Category Archives: Anatomy

Anatomy

‘Birds of Prey’ | Anatomy of a Scene – The New York Times

Hi, Im Cathy Yan, the director of Birds of Prey. So were near the end of the movie. And this is the culminating, the final fight scene between the women and the gangs that Roman Sionis, played by Ewan McGregor, sends in to the funhouse, which is called the Booby Trap. Well, originally, it wasnt a funhouse, actually. I believe, originally, it was a hotel. And they were supposed to fight their way down. But then, when I got together with our amazing production designer, KK Barrett, and our DP, Matthew Libatique, we kind of thought, wouldnt it be more interesting to convey a location that felt like Harley Quinns mind on acid? Our actresses, theyre actually doing the majority of the stunts themselves. That was four to five months of brutal training. When we were in prep, the actors were training pretty much every day with our stunt team. Come on! Margot learned to roller skate for this movie because she ends up roller skating in a good portion of the movie. She learned to roller skate on a bank track for the derby scene. And then, obviously, shes roller skating here. And for this moment, she is actually just roller skating. And she was so she became so good that she was able to stop herself, which is actually the most difficult thing to do, while on a rotating carousel, which is infinitely harder than when youre not on a rotating carousel. What was another big challenge that we only sort of realized on the day, too, was that because the background was so different, for continuity, whenever we started a take, we had to make sure that we started and ended at the same point. So the carousel became a sort of clock. And we had a number for each of the hands. And then each hand had to directly correlate with a point outside in the funhouse so that we were able to actually match up the backgrounds. If we didnt do that, then it would have been a complete nightmare. [MUSIC PLAYING] [SHOUTS] Ah. Wait.

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'Birds of Prey' | Anatomy of a Scene - The New York Times

Anatomy

Southampton 1-2 Burnley: the anatomy of Ashley Westwood’s ludicrous goal – Squawka

In a windswept afternoon of football, Burnley beat Southampton 1-2 thanks in part to an impossibly absurd goal.

Burnley had a corner just two minutes into the game and, with the score at 0-0, looked to pummel the weaker Southampton side with their colossal side. Saints had picked the massive Jannik Vestegaard as some sort of bulwark against the sheer size of the Burnley boys, so they knew what to expect as Ashley Westwood stood ready to send the corner in.

At least, they thought they did.

Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated, and the sight of the Burnleys army of giants meandering up the field for a set-piece all clad in green like it was the March of the Ents is pure theatre. So Saints are all set-up to handle a deep corner, with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy even standing near his back-post, ready to spring out and catch it.

Then Ashley Westwood pulls the trigger on a spectacular act of misdirection. He whips the ball with tremendous speed and confidence to the near-post. The near-post.

Now, corners often get hit to the near-post all the time, as teams look to attack that area. Often those corners get slightly underhit and the first-man (usually a striker) clears the ball emphatically. Fans get frustrated at teams inability to clear the first-man with corners but the team is going for the smallest possible window to get the best possible chance, its understandable.

But instantly you can tell this corner is different. Its not heading towards the penalty spot like most corners, its hugging the by-line like its magnetically drawn to it. How much of this was Westwoods design and how much was a result of the ferocious whims of Storm Dennis is up for debate, but the end result is the same: this ball is going to be a problem.

The ball is low(-ish). Its not going above head height and its drifting like a dozing driver on a midnight road. McCarthy has realised the problem and is running across his goal like a cartoon character, charging behind the line desperate to try and get into position to make a save. Hes not going to make it, but thats alright because club hero Danny Ings has it covered.

Ings is the striker on the near-post, and his job is to clear the ball. Now ordinarily this would involve him leaping to head a corner away, but now hed have to stoop and either head it behind for a corner or hook it away with his foot. Chris Wood is running to try and contest the ball, but Ings will get to it before Wood can make his considerable presence felt. So no problem, right?

Wrong.

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For reasons that can only be explained by Danny Ings himself, he chooses to leave it. Ings just sticks his hands up like Sergio Ramos does after fouling someone and backs away from a ball he very definitely had a responsibility to clear. Maybe he thinks its going wide? Maybe he thinks McCarthy is in position to cover?

In the end its irrelevant, Ings leaves the ball and it sails into the back of the net. Westwoods second Olympic Goal within the last 12 months after sailing one over Alissons head at Anfield in March 2019. Then he relied on some tactical fouling from his defenders, today it was all thanks to Danny Ings.

Danny Ings against his old club the side he claims to have joined as a boy and left as a man makes a childish error and the ball goes in. McCarthy arrives to clear the ball seconds too late, and the ball bounces out where Ben Mee shows up to tap it home and wheel away in glorious celebration. Mee thinks hes scored, but what he doesnt know is that goal-line technology has already ruled that Westwood scored.

The game then carried on, although lord knows why as nothing could possibly top the madness of the opening goal. Danny Ings briefly vindicated himself with a superb strike to equalise before Matej Vydra one-upped him with an even better goal to win it for Burnley in the second-half.

So Ings managed to spare his blushes, and the focus will probably all go onto Vydras goal, but we cannot forget the madcap majesty of Ashley Westwoods opener. Alex McCarthys hapless flailing, Danny Ings bizzare indecision and the fickle fury of Storm Dennis giving us one of the most impossibly absurd goals of the season.

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Southampton 1-2 Burnley: the anatomy of Ashley Westwood's ludicrous goal - Squawka

Anatomy

The anatomy, paleobiology, and evolutionary relationships of the largest extinct side-necked turtle – Science Advances

INTRODUCTION

Since the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, the northern Neotropics have harbored now-extinct vertebrates that have been at the extreme of large size within their respective clades (1). Among them are the largest snake (2), caimanine crocodile (3), gharial (4), and some of the largest rodents (5). One of the most iconic of these species is the gigantic turtle Stupendemys geographicus, as it is the largest nonmarine turtle ever known from a complete shell (until now rivaled only by the extinct marine turtle Archelon ischyros from the Late Cretaceous). It was first described in 1976 from the Urumaco Formation in northwestern Venezuela (6), but our knowledge of this animal has been based on partial specimens that have resulted in a problematic taxonomy, especially due to a lack of specimens with associated skull and shell elements. The species diversity of the giant turtles inhabiting northern South America during the Miocene is thus unclear (7, 8), with several forms having been proposed: the postcrania-based S. geographicus from the late Miocene, Urumaco region (6, 912); the skull-based Caninemys tridentata from the late Miocene, Acre region, Brazil (8); the controversial postcrania-based S. souzai, also from the late Miocene of Acre, Brazil (8, 13), currently attributed as Podocnemididae incertae sedis (14); and the skull-based Podocnemis bassleri from the late Miocene, Acre region (Loretto), Peru (15). The fossil record of large-sized littoral-freshwater Podocnemididae turtles of South America also includes the skull-based Carbonemys cofrinii, and the shell-based Pelomedusoides indet., from the middle to late Paleocene of Colombia (12).

We here describe several new shells and the first lower jaw specimens from discoveries made during regular fieldwork in the Urumaco region since 1994 (10, 16) and recent finds from La Tatacoa Desert in Colombia. Together, these fossils shed new light on the biology, past distribution, and phylogenetic position of giant neotropical turtles. First, we report a new size record for the largest known complete turtle shell. Second, our findings support the existence of a sole giant erymnochelyin taxon, S. geographicus, with an extensive geographical distribution in what were the Pebas and Acre systems (pan-Amazonia during the middle Miocene to late Miocene in northern South America). Third, we hypothesize that S. geographicus exhibited sexual dimorphism in shell morphology, with horns in males and hornless females.

Testudines Batsch, 1788.

Pleurodira Cope, 1864 sensu Joyce et al., 2004.

Podocnemididae Cope, 1868.

Eymnochelyinae sensu Ferreira et al., 2018.

Stupendemys geographicus Wood, 1976.

Caninemys tridentata (8)

Stupendemys souzai (7, 13)

Stupendemys sp. (17)

Podocnemididae indet. (17)

Holotype. MCNC-244, medial portion of the carapace with associated left femur, fragments of scapulocoracoid and a cervical 8? (6).

Hypodigms. Specimens described in Wood (6): MCZ(P)-4376, much of the carapace, fragments of plastron, cervical 7?, both scapula-coracoids and a caudal vertebra; MCNC-245, a plastron lacking the epiplastra and entoplastron, two nearly complete costals, several peripherals, and one neural; MCZ(P)-4378, a right humerus. Specimen described as C. tridentata (8): DNPM-MCT-1496-R, nearly complete skull (Fig. 4, A to D). Specimens referred to as S. souzai (13): UFAC-1764, incomplete right humerus; UFAC-1163, cervical vertebra; UFAC-1294, left peripheral 1; UFAC-1544, left costal 2; UFAC-1547, right xiphiplastron; UFAC-1553, cervical vertebra; UFAC-1554, cervical vertebra; UFAC-4370, pelvic girdle; UFAC-5275, cervical vertebra; UFAC-5508, anterior margin of the carapace and left hypoplastron, and LACM-131946, nuchal bone, originally attributed to Stupendemys sp. (17). Specimens referred to as Podocnemididae ind. (17): LACM-141498, left lower jaw ramus, and Stupendemys sp. (17): LACM-138028, right scapula. New specimens described here: CIAAP-2002-01 (allotype), nearly complete carapace (Fig. 1, A to E); AMU-CURS-85, nearly complete carapace, left humerus, and right scapula-coracoid (Figs. 2, B and C, and 3, A to D); AMU-CURS-1098, plastron and anterior portion of carapace (Fig. 2, D and E); MPV-0001, nearly complete carapace and complete plastron (Fig. 2, F to M); OL-1820, left humerus (Fig. 3, E to H); AMU-CURS-233, fragment of femur (Fig. 3, I to P); AMU-CURS-706, lower jaw (see fig. S6); VPPLT-979, lower jaw (Fig. 4, E to L).

(A and B) CIAAP-2002-01 carapace in dorsal view. (C) Close-up of the left horn in CIAAP-2002-01 [see red square in (B)]. (D) Medial-right view of the left horn showing its ventral projection. (E and F) Close-up of one of bone surface of the carapace showing the pitted sculpture [see red circle in (B)]. (G) General reconstruction of CIAAP-2002-01 including the horns covered with keratinous sheath (light gray). co, costal bone; M, marginal scute; P, pleural scute; pe, peripheral bone; py, pygal bone; sp., suprapygal; V, vertebral scute. Blue lines indicate sulci. Photo credit: Edwin-Alberto Cadena, Universidad del Rosario.

