Industrial, agricultural and municipal pollution has caused enormous damage to riparian ecosystems

• By Steven Crook / Contributing Reporter

In Taiwan, as in other countries that have experienced rapid industrialization, a downside of development has been the degradation of its rivers.

To some extent, this was the result of people turning their backs on the streams that watered their ancestors’ fields and the creeks where their grandmothers washed clothes. Once tap water was available and road bridges crossed major waterways, urban dwellers had no reason to think about rivers—unless they needed a place to dump waste that couldn’t be burned.

Industrial, agricultural, and municipal pollution has caused enormous damage to riparian ecosystems, or riverbanks. The heavy use of ammonium fertilizers has been a factor in the decline of the Taiwan freshwater mussel (Corbicula fluminea formosa). This species was once so abundant that when country folk talked about killing two birds with one stone, they would say in Hoklo (the language also known as Taiwanese) “to collect mussels while washing your pants in the stream.”

Photo: Steven Crook

How polluted are Taiwan’s waterways? According to the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) Water Quality Protection Division, of the country’s 2,934 km of streams and rivers, 68.1 percent were unpolluted in 2020. In the same year, 9.3 percent were lightly polluted, 19.3 percent were moderately polluted, and 3.3 percent were heavily polluted. EPA data shows a very slight improvement between 2007 and 2019.

An Oct. 2018 paper in the academic journal Water examined data from monitoring stations for 14 major rivers and concluded that pollution was nearly ubiquitous between 2002 and 2016. Lead concentrations exceeding the EPA standard limit were found in the Dongshan (冬山), Jhuoshuei (濁水), and Sinhuwei (新虎尾) rivers. Copper levels were exceeded in the Dahan (大漢), Laojie (老街), and Erren (二仁) rivers. All 14 rivers were contaminated with manganese.

March 14 will be the 25th International Day of Action for Rivers. Once again, this cross-border expression of solidarity and concern will go unmarked in Taiwan.

Photo: Steven Crook

Even so, many Taiwanese are expressing concern about the state of local waterways. Among them is Liao Kuei-hsien (廖桂賢), an associate professor at the Graduate School of Urban Planning at National Taipei University and convener of the Taiwan River Network (台灣河溪網), an NGO that works to promote the protection and restoration of river health. .

“CRUSHED WATER” TREATMENT

According to Liao, pollution is one of the two major challenges facing Taiwan’s rivers.

Photo: Steven Crook

“Black water” (wastewater from toilets) is almost always treated before being discharged, often into septic tanks. However, she points out, what is called “gray water” is often released untreated into rivers and streams. Because it comes from bathrooms and washing machines, gray water usually contains traces of human waste.

Liao applauds the efforts made by many local governments to increase the percentage of gray water that is treated. However, she says, more work needs to be done to increase the rate of domestic wastewater treatment.

Data from the Construction and Planning Agency of the Ministry of the Interior shows that wastewater treatment rates at the beginning of this year in the six special municipalities ranged from 94 percent (in New Taipei) to 59 percent (in Tainan). Several local governments reported rates below 50 percent, with the lowest rates in Chiayi County (21.5 percent) and Taitung County (17 percent).

Photo: Steven Crook

Sewerage systems are not as visible as bridges or cultural sites, and “elected politicians tend to ignore this issue because it’s not sexy,” says Liao. “The central government needs to provide greater incentives for local governments to do this, and voters need to be better educated to understand the importance of wastewater treatment,” she adds.

More toxic pollution escapes from industrial areas and feedlots (buildings where animals or birds are raised). Wastewater from those places should be treated before being released, but as Liao points out, illegal discharges still occur from time to time, turning rivers bizarre colors.

“Current fines are not a deterrent,” she explains. “In most waterways in Taiwan, we see the dominance of non-native, pollution-tolerant species such as tilapia, striped snakehead, and Amazon catfish,” says Liao, describing the latter as “extremely invasive.”

“THREE SMOOTH SIDED” ENGINEERING.

Native species are struggling to survive not just because of pollution, but also because “morphological modification” – human-induced changes to the shape and direction of river channels – is undermining the health of local waterways.

