Saturday 25 June 2016

New orchid species found in Philippine forest guerrilla zone

NEW SPECIES. This undated handout photo shows an orchid Dendrobium lydiae in Bukidnon province, Mindanao. Five new orchid species have been discovered in increasingly denuded Philippine mountains, highlighting the need to protect forests in one of the world's most biologically diverse countries, conservationists said Friday. Photo by Miguel David de Leon/AFP  MANILA, Philippines – Five new orchid species have been discovered in remote Philippine mountains, protected from poaching because of an insurgency in the region, conservationists said Friday, June 24.
The species are found only in a mountain range on the rebellion-torn Mindanao area in the southern Philippines and have eluded those cataloguing plant life for 200 years, expert Miguel David de Leon told Agence France-Presse.
Poaching of wild orchids mostly by locals is rampant in the Philippines, with some communities illegally harvesting them without permits for export or to sell them along roads.
But Mindanao region is among the country's areas wracked by one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies, whereby Maoist guerrillas retain support among the poor in the farming and mountainous communities.
"The insurgency problem helps prevent poachers or would-be orchid-hunters from entering the forests," said De Leon, a plant and wildlife conservationist who found the species while trekking the mountains of Bukidnon province in Mindanao.
"These areas are very isolated. The terrain is treacherous, accessible only by foot and -read more

Researchers discovered a new species of truffle at Arboretum — but they didn’t taste it

The tuber arnoldianum truffle was discovered at the Arnold Arboretum.There’s scarcely a more studied patch of soil in New England than the Arnold Arboretum , but it turns out the institution’s trees have been keeping a secret.
The trees’ roots have been hiding at least eight kinds of truffles, the elusive fungi that can carry earthy, funky flavors prized by chefs.
In a recently published paper, researchers wrote that they had identified a new species of the aromatic underground fungus, naming it tuber arnoldianum in honor of the Harvard arboretum.
In addition, the researchers wrote that they had found evidence that the tuber borchii, an aromatic bianchetto truffle, was growing wild there, something they’ve never seen the valuable European species do in North America.
“In this place where people thought there were no truffles, we documented eight species,” said Matthew E. Smith, a co-author of the paper published this month by the journal Mycorrhiza. “There’s so much hidden biology in a place that you would expect to know a lot.”read more

Anolis landestoyi: New Species of Chameleon-Like Lizard Found in Dominican Republic

Anolis landestoyi. Image credit: Miguel Landestoyi.Greater Antillean anoles (genus Anolis) are a textbook example of a phenomenon known as replicated adaptive radiation, where related species evolving on different islands diversify into similar sets of species that occupy the same ecological niches.
Examples of this could be long-tailed grass dwellers, bright green canopy lizards, and stocky brown species that perch low on tree trunks, each living in similar environments on more than one island.
Although most Greater Antillean anoles may have a matching counterpart on another island, scientists have long known that a sizeable fraction do not – roughly one fifth of the region’s anole species are ‘exceptions to the rule’ so far.read more

Two new frog species found

Raorchestes silentvalley (top) and Raorchestes lechiya, the two new bush frogs discovered from Silent Valley recently.Two new bush frog species have been discovered at the Silent Valley National Park, renowned as a repository of biodiversity.
The species were found in a survey conducted by researchers and naturalists led by Anil Zachariah, veterinarian, and Robin Abraham, amphibian researcher, Kansas University, US. It is published in the latest issue of Salamandra , a German herpetological journal.
“The new species belongs to the bush frog genus Raorchestes and is located in the cloud forests of the Sispara and Thudukki sections of Silent Valley National Park,” Dr. Zachariah told The Hindu .
One species has been named Raorchestes silentvalley in commemoration of the people’s struggle to preserve this tract of tropical forest and grasslands in the south west of the Nilgiris, he said.
Watershed moment
The Save Silent Valley movement was a watershed moment in India’s environmental history, which mobilised the public to debate the topic of environmental protection versus mindless development, Dr. Zachariah added.
The second species is named Raorchestes lechiya after the late Mr. Lechiyappan, a forest watcher who guided scientists in the park for rapid surveys, which helped in the region’s eventual declaration as a national park, Mr. Abraham said.

How early mammals evolved night vision to escape dinos

Night-time vision evolved millions of years ago in early mammals, a study suggests.
The photoreceptors that help us see in dim light developed from colour-detecting cone cells in Jurassic mammals, according to genetic evidence.
The evolution of night-time vision is regarded as a landmark event in the rise of mammals.
A nocturnal lifestyle allowed the first of their kind to avoid predatory dinosaurs, say scientists.
Co-researcher Dr William Ted Allison of the University of Alberta, Canada, said the development of night vision was a "critical step" in the dominance of mammals.
"We're learning how mammals evolved their vision to survive at night-time and avoid dinosaurs," he told the BBC.
"That's what allowed mammals to diversify and become abundant in the world.
"They did that by switching their daytime vision in the cones to allow night-time vision using their rods."

