schwit1 shares a report from Smithsonian: In the summer of 2015, when Smithsonian research zoologist Anna Phillips and other scientists were standing in slow-moving swamp water, letting leeches latch onto their bare legs or gathering them up in nets from muddy pond bottoms, they didn’t realize that some of the bloodsuckers they’d collected belonged to an entirely new species. But in…
Tag: species
Wildlife summit to consider global ban on saiga antelope trade
Protections for saiga antelope, mako sharks and even woolly mammoths will be considered at a conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2213528-wildlife-summit-to-consider-global-ban-on-saiga-antelope-trade/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Giant extinct penguin was the size of a human
Palaeontologists have identified the fossil remains of an enormous species of penguin that lived in New Zealand. Dubbed ‘monster penguin’ by Canterbur… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/329707/giant-extinct-penguin-was-the-size-of-a-human…
Did these tardigrades survive crash-landing on the moon?
When Israel’s Beresheet lunar spacecraft crashed in April 2019, there were thousands of microscopic, dehydrated tardigrades – water bears – aboard. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/tardigrades-lunar-library-beresheet-spacecraft-crash-moon…
Sugary Western Diets Fuel Newly Evolving Superbug
A diarrhea-causing bacterium is evolving into a new species that thrives on sugar-rich Western diets and readily spreads in hospitals. Source: https://www.livescience.com/evolving-superbug-sugar-diet
Insect ‘Apocalypse’ in US Driven by 50x Increase in Toxic Pesticides
America’s agricultural landscape is now 48 times more toxic to honeybees, and likely other insects, than it was 25 years ago, almost entirely due to widespread use of so-called neonicotinoid pesticides, according to a new study published this month in the journal PLOS One. From a report: This enormous rise in toxicity matches the sharp declines in bees, butterflies, and other…
Trump Administration Guts Endangered Species Act
The new rules, which the administration says will benefit businesses, tell regulators not to consider science alone when making decisions about endangered species. Source: https://www.livescience.com/endangered-species-act.html
World’s largest frog builds its own ponds
The goliath frog is so ridiculously enormous that it is capable of building small ponds by moving rocks. The species, which is found only in Cameroon … Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/329596/worlds-largest-frog-builds-its-own-ponds…
US Dept. of Transportation Rules Airlines Must Allow Miniature Horses to Fly as Service Animals
An anonymous reader shares a report: For all its indignities, air travel is also surprisingly democratic — people of all stripes and shades crammed together into a small metal tube and lofted into the sky. Some of them have service animals, some of which are a hair more exotic than a vested dog. This has caused some spirited debates. But on…
Giant parrot fossil unearthed in New Zealand
Scientists have identified an extinct species of giant parrot that weighed 15lbs and stood up to 3ft in height. Bones belonging to the gargantuan bird… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/329525/giant-parrot-fossil-unearthed-in-new-zealand…