Friday, January 29, 2010 9:17:33 PM
Wow, in light of .. from your wik ..
"In 2003, a leopard seal dragged snorkeling biologist Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey
underwater to her death, in what was identified as the first known human fatality from a leopard seal."
a gutsy effort, though he'd have played with them before. Lucky man with a heartwarming tale. Great story.
"The leopard seal is bold, powerful and curious. In the water, there is a fine line between
curiosity and predatory behavior, and it may 'play' with penguins that it does not intend to eat.
The leopard seal is the Antarctic's equivalent of the polar bear and is the top predator on the continent."
.. your link .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_Seal .. and this bit for any interested in learning more of evolution ..
"Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages. [15 links in this bit]
The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are similar in construction, due to the physical constraints imposed upon wing shape. Similarity can also be explained by shared ancestry, as evolution can only work with what is already there—thus wings were modified from limbs, as evidenced by their bone structure.
Traits arising through convergent evolution are termed analogous structures, in contrast to homologous structures, which have a common origin. Bat and pterodactyl wings are an example of analogous structures, while the bat wing is homologous to human and other mammal forearms, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. Similarity in species of different ancestry which is the result of convergent evolution, is called homoplasy. The opposite of convergent evolution is divergent evolution, whereby related species evolve different traits. On a molecular level, this can happen due to random mutation unrelated to adaptive changes; see long branch attraction. Convergent evolution is similar to, but distinguishable from, the phenomena of evolutionary relay and parallel evolution. Evolutionary relay describes how independent species acquire similar characteristics through their evolution in similar ecosystems, at different times: for example the dorsal fins of extinct ichthyosaurs and sharks. Parallel evolution occurs when two independent species evolve together at the same time in the same ecospace and acquire similar characteristics—for instance extinct browsing-horses and paleotheres."
Both of us apex predators, just those lovely creatures don't kill their own.
"In 2003, a leopard seal dragged snorkeling biologist Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey
underwater to her death, in what was identified as the first known human fatality from a leopard seal."
a gutsy effort, though he'd have played with them before. Lucky man with a heartwarming tale. Great story.
"The leopard seal is bold, powerful and curious. In the water, there is a fine line between
curiosity and predatory behavior, and it may 'play' with penguins that it does not intend to eat.
The leopard seal is the Antarctic's equivalent of the polar bear and is the top predator on the continent."
.. your link .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_Seal .. and this bit for any interested in learning more of evolution ..
"Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages. [15 links in this bit]
The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are similar in construction, due to the physical constraints imposed upon wing shape. Similarity can also be explained by shared ancestry, as evolution can only work with what is already there—thus wings were modified from limbs, as evidenced by their bone structure.
Traits arising through convergent evolution are termed analogous structures, in contrast to homologous structures, which have a common origin. Bat and pterodactyl wings are an example of analogous structures, while the bat wing is homologous to human and other mammal forearms, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. Similarity in species of different ancestry which is the result of convergent evolution, is called homoplasy. The opposite of convergent evolution is divergent evolution, whereby related species evolve different traits. On a molecular level, this can happen due to random mutation unrelated to adaptive changes; see long branch attraction. Convergent evolution is similar to, but distinguishable from, the phenomena of evolutionary relay and parallel evolution. Evolutionary relay describes how independent species acquire similar characteristics through their evolution in similar ecosystems, at different times: for example the dorsal fins of extinct ichthyosaurs and sharks. Parallel evolution occurs when two independent species evolve together at the same time in the same ecospace and acquire similar characteristics—for instance extinct browsing-horses and paleotheres."
Both of us apex predators, just those lovely creatures don't kill their own.
Jonathan Swift said, "May you live all the days of your life!"
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