Ancient Amber-Preserved Salamander Species Discovered by Scientists - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/ancient-amber-preserved-salamander-species-discovered-by-scientists-233/

Scientists found the first amber-preserved salamander ever in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.

The finding is remarkable, not only because of the amber, but because no species of salamander was previously thought to have ever existed in the Caribbean islands. The exciting discovery by University of California at Berkeley and Oregon State University were published in the journal Palaeodiversity.

“There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber,” said George Poinar Jr., one of the study’s scientists, in a press release.“And finding it in Dominican amber was especially unexpected, because today no salamanders, even living ones, have ever been found in that region.”

WHAT KILLED THE AMBER-ENTOMBED SPECIES?

Researchers do not yet know what caused the salamander species’ extinction. “They may have been killed by some climatic event, or were vulnerable to some type of predator,” Poinar speculated. As its salamander is missing a leg, researchers believe that the fossil became preserved after escaping from a predator and falling into a deposit of resin that gradually turned into amber.

ORIGINS OF AMBER SALAMANDER

This fight that resulted in the fossil’s composition is believed to have taken place more than 20 million years ago. The lineage of the species itself, however, may date back to between 40 and 60 million years ago, when what is today known as the Greater Antilles region was still attached to South and North America.

RELATED TO SALAMANDERS IN U.S.

The species of the amber-preserved salamander has been named Palaeonplethodon hispaniolae by the researchers. It is a member of the Plethodontidae family, other species of which are common to North America with a concentration in the Appalachians.

If this is true, then it is possible that because the amber-salamander’s species has only been found in the Caribbean, it remained in the area that became the Caribbean during and after it separated from South and North America. But the Palaeonplethodon hispaniolae has some notable features that distinguish it from the species that can be found in North America today, such as indistinct toes.

Ongoing Salamander stories here, here, here.

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Ancient Amber-Preserved Salamander Species Discovered by Scientists

Sloths have a contender in pandas, apparently. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/11/study-reveals-why-pandas-are-lazy-124/

Have you ever found yourself wondering why you were not born panda — sitting on a tree branch all day, eating bamboo and doing nothing? A recent study on the metabolism of giant pandas, however, found out that the animal requires low energy use daily — a reason why it can simply live off a vegetarian diet.

Only 1,800 pandas left

The giant Panda is a rare animal and it is classified as a conservation-reliant endangered species. It is native to south-central China and it is believed that only 1,800 are remaining in the wild. The animal’s diet is made up of 99% bamboo, and they sometimes feed off of with other grasses and wild tubers.

By tracking the daily life of five captive pandas and three wild ones, the study, which was published in the journal Science last Thursday, discovered that the energy expenditure of pandas is as sluggish as that of sloths. This study, in fact, suggests that pandas use only about 38 percent of the energy which is usually used by smaller-sized animals.

More sluggish than sloths

According to the research: “The giant pandas’ energy measurements are among the lowest (relative to body mass) ever made for mammals not in torpor, which is a sort of suspended animation. The daily energy expenditure values for giant pandas are substantially lower than those for koalas, for example, and more akin to those of three-toed sloths”.

Scientists found out that the low-energy demand of pandas is also due to the size of their brains, livers and kidneys which are substantially smaller if compared to those of other bears. Also, the levels of thyroid hormone of giant pandas are very low and are comparable to those of an hibernating black bear. The thyroid hormones play a big role in regulating body weight and energy, therefore low levels could be considered the reason why pandas are so sluggish.

Not “couch potatoes” after all

So, although the stomach of a giant panda is perfectly structured and equipped for meat, the animal’s exceptionally low energy consumption and metabolism rates lead to a bamboo-based diet only. So, while we were all thinking that pandas are just “couch potatoes” doing nothing but eating green sticks, they are actually just following their daily energy requirements.

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Pacific Ocean: Discovery of Pescadero Basin Vents - http://clapway.com/2015/06/10/pacific-ocean-discovery-of-pescadero-basin-vents-123/

The deep sea is a relatively unknown world filled with wonders and jaw-dropping discoveries. This latest discovery in a recently discovered seafloor, fits that description entirely.

