Skip to content

Nature

Tarantula in the scanner unveils its double-beating heart

by Martin Leggett 01 Jul 2011
Tarantula in the scanner unveils its double-beating heart

The magic of MRI is revealing some of the inner workings of living, crawling spiders, showing how the blood flows through the arachnid circulatory system. The non-invasive scanning technology has some surprises about what makes spiders tick - including the possibility that a spiders heart pumps with a 'double beat'. And the author of the research - being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow, Scotland - can legitimately claim that no spiders were harmed in the course of their research.

That's because nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), despite its name, involves no radiation, making use only of powerful magnetic fields to reveal what's gong on in soft tissues. The technique has been widely used in medical applications, but now many biologists are seeing the benefits in probing the delicate mechanisms at play in insects, and other invertebrates - such as spiders.

Spiders have a heart and circulation system that differs both from the muscular pump of vertebrates like humans, and simpler circulation system of insects. Insects generally only pump nutrients around the body - using a dorsal tube rather than a heart - with no oxygen, unlike vertebrates. Spiders, however, do have oxygen in their blood - but bonded to copper, in hemocyanin, rather than iron in our hemoglobin.

But working out how this coppery-blood moves around a living spider is not easy - unless you put a tarantula into an MRI scanner. That's exactly what the team from Edinburgh University did, using a scanner normally reserved for rats and mice. The discovery that a spider's heart may be pumping, using a double-beat, was a surprise to the researchers.

PhD researcher Gavin Merrifield said of the MRI videos, that 'you can see the blood flowing through the heart and tantalizingly it looks as though there might be 'double beating' occurring, a distinct type of contraction which has never been considered before. This shows the extra value of using a non-invasive technique like MRI.'

The potential research value combination of MRI-and-spiders doesn't stop there though. Merrifield reckons the technology could reveal information about agriculturally-useful venoms and brain evolution. 'One potential practical use of this research is to ascertain the chemical composition of spider venom,' he said. 'Venom has applications in agriculture as a potential natural pesticide. On the more academic side of things if we can link MRI brain scans with a spider's behavior, and combine this with similar data from vertebrates, we may clarify how intelligence evolved.'

Top Image Credit: © Pixel Memoirs


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping