Saturday 29 August 2015

Dinosaur skull found in Buffalo likely a new species

When Alan Detrich purchased a dinosaur skull found in Buffalo, in 2012, he knew it was something special, but now he is convinced it is one-of-a-kind. The fossil, originally thought to be the largest triceratops skull ever found, is now believed by both its owner and its restorer to be an entirely new ceratopsian species. Detrich, who bought the skull from fellow fossil hunter John Carter in 2012, said specialists have looked at images of the creature and said that it's something new. The fossil has a 17-inch-long nose horn. "That's unheard of," Detrich said. "They're usually half that size. And (the skull) is 8 feet long, which would be a monster skull for a triceratops." Neal Larson, founder of Larson Paleontology Unlimited and co-founder of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research with his brother Pete Larson, confirmed the unusual size and features of-READ MORE- http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/dinosaur-skull-found-in-buffalo-likely-a-new-species/article_b33d3375-b74c-5941-aa0b-281ad59b430a.html082715-nws-skull001.JPG

New invasive species found in Minnesota lakes puts squeeze on plants, fish

Minnesota can now add a new name to its growing list of invasive aquatic species — starry stonewort. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Friday that the plant, actually an algae, has been found in two connected lakes, Koronis and Mud, near Paynesville in the central part of the state. Like Eurasian milfoil, it grows into dense mats that can cover the surface of shallow waters, squeezing out other plants and creating a wall between fish and their spawning It’s apparently been there for some time, too. It’s grown to cover 53 acres of a shallow area on the southwest side of Lake Koronis near a public input site off Highway 55, and it’s spread into the main basin and into neighboring Mud Lake. “It’s really hard to see this happening,” said Karen Langmo, a member of the Koronis Lake Association whose grandfather built-READ MORE-http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3827954-new-invasive-species-found-minnesota-lakes-puts-squeeze-plants-fish

Cherax snowden-New Crayfish Species Found in Indonesia Named after Edward Snowden

With its orange to greenishly orange motley tip, Cherax snowden has been long-confused with other members of the genus Cherax by the tradesmen who have been collecting them for ornamental purposes. “The first specimens of Cherax snowden were exported from the city of Sorong, Indonesia as Cherax sp. in 2006,” Lukhaup and co-authors wrote in a paper published in the journal ZooKeys. “Those crayfish have been captured by an unknown local collector from Kepala Burung for ornamental purposes in West Papua, Indonesia and imported to -READ MORE-http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-cherax-snowden-crayfish-03169.htmlCherax snowden, a paratype male from Oinsok River drainage, Sawiat District. Image credit: Lukhaup C et al.

Saturday 22 August 2015

RAIN LIZARD DINOSAUR FOUND

A Ph.D student has discovered a new species of dinosaur called the Pulanesaura eocollum, or "Rain lizard," that lived 30 to 40 million years before brontosaurus. While Pulanesaura eocollum is classified as a long-necked sauropod dinosaur – making it an early ancestor of brontosaurus – what made it unique is that the herbivorous dinosaur stayed on all fours, using its flexible neck to gather lower vegetation as its food source. Ph.D student Blair McPhee described the new species of dinosaur in a paper to be published in Scientific Reports in September. The fossils of pulanesaura show that it had specialized teeth, vertebrae and forelimbs, suggesting that the dinosaur would eat from the ground instead of using its forelimbs like other herbivores of the time, conserving energy. Since the Rain lizard had to rely on the flexibility of its neck to eat, it was able to shift its forelimbs beneath its body for support while grazing.READ MORE -http://www.techtimes.com/articles/78460/20150821/new-species-dinosaur-called-rain-lizard-ancestor-brontosaurs.htm  New Species Of Dinosaur Called The 'Rain Lizard' Found To Be The Ancestor Of Brontosaurs

