Don't Bite Taz

[+ Lucky]

Sure, he looks cute and cuddly to us, but here is a warning to those who might come into closer contact with fellow poster tazmanian:

 

Lethal Tasmanian Devil Tumors Spread by Contact, Study Finds

By Thomas H. Maugh II, LA Times Staff Writer

 

 

They are not considered cute or cuddly, but Tasmanian devils are a cultural icon of Australia, right behind koalas and kangaroos.

 

Over the last decade, however, devils have been dying off in massive numbers, felled by oral and facial tumors that prevent eating, causing them to starve to death. In some areas, virtually all of the animals have died from the mysterious disease.

 

A study by researchers at Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment now offers the first clues about how the disease is transmitted.

 

The study, published Thursday in the journal Nature, concludes that the animals are inadvertently transplanting tumor cells among themselves when they bite during fights and mating rituals.

 

The key came from an analysis of chromosomes in tumor cells, according to biologist Anne-Maree Pearse and her colleagues.

 

She found that chromosome patterns in tumor cells from the devils were identical to each other and grossly different from the devils' healthy chromosomes.

 

The devils normally have six pairs of chromosomes plus a pair of sex chromosomes. In all of the tumor cells, however, both sex chromosomes were missing, as were both members of chromosome 2 and one member of the chromosome 6 pair. Moreover, a long section of chromosome 1 was missing and four new chromosome fragments were present.

 

Such a complex arrangement of chromosomes could not have occurred independently in each animal, Pearse concluded. Instead, the tumor must have arisen in one animal and subsequently been transferred to others when cells sloughed off during biting, allowing the tumors to take root in new animals.

 

Apparently, the devils' immunological profiles are sufficiently similar that the tumor cells are not rejected. One piece of supporting evidence for this view is that devils in western Tasmania, which are genetically distinct from those in the east, have escaped the outbreak.

 

The best hope for fighting the outbreak is removing diseased animals from the wild, scientists believe.

 

Preliminary studies by biologist Menna Jones of the University of Tasmania in Hobart show that when all diseased animals are culled from a population cut off from other devils, the outbreak is halted.

[Guest Rendie]

http://oseb79.free.fr/images/Serie,%20cartoon/Taz%2006.jpg

 

enjoy

Rendie

[tazmanian5230]

Damm, Barry bit Nick !!

 

"Not that people should be told this, but on a personal hygiene note, it's really a good idea to wash your hands after putting your fingers up a dancers' butt"

COOPER 2005

 

http://files.photojerk.com/Rendie/taz_timemanoftheyear.JPG

[+ Lucky]

Wow! Rendie's wallet must be big!

 

(Yes, I am feeling better. Thanks!)

[Guest Rendie]

Taz, do you have any pictures with pants on?? :o

 

I've been told to take down all your USC 2257 noncompliant pictures!! }(

 

RENDIE

[tazmanian5230]

Sorry RENDIE,

 

I refuse to put my pants on no matter what the moderators say!

 

 

http://files.photojerk.com/Rendie/taz_timemanoftheyear.JPG

[+ Lucky]

I have enlarged that pic as big as my computer goes, and I still don't see anything that would be a 2257 violation. Maybe some poor sap bit it off! (I'm sure it was just a nibble!)