Some interesting stuff in the news.

Eyeless cave fish oceans apart, but turn out to be cousins

They may have been isolated in respective caverns when supercontinent Gondwana split

A group of freshwater fish in Madagascar and another in Australia have a lot in common. Both are tiny, have no eyes and live in the total darkness of limestone caves. Now scientists say these two groups are more alike than thought — they are actually each other's closest cousins, despite the ocean between them.Using DNA analysis, researchers found that the two types of blind fish — Typhleotris in Madagascar and Milyeringa in Australia — descended from a common ancestor and were estranged by continental drift nearly 100 million years ago. The scientists say their finding marks an important first."This is the first time that a taxonomically robust study has shown that blind cave vertebrates on either side of an ocean are each other's closest relatives," researcher Prosanta Chakrabarty of Louisiana State University said.

Read rest see pics here : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48843519/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UEB_VaM16yc

This has implications for cryptids, for example could all lake creatures be related?

Small dinosaur 'hunted like cat'

By Jonathan Ball BBC News

Some predatory dinosaurs used guile and agility to outwit their feathered prey according to research.The work, by a Canadian-Chinese team, is published in PLoS One.Researchers studied the fossil remains of two Sinocalliopteryx dinosaurs and found they had been feasting on primitive birds and flying dinosaurs.The prey could have been scavenged, but they argue that the presence of several birds in the stomach of one fossil implied the prey was actively hunted.The researchers suggested that to catch their prey, the dinosaurs used ambush hunting techniques similar to modern cats.Determining how dinosaurs lived is difficult - much of what we know is conjecture; built from a smidgen of material evidence and prodigious amounts of informed opinion.

Read rest here :http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19426885

Just don't tell my cats lol. 

DNA of girl from Denisova cave gives up genetic secrets

By Helen Briggs BBC News

The DNA of a cave girl who lived about 80,000 years ago has been analysed in remarkable detail.The picture of her genome is as accurate as that of modern day human genomes, and shows she had brown eyes, hair and skin.The research in Science also sheds new light on the genetic differences between modern humans and their closest extinct relatives.The cave dweller, a Denisovan, was a cousin of the Neanderthals.Both groups of ancient humans died out about 30,000 years ago, but have left their mark in the gene pool of modern people.

The Denisovans have mysterious origins. They appear to have left little behind for palaeontologists save a tiny finger bone and a wisdom tooth found in Siberia's Denisova cave in 2010. Though some researchers have proposed a possible link between the Denisovans and human fossils from China that have previously been difficult to classify.

Read rest here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19423147

Again could prove to be important if bigfoot is a cousin of the Yeti.

man bites croc!

 I thought I must include this for curiosity value....never mind man bites dog is news ,read this lol

Man bites crocodile saving fishing buddy, now he wants a medal

Alison Bevege Northern Territory News

A MAN bit a crocodile on the snout to help save his crew mate while out fishing.But the forgotten hero has been left out of official honours for his part in the daring rescue and he's not happy, The NT News reports.Jason Matiu Grimes, 36, was in a 4.5m tinnie with fisherman Rupa Manimua collecting trepang when they spotted the 3m reptile at Knocker Bay, 180km northeast of Darwin.There was no time for their other crew mate in the water to climb to safety - the crocodile attacked, dragging him beneath the waves."It bit him by the head and took him under," Mr Grimes said.Mr Grimes and Mr Manimua hauled their crew mate - with crocodile attached - back to the boat by an air hose clipped to the 45-year-old victim's weight belt.

Read rest here: http://www.news.com.au/national/man-bites-crocodile-on-snout-trying-to-save-fishing-buddy/story-fndo4eg9-1226461633083

Rare fish seen alive and Mites in Amber,shades of Jurassic Park

Science News

Rare, elusive marine fish observed

MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. marine scientists say they've captured the first-ever video of a rare anglerfish first identified from a dead specimen in 1891 but never seen alive. Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California are reporting the first observations of the deep-sea anglerfish Chaunacops coloratus using remotely operated undersea vehicles. All anglerfish have ability to attract prey, using parts of their bodies as lures. During one ROV dive, the researchers said, they observed C. coloratus deploying a shaggy, mop-like lure, called an esca, which it dangled from the end of a modified fin near the top of its head.

Read more see pic : http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/08/28/Rare-elusive-marine-fish-observed/UPI-72731346191890/#ixzz24vFnQdb7

Triassic amber yields 'ancient mites'

By Jonathan Ball BBC News

Some of the earliest fossils of pre-historic arthropods - dating to about 230 million years ago - have been discovered entombed in amber, PNAS journal reports.

Arthropods - a highly diverse family of invertebrates, which includes insects, arachnids and crustacea - constitute more than 90% of the entire species within the animal kingdom.The previous earliest records of arthropod-containing amber dated back to the Cretaceous period, around 135 million years ago.The researchers hope that the recent find - of two plant-feeding mites and one insect - will provide important insight into the early evolution of this highly diverse family of animals.Amber is fossilised plant resin. The resin often entraps plant and animal material which then become buried - as "inclusions" - when the fossil amber forms.

Read rest see pic here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19400520

one hoax bigfoot killed and one lake monster found.

Bigfoot hoax turns deadly: Montana man dressed as sasquatch to provoke sightings struck and killed by car

Trooper: ‘You can’t make this up. I haven’t seen or heard of anything like this before.’

A man who was apparently trying to provoke reports of a Bigfoot sighting in northwestern Montana was struck by two cars and killed.The Montana Highway Patrol says the man was wearing a military style "Ghillie suit" and was standing in the right-hand lane of U.S. Highway 93 south of Kalispell when he was hit by the first car Sunday night. A second car hit him as he lay in the roadway.Flathead County officials identified the man as 44-year-old Randy Lee Tenley of Kalispell.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bigfoot-hoax-turns-deadly-montana-man-dressed-sasquatch-provoke-sightings-struck-killed-car-article-1.1145823#ixzz24pPWAowN

Old Bob, the Monster of Fullerton's Laguna Lake, Swims With the Fishes

By Brandon Ferguson

Remember the story of Old Bob?  He was a prehistoric monster who for years before his 2004 capture trolled the waters of Laguna Lake in Fullerton, terrorizing ducks and snatching fish from the lines of baffled anglers. For decades the legend of the "monster of Laguna Lake" conjured images of a fog-enshrouded Scottish loch. 

But in September of 2004, workers draining L.L. as part of a $2 million restoration project, discovered the monster, known to locals as Old Bob, who turned out to be a 100-pound alligator snapping turtle. Pictures from that day showed a pissed-off reptile, plucked from the mud, with fierce jaws agape. 

Read rest here: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/08/old_bob_fullerton_laguna_lake.php

big cat hunt in UK

Police hunting for lion in Essex

Firearms officers and police helicopters have joined the hunt for a lion that is thought to be roaming loose in Essex.Residents were told to stay indoors as search teams worked throughout the night to track down the large cat, which was spotted in a field by a member of the public on Sunday night.The big cat was seen in fields off Earls Hall Drive in St Osyth, near Clacton, Essex, just before 7pm on Sunday. Police immediately issued a warning to residents to stay inside their homes as officers began a search near where the animal was spotted.Essex Police have enlisted the help of experts from Colchester Zoo who believe the sighting to be genuine after viewing a photograph of the animal taken by a local resident.Roger Lord, of Earls Hall Farm, St Osyth, said a picture of the suspected lion had been taken by residents in caravans on the farm land and passed to police.

Read rest here :http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/police-hunting-for-lion-in-essex