NEW SPECIES OF HEADLICE

A warning for parents – a new and potentially drug-resistant species of head lice is appearing on the heads of children around the United States. As many as 12 million school children in America between the ages of 3 and 11 get lice. Now there’s a potential for “super lice.” A study found 95 percent of lice populations collected from 30 states tested positive for a mutation resistant to common over-the-counter treatments. To combat the new species, health officials said parents need to pick the lice out of their child’s hair and fight the instinct to over treat or give preventative treatments-READ MORE-http://news10.com/2015/08/19/new-species-of-head-lice-being-found-among-u-s-kids/

NEW MONKEY SPECIES FOUND

For nearly a century the carcass of a small, reddish-brown monkey from South America gathered dust in a windowless backroom of the American Natural History Museum in New York City. Like a morgue corpse in a drawer with the wrong toe tag, it was a victim of mistaken identity. No one realised during all those years that it was, in fact, a specimen of an unknown species. That taxonomical injustice will be rectified at the end of this month when the newly-minted Latin name of the overlooked monkey -READ MORE - https://uk.news.yahoo.com/titi-monkey-species-found-peru-045608157.html#2nncC7VAn illustration obtained on August 20, 2015 shows a Callicebus urubambensis or Urubamba brown titi monkey

NEW SPECIES OF SPIDER ORCHID

New species of spider orchids have been discovered ranging from Geraldton to Esperance by the WA Herbarium. They add to the already spectacular array of wildflowers which thrive in the biodiversity hot spot of the South West.The WA Herbarium has named 17 new spider orchids, from north of Geraldton to east of Esperance. Kevin Thiele is the curator of the Herbarium. Finding and naming plants is always exciting and fulfilling, he says. Some of the rarest were discovered near Busselton. The spider orchid genus Caladenia is one of the most varied of the WA orchids, Kevin told South West Mornings. "Some of them are very spidery. Some are really weird. Some have shorter petals and various colours. Some of them actually look like insects. "The classic spider orchids have long filamentous petals, 10cm or more long and are often coloured white or pink. One of the five spreading petals usually curls over the top. -READ MORE-http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/08/21/4297849.htm

Saturday 15 August 2015

New Species: An Ecuadoran Snail, Found in Museum

That museum is Madrid's National Museum of Natural Sciences, and the snail was there among numerous other snail specimens since around 1869. Drs. Abraham Breure and Rafael Araujo recently published their research on the new mollusk in the journal ZooKeys. The snail, described as having a fairly small size, irregular shape and narrow reddish-brown streaks that run vertically along its shell, and being rather glossy and light chestnut-brown in color, was collected in the Scientific Commission of the Pacific, a late-19th century expedition in South America. All in all, 20 new snail -READ MORE -http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/16029/20150812/snail.htmP. cecepeus, a new snail species from Ecuador was recently found in a Madrid museum.

New Octopus Species Found To Be Highly Sociable, Romantic

A new octopus has been discovered by scientists. The new species was described as “sociable” and “romantic” because of its habits. The New York Times reported that a team of biologists gathered a batch of octopuses from Central America to observe. However, the new species that they found was different compared to the rest. The new species, initially called the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus, can live together to mate for a few days in the same tight shell or den, compared to most octopuses that live alone or only briefly gather to mate. The new octopuses mate with their beaks entangled, as if they were kissing, while most male octopuses would mate from a distance to save themselves from being cannibalized. Alvaro Roura, an octopus expert at La Troba University in Australia, described the animal behavior as “romantic”. As for the females, the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus would live longer and produce eggs constantly, which would enhance the chances of survival of the species. Most female octopuses would only lay one batch of eggs and then die. Furthermore, the new species also remove food waste from their dens. They also immediately learn that people can bring them food and move out of their dens to meet the human feeder at the top of the tank. “They're aliens alive on our planet and it feels like they have plans,” said Rich Ross, a senior biologist at the California Academy of Sciences. "It's the most amazing octopus that I've ever gotten to work with," Ross addedin the-READ MORE -http://www.latinospost.com/articles/69941/20150813/new-octopus-species-found-highly-sociable-romantic.htm

