New viruses 'killing amphibians' in Spain

A deadly new disease has emerged that is wiping out amphibians, scientists report.

A number of viruses have been found in northern Spain that are killing frog, toad and newt species. Infected animals can suffer from ulcers on their skin and die from internal bleeding.

Researchers fear the strains, which belong to the Ranavirus group, have already spread to other countries.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

Lead author Dr Stephen Price, from University College London, said: "Until the outbreaks, we didn't really know about this lineage of virus.

"But since these die-offs began, we've started to see them elsewhere - in China in giant salamanders, and it looks like they are emerging in places like France and the Netherlands as well."-READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29649273

Aegista diversifamilia,-Hermaphrodite snail named after marriage equality

A new species of hermaphrodite land snail found in Taiwan has been named in support of marriage equality.

Biologists christened the species Aegista diversifamilia, referring to a diversity of family types, because it "represents the diversity of sex orientation in the animal kingdom".

The snail is widespread throughout eastern Taiwan, but was previously mistaken for a closely related species.

Its discovery is reported in the journal ZooKeys.

"When we were preparing the manuscript, it was a period when Taiwan and many other countries and states were struggling for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights," said Dr Yen-Chang Lee, who first suggested the snail might entail its own species.

"It reminded us that Pulmonata land snails are hermaphrodite animals, which means they have both male and female reproductive organs in a single individual.

"We decided that maybe this is a good occasion to name the snail to remember the struggle for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights."

Dr Lee, from Academia Sinica in Taipei, noticed in 2003 that land snails of the established species Aegista subchinensis seemed to be markedly different on the eastern side of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range.

Together with researchers from the National Taiwan Normal University, Dr Lee then conducted a detailed study of the shape of the animals as well as molecular markers.

The new diversifamilia species, from the east of the mountains, has a larger, flatter shell and is in fact more closely related to a land snail from Ishigaki Island in Japan-READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29599785

Hippocampus guttulatus) -Seahorses disappear from Studland Bay

Seahorses have disappeared from breeding grounds at a popular beauty spot in Dorset.

Numbers of the native spiny seahorse and short snouted seahorses have dwindled from more than 40 to none in the past eight years.

This year, conservationists were devastated to find just one drifting juvenile male during this year’s dive surveys.

Neil Garrick-Maidment, executive director of The Seahorse Trust, based in Topsham, said: “It is completely disheartening, particularly as we have been warning that this has been coming for several years.

"This does not bode well for the future of the seahorses at Studland unless the site is designated as a Marine Conservation Zone and only people power will make that happen."

The area has now been recommended to become a Marine Conservation Zone after earlier being dropped as a potential site in 2012.

A decision is likely to be known early next year.

Mr Garrick-Maidment said that the Trust believes that the decline in seahorse numbers is due to the fragmentation of the seagrass habitat caused by excessive boat anchors and illegal moorings, which leads to a breakdown in the ecology of the area.

He said: “I have counted more than 350 boats moored up there in one day.

“When the anchors are lifted it pulls up the grass which causes fragmentation and a slow break down of the seagrass meadow.

“That is bad for the marine life but also for the beaches and cliffs as it diffuses the waves and hinders the erosion.”

He insisted that Studland Bay should be open to all users, including boat users, and called for environmentally friendly moorings to avoid habitat disturbance.

“Seahorses are among the highest protected species in the country and it is illegal to disturb them and their habitat.”

The Seahorse Trust have been carrying out licensed seahorse tagging at Studland since 2007 and plot the species distribution through the British Seahorse Survey which began in 1994.

Through the tagging scheme have been able to identify individual species, which can live for up to 12 years, and have seen a decline in numbers to 11 in 2011 and 9 in 2012.

Seahorses head out to deeper water in the winter months and return to shallow areas to breed and feed among the seagrass as the weather warms.

Survey findings have challenged traditional ideas about the species including evidence that seahorses breed in conjunction with phases of the moon to make use of high tides and that couples undertake seasonal rather than lifetime pairing.

Mr Garrick-Maidment said: “It is an important site for us because it has allowed us to learn a lot from individual seahorses.

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Seahorses-disappear-Studland-Bay/story-23087722-detail/story.html#ixzz3GVABy55Q 

Lycodon odishi- New Species of Wolf Snake Discovered in India

India gets a new species of snake and the state of Odisha lends its name to this new snake! In a delightful news for snake lovers across the world a wolf snake found in India’s eastern state of Odisha (Orissa, formerly) has added to the growing list of new species discovery. The snake has been given the name Lycodon odishii after its place of discovery. The discovery was by herpetologists and snake lovers working in the state, thereby bringing the total number of snake species found in the country to 297.

The findings were published in a research paper in the latest issue of the Russian Journal of Herpetology.

Similar but different

The newly discovered species, called ‘Subhendhu’s wolf snake’ in common parlance after the name of the researcher who found it,  bears a lot of similarities to another species, Lycodon jara, belonging to the same genus. Earlier it was mistaken to be a juvenile Lycodon jara but researchers confirmed that it was in fact a different species.

The green-coloured snake has a bright yellow collar on its neck and twin spots on each scale (which looks like a yellow and black pattern) except the collar and grows to about 350mm. The new snake differs from Lycodon jara in that it has a distinct collar and is smaller in size. Earlier it was believed that as the juvenile Jara grew, the collar disappeared. But the sustained studies by a team of herpetologists over 18months helped them arrive at the conclusion that this was a new species altogether.

“For over 218 years, scientists from across the world were identifying the snake with juveniles of Lycodon Jara. Several attempts to differentiate the snake were made in the past, but proved unsuccessful due to lack of proper documentation. We worked for a year and a half and finally concluded that this was a new species,” said the research paper’s author Subhendu Mallik, who is also secretary of Snake Helpline, a voluntary organization working for the rescue and rehabilitation of snakes.

The snake was found in 2013 in Behrampur in Ganjam District by volunteers of snake helpline.

“The female snake had a collar. That struck us because how could an adult Jara have a collar. We started our research on the species,” said Mallik. A thorough examination of the specimen proved distinct morphological differences of at least 12 characters, he added.

The results were corroborated by noted herpetologist Siba Prasad Parida, who was also a member of the team that submitted the report.

“Although strikingly similar to the other species, Lycodon odishii is much smaller and has a yellow collar which the Lycodon jara lacks,” said Parida

In the research paper submitted, the team described the distinguishing features of the species,Lycodon odishii (a nocturnal non-venomous species that feeds on skinks and geckos) that clearly set it apart.

Here are some of the characteristics found,

• The collar of newborn of the species is white. It is white with yellow blotches on the upper side in juveniles and adults.
• The snout of the lycodon odishii is projected beyond the lower jaw as compared to not beyond in L. jara.
• The post-oculars in L. odishii are one or two as against 2 always in L. jara.
• Twin spots are present on each scale of the body except the 6 – 7 rows of scales in the collar region as compared to each scale in L. jara.
• The color of twin spots is white in hatchlings and yellow in adults in the new species.
• The yellow tinges on the head shields are much less as compared to L. jara in the adults of the new species.

The research paper was submitted by a team comprising of Subhendu Mallik, Siba Prasad Parida, Ashis Kumar Mohanty, Asutosh Mallik, Kamal Lochan Purohit, Siddhartha Mohanty, Shakti Nanda, Sadhwi Sindura, Swetashree Purohit, Anuja Tarini Mishra, and Sujata Sahoo

Lycodon is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as wolf snakes. The name Lycodon means wolf and teeth, referring to the fang-like exterior maxillary and mandibular teeth. Most snakes belonging to the species are not threatened.

Alien’ Sea Creature With 100 Arms Discovered, New Species Or Martian?

An “alien-like” sea creature has been discovered by a fisherman in Singapore that possesses around 100 arms and moves as if it was straight out of a horror film.

54-year-old Ong Han Boon, a deep-sea fisherman, has revealed that he made the discovery while he was at his favorite fishing spot on the island of Sentosa.

According to the Mirror, Boon started his endeavors by throwing out his line with the hope of catching something to eat. He even started to drink several servings of his favorite beer and then, when he eventually learnt that there was something on the end of his line, he started to reel it in and began to dream of what he would be having for food.

However, what he actually pulled out of the water scared him half to death and probably left him without an appetite. You can check out a video, courtesy of the New York Post, of the creature below.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Cop 'knocks out' NYC teen

• 
• 
• 
• 

Costumed performers attack heckler in Madrid

• 
• 
• 
• 

New York Post video of Joan Rivers' casket being carried into a hearse

• 
• 
• 
• 

New video of a man tossing a flare from a sidewalk grate

• 
• 
• 
• 

خفض فاتورة الدعم الحكومي للسلع والخدمات بالكويت

Boon has now been reliving the experience, and he admitted that he actually “got quite excited as [he] hauled it in.”

