image: Florida manatees inhabit waterways that are adjacent to agriculture employing organophosphate pesticides. Because of their loss of the Paraoxonase 1 protein, manatees have lost the major mechanism to protect themselves against these neurotoxic chemicals. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Aug. 10, 2018, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Wynn K. Meyer at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, PA, and colleagues was titled, "Ancient convergent losses of Paraoxonase 1 yield potential risks for modern marine mammals." view more
Credit: [Credit: Robert K. Bonde (USGS - Gainesville)]