Rods and cones
  • When light enters the eye, it ultimately reaches the retina, which is the light-sensing structure of the eye.
  • The retina contains two types of photoreceptor cells, called rods and cones.
  • Rods are responsible for vision at low light levels. They do not help in colour vision.
  • Cones are specialised for resolving fine detail in bright light.
  • Animals that are active in both day and night need to have two systems.

Genetic research published in the journal, Developmental Cell, suggests the light-sensitive rod cells in our eyes originally developed from colour-detecting cone cells millions of years ago.-read more

Saturday 18 June 2016

New species of 200 mn-year-old marine reptile discovered

Scientists have identified a new species of an extinct marine reptile, that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs about 200 million years ago. 

Similar-shaped to dolphins and sharks, ichthyosaurs - often misidentified as 'swimming dinosaurs' - swam the seas of Earth for millions of years during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. 

The fossil found in the is from the earliest part of the Jurassic Period -- 200 million years ago -- and only a handful of ichthyosaur species are known from this period, making the discovery very significant. READ MORE

T he Alcathoe’s bat, or Myotis alcathoe,New species of bat found in Jersey

batA new species of bat has been found in Jersey.
T he Alcathoe’s bat, or Myotis alcathoe, was discovered by The Jersey Bat Group as part of their woodland project.
The group was unable to formally identify the animal, but following a DNA analysis they found the bat belonged to a rare species which has only been confirmed in a few spots in the UK and Europe.
Alcathoe’s bat is considered a threatened species because of its rarity and vulnerability to losing its habitat.
We are very excited to find this species in the Island for the first time. As the Woodland Project moves forward there may be further exciting new discoveries.
– DR AMY HALL, CHAIR OF THE JERSEY BAT GROUP

New species of gnat discovered in Teddington's Bushy Park thanks to the shape of its genitals

The Grzegorzekia bushyae, or Bushy Gnat, has genitals with a broader comb of spines than the more common speciesA new species of gnat has been discovered in Bushy Park thanks to the shape of its genitals.
Entomologist Peter Chandler discovered the Grzegorzekia bushyae, or Bushy Gnat, when he spotted it had a different genital structure to the common species of fungus gnat, Grzegorzekia collaris, which was the only previously known species of its kind in the UK.
Mr Chandler found the male genitals of the new Bushy Gnat had a much broader comb of spines than the more common collaris gnats.
He also found the sides of the genitals were narrower and cut away, revealing more of the gnat’s reproductive organ which secretes sperm.
The insects were found in the Waterhouse Woodland Gardens towards the park’s western edge and were confirmed to be a new species, which is also thought to be scarce across Europe.read more

Forgotten fossil that lay in a museum for half a century is found to be a new species of 'British' ichthyosaur

The specimen is relatively complete, consisting of a partial skeleton including a skull, pectoral bones, limbs, pelvis bones, ribs and vertebrae. However, the bones are disorderly - it appears that the carcass 'nosedived' into the seabed before it became fossilised, which may have restricted previous studyA new species of ichthyosaur - an extinct marine reptile alive at the same time as the dinosaurs - has been identified in Nottinghamshire.
Ichthyosaurs, which look similar to dolphins and sharks, swam the seas of the Earth for millions of years in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. 
Two hundred million years from the early Jurassic period, a palaeontologist has just discovered a new 'British' species, which he has named Wahlisaurus massarae.read more

New lizard found in Dominican Republic

New lizard found in Dominican RepublicA University of Toronto-led team has reported the discovery of a new lizard in the middle of the most- visited island in the Caribbean, strengthening a long-held theory that communities of lizards can evolve almost identically on separate islands.
The chameleon-like lizard - a Greater Antillean anole dubbed Anolis landestoyi for the naturalist who first spotted and photographed it - is one of the first new anole  found in the Dominican Republic in decades.
"As soon as I saw the pictures, I thought, 'I need to buy a plane ticket,'" says Luke Mahler of U of T's Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and lead author of an article on the discovery published today online in The American Naturalist.
"Our immediate thought was that this looks like something that's supposed to be in Cuba, not in Hispaniola - the island that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share," says Mahler. "We haven't really seen any completely new species here since the early 1980s."
What's more, the new species could help piece together a long-standing puzzle of similar looking species that exist on different Caribbean islands.
"I got a grainy photo from local naturalist Miguel Landestoy, who saw a nesting pair of birds that were mobbing a branch," says Mahler. "He saw they were flying around what he thought was a new species of heavily camouflaged anole clinging to that branch." It wasn't possible to say much from the photo though, and Mahler didn't think much of it. "You get all these people who say they found a new species but it's almost always just an atypical individual of a very common species," says Mahler. "So you get pretty hardened against thinking claims like these are legit."
A few years after the initial photo, Landestoy caught one of the lizards and emailed clear images of the find to Mahler and several other researchers he'd been working with. "As soon as I opened the email, I thought 'what on earth is that!?,'" says Mahler.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-lizard-dominican-republic.html#jCp