“I spotted the line going up and down, and feeling a bit peckish I got quite excited as I hauled it in. But when I pulled it out of the water I was completely flummoxed by what I was looking at.”

Boon, who revealed that he was an experienced fisherman, added that it was by far the most peculiar creature he’d ever pulled out of the ocean.

“I’ve had quite a few odd things come from out of the ocean but I have never seen anything like this before in my life. It had all these arms waving around. I thought it look liked an alien or some kind of mutant.”

The deep-sea beast looks as if it has around about 100 moving tentacle-like arms. Boon decided that he would upload a video of his discovery to the internet so that someone can reveal exactly what he found.

“I’ve asked all my friends and none of them know and all my internet searches have not turned up anything that looks like this. So, if no one can identify it then I guess I’m right — it’s either an alien or I’ve discovered a new species of mutant sea creature. That would not surprise me with all the pollution they put in the water nowadays.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have previously noted that we have yet to explore 95 percent of the world’s water, even though it covers 71 percent of the Earth.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1540121/alien-sea-creature-with-100-arms-discovered-new-species-or-martian/#hG37CuAAg67TT5X2.99

Human fossils from 'oldest Parisian'

Scientists have unearthed rare, ancient human remains in silts close to the River Seine in France.

The left arm bones are dated to about 200,000 years ago, and look to be Neanderthal - although the researchers say that with no other fossils it is impossible to make a full description.

There is little Neanderthal material of this age in northwest Europe.

"These are the oldest fossils found near Paris; it's the oldest Parisian, if you like," said Bruno Maureille.

The anthropologist and his colleagues report the discovery in the Plos One journal.

They made their find at Tourville-la-Rivière, roughly 100km from the capital.

Not much can be said about the individual because it is represented solely by the three long bones of the arm - the humerus, ulna and radius.

Their robustness would support a Neanderthal interpretation, says the team, and they could have come from a juvenile or young adult.

One interesting observation is a raised crest, or ridge, on the upper-arm bone that may be the result of muscle damage at the shoulder.

The team speculates in its paper that the individual might have been hurt by repeatedly throwing something.

The scarring looks very similar to what has been documented in professional throwing athletes.

"We have a particular morphology on the humerus where we have this very important crest that is related probably to a specific movement - a specific movement that has been repeated by this individual," Dr Maureille told the BBC.

"Right at that point, we have a kind of micro-trauma, which could be related to a movement that is more difficult, and it has created this strange relief."

Quite what that repetitive movement might have been is open to debate.

"If the evidence for the strong development of the deltoid region on the humerus has been interpreted correctly, this could provide an important clue that thrown spears were already in use in Europe about 200,000 years ago, something which many experts have questioned," commented Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London.

"There has been a widespread view that Neanderthals and earlier humans were reliant on thrusting spears, used for dangerous close-range confrontational hunting, and that only modern humans perfected launched projectiles - that view could now be questioned."READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29557378

Aristolochia Xuanlienensis, -New plant species found in Vietnam

　　Photo released by VNA on Oct. 9, 2014 shows the flower of a new plant species in the Aristolochiaceae family recently discovered in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The new species, 

　　Photo released by VNA on Oct. 9, 2014 shows the flower of a new plant species in the Aristolochiaceae family recently discovered in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The new species, Aristolochia Xuanlienensis, named after the place where it was found, has not yet been found anywhere else in the world.(Xinhua/VNA)

　　Photo released by VNA on Oct. 9, 2014 shows the flower of a new plant species in the Aristolochiaceae family recently discovered in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The new species, Aristolochia Xuanlienensis, named after the place where it was found, has not yet been found anywhere else in the world.(Xinhua/VNA)named after the place where it was found, has not yet been found anywhere else in the world.(Xinhua/VNA)

　　Photo released by VNA on Oct. 9, 2014 shows the flower of a new plant species in the Aristolochiaceae family recently discovered in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The new species, Aristolochia Xuanlienensis, named after the place where it was found, has not yet been found anywhere else in the world.(Xinhua/VNA)