New species of glider discovered in the Northern Territory

Researchers in the Northern Territory believe they have found a new marsupial species, and the process of identifying it could take them all the way to the British Museum. The undescribed species of glider was first captured for analysis in the Northern Territory by researchers at Charles Darwin University, and is an animal Australia knows little about. "We made our first sighting in Kakadu in October 2013," said Professor Sue Carthew, lead researcher on the Northern Glider Project. "It used to be thought sugar gliders occurred across the Top End, all along the Eastern Seaboard and New Guinea. But we have genotyped gliders from a whole range of areas and found that the northern Australian gliders are quite different." Gliders have been known to exist in the Northern Territory since the 1800s, but few studies have ever been conducted on the furry creatures, making Professor Carthew's study the first of its kind. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/new-species-of-glider-discovered-in-the-northern-territory-20150812-gixnym.html#ixzz3itHkFv8dSomething new: Professor Sue Carthew says there is much work to do before the glider species can be identified.

Brachycephalus quiririensisvive-New Species of Toad Found in Southern Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian researchers have found a new species of toad that is a little more than 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long and appears to be in danger of extinction. The species, named Brachycephalus quiririensisvive, was discovered by researchers from Parana Federal University, or UFPR, in the Serra do Quiriri highlands of the southern state of Santa Catarina, according to the Grupo Boticario Foundation for the Protection of Nature, which sponsored the study. The newly identified species is greenish-brown with a broad, orange stripe on its back that distinguishes it from related species. “We still have not confirmed it, but we believe that its striking coloration is to indicate to predators that the toad is poisonous, to protect itself,” UFPR scientist Marcio Pie said. The species was described in an article published in this week’s edition of the scientific journal PeerJ. Brachycephalus quiririensisvive is found only in the Serra do Quiriri, characterized by a cold and humid environment.

New parrot species found hiding in plain sight

Sometimes, discovering new animal species requires spending years venturing deep into the wilderness. But other times, a new species can be found hiding in plain sight READ MORE- http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0813/New-parrot-species-found-hiding-in-plain-sight

Gentleman’ octopus taps prey on shoulder before attacking

When it comes to good manners the Pacific striped octopus may be the king of the ocean. Unlike other cephalopods which grab their prey and tackle it to the sea bed in a flurry of aggression, the creature gently taps its prey on the shoulder and startles it into is arms. "I've never seen anything like it," said marine biologist Roy Caldwell, a University of California, Berkeley, professor of integrative biology. "Octopuses typically pounce on their prey or poke around in holes until they find something. When this octopus sees a shrimp at a distance, it compresses itself and creeps up, extends an arm up and over the shrimp, touches it on the far side and either catches it or scares it into its other arms." The species, which lives in the eastern Pacific, is also the only octopus to ‘kiss’ and hold tentacles while mating, coming together with its intended in a unique beak-to-beak embrace. Typically male octopuses share sperm with females at arm’s length, primed to flee should their mate get aggressive or hungry. READ MORE -http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11798367/Gentleman-octopus-taps-prey-on-shoulder-before-attacking.html

Saturday 8 August 2015

New shrimp-like species found off southwest of Ireland

New shrimp-like species found off southwest coast of Ireland
Deep-sea crustaceans have ability to strip a pig carcass of meat in a matter of days


