What’s in a name?
An ancient mammal that some researchers dubbed “ManBearPig” had long pregnancies and gave birth to highly developed young that grew up much faster than expected. Such an approach to life could help explain how some mammals took over the world after dinosaurs’ demise, Maria Temming reported in “‘ManBearPig’ lived fast, died young” (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, p. 12).
Several readers remarked that the creature’s nickname bears a resemblance to that of the ManBearPig character from the animated television series South Park. The show was the inspiration for the name.
“In short, yes,” says paleontologist Gregory FunstonThe Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. FunstonYou have ever wondered how to describe the appearance PanTolambda bathmodon to Temming. “After some deliberation and comparison to bears (they share a short face), pigs (a rounded torso) and humans (five-fingered hands and feet), I joked that … it was a kind of ManBearPig,” he says.
However, reality is more complicated. P. bathmodonIt would have been quite different from what it was. South Park character, Funston says.
In the show, the fictional ManBearPig is a demon — a grotesque chimera of human, bear and pig features. It has beady yellow eyes, a pig’s snout, gnarly bear fangs, one contorted human hand and one bear paw with razor-sharp claws. It has a body that is half fur and half human skin. Its lower body is bizarrely a combination of pig feet, human thighs, and fur.
P. bathmodon, on the other hand, looked more like “a large red panda or binturong, although it isn’t closely related to either of these animals,” Funston says. “The group of mammals that it does belong to [has]No living descendants. As with many other mammal species from the same time, [P. bathmodon’s group] would have appeared somewhat generalized to our eyes, combining familiar aspects of many mammals but without any of the distinct features that we use to separate major mammal groups today.”
Celebrating differences
Tina Lasisi, a biological anthropologist,One of our SN 10: Scientists to Watch, examines the evolution of curly human hair. Aina Abell reported in “Conversations about human variation start with curly hair” (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, p. 28).
Reader Gillian Ingram found Lasisi’s research on human variation fascinating.
“As a civilian watching science, I find the diversity within us amazing.… [Lasisi’s work has] opened a great sea of possibilities,” Ingram wrote. “It is good to remember we are all very closely related, but our diversity should be explored and celebrated too.”
In the family
Researchers have identified variants of a hair shaft gene that researchers call PADI3 Uncombable hair syndrome is the most common form of uncombable hair syndrome. It manifests in most people as silvery, spingly and spun glass hair that stands up on its own. Meghan Rosen reported in “Why some hair can’t be tamed” (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, p. 5).
Reader Diane F. KleinA family connection was formed with an uncombable hair syndrome.
“My first cousin, born about 1960, had whitish hair when she was a little girl that stood out from her head like a fluff. It was quite shocking to see. My aunt could not control it,” Klein wrote. “My brother, born in 1957, also probably had it. His hair was blondish white, and when he was a toddler, it stood out from his head like a wheat field, softly wafting in the wind.”
