at the ecosystem level.