Andy Turko from Pat Wrights’ lab at the University of Guelph recently published an interdisciplinary paper on the effects of gravity on gills of the amphibious fish known as the mangrove rivulus. Using ingenious experiments at Dalhousie’s microgravity facility, Andy showed that the changes to the gills that happen when these fish spend time on land are caused by the increase in the gravitational force felt by the gills. This work has potentially far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of terrestriality in vertebrates. The biomechanical measurements on fish gills were done in collaboration with the Fudge Lab.