(A) Reconstruction of S. geographicus male (front) and female (middle-left), together with the giant caimanine Purussaurus mirandai and the large catfish Phractocephalus nassi. (B and C) AMU-CURS-85 nearly complete carapace in ventral view. (D and E) AMU-CURS-1098 nearly complete plastron in ventral view. (F to N) Female shell anatomy of S. geographicus MPV-0001 from Colombia. (F and G) Carapace in dorsal view. (H and I) Plastron in ventral view. (J and K) Close-up of the right anterior portion of the carapace in dorsoposterior view, showing bite marks and punctured bone [(J) and rectangle in (G)]. (L and M) Nuchal-anterior peripheral in dorsomedial view, showing thickened and moderately to strongly upturned (arrows) [(L) and circle in (G)]. (N) Close-up of the bone surface of one of the costal bones [(N) and circle in (G)], exhibiting microvermiculation sculpturing pattern. Abd, abdominal scute; Ana, anal scute; bm, bite mark; bp, bridge peripheral; co, costal bone; ent, entoplastron; epi, epiplastron; Ext, extragular scute; Fem, femoral scute; Hum, humeral scute; hyo, hyoplastron; hyp, hypoplastron; Int, intergular scute; isc, ischium scar; Lpg, left pelvic girdle; M, marginal scute; mes, mesoplastron; ne, neural bone; nu, nuchal bone; pe, peripheral bone; Pec, pectoral scute; pub, pubis bone; py, pygal bone; Rco, right coracoid; Rpg, right pelvic girdle; Rsc, right scapula; sp., suprapygal; tv, thoracic vertebra; V, vertebral scute; xip, xiphiplastron. Blue lines indicate sulci. Art: Jaime Chirinos. Photo credit: Edwin-Alberto Cadena, Universidad del Rosario.

(A to D) AMU-CURS-85 left humerus in ventral (A), medial (B), dorsal (C), and proximal (D) views. (E to H) OL-1820 left humerus in ventral (E), lateral (F), dorsal (G), and proximal (H) views. (I and J) AMU-CURS-233 partial femur in ventral (I) and dorsal (J) views. (K) Outline of the femur indicating the region where the thin section was elaborated. (L) Thin section of the partial femur, indicating the close-up presented in (M) to (P). (M) Close-up of the cortical region of the bone. (N) Close-up of the deeper part of the cortex. (O) Close-up of the central region of the bone. (P) Close-up of the transitional region of the bone. Outlines of the largest extant and extinct turtles ever, indicating their maximum carapace length (see table S2): (Q) S. geographicus. (R) A. ischyros. (S) D. coriacea (extant). (T) M. cf. sivalensis. (U) R. swinhoei (extant). (V) C. niger (extant). pco, primary cortex; SO, secondary osteon. Photo credit (A to H): Edwin-Alberto Cadena, Universidad del Rosario; (I to P): Torsten Scheyer, University of Zurich.

(A to D) DNPM-MCT-1496 skull described by Meylan et al. (8), from Acre, Brazil in dorsal (A), ventral (B), and right lateral (C) views. (D) Composite skull and lower jaw (not a scale) of S. geographicus using relief images of DNPM-MCT-1496 skull and VPPLT-979 lower jaw. (E to L) VPPLT-979 lower jaw from La Tatacoa Desert, Colombia in dorsal (E and F), ventral (G and H), and right-lateral (I and J) views. (K and L) VPPLT-979 articular bone and facet in posterior view, exhibiting the foramen posterius chorda tympani. (M to T) Right articular region of the lower jaw, Podocnemis expansa NHMW-137 (M and N), S. geographicus VPPLT-979 (O and P), S. geographicus AMU-CURS-706 (Q and R), P. dumerilianus AMNH-1886 (S and T). (U) Lower jaw of P. dumerilianus AMNH-1886 in dorsal view. (V) P. expansa NHMW-137 lower jaw in dorsal view. ang, angular; arf, articular facet; art, articular; cor, coronoid; den, dentary; fm, fossa Meckelii; fna, foramen nervi auriculotemporalis; fos, fossa articularis mandibularis; fpc, foramen posterius chorda tympani; pra, processus retroarticularis; pre, prearticular; sr, symphisis ridge; sur, surangular. Photo credit (A to C): Orangel Aguilera-Socorro, Universidade Federal Fluminense; (E to V): Edwin-Alberto Cadena, Universidad del Rosario.

Range and distribution. Middle to late Miocene, Tatacoa Desert, Villavieja, Departamento del Huila, Colombia; late Miocene, Urumaco, Falcn State, Venezuela; late Miocene, Acre region, Brazil; Loretto region, Peru (Fig. 5).

(A) The phylogeny is based on the single MPT, resulting from the analysis of 245 characters [L = 1180, consistency index (CI) = 0.319, and retention index (RI) = 0.748]. Bremer support indices are indicated next to the internodes. (B) A time-calibrated cladogram of South American Erymnochelyinae; the bars indicate the stratigraphic occurrence of taxa; internode length is hypothetical. (C) Paleogeographic reconstruction of northern South America during the late Miocene (10 Ma), including the localities with fossil record of S. geographicus and extension of the Pebas system, modified from Hoorn (44). (D) General stratigraphic column of Urumaco Formation, including the four localities where the new fossils of S. geographicus described here were found. (E) Excavation of AMU-CURS-85 carapace from To Gregorio locality. H, Holocene; L, tree length; Oligo, Oligocene; Paleo, Paleocene; Pleisto, Pleistocene; Plio, Pliocene. Pr, present.

Diagnosis. S. geographicus is recognized as a pleurodire based on (i) sutural articulation of pelvis with shell, (ii) loss of medial contact of mesoplastra, (iii) well-developed anal notch, (iv) fusion of gulars, (v) formed central articulations of cervical vertebrae, (vi) a well-developed processus trochlearis pterygoidei, and (vii) quadrate-basioccipital contact. It is a podocnemidid based on (i) a fully developed, medially extensive cavum pterygoidei with a completely developed pterygoid flange; (ii) an incisura columellae auris enclosing stapes and eustachian tube; (iii) an exoccipital-quadrate contact absent; and (iv) a cervical centra with saddle-shaped posterior condyles. It shares with Peltocephalus dumerilianus and Erymnochelys madagascariensis (i) a long parietal-quadratojugal contact; (iii) large postorbital bones; (iii) cheek emargination potentially reduced or absent; (iv) potentially advanced posterior roofing of the skull (reduced temporal emargination); (v) an articular with a processus retroarticularis posteroventromedially projected, differing from the ventrally projected Podocnemis spp. (Fig. 4, M to T, and fig. S6) acute tip of dentary at symphysis; and (vii) foramen chorda tympani enclosed in processus retroarticularis.

Further description and dimensions. Detailed anatomical descriptions, comparisons, and measurements of the fossilized bones and body mass estimation for S. geographicus and other fossil and extant giant turtles are presented in Fig. 3 (Q to V) and in the Supplementary Materials (text, figs. S1 to S6, tables S1 and S2, and data files S1 and S2).

Remarks. Skull: Unique among podocnemidids (and all other pleurodires, the side-necked turtles) in having greatly inflated maxillae, each with a ventral, tooth-like process, which, together with a single process formed on the midline of the premaxillae, form a tridentate condition in the upper triturating surfaces. Lower jaw: Triturating surface deep, forming an oval concavity, deeper than in any known living or extinct podocnemidid, labial ridge curved anteriorly ending in acute tip; lingual ridge is a blunt margin forming an accessory ridge that increases in height and width anteriorly and runs as a narrow ridge at the medial symphysis; high coronoid process; large dorsal opening of fossa Meckelii; the fossa Meckelii fills the posterior end of the jaw to such an extent that the area articularis mandibularis forms part of the posterior margin, and the fossa opens posterolaterally next to the jaw articulation. Shell: Carapace 2 m straight midline length, carapace low-arched, with irregular nodular contours on external surface and deep median notch at front; anterior border of nuchal-peripheral bones thickened and moderately to strongly upturned; carapace with massive anterolateral horns slightly projected ventrally in forms attributed as male; carapace dorsal bone surface smooth to striated or slightly pitted; posterior peripheral bones moderately scalloped along margins; thickness of carapace relatively thin at the costals. Shell (plastron): Pectoral-abdominal sulcus very anterior to mesoplastra, reaching almost the hyoplastra lateral notch level. Neck: Cervical vertebrae (probably 7 and 8) with neural arches relatively high in relation to anteroposterior lengths of centra, and articular facets of postzygapophyses forming acute angle of less than 90; cervical 8? neural arch with large horizontal plane, prezygapophyses directed perpendicularly, thin bladelike spine on anterior face of neural arch and no ventral keel on centrum. Humerus: Humerus squat, massive; deep bicipital fossa between lateral and medial articular facets on ventral surface; prominent ridge traversing ventral surface of shaft from medial process to distal end, terminating just above lateral condyle; medial condyle broadest at anterior end; medial and lateral condyles facing very ventrally; straight to slightly slender shaft and triangular in cross section than circular. Femur: Femur squat, massive, greatly flattened dorsoventrally; breadth of tibial condyle approximately one-third total length of bone. Scapula: A dorsal strongly bowed scapular process with a flattened flange projecting laterally from the main axis.

The first analysis (all taxa separated) produced 156,070 most parsimonious trees [MPTs; length = 1154, consistency index (CI) = 0.326, and retention index (RI) = 0.749]. The strict consensus tree (fig. S7) shows the lower jaws from Acre, Urumaco, and La Tatacoa in polytomy at the base of the Stereogenyini clade, sensu Ferreira et al. (18), with the same position for C. tridentata and S. geographicus as presented in Ferreira et al. (18). The second analysis [C. tridentata + Acre jaw and S. geographicus + (Urumaco, La Tatacoa jaws)] produced 1157 MPT (length = 1157, CI = 0.325, and RI = 0.748). Here, the strict consensus tree (fig. S7) shows C. tridentata and S. geographicus forming a monophyletic clade inside the Erymnochelyinae clade sensu Ferreira et al. (18), suggesting them to be closely related or potentially the same taxon. We favor the latter monospecific scenario based on the following considerations: (i) the three lower jaws from Urumaco, La Tatacoa, and Acre resemble each other in all morphological aspects, varying only in size and in preservation; (ii) the lower jaws from Urumaco, La Tatacoa, and Acre were found in localities and/or formations where shell material of S. geographicus was also found; and (iii) as Meylan et al. (8) stated, there is a higher probability that the lower jaw, LACM-141498, does belong to Caninemys, and they are sufficiently complementary to suggest that they are from closely related taxa. This scenario receives additional support from the third phylogenetic analysis, which produced 36 MPTs (length = 1180, CI = 0.319, and RI = 0.748). The strict consensus tree (Fig. 5A) and the time-calibrated cladogram pruned to the South American Erymnochelyinae clade (Fig. 5B) show S. geographicus at the base, as sister taxon to all remaining erymnochelyin turtles. This position is in agreement with the hypothesis presented by Meylan et al. (8) for C. tridentata (now S. geographicus), based on a relatively different character-taxon matrix. Jointly considering all these lines of evidence, we hypothesize that the skull of C. tridentata and the lower jaws described here together correspond to the skull of S. geographicus. It is thus both telling and fitting that turtle expert Eugene Gaffney, when supervising the exhibit of the reconstructed skeleton of S. geographicus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, provided the skull of Caninemys for that model.

The measurements of the new specimens are given in fig. S2 and table S2. Of particular interest is the new S. geographicus specimen CIAAP-2002-01 that we describe here. With its 286 cm parasagittal straight carapace length, it is not only the largest known specimen for this taxon but also the largest turtle shell found to date, considering that the hitherto largest known specimen is the so-called Vienna specimen of the turtle A. ischyros (NHMW-1977/1902/0001) with a shell length of 220 cm (19). Among Asian trionychids, giant forms have been reported from the Eocene of Pakistan, some reaching up to 2 m in shell length (20). Badam (21) reported on giant tortoises from the Pliocene of India that, based on reconstructed shell fragments, may have been larger than 3 m in carapace length.

We estimated the body mass using the straight carapace length method (see data file S1) (22). For the largest specimen, CIAAP-2002-01, we obtained an estimate of 871 kg [compared to the 744 kg obtained by Iverson (22) for MCZ(P)-4376, previously the largest and most complete specimen]. However, in the case of S. geographicus, to compensate for the effect of the large nuchal embayment, calculating the body mass estimate as the average between estimations based on the carapace midline and parasagittal lengths likely yields a more precise body mass estimate. Doing this results in a body mass estimate of 1145 kg for the CIAAP-2002-01 specimen.

The thin section of AMU-CURS-233 (Fig. 3, L to P) reveals an overall dense microanatomy with a central medullary region completely filled by cancellous bone, surrounded by a transitional zone with regular formed smaller spaces, which leads into a compact, external cortex. Because of erosion of the femur surface, the external-most layers of the bone are visible only in a few places.

The cortical tissue is increasingly dense toward the outer bone surface (Fig. 3M). The deeper parts of the cortex show a dense Haversian bone (Fig. 3N), consisting mostly of longitudinally arranged or slightly angled secondary osteons. In the more surficial parts of the cortex, remodeling into dense Haversian bone is prominent, but remnants of primary parallel-fibered bone matrix with numerous longitudinally arranged primary osteons are still present. In these remnants, cell lacunae are more irregular or of a roundish shape. The cortex also does not reveal growth marks that could be counted, with the exception of a single spot in the external-most cortical fragment that splits off from the main section due to delamination processes and gypsum growth. In this outermost-cortical layer, a few closely spaced lines (five lines?), interpreted as lines of arrested growth (LAGs), form an outer circumferential layer.

The cancellous bone in the center of the section (Fig. 3O) consists of short bone trabeculae and few irregular larger intertrabecular spaces. The trabeculae are secondarily remodeled and consist of lamellar bone.

The transitional bone (Fig. 3P) does not have distinct margins but is a zone of decreasing size of individual extravascular spaces and increasing bone compactness. Vascularization of the tissue is found in the form of longitudinally arranged osteons and only few circumferentially oriented ones. Remodeling by secondary osteons is extensive so that only interstitial pockets of primary parallel-fibered bone tissue are discernible. The overall bone compactness is 0.873, with modeled values at the center of 0.543 and at the periphery of 0.97 (see data file S2).

In vertebrates, different body parts have independently evolved into protruding structures that are associated with a wide variety of purposes, e.g., defense or attack, mating, display, communication, or thermoregulation. Some of the most remarkable of these structures include horns, antlers, spikes, spurs, plates, tail clubs, and tusks (2325). In turtles, a notable example is the posterolateral horns of the skull of the extinct meiolaniids (26, 27). Most examples, though, are connected to their shell, covering a diversity of types. Knobby ridges can be found on the carapaces of the extant matamata Chelus fimbriatus (28) and the alligator snapping turtle Macrochelys temminckii (29) and the extinct stem turtle Proganochelys quenstedti possessed serrations along the posterior shell margin (30). Among other examples, the extant spiny turtle Heosemys spinosa has peripherals with marginal spines (31) that disappear ontogenetically, and many groups of testudinid tortoises have highly lobulated and protruded anterior and posterior peripherals or anterior plastron edges (32). Horn-like structures at the anterolateral margin of the carapace, such as those we report here for S. geographicus, have previously only been documented in the Cretaceous nanhsiungchelyid Anomalochelys angulata (see fig. S8) (33). For this medium-sized (~65-cm straight parasagittal carapace length) extinct terrestrial turtle, one interpretation of the horns purpose was proposed as the protection of a large skull.

This hypothesis may also apply for S. geographicus, considering that we here interpret the massive skull DNPM-MCT-1496-R as its head. This specimen was previously described as C. tridentata, and it had lower jaws, which in several morphological aspects resemble the lower jaw of the extant South American big-headed turtle P. dumerilianus (Fig. 5 and the Supplementary Materials), including an acute symphyseal tip. Another feature that supports the robustness of the head of S. geographicus is the posterolateral opening of the fossa Meckelii in the newly recovered lower jaws described here (AMU-CURS-706 and VPPLT-979), implying a large main adductor tendon and associated musculature (17).

The occurrence of deep grooves in the massive horns of all three new specimens of S. geographicus from Urumaco described here (Fig. 1, C and D, and the Supplementary Materials) indicates that they were true horns with a bony core covered by a keratinous sheath that was strongly attached via the grooves, similar to horns of extant artiodactyl bovid mammals (34), and has been argued for meiolanid horns (26).

If the horns were for protection, then why do several S. geographicus specimens lack horns? The anteroventrally facing orientation of the horns is a distinct feature, suggesting that potentially they were exclusively used not only for protection but also for combat. We therefore hypothesize that the horned shells from Venezuela described here represent males of S. geographicus and that the horns served the main purpose of weapons in male-male combat behaviors. This hypothesis is consistent with the occurrence of similar structures in males of other groups of vertebrates, for example, in artiodactyl mammals (23, 34). In addition, in snapping turtles (Chelydridae), some of the largest extant freshwater turtles, males that occupy overlapping areas often establish dominance through fights (35). The elongated and deep scar in the left horn of CIAAP-2002-01 (see the Supplementary Materials) could be interpreted as a mark resulting from combat between males. Many extant tortoises use their protruding epiplastral horns for combat, often with the goal of flipping the opponent (3638).

The putative S. geographicus males would also have been larger than females (see table S1), a pattern similar to that documented in the closely related extant taxon P. dumerilianus, which exhibits a male-biased sexual size dimorphism (39). Other sexually dimorphic traits of the turtle shell, such as a xiphiplastral concavity in males, or a deeper anal notch in males than in females (40, 41), are not distinct in S. geographicus, at least from a comparison between the specimens AMU-CURS-1098 (attributed to a male) and MPV-0001 (attributed to a female).

The climate and the productivity of the environment, habitat size, and predation-competition interactions are some of the factors usually considered as triggers or in favor of gigantism (42, 43). We hypothesize that in the case of S. geographicus, a combination of several factors favored the evolution of its large size.

Habitat size, both in terms of individuals (home ranges large enough to sustain giant body sizes) and in terms of populations (species distribution ranges that can sustain long-term viable populations), was surely a major determinant. During the Paleogene and until the late Miocene [~66 to 5 million years (Ma)], after the retreat of the dominant marine conditions of the Cretaceous, northern South America harbored the most extensive freshwater and littoral ecosystems in its geological history. The coverage reached a particular peak during the Miocene, with the development of a large wetland and lake system known as the Pebas system (44), which offered not only increased connectivity between habitats but also the opportunity for the diversification and migration of faunas, including turtles. It seems that the size of these wetland habitats in northern South America during the Miocene facilitated the occurrence of gigantism not only in turtles (this study) but also in several vertebrate lineages such as crocodylians (Fig. 6 and table S3) and rodents (35).

Deep-sea benthic foraminifer oxygen isotope curve for 0 to 23 Ma, redraw from Zachos et al. (46), showing major global climatic events (left). Major geological and geographical events for northern South America (light brown bars). Maximum skull or lower jaw (green values) and carapace (black values) for turtles and crocodylians from northern South American fossil sites. Formations are represented by yellow stars: 1, Barzalosa Fm., early Miocene, Colombia; 2, Castillo Fm., early Miocene, Venezuela; 3, Castilletes Fm., early-middle Miocene, Colombia; 4, La Victoria and Villavieja Fms., middle-late Miocene, Colombia; 5, Pebas Fm., middle Miocen, Peru; 6, Urumaco Fm., late Miocne, Venezuela; 7, Madre de Dios and Ipururo Fms., late Miocene, Brazil; 8, Pisco Fm., late Miocene, Peru; 9, Solimes Fm., late Miocene-Pliocene, Brazil; 10, San Gregorio Fm., early Pliocene, Venezuela; 11, Ware Fm., Pliocene-Pleistocene, Colombia; 12, Mesa Fm., Pleistocene, Venezuela. Carap, carapace; MMCO, middle Miocene climatic optimum; MMCT, middle Miocene climatic transition; Magda, Magdalena; Pleist; Pleistocene. Detailed information on localities, specimens, and sources are in table S3.

Predation interactions could have also been involved in the evolution of large body size in S. geographicus, as it shared its habitat with gigantic crocodylians, including Purussaurus spp. and Gryposuchus spp., which could reach up to 10 m or more in body length. There is direct evidence of interactions between S. geographicus and large South American crocodylians, in the form of bite marks in Colombian and Venezuelan specimens, and an isolated tooth attached on the ventral surface of the carapace in the CIAAP-2002-01 specimen (see fig. S3).

Climate, particularly warmer temperatures, could have been a potential factor favoring the evolution of large body size in Miocene South American reptiles. For example, this causal link has been inferred for the Paleocene fauna of Cerrejn, Colombia, which includes the largest snake ever, Titanoboa cerrejonensis (2), and the largest Paleogene pelomedusoid turtles and crocodylians (12, 45). Although less warm than the Paleocene and the Eocene, the Miocene was also an epoch with notable climatic events that could have affected the body size of neotropical animal species, for example, the warm middle Miocene climatic optimum (MMCO) (46, 47), the global cooling between ~15 and 13 Ma known as middle Miocene climatic transition (MMCT), and continuous decreasing of global temperature during the late Miocene (48). The time range so far known for S. geographicus (middle Miocene to late Miocene) (this study) indicates that this taxon overcame the MMCT event. It exhibited a gigantic (and potentially its maximum) size during global cooling times (late Miocene) (Fig. 6). The latter rules out a direct and rather unlikely simple effect of climate on gigantism in neotropical Miocene reptiles. Thermally imposed upper limits to body mass are more likely than a simple tracking of changing temperature in body size evolution (49). Unfortunately, the climatic conditions of terrestrial ecosystems during the Miocene in tropical South America are still poorly known, and better reconstructions of climatic conditions await information from geochemical analyses of paleosols and carbonate isotopes. In addition, for neotropical faunas in general and reptiles in particular, the considerable gap in the South American Eocene and Oligocene fossil record is a major obstacle to a clear understanding of the effect of these climatic events on body size trends through time. It is therefore currently impossible to track the evolutionary path of evolution of body size that started during the Paleocene in detail or to establish whether body sizes of late Eocene and Oligocene neotropical reptiles remained large or decreased due, in part, to other cooling events such as the late Eocene-Oligocene transition from greenhouse to icehouse. To test the existence of a passive or driven trend in body size evolution (50), better sampling of the neotropical fossil record is needed. Both internal or external factors could be associated with such trends (51), and discoveries such as that reported here provide the primary evidence with which to start to understand the range of possibilities in morphospace occupation.

Turtles are a particularly challenging group when it comes to the identification of potential causal correlates in body size evolution, given the atypical patterns in relation to latitude they show in body size and in geographic range (52), as opposed to major tendencies identified for other vertebrate groups.

Last, the phylogenetic framework is likely an additional important factor, given the association of biological attributes such as body size and physiology to clades. Teasing out the relative importance of physiological boundaries related to clades is currently equally limited by the Eocene and Oligocene gap in neotropical faunas. For example, the large body size of S. geographicus could be an inherited ancestral trait, rooted in the Paleocene forms from Cerrejn, Colombia [Carbonemys cofrinii and its potential shell, Pelomedusoides indet. (12)]. Our phylogenetic analysis (Fig. 5) supports the view that S. geographicus and Ca. cofrinii both belong to the Erymnochelyinae clade but not as closely related taxa. What is clear is that at least two separate clades inside Podocnemididae exhibited large body size during the Miocene: one including S. geographicus and another with P. bassleri (15) (15.7-cm skull length, potentially 2 m carapace length) in the line of Podocnemis group. In other turtle clades of the neotropics, this trend is represented by Chelonoidis sp. (1 m carapace length estimate) inside the terrestrial Testudinidae and Chelus colombianus (70 cm carapace length estimate) within the freshwater-inhabitant Chelidae (Fig. 6).

Adding to the previously known records of S. geographicus from Urumaco and Acre (68, 13, 17), we here report the first occurrence of this taxon in the well-known fauna of La Venta, Tatacoa Desert. This notably expands the known distribution of S. geographicus, highlighting that it likely was a common taxon throughout the entire Pebas system, well adapted to both fluvial conditions (La Venta and Acre) and fluvial-littoral conditions (Urumaco) (Fig. 5C). It is likely that the changes in the configuration of the Pebas and the posterior Acre systems due to the uplifting of the Andes starting in the middle Miocene (ca. 12.5 Ma) (53) (Fig. 6) had a deep impact on the populations of S. geographicus, considerably reducing their habitat size and leading to its final extinction, probably during the early Pliocene.

Taking into account the morphology of the massive skull elements (skull and lower jaws, Fig. 4D) of S. geographicus, Meylan et al. (8) interpreted this turtle as a pleurodiran snapping turtle, involving a vacuum feeding system and capable of capturing and holding prey of very large size, including fish, small caimanines, and snakes. In this questionable interpretation, it was a carnivore much like the extant cryptodires Macrochelys, Claudius, and Staurotypus, which also exhibit a depression in the upper triturating surface and have lower jaws with a well-developed symphyseal hook (8). The very acute symphysial end and wider anteromedial triturating surface of the well-preserved jaw (VPPLT 979 specimen) from La Tatacoa described here indicate that S. geographicus may have had a diet much broader than one consisting of the abovementioned vertebrate preys. It could have had a more diverse diet. For example, it could have had a generally durophagous diet, crushing hard-shelled prey such as mollusks with the help of its large triturating surface and facilitated by its large main adductor tendon and associated musculature. Increasing the diet niche breadth would have favored maintaining a very large body size in this turtle, resulting in a body sizeenvironment productivity correspondence (42).

Another previously underestimated aspect of paleodiet is the potential of large extinct turtles having acted as seed dispersers for many plant species. A recent review of frugivory and seed dispersal in extant turtles (54) highlighted that many species consume fruits, and thus potentially disperse the seeds, even if fruits are not considered part of their standard diet. Seasonally, high-energy fruits from, e.g., palms (Araceae) can even form the major part of Amazonian turtles diets. This is the case for the closest extant relative of S. geographicus, the big-headed Amazon river turtle, P. dumerilianus, where (55) found that fruits and seeds formed the most diverse component of its stomach contents and that palm seeds were the most common item (55).

Because of its huge gape size, S. geographicus could have swallowed even the largest South American fruits and thus qualify as a megafaunal frugivore and seed disperser [sensu (56)]. In general, larger turtles also include more fruits in their diet than do smaller ones; for example, in the extant Asian big-headed turtle, Platysternon megacephalum, there is a positive relationship between body size and amount of fruit in their diet (57). Overall, S. geographicus could thus have been a highly efficient seed disperser [sensu (58)].

As with the previously analyzed shell bones of S. geographicus (from CIAAP-2002-01) (59), our histological analysis of the femur did not reveal anything unusual about Stupendemys growth, only that it is overall comparable to the microanatomical build and the histology of smaller turtles. The high amount of Haversian bone in the femur fragment might be related to the giant size as pointed out by Foote (60) or by advanced age of a skeletally mature specimen, as is tentatively indicated by the tightly spaced LAGs in the outer circumferential layer. The estimated compactness values of AMU-CURS-233 are comparable to those of other aquatic, nonmarine turtles (61).

We see the almost universal conserved arrangement of scutes of turtles in the gigantic specimen described here, emphasizing how the developmental program of turtles (62) results in early differentiation in which prolonged growth does not result in changes in epidermal structures. S. geographicus probably lived for at least 110 years to be able to reach the largest recorded size we report here, assuming a growth rate similar to that of extant, large turtles (59).

The fossils referred here are in the collections of American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA; Alcada Bolivariana de Urumaco, Urumaco, Falcn State, Venezuela (AMU-CURS); Centro de Investigaciones Antropolgicas, Arqueolgicas y Palentolgicas (CIAAP) of the Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda, Coro, Falcn State, Venezuela; Departmento Nacional de Produa Mineral, Divisa de Geologia e Mineralogia, Cincias da Terra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (DNPM-MCT); The Geological Museum, Geology Survey Institute, Bandung, Indonesia (K); Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA (LACM); Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela (MCNC); Museum of Comparative Zoology-Harvard University, Cambridge, USA [MCZ(P)]; Museo Paleontolgico de Villavieja, Villavieja, Huila Department, Colombia (MPV); Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria (NHMW); Universidad Simn Bolvar, Caracas, Venezuela (OL; specimens housed in the Museo Paleontgico de Urumaco); and Museo de Historia Natural La Tatacoa, La Victoria, Huila Department, Colombia (VPPLT).

To explore the phylogenetic position of S. geographicus, three separate maximum parsimony analyses were run using PAUP 4.0 (63) and using the character-taxon matrix of Ferreira et al. (18) as the original template with some modifications (see the Supplementary Materials). For all the analyses, Pr. quenstedti, Notoemys laticentralis, and Platychelys oberndorferi comprised the outgroup taxa; all the 245 characters were considered equally weighted, and multistate states were treated as polymorphic. Heuristic search, random search for 10,000 replicates, and tree-bisection reconnection option were performed, seed 1000, holding one tree per replicate and collapse branches if minimum length is zero. Strict consensus trees and their decay index (Bremer support) were also obtained. For the first analysis, we considered each of the three giant lower jaws from Acre (17), Urumaco, and La Venta (described here) as separate taxa, as well as C. tridentata (8) and S. geographicus, with the addition of information from previous and the new specimens described here. A second analysis considering the lower jaw LACM-141498 from Acre as belonging to C. tridentata as considered originally by Meylan et al. (8) and the lower jaws AMU-CURS-706 from Urumaco and VPPLT-979 from La Tatacoa as belonging to S. geographicus was performed. For the third analysis, we considered a single taxon, S. geographicus, formed by the new and previously described S. geographicus shells and postcrania; the three lower jaws from Acre, Urumaco, and La Tatacoa; and the skull of C. tridentata (see fig. S7). Twelve morphocline characters were treated as ordered characters (14, 18, 19, 71, 95, 96, 99, 101, 119, 129, 174, and 175) following Ferreira et al. (18). Results are also presented in a time-calibrated cladogram of South American Erymnochelyinae turtles (Fig. 5B) based on this and previous studies (12, 64).