“In the name of flood control or soil and water conservation, it’s very common to see streams or smaller rivers completely covered in concrete,” she says. According to Liao, this form of river engineering—known locally as sanmianguang (三面光, “three smooth sides”)—“basically destroys the entire ecosystem of the river.”

The waters, bed, and banks of an unpolluted and unmodified river are likely to host amphibians such as frogs, crustaceans and mollusks, fish, and insects, as well as various plants and microorganisms. These in turn support populations of birds and reptiles.

Due to increased environmental awareness among engineers and the public, authorities are less likely to convert sections of river into completely concreted channels.

The Public Works Commission recognizes the drawbacks of “three-sided” and “two-sided” engineering. Its website points out that concrete channels do not necessarily protect nearby communities from flooding because “all natural river features are removed, so the velocity of floodwater increases.”

Additionally, they are said to be preventing groundwater recharge, exacerbating Taiwan’s water shortage.

“Streams that escape being completely covered in concrete often have their natural banks converted into covers, usually concrete or riprap. This means eliminating the entire riparian zone – the interface of land and water – which is very important to the river ecosystem,” says Liao.

Furthermore, she explains, modifying riverbanks in this way disrupts the connection between waterways and their floodplains. Very often, there is a decrease in habitat heterogeneity and, as a result, a reduction in overall biodiversity.

Horizontal structures, such as check dams built to slow water speed and reduce erosion, “seriously impede upstream-downstream connections, affecting the migration of fish and other creatures up and down the river,” says Liao.

Dams have likely been a factor in the decline of landlocked Formosan salmon. Such barriers prevent fish that are washed downstream during typhoons from returning to cooler waters where they might survive, and divide populations into isolated groups, increasing the risk of inbreeding. As part of efforts to save the salmon from extinction, a handful of check dams in Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園) have been demolished.

FLOOD SAFETY

Liao says that Taiwan’s larger rivers are relatively less modified, meaning that while they are contained by levees, they have wider corridors to ensure that floodwaters are carried out to sea. Floodplain areas outside the levees, however, are often heavily modified, with natural vegetation removed. Around Taipei City, many floodplains have been converted into parking lots and sports fields.

“To address the problem of morphological change, the root cause – the ingrained belief that rivers need to be designed or controlled for flood safety – needs to be addressed. However, this is very difficult,” says Liao.

Liao says flood engineering is an unsustainable approach to flood safety. Increasing flood resilience is much more important in the face of extreme rainfall events. In the long term, she adds, we will need to shift the flood mitigation paradigm from flood control to flood resilience.

RIVER RESTORATION MOVEMENT

In the medium term, Liao calls for a nationwide river restoration movement that would “restore the health of river ecosystems so that they can provide more ecosystem services. Where necessary, we should free streams and rivers from hard structures, such as levees and structures that impede flow. To control flooding and erosion, we can implement ecological engineering methods and nature-based solutions instead of hard engineering.”

She says that while the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency (WRA) and local government units claim to pay attention to ecological issues, “often their understanding of ecology is superficial.”

The Facebook group “Urban Rivers and Streams” (城鄉河溪論壇) highlighted a recent case where a government agency botched a so-called “river improvement project.”

During the modification of part of Dahu Stream (大湖) in Yuanshan Township (員山) of Yilan County by the First River Management Office of the WRA, a belt of riverside vegetation that should have been preserved was eradicated.

It appears that conservation measures were not clarified in the contract and related diagrams; changes to the plan were not checked and confirmed with stakeholders; ecological inspection data after August last year was left blank; and records relating to the public participation phase may have been falsified.

The Dahu Creek project (budget: $40.7 million) is just a small part of what has become a major industry. NT$183 million has been earmarked for the reconstruction of the middle and lower reaches of Sanye Creek (三爺) in Tainan. On Jan. 20 this year, United Daily News reported that work is about to begin on a section of Hutou Creek (虎頭), also in Tainan, the first phase estimated to cost NT$400 million.

A new approach to Taiwan’s waterways is possible, but only if the country’s leaders are willing to upset a few apple carts.