Two new species of shrimp-like crustaceans have been discovered off the south-west coast of Ireland by British researchers.
The two species are amphipods, small scavenging crustaceans around 3mm in length. Their discovery was reported in the scientific journal Zootaxa, in a paper by researchers Dr Tammy Horton and Dr Michael Thurston of the National Oceanography Centre in Southhampton.
What the researchers say is most notable about the newly identifed species, given the names Paracallisoma idioxenos and Haptocallisoma lemarete, is their scavenging patterns.
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Amphipods generally move in swarms to strip the carcasses of marine animals including whales and fish, and these new species have the ability to strip a pig carcass in a matter of days.
Dr Horton named the species in honour of the late taxonomist Roger Bamber, who died in February of this year.
“I gave the species name ‘lemarete’ to one of the amphipods because it translates from Greek to ‘Bold and Excellent’, which is the motto on Roger Bamber’s coat of arms.”
Dr Horton described amphipods as “incredibly diverse and adaptable”, with over 10,000 known species.
Professor Andrew Gooday at the National Oceanography Centre said that amphipods like those discovered are highly common and found in large numbers. “They occur from shallow waters to the deepest part of the ocean.”
These newly discovered species are only found in deep waters, over 2.5 km below sea level.
“There’s no danger of paddling in the sea and encountering flesh-eating crustaceans,” Prof Gooday added.


Freaky New Fish Found In Deep Ocean


Freaky New Fish Found In Deep Ocean, Resembles A Hollywood Mutant
Scientists have discovered a freaky new species of fish in deep ocean waters
Scientists have found a “freaky” new species of fish in deep ocean waters where there is no chance of sunlight penetration, according to Tech Times.

Found off the Gulf of Mexico, the bizarre new fish is similar to a Hollywood mutant in appearance, and was found by researchers of the Nova Southeastern University in waters between 3,200 and 4,900 feet deep.

A new scary-looking fish species has been discovered! And it lives in the "midnight zone": http://t.co/LuQsc2EGwa pic.twitter.com/LrP4qQvikJ

— CNN (@CNN) August 6, 2015

Belonging to the ceratioid anglerfish family, these freaky little creatures survive in what is called the ‘midnight zone’, where there is no light source except the occasional bio-luminescence radiated by some species of fish, and the pressure is a crushing 2,220 pounds per square inch.

Researchers found three females, ranging from one to four inches long, living in northern waters of the gulf at about one mile below the ocean’s surface. Carrying a strange ‘fishing pole’ which acts like a transmitter to help navigate the dark depths of the ocean, these fish could probably be classified as one of the oddest creatures to have been found by scientists in recent times.

The appendage or the ‘rod’ attached to the fish has more functions than one. Speaking to journalists after the discovery, ecstatic researchers disclosed how the new species find their food.

“This fish dangles the appendage until an unsuspecting fish swims up thinking they found a meal, only to quickly learn that they are, in fact, a meal themselves.”

Tracey Sutton, an expert on deep sea life, spoke to ABC News about the possible connotations of the discovery. She said this freaky fish could be one among many such creatures inhabiting the depths of the ocean.

“Finding this new species reinforces the notion that our inventory of life in the vast ocean interior is far from complete. Every research trip is an adventure and another opportunity to learn about our planet and the varied creatures who call it home.”

Ever since the discovery of the new fish was announced yesterday, amateur deep ocean enthusiasts as well as professional marine biologists have gone into overdrive, labeling the freaky new fish everything from a “fearsome-looking creature” to a “spiky, snaggletoothed fish, a sea creature from somebody’s nightmares” to “a rotting old shoe with spikes.”

Only time will tell if the discovery of this freaky new species of fish is to become the mainspring of a string of findings in deep-ocean, but there is no doubt that this rather unusual discovery has left people gaping with wide-jawed curiosity.


Urubamba brown titi found

Scientists have found a new species of monkey
Scientists have found a new species of monkey ( and yes, it's just as cute as you'd imagine)
You looking at me? (Picture: Proyecto Mono Tocón)
There’s a reason why this little guy seems so startled.

He’s one of a new species of monkey that have been discovered in Peru, and frankly he’s adorable.

The new species, named the Urubamba brown titi, was discovered during an expedition to the remote Urubamba river in Peru, and raises the number of known species to 34.

‘Its appearance is very distinct from other titis, the entire body and tail are much darker, and the face is all black,’ co-discoverer Jan Vermeer said of the cat sized primate.

But while monkeys are often considered to be an endangered species, the titis face no such threat as a result of their remote

‘So often when a new monkey is discovered it is already threatened with extinction,’ he said.