Body mass estimation of S. geographicus and some other taxa mentioned in table S1 was obtained using the correspondence between carapace length and body mass reported by Iverson (22) in extant representative of all lineages of turtles. Specifically, we used the general allometric equation y = axb, where y is the body mass (in grams), x is the carapace length (in centimeters), and a and b are the correlation coefficients established for each of the taxa (see the Supplementary Materials) (22). Considering that none of the taxa included in this study were part of Iversons study, we used the coefficients of the closest phylogenetic and/or similar lifestyle representative, for example, in the case of S. geographicus as it was also used by Iverson (22), we used the coefficients established for Podocnemis unifilis; for A. ischyros and D. coriacea (both marine turtles), we used the coefficients of Chelonia mydas; for Megalochelys sivalensis and Chelonoidis niger (both tortoises), we used the coefficients of Geochelone elegans; and for Rafetus swinhoei (freshwater soft-shelled turtle), we used the coeficientes of Apalone (Trionyx) spinifera.

We sectioned a shaft fragment of a femur of S. geographicus (AMU-CURS-233) recovered from a site next to the gas pipeline at El Mamn locality, Urumaco, Falcn state, Venezuela (11131.46N; 701651.2W). The shaft section was roughly oval shaped, with the longest axis of 8 cm and a perpendicular shorter axis of 6.2 cm. The bone was cut with an iron hand saw and processed afterward, following standard petrographic thin-sectioning procedures (65). The thin section was studied and analyzed using a compound microscope (DM 2500M, Leica) with a digital camera (DFC 420C, Leica). Comparative material of S. geographicus included already published shell bone sections (59), and overall bone compactness was calculated using Bone Profiler software (66).

We plotted the largest as-preserved or estimated length of skull, lower jaw, and/or carapace of turtles and crocodylians from each of the neotropical Neogene to Quaternary fossil sites, putting them in context with the global climatic curve of Zachos et al. (46) and the major geological and geographical events of northern South America. We included the following lineages of turtles: Erymnochelyinae, Podocnemidinae, Chelidae, and Testudinidae, and for the crocodylians: Alligatoridae, Gavialidae, and Crocodylidae (Fig. 6, fig. S9, and table S3), adding also the largest reported extant representatives. We excluded from this plot very recently immigrant lineages of turtles: Geoemydidae, Kinosternidae, Emydidae, and Chelydridae, and turtles that occasionally reached South America, for example, Trionychidae, as well as sea turtles and the extant Galpagos tortoises (gigantism due to phylogenetic history and island isolation). The extremely fragmentary Charactosuchus spp. were also excluded considering that they are still controversial if they are truly members of Crocodylidae (67).

Supplementary material for this article is available at http://advances.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/6/7/eaay4593/DC1

Supplementary Text

Fig. S1. S. geographicus CIAAP-2002-01 details.

Fig. S2. Outlines and indication of the measurements of the new specimens described here and reported in tables S1 and S2.

Fig. S3. S. geographicus CIAAP-2002-01 carapace.

Fig. S4. AMU-CURS-85 carapace of S. geographicus from Venezuela.

Fig. S5. Details of S. geographicus AMU-CURS-1098 from Venezuela.

Fig. S6. Lower jaws of S. geographicus from Venezuela, Colombia, and extant podocnemidids.

Fig. S7. Additional strict consensus trees.

Fig. S8. A. angulata from the Cretaceous of Japan.

Fig. S9. Phylogeny versus skulllower jaw length for Miocene neotropical crocodylians.

Table S1. Measurements and body mass estimation for S. geographicus and other extant and extinct giant turtles as preserved in centimeters and kilograms.

Table S2. Specific measurements and thickness (see fig. S2) of new specimens of S. geographicus.

Table S3. Data on size for the Neogene to extant neotropical turtles and crocodylians.

Data file S1. Body mass estimation calculations.

Data file S2. Bone compactness calculations using Bone Profiler.

Data file S3. Character-taxon matrix Nexus file raw data.

Data file S4. Character-taxon matrix Nexus file final version.

Movie S1. Video of CIAAP-2002-01 specimen.

Movie S2. Video of the excavation of AMU-CURS-85 specimen.

References (6893)

Acknowledgments: We are indebted to D. Gutirrez and F. Parra for helping with the preparation of fossil specimens and collaboration in fieldwork. We thank R. Hirayama for color photos of Anomalochelys; M. Clauss for discussion on the early stages of this work; and editors J. Jackson and D. Erwin, reviewer W. Joyce, and an anonymous reviewer for input to improve this paper. We thank the curators and museum staff of the following institutions for permits and access to collections and specimens: American Museum of Natural History; Alcada Bolivariana de Urumaco; Chelonian Research Institute; Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de Venezuela; Museo Paleontolgico de Urumaco; Centro de Investigaciones Antropolgicas, Arqueolgicas y Paleontolgicas de la Universidad Experimental Francisco de Miranda; Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Caracas; Museum of Comparative Zoology-Harvard University; Museo Paleontolgico de Villavieja; Museo de Historia Natural La Tatacoa; Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Servicio Geolgico Colombiano; Divisa de Geologia e Mineralogia Museu de Cincias da Terra do Rio de Janeiro; Smithsonian Natural History Museum Collections; and University of Florida Herpetology Collection. We thank H. Moreno, C. Morn, G. Ojeda, A. Blanco, A. Reyes-Cespedes, J. Hernndez, and the communities of Urumaco and La Victoria for their valuable assistance. We thank the Brazilian Council of Science and Technological Development (productivity researches 305269/2017-8). We thank J. Moreno for information on some fossil crocodylians. Funding: This research was funded by grant 40215 from the National Geographic SocietyWaitt Foundation Grants Program and the Vicerrectora Universidad del Rosario. Author contributions: R.S., O.A.A.-S., M.P., A.V., M.R.S.-V., J.D.C.-B., and E.-A.C. collected the fossils. E.-A.C. and T.M.S. designed the study. E.-A.C., T.M.S., M.R.S.-V., and J.D.C.-B., collected data, made comparisons, and wrote the paper. All authors gave final approval for publication. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.

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The anatomy, paleobiology, and evolutionary relationships of the largest extinct side-necked turtle - Science Advances

Anatomy

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Anatomy

The anatomy of a perfect country what makes a nation great? – Telegraph.co.uk

How big would it be? What hours would we work? What would the weather be like? We muse on the make-up of an ideal nation

Nearly 200,000 years ago, humans made their first strides out of Africa in a quest that would see them one day populate the whole world. Century by century, civilisations rose and fell from east to west; their varying cultures preserved and segregated by oceans.

Societies in what are now the Americas had no idea of the inventions being made in China. Indigious tribes in Australia knew nothing of the clans in Africa. Only in recent history have we joined the dots and only today do we have the whole picture.

And so, armed with these insights, imagine you are a wizard with the power to create a new nation on Earth in which to live, with different attributes cherry-picked from any countries you like. What would it look like? It would probably not, as far as Im concerned, be a land-locked municipality with the climate of Siberia, the food of Lithuania, the attitude of Parisians and the railway network of Britain.

I did some digging on the subject, reviewed the worlds 'happiest countries'and their customs, spoke to the rest of the Telegraph Travel team, and posed the question to readers - all to gather the material needed with which to invent a Franken-nation of excellence. Heres how it came out...

A good place to start, given our British tendency to pontificate on the weather; though like every other category to follow, a highly subjective matter.

Some appreciate proper seasons, others yearn for a permanent state of summer, and there are even those who choose to endure 100 days a year of total darkness. Personally, I favour desert conditions - hot and dry during the day, cool in the evenings - and steer clear of jungles; their claustrophobic humidity and multitude of insects. I'd settle on the climate of coastal California. Residents of this state have every reason to brag, and not just because it's so reliably sunny...

Warmth aside, California benefits from a host of topographic perks that make it unique. First, its terrain is exceptionally diverse (lofty peaks, rich forest, golden beaches). Crucially, its high mountain ranges shelter it from powerful polar gusts from the north, and the generally clockwise direction of the prevailing winds limit the force of Pacific storms.

Its equatorial position ensures plenty of sunshine, with warm wind that blows in from the eastern Mojave Desert. But the 'California Current' that brings cool ocean water down the east coast absorbs enough solar energy to keep the air from being too oppressively hot, and renders the humidity very low compared to other regions on the same latitude.

Unlike California, however, this Franken-nation would like to remain, like Britain, an island - not too far from the nearest mainland but far enough to enjoy our personal space. Ideal, too, in the event of an apocalypse.

Is bigger better? Undeniably, there are political advantages to having a far-reaching territory, not to mention the lifestyle privileges of being able to ski, sunbathe, swim and mountain-climb without stepping past your own borders.

But just like the running of a major corporation over a medium-sized company, there are drawbacks to being large. There's more to manage, it's harder to make significant constitutional changes should you need to, and the more land you cover, the more diverse its population and at-odds their prerogatives - precisely the reason Brexiteers think wed be better off out of the EU.

And while some of the biggest countries in the world, primarily the US and China, may indeed be the richest, it's actually the smaller nations that are the wealthiest per capita - a far better metric for the people living there. Qataroccupies just 11,586 sq km (that's 20 times smaller than Britain) and tops the list with a GDP per capita of nearly 100,000 (more than double that of the UK). Yes, they have oil, but other pint-sized nations with a high GDP per capita also include Luxembourg, Switzerland, Macau and Brunei.

On the other hand, with being a small country comes a limiting perspective. Natives from large nations like Australia and the USA often scoff when they hear a Briton describe their journey from, say, London to Edinburgh as being 'long'.

This is probably a category for the Goldilocks approach; not too big, not too little.South Africa seems like a good size, allowing for the diversity of landscape enjoyed by larger countries - from its great safari bushland in the east, its Kalahari desert conditions in the north west, and abundance of coastline either side - without being so sprawling as to be unmanageable. In short, just right.

