Thursday 29 May 2014

Latest discoveries sound like something from a horror movie.



Mega-croc vs supersnake: Researchers reveal 16-foot, 900-pound ancient species of crocodile that battled with 58 foot Titanoboa snake 60 million years ago
By Mark Prigg
Researchers have revealed a 16-foot, 900-pound ancient species of crocodile that battle with 58 foot long snakes that swam in the same rivers as Titanoboa 60 million years ago in the world’s oldest-known rain forest.The terrifying reptile, which has an unusually blunt snout, had an incredibly strong bite, the researchers say.The claim the discovery sheds new light on the diversity of early rainforests, and how adaptable crocodiles are. The new species in the dyrosaurids family, lived alongside the 58-foot Titanoboa as portrayed in the Smithsonian Channel documentary on the 'monster snake.' Scientists assigned the species’ name, Anthracosuchus balrogus, in a study appearing online today in the journal Historical Biology.


The incredible sea slugs discovered living in Strangford Lough
By Linda Stewart –
Up to seven species of sea slug new to science could have been found in Strangford Lough. Fifteen divers who searched the lough last week have found more than 60 species of sea slug, including two that have never been found there before.Among the finds on the 'Nudibranch Safari' were seven sea slugs that will undergo testing to find if they are new, unnamed species.Seaslugs are predators and some are capable of taking on the defences of their prey, such as poisonous chemicals and stings, to use in their bodies to fend off attackers.One slug takes the green parts of seaweed into its skin so it becomes photosynthetic.

Friday 23 May 2014

The Comb jelly does not follow traditonal evolution discovery



Carl Zimmer for National Geographic
A close look at the nervous system of the gorgeously iridescent animal known as the comb jelly has led a team of scientists to propose a new evolutionary history: one for the comb jelly, and one for everybody else."It's a paradox," said Leonid Moroz, a neurobiologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville and lead author of a paper in today's Nature about the biology of the comb jelly nervous system. "These are animals with a complex nervous system, but they basically use a completely different chemical language" from every other animal. "You have to explain it one way or another."The way Moroz explains it is with an evolutionary scenario—one that's at odds with traditional accounts of animal evolution.


This is good news for cryptozoologists  because its means cryptids could have evolved differently and therefore be unknown to modern science .

Tuesday 20 May 2014

lost snake species rediscovered and mammoth on display



Lost snake species rediscovered in Mexico
A lost species of snake that eluded scientists for nearly 80 years has been rediscovered in Mexico, a US museum says. The Clarion Nightsnake was found on the Pacific island of Clarion in Mexico by a researcher from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.The snake was first discovered in 1936 by naturalist William Beebe. Although never declared extinct, it was struck from the record after scientists were unable to rediscover it.The museum said that researcher Daniel Mulcahy, working with an expert from a Mexican institute, carried out an expedition to Clarion Island where their team identified 11 snakes matching Beebe's description.

Baby mammoth goes on display in UK By Sarah White BBC News, at the Natural History Museum
A perfectly preserved baby mammoth which died 42,000 years ago has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum in London.Named Lyuba by the Siberian deer herder who discovered her in 2007, the specimen is 130cm tall and weighs 50kg.Palaeontologist Prof Adrian Lister described seeing her for the first time as an "incredible experience".Transported in a box that was opened on Monday, the juvenile female mammoth looked almost intact. Prof Lister pointed out the small milk tusks that are barely visible, the almost flattened shape of the trunk designed to drink water from snow and a small layer of fat on top of the head which would have kept her warm in the permafrost of north-west Siberia.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Tiny 'Alien' Catfish



Tiny 'Alien' Catfish With Bulldog Snout Defies Classification;
'It Continues To Be A Puzzle'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service - May 13

Philadelphia, Penns -- Kryptoglanis shajii is a strange fish -- and the closer scientists look, the stranger it gets. This small subterranean catfish sees the light of day and human observers only rarely, when it turns up in springs, wells and flooded rice paddies in the Western Ghats mountain region of Kerala, India. It was first described as a new species in 2011. Soon after that, John Lundberg, PhD, one of the world's leading authorities on catfishes, started taking a closer look at several specimens.

Thursday 8 May 2014

New Tyrannosaur named 'Pinocchio rex'



New Tyrannosaur named 'Pinocchio rex'
By James Morgan Science reporter, BBC News
A new type of Tyrannosaur with a very long nose has been nicknamed "Pinocchio rex".
The ferocious carnivore, nine metres long with a distinctive horny snout, was a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex. Its skeleton was dug up in a Chinese construction site and identified by scientists at Edinburgh University, UK.The 66-million-year-old predator, officially named Qianzhousaurus sinensis, is described in Nature Communications."Pinocchio" looked very different to other tyrannosaurs