‘This is a remote area with very little hunting, so for once this is not the case.’

But the area is also known for having two rivers populated with vicious piranhas, so it’s not all plain sailing for the fuzzy-headed primates.

Two new species of chewing lice discovered on stealty songbird

Two New Species of Chewing Lice Discovered on Stealthy Songbird

Ventral view of the new male skin louse Myrsidea bensoni. Photo by Michel Valim.

By Meredith Swett Walker
If you’re desperate to discover a new species of louse, looking for one on a bird is a good start. Looking for lice on one of North America’s most secretive birds, the Swainson’s warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii), is an even better bet. Researchers just discovered two new species of chewing lice on this little songbird, which spends its summers skulking through the thick undergrowth of southeastern U.S. forests.

Meredith Swett Walker
The newly discovered species, Myrsidea bensoni, a skin louse, and Brueelia limnothlypiae, a feather louse, are described in the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology. Michel P. Valim, of the Museu de Zoologia da USP in Brazil, and Bryan M. Reiley, of Arkansas State University and the Illinois Natural History Survey, discovered the lice while working on a larger study of the effects of flooding on Swainson’s warblers in Arkansas.
Currently about 4,000 species of avian lice have been formally described. That is a lot compared to the about 1,000 species of lice that have been found on mammals. One reason for this disparity is that birds are more diverse. There are about 10,000 species of birds in the world compared to about 5,400 species of mammals. Because most species of lice are at least somewhat host-specific, more species of hosts means more species of lice.

Ventral view of the new female feather louse, Brueelia limnothlypiae. Photo by Michel Valim.

But it’s not just the number of bird species that leads to the diversity of avian lice. There are often more louse species found on a given bird species than there are on a given mammal species. Lice tend to specialize in specific types of hair or feathers. For instance, the hair on the human scalp has a different structure than our pubic hair. That’s why crab lice (Pthirus pubis), also known as pubic lice or crabs, are typically found in the pubic area, but head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) only infest hair on the head. (My apologies if reading that sentence made you itch.)
While mammalian hair is certainly not uniform, the feathers on a bird’s body are more diverse. If you have ever gotten up close and personal with a bird, you can see that the small feathers on its head are very different in structure from the flight feathers of the wing or the fluffy feathers covering the back and belly. From a louse’s perspective, the body of a bird offers more diverse habitats than the body of a mammal. More types of feathers, or habitats, means more species of lice.

A Swainson’s warbler is dusted with insecticide to remove lice. Photo by Bryan Reiley.

So far M. bensoni and B. limnothlypiae have only been found on Swainson’s warblers, but co-author Valim says that now that these species have been described, researchers may recognize them on other species of birds in the area. However it is possible that M. bensoni and B. limnothlypiae are found only on the Swainson’s warbler. Lice are obligate ectoparasites. They don’t travel fast or far from their host, and they don’t live long when separated from their host. According to Valim, the only times that lice typically move between individual birds is during copulation and when birds are in the same nest. Because different bird species rarely copulate with each other or share a nest, the transmission of lice between two different species may be infrequent, and each host species may function as a “distinct island,” said Valim.
Valim and Reiley named the feather louse, B. limnothlypiae, after its host (the Swainson’s warbler), and they named the skin louse, M. bensoni, after Dr. Thomas J. Benson, an ornithologist who has done important research on Swainson’s warblers and who served as Reiley’s graduate advisor. You can find the formal description of the new species, an identification key for lice in the genus Myrsidea, and a detailed description of the nymphal stages for this genus in Valim and Reiley’s paper: “The Chewing Lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera) Fauna of the Swainson’s Warbler, Limnothlypis swainsonii (Aves, Parulidae).”
Read more at:
– The Chewing Lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera) Fauna of the Swainson’s Warbler, Limnothlypis swainsonii (Aves, Parulidae)
Meredith Swett Walker is a former avian endocrinologist who now studies the development and behavior of two juvenile humans in the high desert of western Colorado. When she is not handling her research subjects, she writes about science and nature. You can read her work on her blogs http://picahudsonia.com and https://citizenbiologist.com or follow her on Twitter at @mswettwalker.
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Filed Under: Featured Articles Tagged With: Brueelia limnothlypiae, lice, Limnothlypis swainsonii, Meredith Swett Walker, Myrsidea bensoni, Swainson’s Warbler
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THE MYTHIC CHILD-STEALING THUNDERBIRDS OF ILLINOIS-A POST TO GET YOU CFZ PEOPLE READY FOR WEIRDWEEKEND.

