Star dust' wasp is a new extinct species named after David Bowie's alter ego

During her study on fossil insects of the order Hymenoptera at China's Capitol Normal University, student Longfeng Li visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, carrying two unidentified wasp specimens that were exceptionally well-preserved in Burmese amber. This type of fossilized tree resin is known for the quality of the fossil specimens which can be preserved inside it. Being 100 million years old, they provide an incredible view into the past.

The subsequent analysis of the specimens revealed that both represent species new to science. Furthermore, one of the wasps showed such amazing similarities to a modern group of wasps that it was placed in a currently existing genus, Archaeoteleia which has long been considered as an ancient lineage. The species are described in a study publish-read more

3 New Chameleon Species Found in Central Africa

The three new species, described in a paper published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, were all endemic in Central Africa. Specimens of these species were collected in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2009 and 2014.

"We had this really nice dataset with samples collected all throughout the range of a particular species which meant we could really figure out its true diversity," said Daniel Hughes, a doctoral candidate at UTEP and lead author of the paper, in a press release. "We took to the next step and ultimately described three new species."

The discovery of the three new species was made after Hughes conducted a careful analysis of the chameleons' geographical, morphological and DNA data. This process was followed by nearly two years of external confirmation.

One of the new species of chameleon was named Tolley's Forest Chameleon (Kinyongia tolleyae). This chameleon was named after Krystal Tolley, a herpetologist and principal scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Cape Town, South Africa. Aside from being a huge contributor in the field of chameleon research, Tolley is also the one who taught Hughes how to catch chameleons in Uganda.

On the other hand, the two other new species were named after the mountain ranges where they were found. These two are the Rugege Highlands Forest Chameleon (Kinyongia rugegensis) and Itombwe Forest Chameleon (Kinyongia itombwensis).

At present, about 206 species of chameleons have been discovered and described. All found in Central Africa's Albertine Rift, the three new chameleon species joins the number of vertebrae species that are endemic in the region. However, the rapidly declining forests of Central Africa are threatening the animals living in the region. -read more

Four new species of frogs found in Western Ghats

CEPF burrowing frog (scientific name: fejervarya cepfi)
Found in Amboli and has been named after the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (USA), to recognise its role in protecting global biodiversity hotspots, and for highlighting the need to preserve biodiversity rich areas in the Western Ghats.

Five years of exploration and research later, a Delhi University scholar has discovered four new species of burrowing frogs, all from the biodiversity rich Western Ghats. Significantly, one of the species was found near Amboli, a hill station in south Maharashtra.-read more

Ant species uncovered in Murray-Darling study in Queensland's Maranoa

A CSIRO biodiversity study in the Maranoa region of Queensland, near Roma, has found 265 ant species, with up to 100 of them expected to be new.

It was part of a bigger Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC) project looking at the biodiversity of the region.

"An ant survey was done on four of the different demonstration properties," QMDC's Rhonda Toms-Morgan said.

"I don't think anyone would have expected [to discover] the place that ants play as a key indicator of bio-health."

As part of the study, rural primary school students had the opportunity to visit the site and inspect the ant traps as part of their science lessons, while members of the public attended field days on properties where the ants were found.

Australia has a diversity of ants

PHOTO: A dish trap containing fluid set up near an ant mound by CSIRO researchers on Myrtleville via Injune. (Supplied: QMDC Donna Hurley)

Ant ecologist Alan Anderson said it was likely there were many more ant species which were yet to be found in remote and rural parts of Australia.

Scientists are aware of around 7,500 native ant species in Australia but it is estimated there are -read more

Italy’s drying lakes imperil rare shrimp species found only here

A tiny ancient shrimp found only in a single small lake tucked away in the mountains of central Italy could soon disappear, as a combined result of climate change and an earthquake that hit the area last year.

The fairy shrimp (Chirocephalus marchesonii) has evolved from a species native to the Himalayan region. Its ancestors are thought to have reached the Appennine range during the last ice age, after their eggs latched onto the feet of migratory birds.

“Over the millennia, the shrimp has adapted to the specific environment of Lake Pilato, and its reproductive cycle is in sync with the seasonal hydrologic balance of the basin,” says Maria Gaetana Barelli of the Sibillini Park authority. The species is unique among freshwater shrimps in the area for its Asian origins, offering clues on the movement of animal species in prehistoric times.

