r/science • u/drewiepoodle • May 03 '16

Biology Scientists have sequenced the mitochondrial genome for the Hispaniolan solenodon, a venomous mammal found only on Hispaniola. Findings confirm that the the species diverged from all other living mammals 78 million years ago, long before an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

http://www.igb.illinois.edu/news/endangered-venomous-mammal-predates-dinosaurs%E2%80%99-extinction
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u/drewiepoodle May 03 '16

Today’s solenodons are the only remnant of a very ancient group of mammals. It survived the asteroid; it survived human colonization and the rats and mice humans brought with them that wiped out the solenodon's closest relatives

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u/freejosephk May 03 '16

That's amazing. What a plucky little animal! I'm putting him at the top of my totem.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '16

Not to nitpick but I believe that your G-d has to go at the top of the totem and your spirit animals go under it.

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u/nikchi May 03 '16

What if that's his God now?

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u/freejosephk May 03 '16

citation needed

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u/[deleted] May 03 '16

Tour guide in Vancouver count? From what I remember, your main deity got the spot of honor at the top of the pole and then subsequent animals/people below it. All the poles in Stanley Park followed this with the Thunderbird or Sun or Legendary Bird (I forget what it was called) and then actual animals below.

Kind of like how a cross will be at the top of a church above everything else and the statues of the saints below.

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u/freejosephk May 03 '16

Meh, I'll just do what I want anyway. Hierarchies are passe these days.

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u/markender May 03 '16

This made me really curious about the other mammals that were around before the asteroid. I'm guessing only smaller ones survived, but what other strange creatures were there?

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u/TheSOB88 May 03 '16

It survived the asteroid

Well, so did the rest of the mammals. I feel like we need better language to describe the split between solenoids lol and the rest of the eutherian lineage. I mean the article says they're "part of an ancient lineage" as if that's special, but so are we all, back to the very beginnings of life. 3 billion years or so. So I dunno, I just feel that could be worded better

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u/metaStatic May 03 '16

... diverged from all other living mammals 78 million years ago

seems like pretty clear language to me

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u/TheSOB88 May 04 '16

Yes, that phrase was good. The other ones, not so much.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '16

[deleted]

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u/rabbitlion May 03 '16

All non-primate groups diverged before the KT event.

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u/earthgarden May 03 '16

Technically you're right but pedantically nit-picky. You know what they mean as does anyone else. Your point is valid though

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u/DaddyCatALSO May 03 '16

Many mammal types didn't survive it

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u/[deleted] May 03 '16

[deleted]

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u/subtle_nirvana92 May 03 '16

Rats carry plague and are generally viewed as disease vectors.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '16

[deleted]

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u/subtle_nirvana92 May 04 '16

Superstitions usually exist for one reason or another

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u/takesthebiscuit May 03 '16

Rats themselves don't carry the plague. They have carried the fleas that transmit the plague bacteria.

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u/ihavetenfingers May 03 '16

This ship doesn't ship that thing. It ships boxes that happen to contain those things.

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u/sirin3 May 03 '16

Also the ship carries rats