"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-436E22.22321103112007@news.giganews.com...

In article <1194097205.608542.244920@o80g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
Budikka666 <budikka1@netscape.net> wrote:

On Nov 2, 12:33 am, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Leapin' Lemurs! Take a look at our new 'relatives'.

---
'Flying lemurs' are primates' closest kin

Tree of life shows that colugos are our nearest non-primate relatives.

Michael Hopkin
Looks like a lemur, but more like a shrew.Looks like a lemur, but more
like a shrew.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

With their 'wings' and spooky, haunting eyes, they look more like
something from a comic book than a zoology textbook. But an
evolutionary
study shows that colugos are the closest living relative of primates.

Colugos ή nicknamed 'flying lemurs', although confusingly they can't
really fly and aren't lemurs ή might look like an unlikely candidate
as
the closest cousin to primates, the group that includes monkeys, apes
and humans. But evolutionary geneticists have discovered that we are
more closely related to these squirrel-like tree-dwellers than we are
to
other non-primate mammals.

Researchers led by William Murphy of Texas A&M University in College
Station compared DNA from dozens of species, including primates,
colugos, tree shrews, rodents and other mammals, to search for genetic
changes that would reveal when the groups branched off from one another
during evolution.

Evidence of insertion or deletion of specific genetic sequences in each
species helped to construct an accurate evolutionary tree. As the team
reports in Science 1, colugos emerged as the most recent non-primate
group to branch off from our lineage, some 86 million years ago.

Evolutionary biologists previously knew that both tree shrews and
colugos branched away from the human lineage at about this time, but
they didn't know which one was closest. "It was difficult to prise them
apart," Murphy says.

The team's work shows that colugos branched off roughly a million years
later than shrews.
Non-flying non-lemurs

Back then, all land mammals would have been quite small, shrew-like
insect-eaters, Murphy says. The animal kingdom was still ruled by the
dinosaurs. Only after the dinosaurs' demise, roughly 65 million years
ago, did mammals really begin to diversify into the many shapes and
sizes we see today.
Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

Today, colugos are represented by two species: Cynocephalus, which
lives
in the Philippines and is listed by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as 'vulnerable'; and
Galeopterus, which is distributed more widely throughout Southeast
Asia.

True lemurs, from which colugos gain their 'flying lemur' sobriquet,
are
primates, alongside monkeys, apes and ourselves.

So how did colugos end up with such a confusing nickname? "It's
probably
because they glide ή they're not truly flying ή and they look
somewhat
fuzzy, like a lemur," Murphy suggests.

The animal, which is by no means famous at present, may soon find
itself
pushed into the scientific limelight as a result of its place on the
evolutionary tree. Murphy and his colleagues are calling for the colugo
to be added to the list of animals, including some 30 different
mammals,
that are set to have their genomes sequenced.

A complete genetic handbook for colugos would be a useful tool for
researchers to compare the genes of different primate species. And,
says
Murphy, it might help us deduce what the very first true primate
species
might have looked like.

*
References
1. Janecka, J. E. et al. Science 318, 792­794 (2007).

---http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071101/full/news.2007.213.html
--
John #1782

That's nonsense! Can you show me a colugo with half a wing?!!

LOL! But they can't possibly be related to us because none of my
relatives have wings!

Correction...None of my *living* relatives have wings. (Angels???)

Smiler,
The godless one
a.a.# 2279

"johac" <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:jhachmann-88F101.16203702112007@news.giganews.com...

In article <472af884.2595796858@Newsgroups.Comcast.net>,
William_Wingstedt@comcast.net (William Wingstedt) wrote:

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:33:07 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Leapin' Lemurs! Take a look at our new 'relatives'.

---
'Flying lemurs' are primates' closest kin

Tree of life shows that colugos are our nearest non-primate relatives.

Michael Hopkin
Looks like a lemur, but more like a shrew.Looks like a lemur, but more
like a shrew.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

With their 'wings' and spooky, haunting eyes, they look more like
something from a comic book than a zoology textbook. But an evolutionary
study shows that colugos are the closest living relative of primates.

Colugos ‹ nicknamed 'flying lemurs', although confusingly they can't
really fly and aren't lemurs ‹ might look like an unlikely candidate as
the closest cousin to primates, the group that includes monkeys, apes
and humans. But evolutionary geneticists have discovered that we are
more closely related to these squirrel-like tree-dwellers than we are to
other non-primate mammals.

Researchers led by William Murphy of Texas A&M University in College
Station compared DNA from dozens of species, including primates,
colugos, tree shrews, rodents and other mammals, to search for genetic
changes that would reveal when the groups branched off from one another
during evolution.