Barelli says that to hatch, the shrimp’s eggs need such a complex combination of environmental parameters that her five-year-long research project wasn’t enough to make them hatch in captivity. This is why she is concerned that the crustacean may go extinct if the small lake it inhabits undergoes significant environmental changes.

Big shock

“The major earthquake that struck the region last summer has certainly caused deep shocks in the water system of these mountains,” says Alessandro Rossetti, a biologist with the Sibillini Park authority. “The water levels in the -read more

Whale body size warning for species collapses

The shrinking size of whales over the 20th Century could help scientists detect when wildlife populations are in trouble, a study suggests.

The analysis shows that the average body size of four whale species declined rapidly during the second half of the 20th Century in response to hunting.

But warning signals were visible up to 40 years before whale stocks collapsed.

The work appears in Nature Ecology and Evolution journal.

Christopher Clements, from the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and his colleagues looked at records on the abundance and body size of whales caught by commercial whaling vessels between 1900 and 1985, after which a global whaling -read more

Watched chimps change their hunting habits

Chimpanzees in Uganda may have changed their hunting strategy in response to being watched by scientists.

While studying the animals, researchers documented very different hunting habits of two closely neighbouring chimp "tribes".

"Sonso" chimps hunt in small groups for colobus monkeys, while those from the "Waibira" troop hunt solo and catch "whatever they can get their hands on".

The findings show how sensitive chimp society is to human presence.

They are published in the journal PLoS One,

Biologists who have followed and studied these animals for years think that work may have disturbed the group hunting that seems key to chasing and catching -read more and see video

New ‘Elfin Toad’ Discovered in Vietnam

• A team of Russian and Vietnamese researchers described Ophryophryne elfina, the Elfin mountain toad, in the journal ZooKeys last month.
• The toad, one of the smallest species of horned mountain toads ever described to science, was given the name Ophryophryne elfina, which roughly translates to "elfish eyebrow toad” — and the researchers who made the discovery say that there is evidence to suggest that the species could already be considered endangered.
• The species name "elfina," of course, derives from the English word "elf," small, magical forest creatures found in German and Celtic folklore.

A new species of Asian mountain toad belonging to the genus Ophryophryne has been discovered in the Truong Son or Annamite mountains of Vietnam, an area of high diversity for the group.

The toad, one of the smallest species of horned mountain toads ever described to science, was given the name Ophryophryne elfina, which roughly translates to “elfish eyebrow toad” — and the researchers who made the discovery say that there is evidence to suggest that the species could already be considered endangered.

A team of Russian and Vietnamese researchers described Ophryophryne elfina, the Elfin mountain toad, in the journal ZooKeys last month.-read more

Researchers reveal where invasive animal species are taking hold

Researchers have developed the first ever global analysis of established alien species. 

Alien species - or invasive species - are those that become established outside their natural range in another location where they've historically not been found. 

According to the new study, the top three hotspots with the highest numbers of established alien species were the Hawaiian islands, New Zealand's North Island and the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4597530/Map-reveals-invasive-animal-species-taking-hold.html#ixzz4kGRZpkHS
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Greenwich Audubon bird count finds 2 new species

Audubon Greenwich’s bird count this past weekend included 130 species including a few surprises.

“Two people saw the common merganser,” said Tom Burke, a longtime birder who coordinated this year’s count. “It’s a neat one. We have had almost every duck you could expect, and that was the one that was missing, so it was good to see .. and it’s the first time we ever recorded the boat-tailed grackle ... It’s a southern marsh bird that’s been colonizing the coast in Connecticut and New York recently.”

Audubon sent out about 50 people to 17 different territories within Greenwich, Stamford and Westchester County, N.Y., for the 44th annual Summer Bird Count.

Within 24 hours, bird-watchers logged everything they saw.-read more

New species of ancient marine reptile discovered

MOSCOW, June 16: Scientists have discovered a new ‘highly unusual’ species of the ancient marine reptile called pliosaur that lived in the oceans about 130 million years ago.

“The new pliosaur – Luskhan itilensis – has got its name from the Mongolian mythology, where Luus-khan stands for a spirit and master of water, and Itil is the ancient Turkic and Mongolian name for the Volga,” said Nikolay Zverkov, from the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia.

