Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
Added Later: Carel Brest van Kempen at Rigor Vitae also has a very interesting post on the subject - which benefits from great artwork!
I was originally going to do a long planned post on the hominid cranial base, but this was too good to pass up.
The above is a picture of Boulengerula taitanusa species caecilian (limbless amphibians) native to Tanzania. According to National Geographic they apparently have a pretty unique method of feeding their young:
The tropical creature transforms its skin into a nourishing, fat-rich meal for its newborns to eat, researchers say.
*snip*
Furthermore, the youngsters' teeth appear to be specially designed for eating their mother's flesh.
How does it work?
The team says the offspring of Boulengerula taitanus are entirely dependent on their parent's skin, which transforms into a kind of baby food that the study team likens to mother's milk in mammals.
The female's skin doubles in thickness during this period, the researchers found.
"You've got several layers of skin, and the outer layer is what they eat," Wilkinson said.
"When that's peeled off, the layer below matures into the next meal."
Interestingly enough, it does not appear to harm the mother - who loses about 14% of her bodyweight. Researchers speculate that this may be a transitional species:
Some species of caecilian lay eggs, while others give birth to live young. The species studied by Wilkinson's team lays eggs.Previously it was thought that egg-laying caecilians guarded their offspring until they hatched but provided no parental care after that.
But this new discovery proves otherwise, and the team says the species could mark a key stage in the evolutionary transition from egg-laying caecilians to those that give birth to live young.
The young of some live-bearing species have likewise been found to feast on their mother's flesh while still inside the mother--also regarded by scientists as highly unusual behavior.
The study team says such live-born offspring are armed with teeth similar to those of the egg hatchlings.
These infant teeth are used to scrape fatty secretions and other nourishing substances from the female's reproductive organs.
"What we seem to have discovered is some kind of intermediate state, and that the [live-bearing] forms of caecilians have probably evolved from a skin-feeding, egg-laying form," Wilkinson said."So eating on the outside then becomes eating on the inside."
One wonders what the ID advocates will make of this (or the March of the Penguin worshipping family values crowd)?
Added later: While I'm on the subject of National Geographic this is interesting also...
Comments
Now that is cool.
Posted by: Carel | April 12, 2006 10:09 PM
Yes,
It is certainly one of the most novel bits of evolution I have seen. I would love to see some research on the physiology of it...well and the genetics too.
Posted by: afarensis | April 12, 2006 11:21 PM
I vaguely remember seeing something about some shark species that give live birth and where the young attack and eat each other in the womb, so there is always only one live birth at a time. I have no references to it - I don't even remember where I saw this - but if someone could confirm or refute it it'd be nice.
Posted by: Janne | April 13, 2006 4:15 AM
Janne - You are thinking of th Grey Nurse Shark. Also, some info here
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | April 13, 2006 10:28 AM
I am doing a zoology project on the topic and i have a few questio. can someone please e-mail to answer it would be a great help.
Posted by: Jessica Wiley | April 14, 2006 6:32 PM
I am doing a zoology project on the topic and i have a few questio. can someone please e-mail to answer it would be a great help.
Posted by: Jessica Wiley | April 14, 2006 6:36 PM
I am doing a zoology project on the topic and i have a few questio. can someone please e-mail to answer it would be a great help.
Posted by: Jessica | April 14, 2006 6:37 PM
I am by no means an expert on them, but if you leave your questions in a comment I'll see what I can do about tracking down an answer...
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | April 15, 2006 12:38 AM
Thanks - that was exactly what I was thinking of. Good to find I didn't just dream it or something.
Posted by: Janne | April 15, 2006 12:54 PM
it would helpme tramendosly afarensis FCD. my e-mail is qcitychick@yahoo.com
Posted by: jescie | April 16, 2006 10:36 PM
it would helpme tramendosly afarensis FCD. my e-mail is qcitychick@yahoo.com it has to me an interview format.....
Posted by: jescie | April 16, 2006 10:37 PM
No, people, no, it's Boulengerula taitana. It's a she, not a he. ICZN Articles 31 and 34, IIRC. (Pet peeve.)
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | April 3, 2008 10:17 AM