Researchers simulate the gait of ancient arachnid

[Judi Lynn]

Researchers simulate the gait of ancient arachnid

“When it comes to early life on land, long before our ancestors came out of the sea, these early arachnids were top dog of the food chain," said Russell Garwood.

By Brooks Hays | July 9, 2014 at 12:46 PM

MANCHESTER, England, July 9 (UPI) --Scientists in United Kingdom have brought an ancient arachnid back from the dead -- virtually, that is.

The remains of a 410-million-year-old arachnid were so well preserved in a thin slice of rock -- unearthed in Scotland, near the Aberdeenshire town of Rhynie -- researchers from the University of Manchester in England were able to observe the creature's legs and joints in remarkable detail.

The researchers compared their observations to modern spiders to better understand how the ancient arachnid -- one of the first predatory creatures to emerge from the sea and take to land -- might have moved.

Next, the paleontologists uploaded their findings onto an open-source computer graphics program called Blender. Using the program they were able to create a virtual model and video demonstrating how the predator may have walked and hunted.

"For me, what's really exciting here is that scientists themselves can make these animations now, without needing the technical wizardry -- and immense costs -- of a Jurassic Park-style film," said Jason Dunlop, a curator at the Berlin's Museum für Naturkunde. "When I started working on fossil arachnids we were happy if we could manage a sketch of what they used to look like; now we can view them running across our computer screens."

More:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/07/09/Researchers-simulate-the-gait-of-ancient-arachnid/8441404920586/#ixzz36zsW1rdr

[Judi Lynn]

1. 410-million-year-old arachnid crawls back to life

410-million-year-old arachnid crawls back to life
02:00 09 July 2014 by Azeen Ghorayshi

An ancient arachnid that was among the first predators to tread on land can now crawl again – at least on your computer screen (see video, above).

To create the reconstruction, Russell Garwood from the University of Manchester, UK, and his colleagues analysed pristinely preserved fossils from Scotland of the 410-million-year-old spider-like species, called a trigonotarbid. When viewed under a microscope, details like internal muscle structure were visible, allowing the team to calculate the range of movement of the limbs. The walking style was determined by comparing the leg structure with that of living arachnids.

An open source graphics program called Blender was used to recreate the animals' probable gait. "Scientists themselves can make these animations now, without needing the technical wizardry – and immense costs – of a Jurassic Park-style film", says co-author Jason Dunlop of the Museum of Natural History in Berlin, Germany.

The work is part of a special issue of the Journal of Paleontology, out today, dedicated to the 3D visualisation of fossils.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25863-410millionyearold-arachnid-crawls-back-to-life.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news#.U72Lf2cg_mI

[mike_c]

2. interestingly, the model only has five pairs of appendages....

Since arachnids as a group are united by having chelicerae, it's surprising that the model omits them, although maybe they were left out to simplify modeling locomotion. Still, there is a pair of "legs" missing!