“A pliosaur skeleton was found in 2002 in the Cretaceous deposits (the Hauterivian age of the early Cretaceous Period, about 130 million years ago) on the bank of the Volga River, within 20 kilometres to the north of Ulyanovsk,” said Zverkov.

Luskhan itilensis has been included into phylogenic analysis. As the result of this analysis, the scientists have recovered a new evolutionary tree for this reptile group.

In the pliosaur family tree Luskhan is located in-between the Jurassic and Late Cretaceous pliosaurs since it combines a number of primitive and advanced characters.

Presence of several unique features puzzled the researchers so they had to gather additional data, related to pliosaur morphology, and conduct several additional morphospace analyses.

Contrary to all other advanced pliosaurs, traditionally considered to be unexceptionally macropredators, Luskhan had an elongate skull with slender snout and relatively small teeth.

The latter denotes adjustment to a diet of medium-sized prey – fish and squid. At the same time, Luskhan shows remarkable resemblance in the form of a skull and snout with representatives of a group of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs – the Polycotylidae family.-read more

New species of crab found in Qatar waters

A research team from the Marine Biology Cluster at Qatar University Environmental Science Center (QU-ESC) has discovered a new species of crab during an exploration trip on the research vessel Janan. The trip aimed to investigate marine benthic biodiversity within the Qatar Marine Zone.

Named “Coleusia janani”, the new crab has never been collected or identified within Qatar’s waters or elsewhere. The small crab of 13.6mm inhabits a gravel/mud substrate associated with the oyster bed ecosystem. It has a bright orange and grey shell with two pairs of orange/red outlined circles on each side of the shell. The legs and pinchers are white with orange bands. The investigation is a QU-funded project.

ESC Marine Operations and Logistics manager Dr Ibrahim Abdullatif al-Maslamani noted that the new discovery will definitely lead to new research as it highlights shortcomings in the current taxonomic descriptive identification keys and species lists of the Leucosiidae family of crabs in the Arabian Gulf.

“The discovery of Coleusia janani within the Arabian Gulf should trigger a revision of the Leucosiidae family of crabs in the region. This discovery underlines the gap in the taxonomic descriptions of the marine benthic environment and its associated species within the Qatar Marine Zone. It also represents a new species to science which is considerably exciting.”

Dr al-Maslamani reiterated that the new discovery aligns with QU’s commitment to study the marine environment and Qatar’s territorial sea. “QU has always taken the lead in efforts to meet the requirements for marine studies with the acquisition of the sophisticated research vessel, Janan and other powerful survey assets like speed boats, Remotely Operated Vehicles, and advanced analytical facilities. Additionally, QU’s marine science programme has produced many graduates whose contribution to Qatar’s marine conservation efforts will be invaluable.”-read more

Aussie researcher helps discover new species of rat

RATS are not known for winning popularity contests but a type newly discovered by Australian and international researchers has been awarded a place in the 2017 top 10 list of previously unknown species.

The omnivorous Slender Rat is unique among its strictly carnivorous relatives and was discovered on Sulawesi Island by Museums Victoria mammalogist Dr Kevin Rowe and his US and Indonesian team which was helped to a remote rainforest area by Rantepangko villagers.

Selected from a field of 18,000 new species of animals and plants discovered across the world in the past 12 months, the Slender Rat was included on the College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Top 10 New Species for 2017 “not so much for its rattiness but for the -read more

New species of flying squirrel discovered in Pacific Northwest

The northern flying squirrel can be found throughout British Columbia — but a new study has found that those living on the coast are a completely different species from those found inland for about a million years.

The authors of the study analyzed the DNA of flying squirrel specimens collected throughout the Pacific Northwest, previously thought to be the exclusive domain of the northern flying squirrel.

But those found on the Pacific coast between southern B.C. and northern California turned out to be genetically distinct from those found further inland.-read more

Scientists find new species during deep dive into an abyss off Australia’s east coast

SCIENTISTS scouring a huge abyss off Australia’s east coast have returned from their new frontier with a menagerie of newly discovered or rare deep ocean creatures, including faceless fish, zombie worms and a herd of sea pigs.

