Tasmanian devils breed younger to defy disease


	Tasmanian devils breed younger to defy disease

pokkets

7-14-2008 10:42 PM

553 views

pokkets says:

Seems like nature is plugging the gap, while we're still running around wondering what to do.

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7-15-2008 8:36 AM

tabsey

I understand they are moving some to the mainland to isolate them. Not enough known, great that they are working so hard to help keep the species going.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/746d59f6-88b2-419e-a2a1-86af1d374f94/43BE7074-30A5-4042-97FB-251F47B20DD1/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest" href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest" style="font-size: 11px;">www.abc.net.au</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><A href="http://www.abc.net.au/profiles/content/s2193255.htm?site=science">Dani Cooper</A></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><P class="first">Tasmanian devils are mating and breeding much younger in response to the fatal facial cancer that threatens to wipe out the iconic Australian marsupial, researchers say.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.abc.net.au/img/D28C4DD5-BFC2-4DD7-B991-A2E1B4BB305C" alt="young tassie devil" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><P>In today's <A target="_blank" href="http://www.pnas.org"><EM>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</EM></A> journal, a team of Australian researchers report what they believe to be the first known case of an infectious disease leading to increased early reproduction in a mammal.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><P>Lead author Dr Menna Jones, of the <A target="_blank" href="http://www.utas.edu.au/">University of Tasmania</A>'s School of Zoology, says the move to early mating may help buy enough time for research to beat the fatal devil facial tumour disease (DFTD).</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><P>She says the devil is showing its capacity to respond to the disease-induced increased adult mortality with a 16-fold rise in the proportion of females showing early sexual maturity.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"><P>"The disease is still going to overwhelm the devil, but it will slow it down," she says. "It gives us more time."</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/15/2302909.htm?site=science&topic=latest"> Areas where the disease is present have experienced a loss of up to 95% in devil population</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/43BE7074-30A5-4042-97FB-251F47B20DD1/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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