Evidence of insertion or deletion of specific genetic sequences in each
species helped to construct an accurate evolutionary tree. As the team
reports in Science 1, colugos emerged as the most recent non-primate
group to branch off from our lineage, some 86 million years ago.

Evolutionary biologists previously knew that both tree shrews and
colugos branched away from the human lineage at about this time, but
they didn't know which one was closest. "It was difficult to prise them
apart," Murphy says.

The team's work shows that colugos branched off roughly a million years
later than shrews.
Non-flying non-lemurs

Back then, all land mammals would have been quite small, shrew-like
insect-eaters, Murphy says. The animal kingdom was still ruled by the
dinosaurs. Only after the dinosaurs' demise, roughly 65 million years
ago, did mammals really begin to diversify into the many shapes and
sizes we see today.
Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

Today, colugos are represented by two species: Cynocephalus, which lives
in the Philippines and is listed by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as 'vulnerable'; and
Galeopterus, which is distributed more widely throughout Southeast Asia.

True lemurs, from which colugos gain their 'flying lemur' sobriquet, are
primates, alongside monkeys, apes and ourselves.

So how did colugos end up with such a confusing nickname? "It's probably
because they glide ‹ they're not truly flying ‹ and they look somewhat
fuzzy, like a lemur," Murphy suggests.

The animal, which is by no means famous at present, may soon find itself
pushed into the scientific limelight as a result of its place on the
evolutionary tree. Murphy and his colleagues are calling for the colugo
to be added to the list of animals, including some 30 different mammals,
that are set to have their genomes sequenced.

A complete genetic handbook for colugos would be a useful tool for
researchers to compare the genes of different primate species. And, says
Murphy, it might help us deduce what the very first true primate species
might have looked like.

*
References
1. Janecka, J. E. et al. Science 318, 792­794 (2007).

---
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071101/full/news.2007.213.html

My dog would probably chase me up a tree if it finds out I'm related
to these guys.

LOL! I wouldn't mind being able to fly or even glide though. For short
trips, think of all the money one would save on gas.

Even for longer trips.
Imagine a network of lifts [elevators] where the base of the next one is
always within gliding distance of the present one.
When you get to the final lift before your destination you could chose to
walk the last part of your journey or glide, losing height by circling, to
your destination.

There'd have to be some new laws, though.
GUI, gliding under the influence.
Dangerous gliding.
Gliding without due care and attention.
Landing in a 'No Landing' zone.
Thermal hogging?

Smiler,
The godless one
a.a.# 2279

On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:20:37 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

In article <472af884.2595796858@Newsgroups.Comcast.net>,
William_Wingstedt@comcast.net (William Wingstedt) wrote:

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:33:07 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Leapin' Lemurs! Take a look at our new 'relatives'.

---
'Flying lemurs' are primates' closest kin

Tree of life shows that colugos are our nearest non-primate relatives.

Michael Hopkin
Looks like a lemur, but more like a shrew.Looks like a lemur, but more
like a shrew.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

With their 'wings' and spooky, haunting eyes, they look more like
something from a comic book than a zoology textbook. But an
evolutionary
study shows that colugos are the closest living relative of primates.

Colugos < nicknamed 'flying lemurs', although confusingly they can't
really fly and aren't lemurs < might look like an unlikely candidate as
the closest cousin to primates, the group that includes monkeys, apes
and humans. But evolutionary geneticists have discovered that we are
more closely related to these squirrel-like tree-dwellers than we are
to
other non-primate mammals.

Researchers led by William Murphy of Texas A&M University in College
Station compared DNA from dozens of species, including primates,
colugos, tree shrews, rodents and other mammals, to search for genetic
changes that would reveal when the groups branched off from one another
during evolution.

Evidence of insertion or deletion of specific genetic sequences in each
species helped to construct an accurate evolutionary tree. As the team
reports in Science 1, colugos emerged as the most recent non-primate
group to branch off from our lineage, some 86 million years ago.

Evolutionary biologists previously knew that both tree shrews and
colugos branched away from the human lineage at about this time, but
they didn't know which one was closest. "It was difficult to prise them
apart," Murphy says.

The team's work shows that colugos branched off roughly a million years
later than shrews.
Non-flying non-lemurs

Back then, all land mammals would have been quite small, shrew-like
insect-eaters, Murphy says. The animal kingdom was still ruled by the
dinosaurs. Only after the dinosaurs' demise, roughly 65 million years
ago, did mammals really begin to diversify into the many shapes and
sizes we see today.
Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

Today, colugos are represented by two species: Cynocephalus, which
lives
in the Philippines and is listed by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as 'vulnerable'; and
Galeopterus, which is distributed more widely throughout Southeast
Asia.

