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  • DIRrebreather: Nitrox Rebreather Diving
    Cedric Verdier

    This book is dedicated to Nitrox rebreather diving and the basic principles and skills that every rebreather diver should know and master. It covers some topics like balance and trim with a rebreather, risk management, and proper Nitrox dive planning.



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Fossil linking fish and the first land animals found

P. Renne / P. Ahlberg

Swedish scientists have unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth's history. The skull is an exceptionally well-preserved braincase fossil of the species Ventastega curonica found in Latvia. Scientists hope this will help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land.

The evolution from fish to land vertebrates occurred during the Late Devonian, about 360 to 380 million years ago, and required many changes in physiology. Over the last two decades, researchers have begun to piece together how this transition might have occurred, but a full understanding is hindered by the fragmentary nature of the fossil record.

- Ventastega was first described from fragmentary material in 1994; since then, excavations have produced lots of new superbly preserved fossils, allowing us to reconstruct the whole head, shoulder girdle and part of the pelvis, says Professor Per Ahlberg at the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, Uppsala University.

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Submitted by Arnold on 25 June, 2008 - 22:45.