1/25/2021 - Day 44: Two hours went into color concept art today for Dr. Spyder. I ran through a series of color choices and in my head there were a couple of acceptable possible designs. The real process of elimination however, was carried out today on digital paper.
The redhead version still looks fine to me. Although I later tried something different with a black and silver color scheme, which might just be what I was aiming for.
Progress Screenshots:
Other Notes:
- I guess the top half of this post is for art and the lower half is for science haha.
- Today's random interesting animal(s): The paper nautilus, which belongs to the genus Argonauta, and is the only surviving genus of its family. The fact that females produce an external "shell" makes these creatures especially unique among cephalopods. Unlike the Nautiloids mentioned in the last post, the paper nautilus is a true octopus. Its "shell" however, is not a true shell, but rather a paper thin brood chamber that is secreted by the female's dorsal tentacles. It is also used as a tool to aid in maintaining buoyancy.
- While Argonauts are found in tropical and semi-tropical marine environments around the world, it's still a rare sight to see them living and swimming freely in the ocean. Which just makes this video of a Paper nautilus sighting off California even cooler.
- And a big thank you to every reader and commenter!
- Disclaimer: Academically, I'm not officially a scientist. Science just happens to be a lifelong interest, and really I just enjoy taking what time I can to dig into what makes the universe work. I have ideas, observations, and hypothesis, but that's what they are, and in the grand scheme, there are few things that one can conclude with 100% certainty.
- Anyway, I got a question about crossbreeding a Sunset moth with a Urania moth in the last post, and here was the quick answer:
Here's the long-ish answer though, for the fun of it, and for science of course:
I don’t know if anyone has tried breeding or genetically testing these moths to know for certain if they can’t cross. But the overall morphological similarities and relation to the family Uraniidae, leads me to hypothesize that at some point they could have originated from a common and larger ancestral Uraniidae moth population. Which later was divided into new populations throughout the world.
Through events that put pressure on individual
population’s genetic
variation, [such as
bottleneck and founder effects] the
allele
frequency could have
changed enough between populations that the genotypes are no longer especially compatible with one another. [In other words, changes through, loss, or duplication of genetic information (genetic drift) can result in speciation, and can end up changing the number of chromosomes [or information in those chromosomes] enough that the viability of breeding technically related, but separate species is reduced.]
Basically, if there's enough genetic difference, or loss of genetic information [which is usually a symptom of inbreeding or a lack of genetic diversity in a population] in the chromosomes of two animals that you're trying to breed, it's likely that the fertility of those individuals or their offspring [if they're able to have offspring] will be negatively impacted, or absent due to the genetic disparity.
Hybrids between zebras and other equines are an example of this, as "generally" the fertility is reduced and any offspring that are produced tend to end up infertile due to the two parent's differing number of chromosomes. However, there are exceptions. So it is true that members of different species can interbreed. [obviously, since hybrids are a thing.]
What further complicates the chances of breeding a Sunset moth with a Urania moth, is the fact that they are classed in different genera, which means that theoretically they are even more distantly related than species that belong to the same genus. Say, if a Chrysiridia croesus Sunset moth were to breed with a Chrysiridia rhipheus Sunset moth, there's a higher likelihood of a viable hybrid offspring being produced, because both parent species belong to the same genus.
All that said, Sometimes hybridization results in hardier offspring that have better qualities for survival than their parents. This is known as hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement [a concept that I was introduced to while working with a plant expert who grew all sorts of hybrids and varieties of the infamous carnivorous sarracenia, among many other plants. The tallest variety of sarracenia that he had was the result of hybrid vigor, and it was impressive.]
Now, I'm not entirely sure what all the factors involved are [what scientist is entirely sure anyway? haha]
From research, it seems that a when the parent species has a reduction in genetic variation from inbreeding depression, a hybrid can actually benefit the genetic diversity of the population, because it enriches the genome by joining the genetic variation found in both parent species.
Did
I leave some science-y stuff out of this little essay, you bet! But
might as well research it more later, and come back to it some other
time.
As a last note: Different species of zebra have different numbers of chromosomes. Which begs the question, are some species of zebra more or less compatible with domestic horses or other forms of equine?
I'm guessing so. The other question I have on this topic, is what number of chromosomes the ancestral equine might have had, without any flaws, duplication, or losses of code in its genome? Hmm.
Here are a few research links in case if anyone finds the topic interesting:
Equine breeding combinations and chromosome counts.
National Geographic's Speciation article.
Heterosis ( hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement)
A forbes article about diferent species that can interbreed, because why not.
Other Links:
Check out the Turaco Creative Cast! New livestreams each Wednesday!
Anna Raub's Linktree.
The colors are looking better,I'm partial to the teal but the purple can be his going out to rule the world coat.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your detailed response to the moth question.
Posts like this are the inspiration for the "Mask Woman is Typing" mini comic
Hahaha Glad you like it, and find this post inspiring! :)
Delete