Steven Crook, the author or co-author of four books about Taiwan, has been following environmental issues since arriving in the country in 1991. He drives a hybrid and carries his own chopsticks. The views expressed here are his own.

Comments will be moderated. Please keep comments relevant to the article. Comments containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind, or promotion will be removed and the user will be banned. The final decision will be at the discretion of Taipei Times.

Yas’s little piece of Paradise…

The next leisurely Yas Bay gastronomic tour is Paradiso. Spiritually, it’s anchored somewhere along the shores of the Mediterranean, but thankfully, given those increasingly expensive trips to the gas station, it’s physically located at Pier 71 on the Yas Bay waterfront.

It is the latest Abu Dhabi project from Groupe Barrière, a restaurant built on the culinary vision of three Michelin-starred talents, Chef Pierre Gagnaire (Fouquet’s) and the queen of French cuisine Chef Nicole Rubi (the woman behind La Petite Maison in Nice).

And it makes quite the first impression, inspired as it is by the wonder and whimsy of the golden age of cinema (the restaurant’s name, perhaps a nod to the 1980s Italian masterpiece Cinema Paradiso which is itself an ode to the moving image). Also drawing heavily on the glitz of the Côte d’Azur in the 1970s, it is Nice as both an adjective and an address.

Inside, a mural shows a map of the Mediterranean, dotted with black-and-white pop culture icons from the era, the floor tiles play their own game of monochrome geometry and unlock the faintest of long-forgotten memories. On the terrace, we confess to a slight bias – we never get tired of those ever-changing blue views of Yas Bay, and the laid-out table quietly continues the nostalgic Mediterranean theme, with crisp white tablecloths, wicker chairs and pastel mustard parasols.

The menu is compact but growing, our server recommends a few specials that will be added soon, but are currently off the page. For starters, we choose the snails which are on the menu (Dhs75), and a grilled octopus salad which is not (Dhs79).

Essentially, we ordered “mollusks done two ways,” and after the first few bites, we’re quietly pleased with our choice. The snails offer something more than the traditional Parisian bistro menu, there’s a depth there, a hint of citrus that disappears as quickly as it appears, leaving us wondering if it was imagined.

Octopus is a notoriously tricky customer when it comes to grilling; it’s easy to overcook it in search of the perfect crunch on the outside. But this cut is just on the right side of the bite-to-tender ratio. It’s served with lentils, red peppers, and sautéed potatoes in an oceanic twist on petit salé aux lentilles.

At this point, we become aware of the venue’s soundtrack, a mix of 60s and 70s swing and jazz that blends so seamlessly with the atmosphere that it’s easy to get lost in the holistic experience. There’s a band playing here on the weekends, a live DJ every night, and we’re told the mixology offerings are worth a visit, but all of that will have to wait for another day.

Paradiso has more volume when it comes to main courses, we’ve heard great things about their pizza and pasta options, but our server also let slip that one of the specialties, soon to join the full menu, is sole meuniere (Dhs 260). And try as we might, we could never resist the lure of that butter and lemon banner stand for its French flavor.

It comes with your choice of side dishes, we opted for the grilled vegetables, primarily because we had already steamed through about a month’s worth of recommended butter intake by the time we sat down (partly, by us using the bread from before the appetizer to soak up every last drop of the snail portion).

The fish arrives and is delicately deboned and filleted tableside. Then we are left alone in quiet contemplation with our soles. It is a struggle to properly communicate how much joy it is to eat, it has to rank up there with the best dishes available in Abu Dhabi restaurants right now.

It is a spectacle of subtle nuances of flavors, nothing on the plate seeks to overlap or overshadow, no element fights for glory at the expense of the others. It is an early autumn day in Provence, it is the faintly blooming mistral breeze, it is a royal duel between citrus and creamy butter. It is very well what we are trying to say, and it is a great place to let the credits roll.

Fine

Verdict: It’s a tough call, but this might just be our new favorite restaurant in Yas Bay. It’s definitely on par with other great examples of Mediterranean dining in Abu Dhabi. Views to fall in love with, food to “stomach” with. Rating: A.

Pier 7, Yas Bay Waterfront, open daily from noon to 11pm. @paradisoabudhabi

The lights, sounds, cards, wheels and different game themes can make the experience exciting.