This story was sponsored by the fine folks of Enjoy Illinois. The evening of July 25, 1977 was just like any other hot summer evening for the Lowe family of Lawndale, Illinois. The smell of sizzling beef and grilled vegetables permeated the air as the adults kicked back on lawn chairs, and the kids tussled on the family's expansive yard outside. The following is Ruth Lowe's harrowing eyewitness account of a particularly frightening avian encounter, as written by Jerry D. Coleman of Cryptozoology.com At approximately 8:10 p.m., the Lowes were cleaning up after their al fresco dinner, the kids still playing outside. And that's when it happened. Ruth, the matriarch of the Lowe clan, was cleaning up in the kitchen where she couldn't see her children. She heard a piercing scream, and knew it was none other than her 10-year old son, Marlon. When she ran outside to see what the commotion was, she was stunned. Two massive birds, flying in a tight wingtip to wingtip formation were chasing her son, Marlon, pecking and clawing at his shoulders. As Ruth ran -READ MORE -http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mythic-child-stealing-thunderbirds-of-illinois

Saturday 1 August 2015

New carnivorous plant species found on facebook

The meat-eating plant pictured above can grow 5 feet tall and catch insects as big as dragonflies. The species could be older than humanity, but as with many things, nobody knew it existed until someone posted it on Facebook. A photo of the obscure sundew was first uploaded to the social network in 2013 by Reginaldo Vasconcelos, an amateur botanist who spotted it while hiking on a mountain in southeastern Brazil. The photo was then noticed a year later by Paulo Gonella, a plant researcher at the University of São Paulo's Institute of Biosciences who realized it looked distinct from any species he'd ever seen. Gonella and Vasconcelos eventually met up and returned to the mountain, where they tracked down the mysterious plant. Along with researchers from the Botanical State Collection in Munich, Germany, they were able to confirm the species was previously unknown to science. They published their discovery — named Drosera magnifica, or "magnificent sundew" — this month in the journal Phytotaxa. Sundews represent one of the largest groups of carnivorous plants on Earth, with around 200 species discovered so far. They attract and trap insects using sticky, hair-like glands spread across the surface of their leaves, then slowly roll up their Read more: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/new-carnivorous-plant-species-discovered-facebook#ixzz3hZSuFN6w
Thirteen new species of spider have been discovered on Queensland’s Cape York peninsula – adding to the thousands of known species that give Australian wildlife its fearsome reputation. The new species were found by scientists, teachers and Indigenous rangers during a 10-day journey to the largely unsurveyed area.READ MORE -http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/27/thirteen-new-spider-species-discovered-australia-bush-blitz
Jackals, the tricksters of traditional folklore, have fooled us yet again. The golden jackal, which lives in East Africa and Eurasia, is actually two distantly related species—and one of them is a new species of wolf, a new study says. (Also see "Wolves Identified by Unique Howls, May Help Rare Species.") Dubbed the African golden wolf, it's the first new species of canid—a group that includes wolves, coyotes, and jackals—discovered in 150 years. Africa is also home to two other wolf species, the gray wolf and Ethiopian wolf. (Read "Africa's Last Wolves" in National Geographic magazine.) Though golden jackals look mostly the same—the Eurasian animals are slightly READ MORE-http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150730-jackals-wolves-evolution-new-species-animals-africa/