By accident, a new spiky dinosaur is discovered

At first glance, Judith, the plant-eating, horned dinosaur looks like a triceratops. But it's really not.

It's an altogether new species, and a dinosaur enthusiast literally stumbled upon it.

Researchers introduced the species, the Spiclypeus shipporum in the journal PLOS One.

Judith was named after the location where the fossils were found --- the Judith River Formation in Montana. Despite the name, scientists do not know if Judith was male or female-read more

New species of coral discovered off Farallones

A rare coral species never seen before is growing in the water of the deep, cold Pacific a few miles offshore from the Sonoma County coast.

Unlike the corals that form spectacular reefs in the shallow waters of tropical oceans, the bone-white animal that biologist Gary Williams discovered is a solitary creature barely 15inches tall, with a thousand mouths that feed on microscopic plankton borne by the current flowing past its whip-like stalk.

It is one of more than 5,000 coral species that thrive in the oceans from Alaska to Antarctica and that come in all kinds of colors — from vivid blue and green to yellow, orange and various shades of pink and red.

Williams, of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, found the new species in a rocky area of the sea floor about 30 miles west of Jenner in what is now the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The new coral is flourishing amid an abundance of other animals that include starfish, sea worms, snails, sponges, sea cucumbers, crabs, nurseries of catsharks and skates, and at least 34 varieties of other fish.read more

New species of bird-eating boa snake with SILVER skin discovered in the Bahama

They have a reputation for being 'silver-tongued' creatures in many folk tales and legends, but now a snake that appears to be covered in the precious metal has been discovered by biologists.

The Silver Boa was first spotted by a team on a remote island in the Bahamas, who later found the remarkably coloured creature was completely unknown to science. 

The team from Harvard University first encountered a metre-long silvery female as she climbed a Silver Palm tree near the water's edge on a remote island in the southern Bahamas.   read more

New species of 'dancing' peacock spiders discovered

Dr Jurgen Otto said the peacock spiders, with their myriad of colour combinations and 'dance moves', are beautiful.

The biologist has shared photographs of the tiny spiders with many arachnophobes who are surprisingly delighted by them, he says.

"Normally people think of spiders as something ugly, scary and dangerous, but they're learning through my photographs and videos they're cute and colourful and adorable," Dr Otto told ABC News.

"Even people who hate spiders, extreme arachnophobes, love these spiders. They can't help it."

The spiders are found in bushland and scrub all throughout Australia.read more

Fossils reveal even creatures in the Antarctic were wiped out by giant impact that killed off the dinosaurs

At the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, a huge meteor slammed into the Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs, along with many other creatures from the period.

Many scientists believe that those that did survive were able to cling on in safe havens close to the poles - perhaps because they were already well adapted to living in extreme conditions.

But a new study now suggests that even n these places, animals were not immune from the mass extinctions, with huge numbers of species being killed off.The fossils were excavated by scientists from the University of Leeds and the British Antarctic Survey on Seymour Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. 

The fossils came from a variety of marine plants and animals, including the paperclip-shaped 'heteromorph', a distant relative of modern squid and octopus.

They grouped the fossils by age and found there was a dramatic 65-70 per cent reduction in the number of species living in the Antarctic around 66 million years ago.

This coincides with the time when the dinosaurs and many other groups of organisms worldwide became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period. 

'Previously scientists had thought that the Antarctic could have been a "refuge" from the worst effects of this mass extinction, regardless of whether it was caused by an asteroid impact or by massive volcanic eruptions that stressed the climate,' lead author of the paper, James Witts, a PhD student at Leeds University, told MailOnline.

'This is because the animals and plants that live at high latitudes have to cope with six months of darkness every year and as a result, a supply of food that is not constant throughout the year.'read more

New monkey puzzle tree discovered by accident after 17-years

SCOTS scientists have discovered a new species of monkey puzzle tree that had been “hiding” under their noses for almost two decades.
Researchers from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) have spent the past 17 years studying monkey puzzle trees on New Caledonia, an island in the South Pacific.
To their amazement, the team recently realised that the trees included a previously unknown species – the first to be discovered for 47 years.
The tree – which has yet to be officially named – had been “hiding in plain sight” according to-read more

Florida crocodiles: Man-eating Nile beasts confirmed in swamps

DNA tests have confirmed that three man-eating Nile crocodiles have been found living in Florida's swamps.

Unlike local alligators, the species preys on humans and is thought to be responsible for up to 200 deaths a year at home in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is possible more of the beasts are at large in the state, experts say.
It is not known for certain how they reached the US. "They didn't swim from Africa," said University of Florida herpetologist Kenneth Krysko.
One likely possibility was that they were brought in illegally by unlicensed collectors, who then failed to keep them secured or intentionally released them, Mr Krysko told the Associated Press news agency.read more

A newly discovered species of diatom, a microscopic creature that is key to the health of the planet, is named after a Lancaster professor.

Professor Philip Barker has dedicated much of his working life to the study of diatoms, exploring what these microscopic phytoplankton can tell us about climate change and water quality.
Now his efforts have have been rewarded, with a recently identified diatom species being called Afrocymbella barkeri in his honour.
Afrocymbella barkeri was identified by Belgian taxonomists Christine Cocquyt and Els Ryken in Lake Challa, a 92-metre deep crater lake at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Phil has spent many years there doing research into long term climate change.
The paper identifying the diatom states that: "The name barkeri is in honour of Prof. Philip A. Barker (Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom), a diatomist with a long-term research interest -read more

New species of horned dinosaur found by man on his first EVER fossil hunt 'among first arthritis sufferers'

A new species of dinosaur that roamed the Earth 75 million years ago has been named after the scientist who discovered it on his first ever fossil hunt.
Dr Bill Shipp, a retired nuclear physicist, discovered the specimen on land not far from his house in Montana.
Although it was discovered more than ten years ago, it has only now been formally recognised as a separate species in a study carried out by the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The beast, which has a large head with a frill, is named Spiclypeus shipporum in honour of the man who found it and from the Latin word for spiked shield.
It resembled the triceratops, but had a unique arrangement of bony triangular spikes protruding from its frill and distinct sideways-protruding horns over its eyes.read more

Two studies find one gene for red beaks and feathers

A pair of scientific papers has identified the same single gene as the source of red colouring in birds.

The gene makes an enzyme that lets the birds convert yellow pigments, which they eat, into red ones, which are deposited in their feathers or beaks.
Two separate teams made the discovery, by examining the DNA of birds which either gained or lost their redness.
One focussed on a finch which sometimes loses its red beak; the other on a type of canary bred to be entirely red.
Both studies are published in the journal Current Biology.
"Birds cannot synthesise these red pigments endogenously. They have to obtain them from their diet," Dr Miguel Carneiro from the Universidade do Porto, Portugal, told BBC News.
"It was known for a long time that an enzymatic conversion is needed to produce the red pigments. So many groups of geneticists and physiologists, for many decades,read more

Evidence of ancient tsunamis on Mars

Scientists think they see evidence of two huge tsunamis having once swept across the surface of Mars.

They point to satellite data suggesting a major redistribution of sediments over a large region at the edge of the Red Planet's northern lowlands.
The US-led team argues that asteroid or comet strikes into an ocean of water could have triggered the giant waves.
Such events could only have occurred more than three billion years ago when the planet was wetter and warmer.
Today, Mars is dry and very cold, and any impact would merely dig out a dusty hole.
But researchers have long speculated that the low, flat terrain in Mars' northern hemisphere could have hosted an ocean if the climate conditions were just right.
The nagging doubt with this theory has been the absence of an identifiable shoreline - something the new study could now help explain.read more

save the pangolins

Pangolins are scaled mammals that are closely related to anteaters. These nocturnal creatures spend their nights eating ants and termites. Pangolins generally only give birth to one baby at a time. Their offspring, called “pangopups,” are very dependent on their mother and can be seen riding around on her tail when they are tired. Pangolins roll up into a ball when they are scared, stressed, or frightened.Rainforest Action Network is fighting alongside frontline communities to defend the habitats of two different pangolin species: the Sunda pangolin (pictured above) which is being threatened by Conflict Palm Oil and the Indian pangolin that is threatened due to a coal power plant being planned in the mangrove forests in Eastern India.

While pangolins are being killed in staggering numbers for their scales by poachers, their habitat is also being destroyed by large corporations in the pursuit of profit by means of building coal-fired power plants, paper and clothing made from pulp, illegally harvested lumber and the production of Conflict Palm Oil.

New Species of Fly is First in Its Family to Parasitize Ants

Researchers in Panama have discovered a new species of fly in the family Chloropidae. The name of the new species is Pseudogaurax paratolmos, as reported in a recent paper published in Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

Josh Lancette

While a new species is interesting enough by itself, the researchers discovered something unique about this fly: it is the first known member of its family to parasitize ants. With this discovery, there are now four fly families that are known to parasitize ants (the other three are Tachinidae, Syrphidae, and Phoridae).
The new fly species was found to be an ectoparasitoid of the larvae of Apterostigma dentigerum, a fungus-growing ant. These ants culture fungi under logs, bark, or stones, and then use the fungi as food.
While studying these ants, the researchers discovered fly larvae attached to and feeding on the ant larvae.read more

Fossils of Unknown Extinct Primate Species Found in China

Fossils of Lemur-like extinct primates found in China shed some light in the diversification process of primate evolution in Asia and Africa.
(Photo : Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A team of international scientists have uncovered a spectacular cache of fossils from unknown extinct primate species in China, helping researchers better understand the course of primate, and our very own evolution.

The unearthed fossils most likely belong to six new species of primates. Four of them are lemur-like members of the strepsrrhine lineage, while the other two belongs to an ancestor of tarsier and anthropoids, human-like monkeys.
The discovery, published in the journal Science, suggest that climate change during Oligocene epoch played a crucial role in the diversification of primates in Asia and Africa. The changing weather during that time may cause primates in Asia to evolve differently from primates in Africa, and may also be at fault for the extinction of some primate species.
According to the report from Washington Post, many scientists believe that ancient primates were able to cross the waters dividing Asia and Africa by drifting in rafts made of matted dirt and vegetation, or fallen trees.read more

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLO. - A cave biologist and research assistant with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science recently discovered a new species of worms.
When Dave Steinmann first crawled into a cave in Steamboat Springs in 2007, he saw clumps of bright, blood-red colored worms living in stream that flows through the cave.
Right off the bat, he said knew this looked like a new species.
The worms are only an inch long, and they are thin like pencil lead. They're called limnodrilus sulphurensis, also known as cave worm read more

Mixed report on the world’s plant life

London – — A report billed as the first comprehensive look at world’s plants finds a planet slowly being ravaged by changing land use, mostly conversion of forests to agriculture to feed a growing population, and climate change.
The “State of the World’s Plants” study is designed to provide a baseline for annual reports that will measure how many plant species are being discovered, and how many are being lost forever.
“The positive is we’re still discovering lots of new plants, about 2,000 each year, new plants for food, for fuel, for drugs,” said Kathy Willis, science director at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. “On the negative, we’ve seen a huge change in land cover, mainly driven by cultural activity, with a little bit of climate change in there as well.”
The goal, she said, is to better understand the factors driving these negative changes — and to change them to protect more plants from extinction.
The report by one of the world’s leading research institutions involved more than 80 scientists. Here are some of its findings:read more

The 'ballet-dancing' beetles: Insects pirouette on balls of dung to take a 'snapshot' of stars and navigate the savannah

Oscar Wilde famously said 'we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars' - and this is particularly true of dung beetles. 

