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NRF Science Matters Newsletter Issue 3.Pdf Vol: 1 | ISSUE:3 CHASING HYPERVELOCITY Chronic inflammation and metabolic syndrome in STARS SA WOMEN Alien invasion COSTS SA BILLIONS SA’s 200 Million-year old HEAVYWEIGHT Welcome to the third edition of . This newsletter aims to make the research funded by the NRF accessible to all stakeholders, showcasing leading research projects, researchers and related events. History features a lot this issue. We look at dinosaurs: two which were discovered in China and another, considered to be one of the world’s largest, discovered in the Free State; how hybridisation played a key role in human evolution; and how a star zipping through the Universe holds clues about a CONTENT PAGE supernova that occurred 90 000 years ago. Find out how alien plant and animal species are costing our economy billions every year. SA South Africa’s 200 researchers look for ways to combat this. Local Million-Year Old Heavyweight ..........................4 researchers are also applying science to the art of winemaking for the benefit of this R9 billion industry. Two New Dinosaurs Offer Race plays a role in the health of South Africans in Glimpse of Insect-Eater Evolution ....................6 an article on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Hybridisation and the A special thanks to our researchers and other staff “Science knows no country, Science of Becoming Human..........................8 members who contributed articles, information and because knowledge belongs to images. Chronic Inflammation and Metabolic is produced by: humanity, and is the torch which Syndrome in South African Women .......... 10 NRF Corporate Communications Office Meiring Naude, Brummeria, Pretoria illuminates the world.” Email: [email protected] A Desire to Overcome Addiction - Web: www.nrf.ac.za/science-matters LOUIS PASTEUR Experiences of Nyaope Users ................... 12 DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of the National Research The Alien Invasion that is Foundation or its management or governance structures. Costing South Africa Billions ..................... 14 Science and Wine Can Make for a Healthy Mix ...................... 17 THINKSTOCK SALT Chases Hypervelocity Stars ............. 18 SCIENCE MATTERS | January 2019 3 Advancing Knowledge. Transforming Lives. Inspiring a Nation. various specimens of bipeds and quadrupeds. They found that Ledumahadi, like quadrupeds, had proportionally thicker forelimbs. Osteohistology, the study of bone tissue, was used to calculate the age of the dinosaur when it died. By closely observing the fossil bone tissue and the growth lines of the bones, Dr Botha-Brink, a vertebrate palaeontologist from the National Museum in Bloemfontein, determined that Ledumahadi was an adult of about 14 years of age when it died, that its growth was slowing in the final years of its life. Finally, to find out when Ledumahadi lived, the rock types and layers where it was found were compared to other areas in the world. Dr Bordy, Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town, found that Ledumahadi had died on a vegetated floodplain in a semi-arid environment Ledumahadi mafube is the first of the true giant much like the present-day Karoo. sauropods of the Jurassic. Quadrupedal postures with flexed limbs potentially evolved several times in sauropodomorph dinosaurs before the evolution of New Ideas on Big Dinosaurs derived, columnar-limbed postures of Sauropoda. The excavation and study of Ledumahadi mafube has led to some new ideas about big dinosaurs and What Ledumahadi mafube may have looked like. Another South African dinosaur, how they lived. For example Ledumahadi enabled Heterodontosaurus tucki, watches in the foreground. Copyright Viktor Radermacher the researchers to deduce that the truly gigantic The excavation and study of Ledumahadi mafube dinosaurs had evolved at least 10 million years earlier was undertaken by a joint research team of scientists than originally thought. The fact that Ledumahadi from South Africa, which included Dr Choiniere, Dr evolved its huge body size and quadrupedal posture Blair McPhee, Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink and Dr Emese independently of other sauropod giants suggests Bordy, and Professor Roger Benson from Oxford that their evolution was considerably more dynamic South Africa’s University in the UK. Funding for the project came than previously thought, with multiple ‘experiments’ from the National Research Foundation and the into four-legged stances. Ledumahadi is also one of 200 Million-Year Old Heavyweight Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST). the first dinosaurs to evolve after the mass extinction more than 200 million years ago and shows how Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together rapidly dinosaurs regained enormous body sizes. wice the size of an adult African Lecheko, a guide based at the Mehloding To determe size, shape and other characteristics of elephant, standing four metres high Community Trust near Matatiele. It is a close Ledumahadi, the team compared it to