Perhaps a third of the marine invertebrates and some of the weird fish and luminescent creatures found during the 31-day voyage by CSIRO research ship Investigator are believed to be completely new to science.

Plucked from the dark, crushing depths of up to four kilometres in the mysterious abyss stretching from Launceston to Brisbane, the Museums Victoria-led CSIRO and NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub research team has chronicled species including:

COFFINFISH with a rodlike stem on its head topped with fluffy bait to catch prey;

GIANT anemone-sucking sea spiders, whose body simplicity is a “tube within a tube” and are among the oldest arthropods on Earth;-read more

Ancient bird like 'a kangaroo-sized flying turkey'

It has been described as a "giant flying turkey" the size of a grey kangaroo by Australian scientists.

It is actually an extinct species of megapode bird - an ancient cousin of the modern Malleefowl, which famously builds mounds of earth and leaf litter in which to lay and incubate its eggs.

Progura gallinacea probably didn’t do that, however.

It lacked the Malleefowl’s large feet and specialised claws, the researchers tell a Royal Society journal.

Instead, it’s quite likely P. gallinacea simply buried its eggs in warm sand or soil, just as some living megapodes in Indonesia and the Pacific still do.

A team from Flinders University in Adelaide assessed new and old fossil finds in producing its report.

Some of the older specimens were first collected in the late 1800s; the newer ones came from the remarkable Thylacoleo caverns of Western Australia, where countless ancient animals fell to their deaths through limestone pipes.-read more

Scientists Discover New Species of Fijian Iguana

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, The National Trust of Fiji and NatureFiji-MareqetiViti have discovered a new species of banded iguana.

Illustration of Fijian iguanas.(Credit: Cindy Hitchcock, USGS Western Ecological Research Center. Public Domain)

The new species of lizard, Brachylophus gau, is one of only four living species of South Pacific iguana, and is restricted to the island of Gau, Republic of Fiji. The scientists describe this new addition in an article released with the journal Zootaxa.

The first known recording of iguanas on Gau Island dates back to an expedition in the mid-19th century. In 1854, the survey ship HMS Herald carried Scottish naturalist John MacGillivray to the Fiji islands, where he chronicled his encounters with native wildlife in his journal.

Authors of the article in Zootaxa compared copies of MacGillivray’s journal entries with their own observations. They collected live iguanas, preserved specimens, and compared photographic evidence with specimens at the University of the South Pacific Herpetology Collection, Suva, Fiji and the British Museum of Natural History, London.

The Gau iguana is noticeably different from its peers in physical appearance. It has unique color patterning, including green throats on both males and females, whereas males of other iguana species never have solid green throats. Additionally, it is the smallest known of the species in Fiji, being 13 percent smaller than the next largest species, and 40 percent smaller than the largest species.

Currently, Pacific iguanas face threats from habitat loss and invasive species such as mongoose, feral cats, rats and goats. Gau Island, Fiji’s fifth largest island with an area of about 130 square kilometers, is about half forest, and half a mix of grasslands, plantations and forests regrown following timber harvests. The Zootaxa study indicated that Gau iguanas mostly inhabit the island’s large inland forests, which remain relatively intact. Gau’s coastal forests were more degraded than those found at mid-elevations and hosted smaller numbers of these iguanas.-read more

New species of early snake discovered

Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of ancient snake that lived 5 million years ago.

The snake, Zilantophis schuberti, bore uniquely wing-shaped projections on the sides of its vertebrae. It was a small snake, about 12-16 inches long. This find will help researchers understand more about the rich biodiversity of the ecosystem it inhabited.

Steven Jasinski, a doctoral student from the University of Pennsylvania and lead author, said: “This animal was probably living in leaf litter, maybe doing a bit of digging and either eating small fish or more likely insects. It was too small to be eating a normal-sized rodent.”

The fossils come from the Gray Fossil Site, in Tennessee, one of the richest fossil sites in the US. Based on the species found there it is estimated be between 7 and 4.5 million years ago, straddling both the Miocene (23 to 5.33 million years ago) and the Pliocene (5 to 2.58 million years ago). When Zilantophis would have been alive, the site would have been a sinkhole surrounded by a forest, with local fauna including ancient versions of bears, beavers and salamanders.