But gambling should stay what it is: a form of entertainment that involves risk.

The moment gambling starts affecting your bills, relationships, work, sleep, or everyday life, it is time to step back.

Responsible gambling does not mean never having fun.

It means knowing your limits before you start and being willing to stick to them.

Only Gamble With Money You Can Afford to Lose

This is probably the simplest rule of all.

Never use money that is needed for rent, food, bills, transport, savings, or other important expenses.

If losing the money would create a problem later, that money should not be used for gambling.

It can help to think of gambling money like money spent on going to the cinema or eating out.

Once it is spent, it is gone.

If you happen to win, that is a bonus.

Set a Budget Before You Start

One simple habit can make a big difference.

Decide your gambling budget before you start.

For example, you might decide that you are comfortable spending a certain amount on entertainment that day.

Once that amount is gone, stop.

Do not keep adding more money because you feel that the next round might change things.

That is where a small entertainment expense can quickly become something much bigger.

Do Not Chase Losses

This is one of the biggest traps in gambling.

Imagine you lose £20.

You may think:

“I’ll play another £20 and win it back.”

Then you lose again.

Now you may think:

“I’ll just increase the bet and get everything back.”

This can continue until a small loss becomes a large one.

The problem is that previous results do not force the next result to change.

A roulette ball does not know that you lost the previous five spins.

A slot machine does not know how much you have already spent.

A new hand of cards does not owe you a win.

Walking away after a loss can be difficult, but chasing losses usually creates more risk rather than solving the original problem.

Take Breaks

Gambling for a long time can make it harder to notice how much money or time has been spent.

Taking regular breaks gives you a chance to step away and reset.

Get some fresh air.

Have something to eat.

Talk to a friend.

Do something completely different.

Sometimes the best decision is simply to close the game or leave the table.

Never Gamble Just Because You Are Angry or Upset

Your mood can affect the decisions you make.

If you are angry, stressed, tired, or upset, gambling may not be a good idea.

The same applies if you are gambling because you are bored and have nothing else to do.

Casino games should not become a way of dealing with difficult emotions or personal problems.

There are better ways to handle those situations, such as talking to someone you trust or taking some time away from the situation.

Keep Gambling Separate From Your Everyday Money

It can help to keep gambling money separate from the money you use for normal life.

Your rent money should remain your rent money.

Your food budget should remain your food budget.

Your savings should remain your savings.

Do not move money between these areas just because you had a bad gambling session.

A clear boundary makes it easier to know when to stop.

Remember That Wins Are Not Guaranteed

This point sounds obvious, but it is worth repeating.

Casino games involve chance.

You can make sensible decisions, understand the rules and know the mathematics, but you still cannot control the final result in a normal casino game.

That is why our earlier article on casino odds, house edge and RTP is useful.

Understanding the mathematics helps you see why a short winning session does not mean you have discovered a guaranteed way to make money.

Gambling Should Not Become a Job

A casino game should not be treated as a replacement for regular income.

If you find yourself thinking about gambling as a way to pay bills or make your monthly income, that is a warning sign.

The safest approach is to keep gambling money separate from money needed for everyday life.

Your salary pays the bills.

Your savings build your future.

Gambling, if you choose to do it, should remain entertainment.

Know When to Stop

Sometimes the most difficult part is not starting.

It is stopping.

Before playing, decide what your limit is.

That can include both a money limit and a time limit.

For example:

• How much money am I comfortable losing?
• How long am I going to play?
• What will make me stop?
• Am I still enjoying this, or am I trying to win back money?

These simple questions can help keep things in perspective.

Ask for Help If Gambling Stops Feeling Manageable

There is no shame in asking for help.

If gambling is becoming difficult to control, affecting your finances, or causing problems with family, work, or everyday life, speaking with a trusted person or a professional support service can be an important step.

The earlier someone recognises a problem, the easier it can be to take action.

Keep the Simple Rule in Mind

Casino games can be interesting.

Learning about roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker, and other games can be fun.

Understanding RTP, house edge and volatility can make the mathematics easier to understand too.