A “hot spring” was discovered along the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean, and scientists claim it is vastly different than the common hydrothermal vents. Dave Clague a Marine geologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California verifies that this “hot spring” is different in more than one way.

WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE

The chimneys of the newly-named Pescadero Basin vents have spirals that appear to be white as now, but they are formed from calcium carbonate or limestone. The water surrounding these “chimneys” are 500 degrees Fahrenheit (about 260 degrees Celsius). They are “laden with methane and petroleum-type products that give off a whiff of diesel fuel,” said National Geographic.

WHERE IT IS PESCADERO BASIN LOCATED

The location is another strange feature about these vents. They lie 100 miles off the coast of eastern Mexico, near La Paz. The Pescadero Basin vents are 12,5000 feet below the surface of the ocean and deep into the seafloor. This makes them the deepest high-temperature vents known to reside in the Pacific Ocean.

Furthermore, the area surrounding the vents is comprised of mud made up of the ocean floor. This is a surprising factor because most vents have no sediment, and they are further off the coast with no land on the nearby seafloor.

ANY ANIMALS?

The species surrounding the Pescadero Basin vents are another element of surprise for scientists. The common tubeworms, called Riftias are scarce around the Pescadero Basin vents. “In fact,” Clague said, “the animal community inhabiting the new vent field seems to be a mix of things found around hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.”

MBARI biologist are currently researching and studying the seafloor around the Pescadero Basin vents. They are also studying the vents themselves, but the research will take years to complete. For a basin this large things can get expensive, and with such an expansive amount of space, there are constantly new species and areas to discover.

In the past finding these vents have proved very difficult, but in the case of the Pescadero Basin vents, technology has proven a reliable and timely tool. Scientists, like Clague, are hoping that they will be able to research and find more vents than ever before, and the Pescadero Basin vents are the very first step!

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Pacific Ocean: Discovery of Pescadero Basin Vents

A wildlife research project in the Seregenti unlike any other before it. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/09/africa-revolutionizing-research-in-the-serengeti-123/

When it comes to revolutionizing research on wildlife ecology and conservation, Alexandra Swanson, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, didn’t expect these results!

THE PROJECT OF A LIFETIME

Swanson, who received her Ph.D. in ecology, evolution and behavior from the University of Minnesota, decided to conduct a project for the Serengeti National Park. Her goal was to use camera traps to take photos across 1,000 square kilometers of the national park. Camera traps are automatically triggered cameras that take photos when triggered by either heat or motion.

Most studies only use around 20 or 30 cameras. Swanson, however, decided to use 225 camera traps to take pictures across the 1,000 square kilometer landscape in the Serengeti National Park, revolutionizing the process.

“We wanted to study how predators and their pray co-existed across a dynamic landscape,” said Swanson. “We needed to answer different questions than camera traps had answered previously.”

THAT’S A LOT OF PHOTOS

Swanson and her project partner, Margaret Kosmala realized they had an enormous amount of photos to go through, and they realized they couldn’t possibly keep up with all the photos that were flooding in. So, they sought out the help from the online community. Swanson and Kosmala partnered with Zooniverse, a citizen science platform to help launch their project, Snapshot Serengeti, revolutionizing the way they conduct research.

More than 1.2 million images were collected. Thankfully, more than 28,000 volunteers responded and helped Swanson and Kosmala to identify species, count individuals and characterize their behaviors.

WHAT THEY FOUND

Their research efforts paid off. Along with the 1.2 million images that were collected they were able to identify 322,653 animals in those images. Furthermore, 40 different species were identified. These species even included rare animals that are usually never even heard of, much less seen. They include the honey badger, zorilla and aardwolf

According to the Unviersity of Minnesota, they have, “already seen the educational benefits of the project.” The project enabled instructors, such as Annika Moe from the University of Minnesota, to create curriculums and laboratory exercises with the data.”It introduces students to exploratory research, where you first collect data and make observations,” Moe said.

Furthermore, the project showed just how amazing modern day technology is and how beneficial it is to modern research. Without Zooniverse, Swanson and Kosmala would not have been able to identify all 1.2 million photos, revolutionizing public knowledge of the importance of ecology studies

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Africa: Revolutionizing Research in the Serengeti