-Iandumoema smeagol: New Eyeless Harvestman Species Found in Brazil

The team, headed by Dr Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha of the Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, named the new speciesIandumoema smeagol after the ‘Lord of the Rings’ character Smeagol.

“The species name refers to the hobbit named Smeagol, created by J.R.R. Tolkien, being the original name of Gollum – the dweller of the caves located below the Misty Mountains of Middle-earth of the Lord of the Rings book,” Dr Pinto-da-Rocha and co-authors wrote in a paper in the journal ZooKeys.

Two other extant species of the genus Iandumoema are I. uai and I. setimapocu.

According to-READ MORE -http://www.sci-news.com/biology/iandumoema-smeagol-new-eyeless-harvestman-species-brazil-03451.html

New species of viper found in Azerbaijan

A group of Azerbaijani scientists have discovered a species of snake in the country that was hitherto not believed to inhabit this region.

During research in Guba-Khachmaz region, the staff of the Herpetology laboratory of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Science’s Zoology Institute found the species of snake called Pelias lotiyevi, belonging to the family of Viperidae.

The species is new for the Greater Caucasus mountain areas. Pelias lotievi has been never observed in Azerbaijan before.

This species normally inhabits the North Caucasus region and highland xerophytes, stretching from the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus to the borders between Dagestan and Azerbaijan.

So far, this species has been found only in the Guba region mountainous areas, situated at an -READ MORE-http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/89775.html

Two new species of dragonflies found in Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Azerbaijani zoologists continue to discover new species of insects and reptiles.

The Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan informs that Arachnology Laboratory’s official Natalia Snegovaya found 2 new species of dragonflies in the country.

"In Balaken region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic the dragonflies of species Cordulegaster plagionyx Skvortsov & Snegovaya 2015 and C. nachitischevanica Skvortsov & Snegovaya 2015 were revealed,” the Institute reported.

In addition, Institute’s scientists have studied 13 new dragonflies for the Azerbaijan fauna: Lestes dryas, L. sponsa, L. virens, Coenagrion hastulatum, C. lunulatum, C. ornatum, C. pulchellum, Aeshna affinis, Brachytron pratense, Cordulegaster picta, Somatochlora flavomaculata, Sympetrum flaveolum, S. vulgatum.

Yesterday, the Institute informed that the staff of its Herpetological Laboratory had discovered a new species of snake Pelias lotiyevi related to vipers (Viperidae). The discovery was made in the mountains of the Greater Caucasus in the Guba-Khachmaz zone of the country.

New species of duck-billed dinosaur found

The first bones we uncovered were the pelvis and parts of the legs; which were so large it led to the site being given the nickname ‘Superduck,’" Fowler said.

Scientists have discovered the fossil of a new species of duck-billed dinosaur in US that roamed the Earth about 79 million years ago.

The dinosaur species, first uncovered and documented by a professor at Montana State University (MSU), showcases an evolutionary transition from an earlier duck-billed species to that group’s descendants, researchers said.

The new species neatly fills a gap that had existed between an ancestral form with no crest and a descendant with a larger crest, providing key insight into the evolution of elaborate display structures in these gigantic extinct herbivores.

Elizabeth Freedman Fowler and MSU paleontologist Jack Horner named the dinosaur Probrachylophosaurus bergei and suggest it is a previously missing link between a preceding species, Acristavus, which lived about 81 million years ago, and later form Brachylophosaurus, which lived about 77.5 million years ago.

“The crest of Probrachylophosaurus is small and triangular, and would have only poked up a little bit on the top of the head, above the eyes,” said Fowler.

