QIANZHOUSAURUS SINENSIS.-DINOSAUR FOUND

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With a 9 metres long and distinctive horny snout a new Tyrannosaur  has been nicknamed Pinocchio Rex and was a cousin of Tyrannosaur Rex .The skeleton of the dinosaur was dug up at a chinese  construction site and was indentified by DR.Steve Bruoatte ,Edinburgh University.It is 66 million years old and its real name is QIANZHOUSAURUS SINENSIS.

Will they hold on? Three new gecko species found in threatened habitat

Malaysia is set to lose ancient limestone formations to quarrying despite the discovery of new species of geckos in the area. 

The species are described by Dr. L. Lee Grismer from California’s La Sierra University in three studies recently published in the journal Zootaxa. One of Grismer’s discoveries,Cyrtodactylus metropolis, is the first endemic vertebrate species discovered in the Batu Caves area. 

Batu Caves, located only 10 miles from downtown Kuala Lumpur, is a series of caves and a Hindu temple that attracts thousands of visitors every day. 

“Up until about 1970, much of the native limestone forest surrounding Batu Caves was intact, but the adjacent habitat has since been replaced by housing, industrial estates, and shops, essentially making Batu Caves an island in a sea of urbanization,” Grismer said.read more

Two New Snapping Turtle Species Named

The alligator snapping turtle (M. temminckii above) is actually three species. Photograph by Michelle Gilders, Alamy

Loosely related to common snapping turtles, alligator snappers have a dinosaur-like appearance and a range that’s limited to rivers in the southeastern United States that drain into the Gulf of Mexico (map).

Scientists made the discovery using a multipronged approach, examining wild turtles’ genes and body shapes as well as those of fossilized turtles. (See video: “Fishing with Alligator Snappers.”)

Thanks to their work, the original species (Macrochelys temminckii) has been joined by two newly classified species—M. suwannensis and M. apalachicolae, which are named after the river systems they populate: the Suwannee River and Apalachicola River.

And Then There Were Three

Study leader Travis Thomas, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and team caught turtles in rivers throughout the Gulf Coast region and collected blood samples from their tails to compare their DNA, which revealed significant differences.

The team also measured the reptiles’ skulls and carapaces, or shells, and found significant variations among them. For instance, snappers found in the Suwannee River have a particularly distinctive caudal notch, a scooplike structure at the back of the shell.

The DNA and physical evidence, combined with analysis of fossil snappers dating back to 16 million years ago, confirmed the turtles are separate species. (Also see “Mating Turtles Fossilized in the Act.”)

“These turtles depend on rivers and only leave the water to lay eggs, so it’s not surprising that there are genetic differences between drainages,” study co-author Joe Roman, a biologist at the University of Vermont in Burlington, said by emairead more

The Rat King: So Much Worse Than it Sounds

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "rat king"? Perhaps a sniffy-nosed rodent scampering about in a crown? Or maybe a ballet dancer in a rat costume, a la the Mouse King in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker? Well, take those innocent visions, dash them, and report to Room 101. There, in your bespoke face-cage, you will meet the real rat king.

A rat king, or roi-de-rats if you want to get all classy and French about it, is a pack of rodents whose tails have become entwined. The adhesive for this rat tangle may be dirt, blood, or feces, or the tails may simply be knotted together. The number of rats in a rat king varies wildly — two rats can make a rat king, albeit a pretty pathetic one.

Reported rat king sightings date back to at last as far as the 16th century. Germany is a particular hotspot, for reasons unknown. The largest known specimen is a mummified 32-rat snarl, on display at the Mauritianum museum in Altenburg, Germany.

Behold the monstrous majesty: read more

Wolves make a comeback

to see slide show and readmoreOnce hunted to near extinction, wolves have slowly returned to Germany. A wolf center in the north of the country aims to inform visitors and challenge their notions of the creatures as mere predators.xtinction with traps and poison, wolves are slowly returning to Germany. An estimated 25 packs now roam the country’s forests, largely unnoticed by humans. A wolf center in Lower Saxony in northern Germany aims to dispel widely-held ideas of wolves as mean and cunning predators popularized by fairytales and myths. Visitors to the center can learn all about the creatures and their habitat and learn to accept them as a part of nature. It’s all meant to help boost wolf populations in the country.

An audio slideshow by Kerstin Schnatz

Woman foxed by garden visitor

read moreONE of the strangest stories I’ve ever heard came my way just two days ago, courtesy of a cryptozoologist friend of mine.

For those of you who don’t know, cryptozoology is the study of bizarre, unrecognised or unknown animals.

He told me that he’d interviewed a woman who had seen something very strange indeed in her garden in central London.

While hanging out some washing, she espied what she thought was a fox lurking behind the greenhouse. This didn’t bother her.

As most people know, foxes are encroaching on urban areas in ever-increasing numbers, and the woman actually got quite excited when she saw one.

She thought foxes were beautiful animals, and having one visit her own garden was, she declared, “a special treat”.

POSSIBLE ATLANTIS?

A 5M Tsumami -wave was caused when subsea  landslide off Norway.Research suggests Doggerland  which was abandoned by M ESOLITHIC  tribes  roughly 8000 years ago. This  could have been a possiable prehistoric  Atlantis.read more on bbc link