Seven different genera of snakes have been identified by researchers such as ancient species of garter snake (Thamnophis), water snake (Nerodia), rat snake (Pantherophis), pine snake (Pituophis) and whip snake (Masticophis). David Moscato, study co-author and also from the University, said: “Back in its day, the Gray Fossil Site was a great environment for living animals to thrive and for dead animals to fossilise. This makes for a palaeontology goldmine, positively packed with bones.”-read more

Scanning technology reveals 'lost' Megalosaurus teeth

Scientists researching one of the world's first dinosaur finds have discovered the existence of five teeth they did not realise it had.

The Megalosaurus was found in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, and was the first dinosaur to be named in 1824.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have created a 3D scan of the dinosaur and found previously unseen teeth.

They said the research would help with future restoration on the specimen.-read more

Study casts doubt on the idea of 'big fluffy T. rex'

Despite its ancestors having feathers, Tyrannosaurus rex most likely had scaly skin, according to fossil evidence.
Researchers say the huge predator had scales much like modern reptiles rather than feathers or fluff.
The dinosaur may have ditched its feathers because it no longer needed insulation when it reached gigantic proportions, they propose.
But the findings are unlikely to end the long-running debate about the physical appearance of T. rex.
We don't need to throw out the image of a big fluffy T. rex quite yet, argued one palaeontologist.
Whether T.rex was clad in scales, feathers or -read more

Who killed Oetzi the Iceman? Italy reopens coldest of cases

High in a remote area of the Oetztaler Alps in northern Italy, 5,300 years ago, Oetzi the Iceman was shot in the back with an arrow.

It hit a main artery and he probably bled to death within minutes.

His body was preserved in the ice, making him one of the oldest and best-preserved mummies on Earth.

Oetzi was first discovered in 1991 and scientists discovered the flint arrowhead lodged in his shoulder 10 years later. But only in recent months have investigators, led by a senior police detective, focused more intently on how Oetzi was shot.

Was it murder? And who might have killed him?

DNA traces origins of Iceman's ragtag wardrobe

Link to Oetzi the Iceman found in living Austrians-read more

'First of our kind' found in Morocco

The idea that modern people evolved in a single "cradle of humanity" in East Africa some 200,000 years ago is no longer tenable, new research suggests. 

Fossils of five early humans have been found in North Africa that show Homo sapiens emerged at least 100,000 years earlier than previously recognised. 

It suggests that our species evolved all across the continent, the scientists involved say. 

Their work is published in the journal Nature.

Prof Jean-Jacques Hublin, of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, told me that the discovery would "rewrite the textbooks" about our emergence as a species. read more and see video

SCIENTISTS FIND BIZARRE FACELESS FISH AMONG MYSTERIOUS SPECIES IN AUSTRALIA’S DEEP EASTERN ABYSS

The latest mission, called Sampling the Abyss, is headed by Australia’s Museums Victoria and CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). The month-long mission involved 40 scientists studying the marine life that exists at depths of up to 4,000 meters (2.5 miles).-read more and see video

Juneau researcher helps discover new species of flying squirrel

Allison Bidlack first studied the Prince of Wales Island flying squirrel population while working on her master’s degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Flying squirrels don’t really fly. They leap from trees and glide as much as 300 feet to escape from predators such as owls, marten and ermine.

Bidlack said the nocturnal mammals differ from the typical daytime red squirrel in that they have a thin, furry membrane between their front and rear legs, and a flat tail that’s used as a rudder.

“It’s really neat to see. If you capture one live and then let it go, it’ll often scamper up a tree and then immediately glide as far away from you as possible to the next tree,” Bidlack said. “It might do that a couple times just to get away.”

Bidlack is now director of the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center in Juneau. She’s also a -read more

New species discovered behind a pub – then saved from extinction

Who says village life has to be boring? Granity, New Zealand may be home to less than 300 people, but this lovely seaside village on the western coast of South Island was also – until last year – home to a species found no-where else on Earth. And today, the town has quite the tale to tell.

In 2007 reptile expert Tony Jewell noticed there was something very different about the little lizards that skittered beneath the cobble stones on the beach behind Miners on Sea pub and hotel in Granity. Built in 1892, the pub has a long history of serving nearby mining communities.-read more