3 new fish species found in Hawaii marine conservation area

This photo provided by Bishop Museum and NOAA shows one of three probable new fish species found during a 25-day research expedition from May 22 to June 15, 2016, in the waters in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Researchers in Hawaii have discovered three probable new species of fish while on an expedition in the protected waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
In a statement released Wednesday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said divers collected two previously unknown species of fish and filmed a third.
NOAA's Randall Kosaki, the expedition's chief scientist, said the team collected the first specimens of male Hawaiian pigfish about 91 metres (300 feet) below the surface-read more

Biblical' moth influx threatens to devastate crops

Scientists have learned that cabbage and cauliflower crops could potentially be "devastated" by a species of moth arriving from continental Europe.
BBC News understands that tens of millions of diamondback moths are thought to have come to the UK in the past week.
This is 100 times the number that arrive in the entire year.
Researchers describe the species as a "super pest" because it is thought to be resistant to several insecticides.
An alert has been issued by researchers at the Rothamsted Research in Harpenden in Hertfordshire.
The Twitter feed @migrantmothUK reported a two mile cloud of moths on Saturday night near Leominster. One subscriber to the feed reported that it was like "driving through rain".
Steve Nash, who administers the feed, said much worse was yet to come.
"Once the progeny of this influx arrives in mid-July, numbers could be biblical," he said.
Dr Steve Foster, who works at Rothamsted Research described how they devastate crops.-read more and see video

Saturday 11 June 2016

SMALLER ancestors? Fossilised jawbone of tiny 700,000-year-old species found on island of Flores

The fossilised jawbone (pictured) of a diminutive species of early human that lived 700,000 years ago has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. It is thought to be the direct ancestor of the Hobbit of Flores, the 3.5 feet tall human species that lived around 50,000 years ago The fossilised jawbone (pictured) of a diminutive species of early human that lived 700,000 years ago has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. It is thought to be the direct ancestor of the Hobbit of Flores, the 3.5 feet tall human species that lived around 50,000 years ago 
Anthropologists have discovered the lower jaw and a series of teeth from at least one adult and possibly two children of what appears to be an early form of the hobbit, Homo floresiensis.

WHO WERE THE FLORES HOBBITS

Standing a little over 3ft (1.5 metres) tall, the inhabitants of Liang Bua cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores are known from just a few fragmented remains.
The first remains were found in 2003 and since then partial skeletons of nine individuals, including one complete skull have been unearthed.
Researchers believe the little people were descendants of prehistoric humans - Homo erectus - who became isolated on the island around one million years ago.
There are various theories for how they got there.
Some believe they may have walked across a landbridge from the mainland Asia and as sea levels rose they became cut off.
Others suggest they were swept to the island following a tsunami. 
Once cut off, these hominins then had to survive on what food they could find, they evolved a small stature.
Scientists have previously said they were clever hunters because they had found evidence of toolmaking, butchering and fires. 
Perhaps most extraordinarily these diminutive ancient humans may have been even smaller than their descendants, who are thought to have stood 3.5ft tall and died out around 50,000 years ago.
It promises to settle a long running argument about whether Homo floresiensis was really a separate species of human or merely a pigmy form of our own species Homo sapiens.read more

Seven new species of 'dancing' peacock spider found, including one that mimics a WASP

Seven new species of peacock spider have been discovered by biologists in Western Australia, including one that has distinctive patterns on its abdomen that appear to resemble a wasp to human eyes. Biologists think the male spider, called Maratus vespa (pictured), uses this to hold the attention of the drabber femalesWhen the mating ritual can win you a female's heart or get you eaten, looking like an insect may seem to be a bad idea if you're a spider.
But one newly discovered species appears to have found this approach can work to its advantage as it carries the distinctive pattern of a wasp on its body.
The tiny creature, which measures less than a fifth of an inch (5mm), is one of a seven new species of peacock spider to have been discovered by scientists.read more

Hummingbird moths colonise UK

The charity Butterfly Conservation is asking wildlife-watchers to check their gardens for tiny hummingbird-like moths, in a bid to find out if a striking European insect is colonising the UK.
Hummingbird hawk-moths, which typically visit from continental Europe during the summer, may be spending the winter in sheltered spots or even greenhouses of Southern England.
The moths beat their wings 80 times per second, allowing them to hover over flower heads and feed on nectar.
Spotting a hummingbird hawk-moth has long been considered a good omen - a small swarm of the orange and brown moths was famously seen flying over the Channel on D-Day in 1944.
The survey is part of national "Moth Night" and sightings can be reported online.see video

