Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri,Devil Frog Vomits Up a New Ant Species

Finding new species may call to mind images of scientists tracking mysterious footprints in the mud or cutting paths through the dense jungle.

But sometimes, a discovery is as easy as getting a frog to open its mouth and say, “Ah.”

Such is the case for Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri, a new tropical ant species found in the belly of a diablito, or little devil frog (Oophaga sylvatica), inEcuador.

The diablito, a kind of bright orange poison frog, is known for its love of ants, says Christian Rabeling, a myrmecologist at the University of Rochester, New York. The new ant species is named after Bert Hölldobler, a German evolutionary biologist and ant expert, for his 80th birthday.

Because ant-eating frogs go hunting for bugs in tiny and hard-to-access places, scientists use them as a tool to go where they can’t go. By capturing a wild frog and flushing their stomachs, the amphibians vomit whatever is in their bellies—revealing potential treasures, like the new ant.

“Sometimes people think that our world is very well explored. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” says Rabeling, who led a new study on read more

New “Singing” Psyllid Species Found in Taiwan

A new species of psyllid has been found in Taiwan and is described in an article in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. The new species belongs to the genus Trioza, which comprises more than 400 species worldwide.

Trioza acuminatissima feeds on its host plant, Neolitsea acuminatissima(family: Lauraceae), in the larval stage. However, in the adult stage it also feeds on nonhost plants.

It exists in the understory of forests at 1,000-2,000 meters above sea level, and the larvae are known to induce individual pit galls in their host plant.

Like other psylloids, Trioza acuminatissima uses acoustic signals to find mates, with males and females performing acoustic duets to confirm choice before mating. The acoustic signals consist of simple chirps, and are accompanied by rapid wing vibrations.

Interestingly, the authors found that the duration of the chirps depended on what type of plant the adults inhabited.

“Psylloids produce shorter acoustic signals when they are on a nonhost read more

New species of Wisconsin bat discovered in Rock County

Researchers from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have discovered a new species of tree bat living in Rock County, bringing the official count for species of bats in Wisconsin to eight.

The species, called the evening bat, is the first new species of bat discovered in Wisconsin since 1954. The evening bat is frequently found in the southern United States and has been seen once in Minnesota, but Wisconsin is the first northern state to have a sustained evening bat population, said Owen Boyle, section chief of the DNR National Heritage Conservation branch.

Researchers found the bat living in hollow trees in the Avon Bottom-read more

North Dakota fossils could be new species of ancient marine reptile

A routine dig in northeastern North Dakota may have unearthed an entirely new species of ancient marine reptile that roamed underwater while dinosaurs walked the earth.

Paleontologists with the North Dakota Geological Survey are inching closer to classifying rare skull bones discovered last month during a public dig in the the Pembina Gorge, about 100 miles northwest of Grand Forks. The bones were found in rock formed about 80 million years ago—back when this part of North Dakota was covered in shallow ocean.

Paleontologist Clint Boyd found the bones while digging into rock his team had already fully excavated, or so they thought, the previous summer.

“As I was brushing the back wall of the quarry where the other bones had come from, a little bit of that back wall caved and this bone fell right into my lap,” Boyd said. “We could tell right away as soon as we pulled it out that it was not the same animal we’ve seen elsewhere in the state. The question became what type it could be.”

Boyd’s team is confident the bones belong to a mosasaur, a giant marine reptile known to exist in North Dakota during the dinosaur age. But they do not resemble the bones of the one species of mosasaur previously identified in the state, he said.

The difference was obvious after comparing the animal’s quadrate, an important jaw bone that varies from species to species, with that of the state’s previously known mosasaur, Boyd said.read more

New species found in Danum

A team of researchers carrying out a two-week survey at the never-explored areas of Danum Valley has found some rare and new species of flora and fauna.

The team spotted and photographed or caught on camera traps several iconic and rare wildlife species like the pygmy elephant, clouded leopard, orang utan, sun bear, flat-headed cat, hornbill, Bornean bristlehead, pitta, great Argus, and bulwer’s pheasant.read more

Tool-using crow: Rare bird joins clever animal elite

A bird so rare that it is now extinct in the wild has joined a clever animal elite - the Hawaiian crow naturally uses tools to reach food.

The bird now joins just one other corvid - the New Caledonian crow - in this exclusive evolutionary niche.

Dr Christian Rutz from St Andrews University described his realisation that the bird might be an undiscovered tool user as a "eureka moment".

He and his team published their findings in the journal Nature.

"I've been studying New Caledonian crows for over 10 years now," Dr Rutz told BBC News. "There are more than 40 species of crows and ravens around the world and many of them are poorly studied.

"So I wondered if there were hitherto undiscovered tool users among them."

Previously, Dr Rutz and his colleagues have reported that New Caledonian crows have particular physical features - very straight bills and forward-facing eyes. The researchers suggested these might be tool-using adaptations.read more and watch video

Dinosaur's camouflage pattern revealed

Scientists have recreated the colour patterns of a dinosaur, revealing a camouflage used by animals today.

A study of a well-preserved Chinese Psittacosaurus fossil shows it had a light underside and was darker on top - an arrangement called counter-shading.

This suggests the species lived in an environment with diffuse light, such as a forest.

As part of their research, the scientists teamed up with an artist to produce a 3-D model of the creature.

The findings by an international team of researchers have been published in Current Biology journal.

Co-author Jakob Vinther, from the University of Bristol, UK, said the camouflage pattern sported by this particular dinosaur "has been shown to function by counter-illuminating shadows on a body, thus making an animal appear optically flat to the eye of the beholder".read more