Confucius had it right when he predicted 1,500 years ago on the prospect of swelling communities: "Excessive growth may reduce output per worker, repress levels of living for the masses and engender strife." Of all the problems our planet now faces, overpopulation is the elephant in the room. So how many people should our Franken-nation add to the mix?

Thinkers and planners have been tossing theories around as to what makes the ideal population density since long before Confucius. These days, at least according to renowned Stanford population analyst Paul Ehrlich, the optimum population worldwide - "enough to guarantee the minimal physical ingredients of a decent life to everyone" is 1.5 to 2 billion people. We're currently at 7.7 billion, hurtling fast towards 9 billion by 2050.

Too many humans living egg-and-bird is obviously not a good thing. But neither, some say, is having a very sparse population; the countries with the fewest residents today (Mongolia and Greenland) tend to be so because of their harsh environments and you could argue, are a bit lonely.

Personally though, as someone who prefers empty sand dunes to city breaks, I say the less people the better. Other countries with low population densities include the likes of Namibia, Australia and Iceland - all very appealing domains. In Icelands case, its about nine people for every square mile.

How people like to get from A to B varies hugely, no more so than on our travel desk. If Oliver Smith had his way, our Franken-nation would have the bicycle-friendly ethos of the Netherlands. Adrian Bridge is only ever truly happy on a train. Gavin Haines has entirely given up flying.

Ideal, then, would be a country built to accommodate all modes of transport. For an ultra-efficient rail network, we should look to Japan's bullet trains. For tip-top cycle lanes, Scandinavia wins hands down - in Copenhagen, for example, more than 60 per cent of its residents get to work or school by bike.

Back to Asia we go for the best underground metro system, where Hong Kong's MTR is immaculately clean, brilliantly quick and reliable, Wi-Fi fitted and widely praised by travellers the world over.

As for the roads, the World Economic Forum reckons the United Arab Emirates has the best system in terms of both its infrastructure and quality of the tarmac. I'd also adopt Germany's Autobahn system for motorways.

Oh and please, pavements withpedestrian slow lanes.

Spanish? Greek? Chinese? Japanese? Thai? Mexican? Indian? Or dare we say it, British? No, its Italian cuisine that gets my vote.

Indulgent dishes - pizza, pasta, tiramisu - and an abundance of fresh produce - olive oil, tomatoes, artichoke, basil - strike an elegant balance between health and gluttony. And I appear to be in good company. Last year, an international YouGov study polled people on the topic across 24 countries and Italian came out on top, followed by Chinese (Britains favourite) and Japanese.

Our own cuisine didn't fare so well. Despite 90 per cent of British responders signalling their approval, foreigners do not agree. The biggest haters were the Japanese, along with the Germans, Spaniards and French.

Looking back over the greatest innovations of all time, it is inventors from China and the UK who have proved most prolific. China gave us paper, the compass, the first mechanical clock, gunpowder, rockets and alcohol. Britain can take a bow for introducing the steam engine, the telephone, the lightbulb and the World Wide Web; not to mention carbonated water, the lawnmower, the Mackintosh coat and Dolly the cloned sheep.

Currently, however, Switzerland has been ranked as the world leader in innovation for the seventh year running, by the Global Innovation Index report, followed by Sweden and the US. The UK takes fifth place. Why does Switzerland keep winning, aside from its exports of velcro, the Red Cross, and direct democracy? Lacking much in the way of natural resources, it's a country that has been forced to be creative in other ways.

Says Credit Suisse: "Since the country was largely spared the ravages of the Second World War, it was in an excellent position, with intact, export-oriented production facilities, to benefit from Europes post-war reconstruction. Also helpful is Switzerlands liberal, stability-oriented economic policy and traditional emphasis on hard work, dedication and education." The country holds more patents than any other country in relation to population.

What of the more tangible creature comforts? Switzerland's tap water please, it's the cleanest in the world and totally negates the need for plastic bottled mineral water. But Japans high-tech loos, I'm told, are far superior to our Western bogs (though Hazel Plush sings the praises of Dubai's lavish public bathrooms). Also Japan's multitude of vending machines - there's one on almost every block and they sell a vast array of essentials (groceries, umbrellas, tights, wine) - so convenient.

The country with the fastest internet? That depends on which report you look at, but Singapore and Taiwan generally dominate - both countries in which the average time it takes to download a HD film is about eight minutes, compared to half an hour in the UK.

I'd also yoink Finland's abundance of saunas (it is estimated that there are two million of them, for a population of 5.3 million).

It might surprise you to learn which country boasts the world's best healthcare system, according to the World Health Organisation: France, with a fairly complex orchestration of both private and public practises, largely funded (about 70 per cent of it) by the government, the rest generally covered by insurance.

Writing for The Local, London-based French blogger Muriel Demarcus says he experienced quite the culture shock when he first encountered the NHS. In the UK, he states, it's much harder to get an appointment, the GPs don't take patients seriously enough, surgery waiting lists are too long, and a trip to the dentist is at least double the price compared with France.

"The weird thing is that, come to think of it, the health budget is similar in France and in the UK (OK, a bit higher in France, but not massively higher)" he writes.

French hospitals it is, then. One thing I'd certainly want for our Franken-nation, however, would be a Swiss Dignitas-style clinic which permits terminal patients to end their lives should they wish to, with the dignity we afford our pets. Keeping people alive against their will when they're suffering seems ludicrous to me, not to mention expensive. Last year, the largest ever poll on human euthanasia, conducted by Populus, revealed that 84 per cent of Britons support it too.

Where to start? With the very sensible rules that surely every country should adopt, perhaps. In Argentina, you are automatically an organ donor unless you choose to opt out; a policy which saves thousands of lives a year.

The fact that more than a third of the world's food goes to waste every year is a travesty. Thus, in France, it is illegal for large supermarkets to throw away unsold food; they must instead donate it to those in need.

I'd also instigate a single-use plastic tax (something MPs are currently pushing for) to incentive the use of recyclable packaging.

Beyond that, in the interests of not igniting war in the comments box, we'll leave aside the more divise matters of drug legalisation, university quotas, religious rights, animal welfare laws and Heathrow's second runway - in favour of lighter topics...

Of everyone we heard from on this - the single foreign tradition to come out as most desirable? Siestas. All of us, it seems, are tired and would welcome a better work-life balance. Some countries are starting to address it. In the US, and particularly Silicon Valley, 'nap pods' for company employees have been springing up in recent years (I tested one in London), and low and behold, they have proven to increase, not limit, productivity.

What, then, of the four-day work week, which Jeremy Corbyn was widely ridiculed for proposing in the run up to the last general election? Not as mad as you might think. In summer 2019, Microsoft tested it out in its Japan offices. For the duration of the trial, the company reported a 40 per cent increase in productivity and, bonus, a 23 per cent reduction in electricity costs. A similar experiment has since been conducted in New Zealand, where a 20 per cent uptick in efficiency was observed.

In fact, the more you drill into the figures, the more it becomes clear that the countries around the world with the shortest working hours (Germany, Denmark Norway, the Netherlands) are actually among the most productive, certainly according to the World Economic Forum. "The average German worker is reported to be 27 per cent more productive than his or her British counterpart," its latest findings read. The Germans, depressingly, work an average of 26 hours a week, compared to 42.3 hours in the UK.

Putting aside our primal cry for rest, another enviable trait to have emerged from our inquiries was the Medditerran tendency to dine later in the evening than we Britons typically do. According to Laura Fowler, this approach reigns in Tel Aviv: "Locals there traditionally go out to dinner once the kids are in bed, and bars stay open as long as there are people drinking in them. Why close when everyone is having a good time?"

One Britishism, though, I think we can all agree on keeping is that which no other nation can compete on: proper, traditional pubs.

Our Franken-nation: a beautiful island of mountains, forest and beaches, about the size of South Africa, with the sunny climes of California. A population comparable to Iceland, with the healthcare system of France. Bicycle lanes to rival the Netherlands'. Hong Kong's zippy underground network, and internet as fast as Singapore's. Italian food, Swiss tap water and British pubs. We'll have Japan's bullet trains, thank you very much, as well, and its loos and its vending machines. We shall work less, like the Germans, and spend more time in saunas and the great outdoors, like the Finns.

Siestas will anchor our warm days, and as our deeply enriching lives draw to an end, we won't degenerate in nursing homes, but check into Digitas, get into bed and go to sleep.

What have we got right? What have we got thoroughly wrong? Nominate the traits you admire most from other countries and we'll publish the best of them.

Read this article:
The anatomy of a perfect country what makes a nation great? - Telegraph.co.uk

Anatomy

Greys Anatomy Recap: Mergers and Divisions – Vulture

Greys Anatomy

Save the Last Dance for Me

Season 16 Episode 13

Editors Rating 2 stars **

Photo: Ali Goldstein/ABC

Ah, midseason Greys Anatomy. Its that time of year where there are some moments of gripping drama, but mostly episodes are laying track for big things to come toward the end of the season. Were treading water again, and in Save the Last Dance for Me you could really feel it.

Take the AmeliaLink paternity debacle (YES WE HAVE TO). Amelia, in all her maturity and non-tumor-ness (wait, remember when Greys blamed all of Amelias irrational actions on her tumor? But then they removed it and shes basically the same? LOL, so cute), has taken to avoiding Link altogether while they wait for paternity results. Poor Link is just wandering around like a sad puppy waiting to find out if hes going to be a father or not as is his right, by the way and Amelia is acting like this is all about her. Yes, of course that tracks, but that doesnt make it fun to watch. She calls Link for a meeting in the plant room and pretty much tells him that he needs to figure out what hes going to do if the baby ends up being Owens right that very minute. You said you love me, is that true? she asks. This is such manipulative bullshit because hi, hello, he can love her and also be upset that this baby isnt his. Both things could be true, and where is a sister or two to come talk some sense into this lady when you need one? She especially needs a patented Meredith Grey speech about not being so Amelia about things by the end of the episode, because just as we think were going to get the paternity results, Amelia texts Link and tells him she hasnt even run the test yet. She cant. She needs time. What about our time, Amelia?!