Hobbit find shows tiny humans shrank 'rapidly

Hobbit SkullScientists have discovered the 700,000-year-old ancestor of the tiny primitive human known as "the Hobbit".
Its fossils indicate that the normal-sized primitive humans who first set foot on the Indonesian island of Flores shrank "rapidly" to become Hobbit-sized.
The remains are of at least one adult and two children, who are all just as small as their descendents.
A paper in the journal Nature details the latest findings.
The Hobbit's discovery in a cave on Flores created a sensation 12 years ago. Just a metre in height (hence the affectionate nickname), it was initially thought they could have been living as recently as 12,000 years ago.
Subsequent analysis has shown they actually existed slightly further back in time, between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago - not that this lessened the fascination with the diminutive species more properly called Homo floresiensis.
And now comes new research from some of the scientists involved in the original discovery that reveals insights on the Hobbit's lineage.
The team presents much older fossils, dating back 700,000 years, unearthed at a site named Mata Menge.read more

Saturday 4 June 2016

Two new rain frog species found in ancient Inca

QUITO, Ecuador, June 2 (UPI) -- Deep in the forests of Ecuador's Llanganates National Park -- lands once frequented by ancient Incans -- live two frog species that had gone unnamed by scientists until very recently.
Researchers with the Museum of Zoology at Catholic University of Ecuador discovered the two new species of rain frogs while conducting field work in the national park. They named them Pristimantis llanganati and Pristimantis yanezi.
The Pristimantis genus is already one of the most diverse frog genera in the world. Now, it's two deeper.
"Both new species occur in a region with few amphibian collections and nothing is known about their abundance and ecology," scientists wrote in a new paper on the discovery, published this week in the journal ZooKeys.-read more

Olm eggs: First two Slovenian 'dragons' emerge

olm emerging from its eggAfter a four-month wait, the eggs laid by a peculiar salamander in a Slovenian cave have started to hatch.
Ghostly pale and totally blind, olms - fondly known by locals as "baby dragons" - only reproduce every 5-10 years and are thought to live to 100.
This clutch of eggs started to appear in January in an aquarium in Postojna Cave, a tourist destination where the creatures have lived for millennia.
Observing baby olms develop and hatch is a rare opportunity for science.
The first of 23 developed eggs hatched on 30 May; a second baby olm (pictured below) was slowly wriggling out of its egg on Wednesday night.read more and see video

Snails use 'two brain cells' to make decisions, Sussex University discovers

SnailSnails use two brain cells to make "complex decisions", a team of scientists has found.
Researchers at the University of Sussex said one cell told the snail if it was hungry while the other cell told it if food was present.
The experiments used electrodes to measure brain activity of the molluscs when searching for lettuce.
Lead researcher Prof George Kemenes said the discovery would help engineers design "robot brains".
He said these would be based on the principle of using the fewest possible components necessary to perform complex tasks.
"Our study reveals for the first time how just two neurons can create a mechanism in an animal's brain which drives and optimises complex decision-making tasks," he said.
"It also shows how this system helps to manage how much energy they use once they have made a decision.
"Our findings can help scientists to identify other core neuronal systems which underlie similar decision-making processes."
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Fish eat plastic like teens eat fast food, researchers say

micro plasticYoung fish become hooked on eating plastic in the seas in the same way that teenagers prefer unhealthy fast food, Swedish researchers have said.
Their study, reported in Science, found exposure to high concentrations of polystyrene makes perch larvae favour the particles over more natural foods.
As a result of exposure to plastic, the young perch are smaller, slower and more susceptible to predators.
The researchers called for plastic micro-beads to be banned in cosmetics.

Chemical degradation

Concerns have been growing about the amount of plastic in the seas in recent years.
study that came out last year estimated that about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the oceans annually.
When exposed to UV radiation, chemical degradation -read more

Famous peppered moth's dark secret revealed

Scientists have discovered the specific mutation that famously turned moths black during the Industrial Revolution.
In an iconic evolutionary case study, a black form of the peppered moth rapidly took over in industrial parts of the UK during the 1800s, as soot blackened the tree trunks and walls of its habitat.
Now, researchers from the University of Liverpool have pinpointed the genetic change that caused this adaptation.
They have also calculated the most likely date for the mutation - 1819.
Their study appears in the journal Nature, alongside a second paper, which describes how the same gene allows tropical butterflies to switch between different colour schemes.
Dr Ilik Saccheri has been working on the peppered moth since setting up his Liverpool laboratory 15 years ago, he told Science in Action on the BBC World Service.
"When I started working on it I was surprised, given how well known it is, that no-one had actually tried to... characterise the underlying genetics controlling the physical appearance of this moth," he said.-read more and see video