DNA PROVES OCTOPUS' ARE ALIEN CREATURES? DO THEY MEAN FROM ANOTHER PLANET OR WHAT?

OCTOPUS ORG : DNA PROVES OCTOPUSES ARE ALIEN CREATURES DNA 

This is a long interesting article. Here's a teaser:

Excerpt: Scientists recently sequenced the first genome in the Octopus Genome Project, a huge undertaking to map out the entire DNA structure of the complex cephalopod. What they found was simply incredible.

Researchers at the University of Chicago took on this project and chose the California two-spot octopus for their subject. Then, they learned that a group at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan was working to break down the genome as well. So the two combined forces, and together, unlocked many of the mysteries surrounding the octopus. The results were recently published in the science journal, Nature.

Octopuses have 33,000 genes, roughly 10,000 more than a human. This alone sets it apart from any other invertebrate in the world. They are also uncannily clever, with the ability to open jars, solve puzzles, and even use tools. It’s no wonder that some might think this creature is from another planet. In uncovering the sequence, scientists found that octopuses have a similar set of genes to those found in humans, that make up a neural network in their brains, which accounts for their quick ability to adapt and learn. We also share a large brain, closed circulatory system, and eyes with an iris, retina, and lens. All of these independently developed in another species vastly different from our own mammal origins. ...

DNA BOTTLENECK OF ELEPHANT SEALS EFFECTING CURRENT POPULATION

WILDLIFE ORG - ELEPHANT SEAL DNA BOTTLENECK

Will all elephant seals look alike?

It could happen.

This is one of the many reasons that diminishing populations of animals and threats of extinction make bringing the species back difficult to impossible!

DNA REGISTRATION TECHNOLOGY and OCEAN GENETIC DIVERSITY

RLN: OCEANS WORTH OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN A CUP by Hunter Chase

EXCERPT: Pentcheff said that while an average person could take home one of the creatures found on the rope, it would be illegal for him to take it for scientific study. The only reason DISCO was allowed to collect samples was because they had a permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that lasted for two weeks. It is unusual for the department to grant a permit allowing the collection of so many species, but the educational nature of the project, and the fact that all data will be made publicly available, is a but part of the reason it was granted.

SOLVING DNA OF GREAT WHITE MAY HELP PRESERVE SPECIES

WHOSE YOUR DADDY? GREAT WHITE SHARKS PARENT FOUND  link to Fox News article here!

..."Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are the biggest meat-eating shark in the world, with some reaching more than 20 feet long and weighing more than 5,000 pounds. They hunt in more of the world's seas than any other sharks, ranging across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, from the cold waters near the Antarctic to the tropical waters near the equator, cruising up to 43 miles per hour in pursuit of prey.

Their numbers are rapidly declining worldwide, however, mostly because of accidental entanglement in fishing nets.

''You just really don't get fossil sharks preserved this nicely anywhere in the world.'

- Dana Ehret, a vertebrate paleontologist at Monmouth University

The evolutionary history of the great white has been contested by paleontologists for 150 years. They were originally classified as direct relatives of megatooth sharks such as the extinct Carcharocles megalodon, the largest carnivorous shark that ever lived.

Fossils of a newfound species of shark, Carcharodon hubbelli, suggest the modern great white actually may have descended from broad-toothed mako sharks. Researchers say the newfound species represents a possible midway point in the evolution from one to the other."