All articles tagged with #cloaca
A new Ecology and Evolution study documents seven observations of remoras entering manta ray cloacal openings across three manta species worldwide, suggesting a parasitic twist to the remora–host relationship and prompting a reevaluation of how these symbioses function in the wild.
A new study documents remoras diving into manta ray cloacas and attaching beneath gill slits across manta species, suggesting these hitchhikers may be more invasive than previously thought. While remoras can help by cleaning parasites, their aggressive attachment can increase drag and cause injuries, pushing the relationship along a spectrum from mutualism to parasitism and raising concerns for manta rays already facing threats from fishing, habitat loss, and climate change. Researchers emphasize the interaction is nuanced and context-dependent, potentially beneficial in some cases and costly in others.
Paleontologists report the earliest fossil imprint of reptile skin with belly scales and a cloacal vent dating to about 290 million years ago, pushing back the origin of the cloaca in amniotes and beating the previous 120-million-year record.
A 290-million-year-old German fossil named Cabarzichnus pulchrus preserves the earliest-known reptile cloaca and skin with keratin scales, offering new clues about early reptile anatomy and evolution.
Scientists describe a 298–299 million-year-old fossil imprint from a bolosaurian reptile in Germany, preserving belly scales and a cloaca—the oldest known soft-tissue imprint of its kind and the earliest reptile skin details—offering new insights into early reptile evolution. Named Cabarzichnus pulchrus, the 3.5-inch trace extends the fossil record of back-end anatomy by more than 150 million years and suggests anatomical similarities to modern turtles, lizards, and snakes.
A 295‑million‑year‑old resting trace from a bolosaurian reptile in Germany preserves belly keratin scales and what appears to be a cloacal vent, making it the oldest known example of a reptile cloaca and offering new insight into early amniote skin evolution.
Research suggests that the genetic mechanisms controlling fish cloaca development were repurposed during evolution to form human fingers and toes, illustrating how nature reuses existing genetic tools for new functions.