The World’s Oldest Thumb Belongs to a Dinosaur

May 25, 2021

Learn about the “Monkeydactyl” fossil; whether it’s safe to eat food with freezer burn; and post-death “zombie genes.”

Newly discovered "Monkeydactyl" fossil has the oldest known opposable thumb by Grant Currin

• New Jurassic flying reptile reveals the oldest opposed thumb. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/uob-njf041221.php
• Zhou, X., Pêgas, R. V., Ma, W., Han, G., Jin, X., Leal, M. E. C., Bonde, N., Kobayashi, Y., Lautenschlager, S., Wei, X., Shen, C., & Ji, S. (2021). A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030
• Fox, A. (2021, April 16). A Prehistoric Flying Creature Nicknamed “Monkeydactyl” May Have Climbed Trees Using Opposable Thumbs. Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/monkeydactyl-may-have-climbed-using-opposable-thumbs-180977531/
• Specktor, B. (2021, April 16). Tiny Jurassic “Monkeydactyl” has the oldest pair of thumbs on Earth. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/pterosaur-monkeydactyl-oldest-animal-thumbs.html

Is It Safe to Eat Food That Has Freezer Burn? Originally aired April 26, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/freezer-burn-science-a-giant-flying-reptile-and-ho

Some genes activate in your brain after you die by Cameron Duke

• Dachet, F., Brown, J. B., Valyi-Nagy, T., Narayan, K. D., Serafini, A., Boley, N., Gingeras, T. R., Celniker, S. E., Mohapatra, G., & Loeb, J. A. (2021). Selective time-dependent changes in activity and cell-specific gene expression in human postmortem brain. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 6078. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85801-6
• “Zombie” genes? Research shows some genes come to life in the brain after death. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/uoia-gr032321.php?s=09

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