Speaking of things we have a lack of interest in: the Grey Sloan Merger 2.0. Thats right, guys, Catherine went ahead and bought Pac-North, and it and its employees are being absorbed into Grey Sloan. Theyll be weeding out the extra staff by good ol fashioned interviews with Tom Koracick, the Chief of Chiefs. Once again, Tom is reveling in his power: Maggie gets her job back, but shes going to be working under Teddy; Owen is going to get his job back but gets strung along the entire day; and Richard is offered his job because Catherine demands it. No one is happy about any of this and Richard storms out, refusing to be a piece in Catherines chess game. Hed rather quit than let her win. But the people wont stand for that! And by people I mean Jackson, Bailey, and Meredith.

Jackson, Bailey, and Meredith grab Owen and Richard and go marching into the conference room to confront Koracick. Theyre the Board, ya see! Theyre not going to let Tom rule this hospital, ya see! Theyre a family and they do things a certain way, YA SEE! I mean this is all nice and fun, but its very confusing to keep track of who is on the Board and who isnt and also who really has power at Grey Sloan? This all seems convenient, but Tom goes along with it because he knows theyre right: If they all walk out on him, Catherine will not be happy. If he goes along with their plan, he can remain Chief of Chiefs in both title and salary, and that is enough for him to agree to making Maggie and Teddy co-Chiefs of Cardio, making Alex and Cormac co-Chiefs of Peds, and no longer running the hospital with a his way or no way mentality. For those who have been wondering how on earth wed get all our doctors under one hospital roof again, you have your answer!

Not all is lost, dear Greys friends. There is one storyline that has me intrigued: The unsolvable case of Suzanne. Remember Suzanne? DeLucas patient who started getting sicker after a routine appendectomy and they cant figure out why. Shes getting much worse, and although DeLuca has set up the war room Bailey requested, they still have no answers. DeLuca tricks a master diagnostician into coming to Grey Sloan by telling her The Meredith Grey has requested the consult, which is mean DeLuca repeatedly describes it as luring her to Grey Sloan and seems to think that makes it better and I really need someone to tell that child that is is only making it worse but ultimately a good decision.

Welcome Dr. Riley, Greys Anatomys first deaf doctor. She has no time for DeLucas nonsense, which is always delightful. After Maggie has to operate on Suzanne because of fluid building around her heart, Dr. Riley has an extremely risky plan: They need to take Suzanne off all of her medication antibiotics, steroids, everything so that they can see if maybe her medication is blocking out a clue to whats really going on. Obviously, taking a sick woman who just had heart surgery off all medication is not advisable, like, at all, but Rileys the best and this is her best recommendation. DeLuca turns to Maggie for her opinion, but Maggie, who may be back in the OR but is definitely much more detached than weve ever seen her, simply says Rileys idea is reckless and a catastrophic mistake. People should be watching out for Maggie.

Alas! There is no time! In the end, DeLuca offers Suzanne Rileys plan. Its risky shes definitely going to get sicker and be in pain while they try this but theyre all out of options. Its Suzannes sister Hadley who puts up the biggest fight. Riley wins her over with an emotional speech about her own sisters, how one is her best friend and so she understands what shes asking Hadley to do. She tells Hadley that Suzannes immune system is completely compromised and with the medication all gone, the disease will finally be able to talk to Riley. This is the best shot they have at saving Suzannes life. Suzanne and Hadley agree to move forward with Dr. Rileys plan. DeLucas moved by Rileys speech and when he starts to tell Riley about his own sister, she stops him shes an only child. She made it up to get Hadley on board. Dang, Dr. Riley. Thats cold but also Im impressed.

Well, I guess its time to talk about the Alex update: Jo confides in Amelia that Alex, still with his family, hasnt been taking her phone calls and told her hes going through something. Are they really going to have Alex just leave his wife and never return? We should reserve judgment until it plays itself out, but currently its all feeling a little too Izzie Stevens for me.

Is there really any hope for a reconciliation between Richard and Catherine at this point? Jackson seems to think so, well, until he sits down with Richard who compares Catherine to Godzilla stomping all over Tokyo. Im no expert, but that doesnt seem like a good sign for mending fences.

Wow, wow, wow. Is this the end of Schmitt and Nico? Nicos annoyed that Schmitt has basically moved into his place, just as Schmitt meets an older patient dying of cancer and her husband, who are the loves of each others lives. Former ballroom dancers, Schmitt helps Norman share one last dance with Irene in the hospital cafeteria. Its lovely. But it also makes Schmitt think about his relationship. He wants more than just great sex. He wants a real partner. It might not be Nico.

Meredith also has a big reaction to Norman and Irene dancing in the cafeteria: She realizes that back in the day, it wouldve been her organizing that dance. She wonders when she stopped being such a romantic, and what that says about her relationship with DeLuca. The two of them are sleeping together again, but she wonders what it means that when he sort-of-dumped her, she barely felt anything but annoyance. Is DeLuca out and Cormac in? Did Cristina Yang truly know best?

Wait. Are Bailey and Ben going to adopt 17-year-old foster kid Joey who came in from Station 19? Theyre totally going to adopt him.

Speaking of Station 19: Whats with all the crossover stuff? I watch both shows and even I find it all to be a little too much. Next week: Bear attack crossover! I mean, thats hilarious, but still.

Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows!

Read the original here:
Greys Anatomy Recap: Mergers and Divisions - Vulture

Anatomy

Krista Vernoff and Shoshannah Stern Break Down Bringing the First Deaf Doctor to Greys Anatomy – Variety

When Greys Anatomy introduces Dr. Lauren Riley in its Feb. 13 episode, Save the Last Dance for Me, it marks more than just Shoshannah Sterns debut on the long-running drama: Dr. Riley is also the first recurring deaf doctor on a primetime network series.

To tackle the groundbreaking character, Stern teamed up with Greys Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff, who initially didnt realize this would be a historic first.

I didnt know until we were on set shooting it, Vernoff tells Variety, calling the vibe on set electric. And that is the power of Shoshannah: I fell in love with her as a human, as a communicator, as an actress. I thought she was incredible and I wanted to put her on my show. I did not even know it had never been done before. Thats wild to me. And so to learn that on the day that she was working that this was the first deaf doctor whos ever appeared on network television? How is that possible?

Stern met Vernoff on a 2019 Television Academy Foundation panel about representing disabilities in storytelling. We just got to talking backstage, and she was talking about the lack of work, even though shes put her own incredible show on the air, Vernoff recalls. And I was so smitten with her.

Vernoff suggested on the spot that Stern come play a doctor on Greys Anatomy. I dont know if Ive ever invented a character because I fell in love with an actor, Vernoff admits.

The guest spot is also a literal dream come true for Stern, who had a recurring dream about being on the medical series a decade ago. It was always just me walking around in scrubs with the other doctors like I was one of them, Stern recalls. I remember always having trouble adjusting when I woke up from these dreams, because they always felt so vividly real.

The first day on set felt almost dreamlike because she felt super calm, like you do when youre dreaming, she explains. Everyone was unbelievably welcoming and nice to the point that I kind of felt like Id been there before. Members of the cast who I didnt even have scenes with still went out of their way to come and say hello to me.

Prior to meeting Vernoff, the path to joining the show was bumpy, as Stern was let go by a manager a decade ago when they couldnt understand why she declined to audition to play a patient on the hit drama. It made no logical sense for me to turn down something real for something that wasnt, she says. But something inside me was telling me not to.

Now, with Vernoff on her side, Stern was invited to the writers room to discuss coming on to the series, and the actress came prepped with her own research on deaf doctors.

Ive always been fascinated with all the deaf doctors out there in the wild, Stern says. Theyre all very different, but a commonality they share is that they seem to bring a special touch to their job. Some have actually invented medical technology to allow them more access, some of which youre going to see in Rileys episodes.

When Stern told the writers that deaf doctors traditionally make better diagnosticians than the average hearing doctor, the final pieces clicked into place. The writers then crafted a longer-term patient (Sarah Raffertys Suzanne), whose mysterious case would prompt DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) to call in outside assistance.

Although Sterns characters in the past have been primarily English-dominant (using a combination of lip-reading and Stern speaking) and many deaf doctors also utilize that way of communicating the collaboration with the writers led to taking Dr. Riley in a different direction.

For Riley, I really wanted her to sign, Stern says. She deals with peoples bodies, and you use your entire body to sign, so I just thought it would carry a special kind of weight. My deaf cousin [who is also named Lauren] is a nurse that uses an interpreter at work, and my husband does a lot of video relay interpreting in the medical field, so the inspiration for me for how Riley would communicate was cross-bred between my cousin and my husband.

Working with Vernoff, episode writer Tameson Duffy, and director Jesse Williams, the quartet utilized technology to allow for Rileys interpreter to communicate via an iPad, which was used in scenes with multiple characters. However, when she was one-on-one with someone (and when there were mobility concerns about being tied to the video screen), Riley would switch to lip-reading and English with her new colleagues.

The team at Greys also reached out to some deaf doctors on their own to ensure what they were writing about was accurate, Stern says. It was just an absolute spectacular example of the magic that collaboration can bring, and Im so grateful to Krista and everyone at Greys for their commitment to that.

In portraying this trailblazing character, it was most important to me that Riley was the best at what she did because, not in spite, of the fact that shes deaf, Stern says. It was also important that being deaf isnt something that defines Riley, it just adds a unique layer to her. I loved how it was executed on the page, too, because Riley does eventually kind of touch on how her being deaf has actually helped her be as good as she is, but shes kind of an enigma in that you never really know what shes thinking or why shes saying what she is.

Off-screen, the response has just been so profound, even before the episodes officially air, Stern admits. Ive gotten tweets from other deaf doctors and deaf people in the medical field. One mentioned that they dropped out of medical school because stuff like face masks prevented them from being able to read lips. I remember freaking out on the table in the OR when I had an emergency C-section because I understood nothing anyone was saying because of these face masks too. I think thats why some people will drive hundreds of miles to where there is a deaf doctor so they can be understood.

Stern also relied on her cousin Lauren to help her with the medical signs on the show. There arent even existing signs for a lot of the medical stuff, or really science based signs in general, because the incidence of it being used is so low, she says. Thats a huge detriment in deaf people access to science and medicine, but we have people working on that now. Its such an incredible feat and hopefully the more its utilized, the more it will spread and become normalized because that will provide more access and understanding for deaf patients when they go to the doctor. I hope that people will see Riley and realize that it can be a reality for them, too. So hopefully Greys can also change lives in that particular sense.