But none of that changes the basic rule:

Gamble for entertainment, not because you need the money.

Set your limit.

Know the risks.

Take breaks.

And when your limit is reached, walk away.

Sometimes knowing when to stop is the smartest part of the game.

At first glance, these words can feel like something from a maths textbook.

But they are actually quite easy to understand.

You do not need to be a maths expert. You just need to understand what these terms are trying to tell you.

Once you understand them, casino games become much easier to look at with a clear head.

What Does House Edge Mean?

Let’s start with the house edge.

The house edge is the mathematical advantage a casino has in a particular game over a large number of bets.

For example, imagine a game has a theoretical house edge of 5%.

That does not mean that every player will lose exactly 5% of their money.

A player might win on one visit. Another player might lose more. Someone else might have a lucky session.

The number is a long-term mathematical figure, not a promise about what will happen during one evening.

Think about flipping a coin.

If you flip it twice, you could easily get heads both times.

But if you flip it thousands of times, the results generally move closer to the expected balance.

Casino mathematics works in a similar way.

What Is RTP?

RTP stands for Return to Player.

You will often see this term when looking at slot games and some other casino games.

Suppose a game has a theoretical RTP of 96%.

Over a very large number of plays, the mathematical model would return around £96 for every £100 wagered.

But here is the important part:

It does not mean that you put £100 into the game and get £96 back.

You could lose your money quickly.

You could also win much more during a particular session.

RTP is a long-term theoretical figure based on many plays.

This is why RTP should never be treated as a guarantee.

House Edge and RTP Are Connected

RTP and house edge are two different ways of looking at the mathematics.

If a game has a theoretical RTP of 96%, the corresponding theoretical house edge is 4%.

So:

RTP = theoretical return to the player

House edge = theoretical casino advantage

The two numbers help explain the same basic idea from different sides.

For anyone learning about casino games, understanding this relationship is useful.

What Does Volatility Mean?

Now we come to another word that often appears on casino game pages: volatility.

Volatility describes how frequently and how much a game may pay.

A lower-volatility game may have smaller wins that happen more regularly.

A higher-volatility game may have longer periods without a significant win, but potentially larger individual payouts.

That does not mean high volatility is better.

It simply means the pattern of possible results is different.

Imagine two buckets.

One bucket contains lots of small prizes.

The other contains fewer prizes, but some are much larger.

You do not know exactly which prize you will get each time. That is the basic idea behind volatility.

Why These Numbers Matter

You may be wondering why anyone should care about all this.

The answer is simple.

Understanding the numbers helps you know what a game actually is.

Without this information, it is easy to look at a colourful game and think mainly about its biggest possible prize.

But a large advertised prize does not tell you everything about the game.

The rules, RTP, volatility, bet range and other conditions all matter.

This is especially important for people who are new to casino gaming.

A Common Mistake: Looking Only at the Biggest Win

Imagine a game advertises a very large possible payout.

That sounds exciting.

But the size of the biggest prize does not tell you how frequently smaller wins happen, how much you need to wager, or what the overall mathematical structure of the game looks like.

It is a little like buying a lottery ticket because you saw the jackpot.

The jackpot tells you what you could win.

It does not tell you how likely you are to win it.

That is why reading the game’s information is more useful than simply looking at the biggest number on the screen.

Can You Remove the House Edge?

This is where people sometimes get confused.

No strategy can guarantee that you will overcome the built-in mathematical advantage of a casino game.

Different games have different mathematical structures, and some decisions can affect the expected outcome in games where players have choices.

But there is no secret button that turns casino gambling into guaranteed profit.

Anyone claiming otherwise deserves a healthy dose of caution.

The Best Way to Look at Casino Numbers

Think of casino statistics as information, not promises.

RTP tells you about theoretical long-term returns.

House edge tells you about the mathematical advantage of the house.

Volatility tells you about the general pattern of wins and losses.

Together, they give you a clearer picture of a game.

But none of them can tell you what the next spin, hand or round will do.

That is the nature of gambling.

If you want to explore casino games themselves, start with our earlier guide:

Casino Games Explained: Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat and More

And once you understand the mathematics, there is one more topic worth knowing about: how to keep gambling within sensible limits.

MEGA BIOPHARMA is a biotechnology company, based in three locations in France, a world pioneer in tissue regeneration, with a focus on skin, cartilage and bone. Itoffers a set of effective and safe therapeutic solutions.

After almost 15 years of research and development, preclinical and human experiences, the company offers the revolutionary BIONACRE® technology, providing solutions in many areas such as psoriasis, vitiligo, cartilage reconstruction, vertebroplasty, dental implantology and orthopedics.

“With our technology, we will help hundreds of millions of patients” – Joel Drai, founder and president

Based on the pioneering and innovative work of its researchers, Drs. Georges and Serge Camprasse, this biotechnology uses mother-of-pearl for therapeutic tissue regeneration applications.

“Derived from the shell of bivalve mollusks, mother-of-pearl is an ancestral material, originating tens of millions of years ago, whose complex composition bears a striking resemblance and great complementarity to that of living tissues, especially human ones,” explains its founder, Joel DRAI. Its remarkable reparative properties have long given rise to numerous empirical uses in different regions of the world, where mother-of-pearl is often present in local pharmacopoeias for skin care applications.

MEGA BIOPHARMA scientists first extensively studied the metabolism of these shells and the mechanisms for the protective creation of nacre, the exoskeleton of these organisms. They then selected species, including Pinctada Maxima, one of the main forms of the pearl oyster (also called “Sperl”).

“We chose to understand the mechanisms of this completely natural biomaterial, its interactions with our body, to identify and improve certain unique properties to offer BIONACRE®, a set of innovative, effective and safe therapeutic solutions that make it possible to improve the health, safety, comfort and social well-being of millions of people,” says Joel DRAI.

Implants, bone substitutes and creams

Research work and preclinical and clinical observations have allowed the company to develop specific patented processes and demonstrate the feasibility and performance of several types of applications, depending on the possible forms of the biomaterial:

Unique osteogenic and bioerodible implants, plates, screws and anchors are designed for orthopedic repair, molded, possibly custom-made, from solid or bio-absorbable shapes of BIONACRE®. This technology allows avoiding a second surgery, thanks to the completely resorbable property of the biomaterial.

BIONACRE® powdered bone substitutes are used for repair and defect filling in the dental or orthopedic field. In vertebroplasty, BIONACRE® comes as a sealing cement product to address vertebral defects.

Dermo-cosmetic products will be launched in the last quarter of 2022, under a new clean skin care brand.

12 products in three ranges: a repairing cream for repairing damaged skin, sunburns and scratches, four topical products for treating atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and very dry skin and six topical products for normal skin plus 1 food supplement for the regeneration of all skin types.

Many proofs of concepts, tests and uses have given the skin proven efficacy for psoriasis, vitiligo, deep burns and skin regeneration; on cartilage with chondroblast regeneration; on bone with neo-osseous induction; on filling bone defects in dentistry and vertebroplasty; and lastly, on fractures with 1 ^Sf natural, bioerodible and bioresorbable osteogenic plates and screws, allowing the avoidance of a 2 ^nd surgery for the removal of the orthopedic device.

We are very advanced in the FDA certification process (510k regulatory pathway) which will drive our go-to-market strategy with key partners (MEGA DENTAL, French leader in dental product distribution).

MEGA BIOPHARMA is composed of a technological platform that brings together all support and transversal functions (administrative, fundamental research and development, quality, regulations, scientific committee).

The versatility of our biomaterial offers a very wide range of potential markets and products.

For now, MEGA BIOPHARMA specifically targets 4 markets and has created dedicated vertical divisions for each of them, with 26 employees (7 dedicated to the company’s dermo-cosmetics project); 3 locations (2 of them for R&D and production). The company’s strong patenting strategy materializes 165 patents registered in 5 patent categories worldwide.

“Whatever form is initially used, powder or solid, its biomimetic, osteo-conductive and osteogenic properties for bone regeneration, BIONACRE® demonstrates an amazing ability to adapt to any recipient site, putting itself under the host’s dependence, helping the process. to rebuild lost tissue. For example, most of the loss of bone substance caused by an accident (multiple fractures), in the form of BIONACRE® powder, used in surgery as a bone substitute, is biologically “recognized” by the patient’s body to fill the loss of substance. . , helping to repair and rebuild damaged bones.