the fossils of Ledumahadi is closely related to another large at the hips and weighing in at 12 relative of sauropod dinosaurs, such as the other known species held in South African sauropod tonnes, this was once the largest land Brontosaurus, was a plant eater and stood on collections all over the world. called Antetonitrus, but also animal on Earth. Ledumahadi mafube, four legs. Some of its fossilised remains were to species from Argentina of Ta dinosaur that lived in the region now known as originally discovered 30 years ago in the Clarens To determe its weight, Ledumahadi approximately the same age. the Free State 200 million years ago, has become area of the Free State. Stored in the Wits archive, they took into account the This further supports the idea the latest discovery by an international team of they were only rediscovered in 2000. The full circumference of its thigh bone had died on that the Earth’s continents scientists led by palaeontologist Professor Jonah excavation of the dinosaur was completed in 2016 (femur) which suggested a a vegetated were once connected in a Choiniere from the University of the Witwatersrand. although the last bone, a finger, was discovered very heavy animal. To develop massive landmass called accidently in 2017 and provided the scientists with an idea of its posture, the floodplain Pangaea and shows how Ledumahadi mafube means “a giant thunderclap critical information on the uniqueness of the new team visited various museums easily dinosaurs could have at dawn” in Sesotho and was named by Puseletso specimen. around the world to measure walked from place to place. 4 January 2019 | SCIENCE MATTERS SCIENCE MATTERS | January 2019 5 Alvarezsaurs evolved short arms only later in their evolutionary history members had less teeth and evolved a hand with a huge single claw capable of, perhaps, tearing open Co-lead authors, Prof Jonah Choiniere (left) and Prof Xu Xing (right), working on an alvarezsaur skull at the rotting logs and anthills. IVPP, Beijing, China (Credit: Prof. Jonah Choiniere) “The new fossils have long arms, and so show that alvarezsaurs evolved short arms only later in their study was made possible by a joint South Africa/ evolutionary history, in species with small body sizes. China collaborative grant through the National This is quite different to what happens in the classic Research Foundation of South Africa, held by Profs example of tyrannosaurs, which have short arms and Xu and Jonah Choiniere from the University of the giant size,” said co-author Professor Roger Benson Artist’s reconstruction of important alvarezsaur species. from left to right, Witwatersrand. of Oxford University. Haplocheirus, Xiyunykus, Bannykus, and Shuvuuia. Note the lengthening of the jaws, reduction of the teeth, and changes in the hand and arm (Credit: Viktor Radermacher) From meat-lovers to insect-eaters A missing piece of the evolutionary puzzle According to the study, both Xiyunykus and Until now, researchers have been unable to explain Bannykus are classified as alvarezsaurs, a sub-group the change in the anatomy and behaviour of of theropod (meat-eating) dinosaurs. alvarezsaurs as there was a gap in the fossil record Two New Dinosaurs Offer of about 70 million years. Haplocheirus, which lived “Alvarezsaurs are weird animals,” said Prof Choiniere, around 160 million years ago, is the earliest known Glimpse of Insect-Eater Evolution who is a leading member of the team and a co- member, while the later alvarezsaurs are thought to author of the study. “With their strong, clawed hands be younger than 100 million years. Thus, Xiyunykus An unusual line of bird-like dinosaurs discovered in China is changing and weak jaws, they appear to be the dinosaurian and Bannykus, whose fossils are estimated to be the way we understand the evolution of some of these predators analogue to today’s aardvarks and anteaters.” between 110 million and 130 million-years old, fits perfectly within this gap. ut alvarezsaurs did not start out as insect- eaters. The earliest members of the group Xiyunykus and Bannykus weigh an estimated 15kg b had more typical meat-eating teeth and and 24kg respectively and would have been fast ention “meat-eating dinosaur” The two new specimens were discovered during hands, useful for catching small prey. Later-evolving runners. Their perceived agility is still a mystery – it and the toothy Tyrannosaurus rex collaborative international fieldwork in China, co- was likely used to avoid predators rather than to hunt with its giant body and tiny arms led by Profs Xu Xing of the Institute for Vertebrate for prey. will likely come to mind. However, Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in Beijing, not all of these ancient carnivores and James Clark from George Washington University “The fossil record is the best source of information Mstarted out or ended up looking like the iconic T-rex. in Washington DC. Xiyunykus was discovered in Xiyunykus and about how anatomical features evolve,” said James The discovery of two bird-like dinosaurs in China, 2005 in Xinjiang, north-western China.
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