Greys Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Original post:
Krista Vernoff and Shoshannah Stern Break Down Bringing the First Deaf Doctor to Greys Anatomy - Variety

Anatomy

Greys Anatomy & Station 19 Give ABC Thursday Win; CBS Tommy Steadiest Among Week 2 Shows – Deadline

The one-two punch of Station 19 and Greys Anatomy made ABC the top-rated network in primetime Thursday, a night that saw the second week of midseason offerings Indebted on NBC and Katy Keene on the CW fall from their premieres, and CBS Tommy starring Edie Falco hold steady.

It was CBS with the nights most-watched and top-rated program however in Young Sheldon, which drew a 1.0 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 8.84 million viewers and was steady with last week. It launched a comedy that helped the network to the top spot in overall viewers, with The Unicorn (0.8, 6.04M), Mom (0.8, 6.26M) and Carols Second Act (0.6, 4.87M) all up a tenth leading into Week 2 of Tommy (0.4, 4.41M).

The police drama was steady with last weeks debut in the demo; it saw a slight dip in viewers but still won the 10 PM hour in the metric. Among the new shows it saw the biggest Live+3 lifts, adding three tenths in the demo and 2.31M viewers (both up by 48%).

Related Story'Saturday Night Live' Ratings Rise With Host RuPaul & Musical Guest Justin Bieber

Station 19 (0.9, 5.98M) was even with last week, while Greys (1.0, 5.55M) dipped a tenth but rose in viewers, as did A Million Little Things (0.6, 3.70M).

NBCs comedy lineup included the return of newly renewed Superstore (0.6, 2.34M) after last week giving way to the season premiere of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Last night, the cop comedy (0.5, 1.79M) was off two-tenths from its season bow but even with the second episode that followed. Will & Grace (0.4, 1.96M), off a tenth, led into the second week of the Fran Drescher-toplined Indebted (0.3, 1.53M) which fell in both the demo and total viewers. Law & Order: SVU (0.7, 3.32M) was the top-rated show at 10 PM, up a tenth.

Foxs new comedy Outmatched (0.5, 2.17M) dipped a tenth last night but topped Brooklyn in total viewers in their 8:30 PM time slot. It was bookend by Last Man Standing (0.6, 3.68M), off two tenths, and Deputy (0.5, 3.38M), down a tenth.

The CWs second week of Katy Keene (0.1, 560,000), its Riverdale spinoff with Lucy Hale, also dropped in both ratings metrics. Legacies (0.2, 620K) was steady.

Originally posted here:
Greys Anatomy & Station 19 Give ABC Thursday Win; CBS Tommy Steadiest Among Week 2 Shows - Deadline

Anatomy

Greys Anatomy Fans Are Accusing the Show’s Writers of "Assassinating" Alex Karev’s Character – Yahoo Lifestyle

From Good Housekeeping

Brace yourselves, Grey's Anatomy fans: After weeks of wondering what will happen to Dr. Alex Karev following Justin Chambers's exit from the show after 16 seasons, it looks like we finally have some answers but it's not exactly a heartwarming send-off like we'd hoped.

Since Justin's departure, his character's absence has mainly been addressed in off-screen references and passing mentions that he was in Iowa taking care of his sick mother. But the latest episode, entitled "Save the Last Dance for Me," gave us even more information: Alex is still in Iowa, but is not responding to phone calls from his wife, Jo (Camilla Luddington).

The upsetting update was revealed in a conversation between Jo and Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone)."He says that he's going through something and he needs time, and if I didn't know better, I would think he was getting revenge for when I needed time. But I know he would never do that, so ... I'm sorry. I'm anxious," Jo tells Amelia during the episode.

Wait, so does this mean that Alex is ghosting the love of his life? Needless to say, Grey's fans are definitely not happy with this update on Alex and what it means for his relationship with Jo. Some are even fearing that a divorce between the couple is the way the writers are wrapping up Alex's storyline.

"How are you really going to send Alex off with a bad ending? really #GreysAnatomy? really?" one fan tweeted. "Karev deserves better than becoming the distant husband who will eventually file for divorce," wrote another Twitter user.

Meanwhile, many other fans are enraged at the inconsistencies of this storyline with the character, pointing out that Alex would never suddenly abandon his wife with no explanation. After all, as longtime Grey's fans might remember from the many character exits in the show, Alex himself suffered through a painful divorce after his past love interest and ex-wife, Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), abruptly left him.

"Alex wouldn't just take off. He knows how much that hurts because Izzy [sic] did that to him. He loves Jo too much to just disappear," one fan wrote on Reddit. Many other viewers expressed the same sentiments on Twitter, conveying their frustrations over what they believe is a major step backwards for Alex's character development:

By the sounds of it though, there might be more to Alex's story after all, as showrunner Krista Vernoff revealed in a recent interview with Variety.

It was a very careful threading of a needle, where we are giving a little bit of information and pain to Jo, she explained. Were, episode by episode, illuminating the story of where Alex is. And it takes us quite a few more episodes to get there and to give the audience clarity.

Krista also promised that the show's writers have dealt with Alex's character "as carefully as [they] could." Does this mean there's still a chance that Alex can get the happy ending he deserves? We'll have to find out in the next few episodes, but our fingers are definitely crossed.

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Greys Anatomy Fans Are Accusing the Show's Writers of "Assassinating" Alex Karev's Character - Yahoo Lifestyle

Anatomy

Nature up close: A giraffe’s anatomy is a study in superlatives – the tallest terrestrial animals on Earth, with a neck six feet long, and strong legs…

By "Sunday Morning" contributing videographer Judy Lehmberg.

I come from a pretty small family, so when my father married a South African woman with a large extended family, I was delighted. They are an interesting bunch: Russian Jews, some of whom survived the German concentration camps during World War II, and some like my step-mother's father, who fought in that war and lived to be 98 years old. Not long after I first met him, he asked me about the animals in Yellowstone National Park which they had visited on one of their trips to the U.S. He knew I was a biologist, so he asked where all the large animals were in the park.

I had to think a minute. Didn't he see the bison, elk, moose, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, two species of bears and the wolves? Yes, he said he say them, but where were the rest of them?

Then it hit me. Those are the only large animals in Yellowstone, and he was comparing them to his experiences in Kruger National Park and other African parks and reserves.

He was right. The continental U.S. has a measly 490 species of mammals, while Africa has 4,700. Granted the continent of Africa is huge by comparison, but that is almost ten times the number of mammal species than are in the U.S.

Africa has 90 species of antelope; the U.S. has zero. (Contrary to their name, American pronghorn are not true antelope.) We fair better in the bird department with a little more than 2,000 species in all of North America, which is similar to the total number in all of Africa. But Kenya alone has over 1,100 species, and Africa has the Sahara Desert where very few birds live full time. And then there are the strange-looking animals like elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes animals that are pretty difficult to explain strictly from an evolutionary standpoint. They all look like they were made by committees that couldn't agree on anything.

The giraffes are the most graceful of the "committee" species. They move almost as if they are trying to hold an invisible stack of books on their head. They aren't all that graceful-looking when they lean down to get a drink of water, but even just standing still and eating Acacia leaves, they seem to emit a graceful, peaceful air. How they eat those leaves is hard to understand when you notice the plant's three-inch-long thorns, but they don't seem to bother the giraffes a bit. They must have really tough tongues.

Their general anatomy is a study in superlatives. They are the tallest terrestrial animals on Earth. Even though they only have seven neck, or cervical, vertebra (the same as humans), their neck is six feet long and weighs 600 pounds. Their legs are six feet long, and their feet are 12 inches across, which along with strong leg bones helps them support their immense weight (in males, that's up to 3,000 pounds). Their heart is about two feet long and weighs around 25 pounds, and their lungs can hold up to 12 gallons of air.

Although males can be aggressive towards each other (more on that in a minute), they don't defend a territory or even live in consistent family groups. Sometimes a group of giraffes is all females and their young, sometimes they are all male, and sometimes the group is a mix of ages and both sexes. They are more fluid than many species, as group members tend to come and go from one group to another. No one seems to know what triggers them to move, or to return.

No one really knows why a giraffe's neck is so long. Before Charles Darwin proposed his theory of organisms inheriting characteristics (what we now know as genes) from their parents, some people thought animals acquired characteristics during their lifetimes and then passed those characteristics to their offspring. For several thousand years, that theory was believed by everyone from Hippocrates and Aristotle to, most famously, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and became known as "Lamarckian evolution." Lamarck used giraffes as an example. He believed they stretched their necks to reach higher leaves, and passed those stretched necks to their offspring. He was wrong. For many years biology teachers have taught that giraffes who happened to be born with slightly-longer necks could reach higher leaves, thereby outcompeting their shorter-necked friends and relatives and successfully pass those genes on to the next generation.

That may very well be true, as the fossil record shows giraffe necks have elongated, especially in the last seven million years. But it is virtually impossible to say why their necks got longer. Maybe it was because longer-necked individuals could reach higher leaves. But there could be at least one other explanation.

Male giraffes sometimes fight to win the right to mate with a female. They all fight the same way, by swinging their necks and hitting the other giraffe, usually trying to knock it off balance, causing it to fall, which can result in their death. They can also do a good bit of damage with their horns if a blow lands hard enough. I've never seen them fight to the death, but I have seen fights that lasted several minutes and didn't always have an obvious winner. Maybe males with longer, thicker necks are more successful at mating, and therefore pass those genes on to their offspring?

My favorite thing about giraffes is that they attract oxpeckers, birds that land on giraffes and other herbivorous animals in Africa, and pick parasites off them. I have no idea why, but oxpeckers seem particularly attracted to giraffes. I love to watch them run their beaks systematically through a giraffe's fur like a single-tinged comb, feeling for ticks and other parasites. Sometimes the giraffe will twitch its skin and the oxpeckers fly off, but sometimes they will hold their ears really still so an oxpecker can go in and grab whatever parasites are in there.

Judy Lehmberg is a former college biology teacher who now shoots nature videos.

See also:

To watch extended "Sunday Morning" Nature videos click here!

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Nature up close: A giraffe's anatomy is a study in superlatives - the tallest terrestrial animals on Earth, with a neck six feet long, and strong legs...