The creatures are known to navigate using the light of the Milky Way and now researchers have found they dance on top of a ball of dung while taking a 'photo' of how celestial bodies are aligned. 

The swift pirouette the balletic beetles perform enables them to know where they are going and roll off with their ball of dung in a straight line across the savannah.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3587071/The-ballet-dancing-beetles-Insects-pirouette-balls-dung-snapshot-stars-navigate-savannah.html#ixzz48dSn4uPq
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Palaeontolgists have identified a previously unknown species of 'bone-crushing' dog found on cliffs in Maryland. This coyote-sized dog was a member of the extinct subfamily Borophaginae, commonly known as bone-crushing dogs because of their powerful jaws and broad teeth. The newly named species is Cynarctus wangi, named for Xiaoming Wang, curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and a renowned expert on mammalian carnivores.

Palaeontolgists have identified a previously unknown species of 'bone-crushing' dog found on cliffs in Maryland.

This coyote-sized dog was a member of the extinct subfamily Borophaginae, commonly known as bone-crushing dogs because of their powerful jaws and broad teeth. 

The newly named species is Cynarctus wangi, named for Xiaoming Wang, curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and a renowned expert on mammalian carnivores. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3585106/Bone-crushing-dogs-roamed-North-America-2-million-years-ago-Fossils-reveal-brand-new-species-coyote-sized-canine.html#ixzz48dSEcR4S
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Mystery sea creature washes up on Formby beach

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  A MYSTERY sea creature has been washed up on the shores of Formby beach.
  Bodmin moor has the beast, Loch Ness has a monster and Cornwall has the Owl-Man.
  But now our golden coastline has staked a claim to its very own crypto-zoological mystery after the discovery of a gruesome looking half-decomposed creature, which was found washed up on the Formby sands on Thursday May 5.
  Social media was sent into a minor frenzy when the National Trust Twitter account posed the question: “a strange sea creature has washed up on our beach. Can anyone tell us what it is?”
  One user remarked that the skeletal remains looked exceedingly similar to that of the Caiman – a relation of the alligator.
  However thanks to our reporter’s not-so-expert knowledge of fish, The Champion believe we have identified the culprit causing such commotion as a badly decomposed common skate.
  The common skate can grow to 9.4 ft and weigh up to 220 lbs, making it the largest skate in the world.
  Overall shape features a pointed snout and rhombic shape, with a row of spines or thorns along the tail.

Crocodile eyes are fine-tuned for lurking

A new study reveals how crocodiles' eyes are fine-tuned for lurking at the water surface to watch for prey.

The "fovea", a patch of tightly packed receptors that delivers sharp vision, forms a horizontal streak instead of the usual circular spot.
This allows the animal to scan the shoreline without moving its head, according to Australian researchers.
They also found differences in the cone cells, which sense colours, between saltwater and freshwater crocs.
Published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the findings suggest that although the beasts have very blurry vision underwater, they do use their eyes beneath the surface.
This is because light conditions are different in salt and freshwater habitats, but only underwater - and the crocodiles' eyes show corresponding tweaks. read more

Fossils shed light on 'bizarre' reptile

A crocodile-sized creature that lived 242 million years ago was the first known vegetarian marine reptile, according to new fossil evidence.

Two specimens unearthed in China reveal details of the animal's skull and how it fed.
Named Atopodentatus, scientists say its hammer-shaped skull helped it to feed on underwater plants.
Only a handful of marine reptiles, living or extinct, are known to be herbivores.
Dr Nick Fraser of National Museums Scotland, who worked on the fossil, said it belongs in the pages of a children's storybook by Dr Seuss, which depicts animals with a strange jumble of features.
The reptile was "a bizarre, bizarre animal", he explained.
"We envisage it scraping algae and the like off rocks underwater.
"Herbivorous marine reptiles are very rare - this is the oldest record that we know of."read more