Our scientific publications highlight spectacular biological effects, total biocompatibility and the absence of side effects. The possible applications of BIONACRE® are extremely broad. We are confident in the rapid development of our biotechnology company thanks to the support of our financial partners. We aim to widely distribute our BIONACRE® products. Our DNA is to be at the service of man, while respecting nature”, concludes Joel DRAI.

An experienced and recognized scientific committee:

@licornegulf2022

Media Contact
Company Name: Prysma Medias Washington
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: www.prysmamedias.co.uk

An artist’s reconstruction of the newly described 328-million-year-old vampiropod. Credit: © K. Whalen

The description of the exceptionally preserved fossils pushes the age of Vampyropoda to almost 82 million years ago.

New research led by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History and Yale shows that the earliest ancestors of the group of animals that includes octopuses and vampire squids had not eight, but 10 arms. The study, which describes a new species of vampyropod based on a 328-million-year-old fossil that had not been previously described, pushes the age of the group back nearly 82 million years. The details were published March 8, 2022, in the journal Nature Communications .

“This is the first and only known vampiropod to possess 10 functional appendages,” said lead author Christopher Whalen, a postdoctoral researcher in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology and a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in Yale’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Vampyropoda are soft-bodied cephalopods, typically characterized by eight arms and an internalized chitinous shell or fin supports. Because they lack hard structures, Vampyropoda are not well represented in the fossil record. The new study is based on an exceptionally well-preserved vampyropoda fossil from the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Originally discovered in what is now Montana and donated to the ROM in 1988.

Whalen and co-author Neil Landman, curator emeritus in the museum’s Division of Paleontology, identified the fossil specimen as an entirely new genus and species, dating back about 328 million years, making it the oldest known vampyropod and extending the group’s fossil record by about 82 million years. In the new study, they also describe its 10 arms—all with preserved suckers—corroborating previous scientific arguments that the common ancestor of vampyropods also had 10 arms.

“Arm count is one of the defining characteristics that separates the 10-armed squid and cuttlefish lineage (Decabrachia) from the eight-armed octopus and vampire squid lineage (Vampyropoda). We have long understood that octopuses achieve the eight-armed number by eliminating the two vampire squid filaments and that these filaments are vestigial arms,” ​​Whalen said. “However, all previously reported fossil vampyropoda that retain appendages have only 8 arms, so this fossil is arguably the first confirmation of the idea that all cephalopods have ten arms ancestrally.”

Two of the cephalopod’s arms appear to have been elongated compared to the other eight arms, and its torpedo-shaped body is reminiscent of modern squid. The fossil has been given the scientific name Syllipsimopodi . The genus name is derived from the Greek words “syllípsimos” for “prehensile” and “pódi” for “foot”—because it is the earliest known cephalopod to develop suction cups, allowing the arms, which are modifications of the mollusk foot, to better grasp prey and other objects. The species name honors the recently inaugurated (at the time of the paper’s submission) 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden.

” Syllipsimopodi may have filled a niche more akin to extant squid, a mid-level aquatic predator,” Landman said. “It’s not inconceivable that they could have used their sucker-laden arms to extract small ammonoids from shells, or they might have ventured further ashore to prey on brachiopods, bivalves, or other shelled marine animals.”

Based on its age, characters, and phylogenetic position, the fossil challenges prevailing arguments for the origins of vampyropods, and the authors propose a new model for the evolution of coleoids (internally shelled cephalopods).

For more on this discovery, see New Species of Extended Vampire-Like Cephalopod with 10 Arms Named After Biden.

Reference: “Fossil coleoid cephalopod from the Mississippian Bear Gulch Lagerstätte sheds light on early vampyropod evolution” by Christopher D. Whalen and Neil H. Landman, March 8, 2022, Nature Communications .
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28333-5

This study was supported in part by the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology Program of the US National Science Foundation (#2010822) and the Elis L. Yochelson Award by the Paleontological Society for Undergraduate Research.