The other bones in its skull are very similar to those of Acristavus and Brachylophosaurus, Fowler said. However, Acristavus does not have a crest; the top of its skull is flat, while Brachylophosaurus has a large flat paddle—shaped crest that completely covers the back of the top of its skull.READ MORE-http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/new-species-of-duckbilled-dinosaur-found/article7873207.ece

10 Most Metal American Cryptids

Monsters. Monsters rule, right? I thought you’d agree. In case you’re wondering, yes, yes you can study monsters for something maybe like a living. It’s called Cryptozoology, or the study of “hidden” animals. You may have seen a cryptozoologist on TV before. More than likely it was a program about Bigfoot and the guy with the coke bottle glasses and the shirt pocket bulging with pens and pencils was the channel’s go-to cryptozoologist. His job, and the job of most of cryptozoologists, is to be the credentialed name that says something similar to Hamlet’s advice to Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth…Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” In other words, don’t count out Bigfoot’s existence so fast. After all, what about the coelacanth?

But we came here to talk about metal cryptids, not actual sea beasts or Shakespearean characters. Obviously, cryptozoologists study cryptids, or “hidden” animals. According to cryptozoologists, cryptids are animals that have yet to be conclusively identified by mainstream science, despite decades upon decades of eyewitness accounts. Well-known cryptids include Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti, El Chupacabra (literally “goat-sucker” in Spanish), the Loch Ness Monster, and others. Some popular cryptids will appear in this list, but many might be unfamiliar to you. So much the better. All cryptids, even those that make a rational, scientific explanation damn near impossible, are pretty metal, but the following ten are the most metal of all.If Sasquatch is supposed to be a giant, prehistoric ape (Giganthropithecus to be exact), then Sheepsquatch is a giant…sheep. According to Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author ofMonsters of West Virginia (which sits proudly next to my john, by the way), the dreaded Sheepsquatch of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia is “about the size of a bear with woolly white hair.” Its front paws are “more like hands,” while its tail is “long and without hair.” Worst of all, the Sheepsquatch’s ugly mug has a “doglike snout and single-point horns like those of a young goat.” A horned giant sheep that apparently smells like sulfur? That’s totally metal.

Making Sheepsquatch all the more terrifying is the fact that many sightings have been reported in the so-called TNT Area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which just so happens to be the location of the Mothman sightings in the mid 1960s. Like a house in a Stephen King novel, the TNT Area was just born bad.READ MORE-http://www.metalinjection.net/lists/10-most-metal-american-cryptids

New Asian mosquito found in B.C. a potential disease carrier

An invasive Asian mosquito that can carry diseases such as encephalitis has been detected for the first time in Western Canada, at a site in Metro Vancouver.

SFU biologist Peter Belton was among the researchers who found the Aedes Japonicus mosquito species breeding in water on a tarp in a Maple Ridge backyard.

The closest the species had been detected previously was in southern Washington and Oregon in 2008, and it has been found in Eastern Canada and the U.S. since 1998.

The mosquito is capable of transmitting West Nile virus, three types of encephalitis andChikungunya, a viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain mainly in Africa and Asia.

Belton says the mosquito could pose a significant public health hazard in the future if global warming expands the distribution of the diseases it can carry.

"We believe it could be a significant threat to the health of humans and domestic animals and recommend that its population should be monitored," Belton and other researchers said in their -READ MORE-http://www.missioncityrecord.com/news/341889421.html

Phlebotomus papatasi sand fly. -A new species of Leishmania?

Leishmaniasis, is the third most important vector-borne disease. It is estimated that worldwide there are 1.5 to 2 million cases annually, with up to 350 million people at risk of infection. It is found in every continent except Australia and Antarctica and is caused by more than 20 different species of parasitic protozoa of the genus Leishmania.  The species differ depending on the region and type of disease they cause. It is included in the WHO’s list of Neglected Tropical Diseases, along with others such as African Sleeping Sickness, Lymphatic Filariasis and Rabies.

Over 90% of cases are reported from five developing countries; Sudan, Brazil, Bangladesh, India and Nepal, however it is endemic in many more, including Ghana.READ MORE-http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bugbitten/2015/11/06/new-species-leishmania/