True lemurs, from which colugos gain their 'flying lemur' sobriquet,
are
primates, alongside monkeys, apes and ourselves.

So how did colugos end up with such a confusing nickname? "It's
probably
because they glide < they're not truly flying < and they look somewhat
fuzzy, like a lemur," Murphy suggests.

The animal, which is by no means famous at present, may soon find
itself
pushed into the scientific limelight as a result of its place on the
evolutionary tree. Murphy and his colleagues are calling for the colugo
to be added to the list of animals, including some 30 different
mammals,
that are set to have their genomes sequenced.

A complete genetic handbook for colugos would be a useful tool for
researchers to compare the genes of different primate species. And,
says
Murphy, it might help us deduce what the very first true primate
species
might have looked like.

*
References
1. Janecka, J. E. et al. Science 318, 792­794 (2007).

---
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071101/full/news.2007.213.html

My dog would probably chase me up a tree if it finds out I'm related
to these guys.

LOL! I wouldn't mind being able to fly or even glide though. For short
trips, think of all the money one would save on gas.

"Doc! Doc! I've sprained a wing!"

/doc
"You haven't a prayer, but you're restrained to very short hops."

On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:20:37 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

In article <472af884.2595796858@Newsgroups.Comcast.net>,
William_Wingstedt@comcast.net (William Wingstedt) wrote:

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:33:07 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Leapin' Lemurs! Take a look at our new 'relatives'.

---
'Flying lemurs' are primates' closest kin

Tree of life shows that colugos are our nearest non-primate relatives.

Michael Hopkin
Looks like a lemur, but more like a shrew.Looks like a lemur, but more
like a shrew.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

With their 'wings' and spooky, haunting eyes, they look more like
something from a comic book than a zoology textbook. But an evolutionary
study shows that colugos are the closest living relative of primates.

Colugos ‹ nicknamed 'flying lemurs', although confusingly they can't
really fly and aren't lemurs ‹ might look like an unlikely candidate as
the closest cousin to primates, the group that includes monkeys, apes
and humans. But evolutionary geneticists have discovered that we are
more closely related to these squirrel-like tree-dwellers than we are to
other non-primate mammals.

Researchers led by William Murphy of Texas A&M University in College
Station compared DNA from dozens of species, including primates,
colugos, tree shrews, rodents and other mammals, to search for genetic
changes that would reveal when the groups branched off from one another
during evolution.

Evidence of insertion or deletion of specific genetic sequences in each
species helped to construct an accurate evolutionary tree. As the team
reports in Science 1, colugos emerged as the most recent non-primate
group to branch off from our lineage, some 86 million years ago.

Evolutionary biologists previously knew that both tree shrews and
colugos branched away from the human lineage at about this time, but
they didn't know which one was closest. "It was difficult to prise them
apart," Murphy says.

The team's work shows that colugos branched off roughly a million years
later than shrews.
Non-flying non-lemurs

Back then, all land mammals would have been quite small, shrew-like
insect-eaters, Murphy says. The animal kingdom was still ruled by the
dinosaurs. Only after the dinosaurs' demise, roughly 65 million years
ago, did mammals really begin to diversify into the many shapes and
sizes we see today.
Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.Grounded: despite having bat-like 'wings', colugos can't really
fly.N. Lim/Nat. Univ. Singapore

Today, colugos are represented by two species: Cynocephalus, which lives
in the Philippines and is listed by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as 'vulnerable'; and
Galeopterus, which is distributed more widely throughout Southeast Asia.

True lemurs, from which colugos gain their 'flying lemur' sobriquet, are
primates, alongside monkeys, apes and ourselves.

So how did colugos end up with such a confusing nickname? "It's probably
because they glide ‹ they're not truly flying ‹ and they look somewhat
fuzzy, like a lemur," Murphy suggests.

The animal, which is by no means famous at present, may soon find itself
pushed into the scientific limelight as a result of its place on the
evolutionary tree. Murphy and his colleagues are calling for the colugo
to be added to the list of animals, including some 30 different mammals,
that are set to have their genomes sequenced.

A complete genetic handbook for colugos would be a useful tool for
researchers to compare the genes of different primate species. And, says
Murphy, it might help us deduce what the very first true primate species
might have looked like.

*
References
1. Janecka, J. E. et al. Science 318, 792­794 (2007).

---
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071101/full/news.2007.213.html

My dog would probably chase me up a tree if it finds out I'm related
to these guys.

LOL! I wouldn't mind being able to fly or even glide though. For short
trips, think of all the money one would save on gas.

"Doc! Doc! I've sprained a wing!"

/doc
"You haven't a prayer, but you're restrained to very short hops."