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FRAGMENT
and PANDEMONIUM Science in the News |
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TOP SPECIES DISCOVERIES IN 2012—DECEMBER,
26 2012
Thousands of species were described for the first time by scientists in 2012. Some of these were 'cryptic species'
that were identified after genetic analysis distinguished them from closely related species, while others were totally novel.
Either way, here are some of the "new species" highlights from 2012.
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STRANGE
ORGANISM HAS UNIQUE ROOTS IN THE TREE OF LIFE—APRIL
29,2012
A single-celled organism in Norway has been called "mankind's furthest relative."
It is so far removed from the organisms we know that researchers claim it belongs to a new base group,
called a kingdom, on the tree of life. "We have found an unknown branch of the tree of life that lives
in this lake. It is unique! So far we know of no other group of organisms that descend from closer to
the roots of the tree of life than this species," study researcher Shalchian-Tabrizi,
of the University of Oslo, in Norway, said in a statement.
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ISLAND OF MONTECRISTO TO BE BOMBED WITH RAT
POISON AFTER RAT INFESTATION—JANUARY
15, 2012
Authorities are planning to use aircraft to
bombard the island with poison pellets in a bid to
tackle the infestation. Biologists estimate that there is one rat for every square yard of the island and say they pose a grave threat to the ecology of the nature reserve, which is part of a scattered archipelago of islands off Tuscany.
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HAIRY, CRAZY ANTS INVADE FROM TEXAS TO
MISSISSIPPI—OCTOBER 3, 2011
It sounds like a horror movie: Biting ants invade by the millions. A camper's metal walls bulge from
the pressure of ants nesting behind them. A circle of poison stops them for only a day, and then a
fresh horde shows up, bringing babies. Stand in the yard, and in seconds ants cover your shoes.
It's an extreme example of what can happen when the ants — which also can disable huge industrial plants — go unchecked.
Controlling them can cost thousands of dollars. But the story is real, told by someone who's been studying ants for a decade.
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A ROACH WITH THE REACH OF A GRASSHOPPER—DECEMBER
12, 2011
Just four-tenths of an inch long, it can
jump up to 50 body lengths in a single jump.
The cockroach has large hind legs that make up 20
percent of its body weight. Its bulging eyes provide
a broad field of vision that is useful while
landing, said one of the study’s authors, Mike
Picker, an entomologist at the University of Cape
Town.
“The knee of the hind legs contains the elastic
protein resilin,” he said. “This probably restores
the shape of the leg, which is bent during the
forces of jumping.”
The leaproach “out competes locusts, which
can only manage to jump 20 times body
length,” Dr. Picker said.
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WITH 30 METERS LEFT TO DRILL, SCIENTISTS
LEAVE SUBTERRANEAN LAKE VOSTOK FOR THE WINTER, AMID
CONTROVERSY—FEBRUARY 9, 2011 |
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DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S "FIRST LIFE" SERIES—OCTOBER
28, 2010
"In his new
documentary, Sir David Attenborough explores themes
fans of FRAGMENT will be amazed by, including
theories, specimens and fossil evidence that tell
the story of evolution, and an extended feature on
the extraordinary mantis shrimp that plays such a
thematic role in the life of Henders Island. If you
enjoy my work, please watch ANYTHING that David
Attenborough is associated with, but this special in
particular will enlighten you to a special part of
life’s miraculous evolution. David Attenborough is
undoubtedly the hippest biologist on the planet
Earth, even if he is 84 years old!"—Warren Fahy |
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THE AMAZING RED CRABMIGRATION OF CHRISTMAS
ISLAND—APRIL 5, 2010 |
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NEW SPECIES OF FISH DISCOVERED NEARLY 5
MILES DEEP—OCTOBER 11, 2010
“Our findings, which revealed diverse and
abundant species at depths previously thought to be
void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine
populations at extreme depths,” said Jamieson, who
led researchers from Japan and New Zealand in the
project.
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NEW SPECIES OF 'MONGOOSE-LIKE' CARNIVORE
FOUND IN MADAGASCAR—OCTOBER 11, 2010 |
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ANTARCTIC SEAS EXPLODE WITH DISCOVERY—DECEMBER 9, 2010
As part of the landmark
Census of Marine Life(COML), a $650 million,
worldwide, decade-long effort to catalogue the
creatures that live in the planet's oceans, 19
different voyages collected samples from more than
2,000 locations around Antarctica.
In the process, researchers inventoried 16,000
Antarctic species that are new to science. |
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STUNNING PHOTOS FROM 10-YEAR SEA CENSUS—OCTOBER
6, 2010
The project's 500-plus expeditions have amassed a
visual legacy as unique as the organisms uncovered. |
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208 NEW SPECIES IDENTIFIED IN MEKONG RIVER REGION—OCTOBER
6,2010
A new monkey, a self-cloning skink, five carnivorous plants, and a unique leaf warbler are
among the 208 species newly described by science in the Greater Mekong region in 2010 and
highlighted in a new WWF report, Wild Mekong.
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SCIENTISTS FIND 200 NEW SPECIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA—OCTOBER
6, 2010
The rugged, mountainous and largely inaccessible
terrain meant biologists had not even been able to
enter some regions and there were
large areas of New Guinea that are
unexplored biologically.
Sample animals were taken of a number of species and
genetic testing had confirmed that they were not
related to any known creature. |
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BEDBUGS STAGE A COMBACK IN US, EUROPE—MAY
13, 2004
In parts of London bedbug infestations have risen tenfold since 1996, Boase says.
In the U.S. the National Pest Management Association reports a 500 percent increase in bedbug numbers in the last few years.
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INVASIVE SPECIES STINK BUG THREATENS US FOOD
CROPS—OCTOBER 6, 2010
There is a very real possibility for millions of
dollars in damage to the United States’ food supply,
a large percentage of which is grown in California’s
central valley. Unless effective monitoring methods,
preventive measures and controls are developed soon,
this infestation could result in serious shortages,
higher prices, and more dependence on foreign
imports. |
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ZEBRA MUSSELS FOUND IN GULL LAKE—OCTOBER
6, 2010 |
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CANADA TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST
INVASIVE FISH—OCTOBER 6, 2010
The carp have been making their way north since the
1970s and are now within 25 miles of Lake Michigan.
Two electrical force fields are in place to stave
them off, but scientists fear that once a few carp
breach the blocks, the population will rapidly
multiply. |
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ASIAN CARP THREAT IN GREAT LAKES VERY REAL—SEPTEMBER
13, 2010
"If we don't act quickly and
effectively, I think the risk is very high that we
will have full fledged invasions." says David Lodge,
a scientist from Notre Dame. |
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KILLER SHRIMP ATTACK BRISTISH SHRIMP,
THREATEN ECOSYSTEM—SEPTEMBER
14, 2010
"It tends to aggressively pursue its prey, often
leaving it dead but uneaten. It is known to
have caused the extinction of several other species
in other areas." |
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A DEEP OCEAN WALLACE
LINE?—AUGUST 7, 2010
A joint American-Indonesian expedition is finding
new species in the Coral Triangle at an amazing
rate. |
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THE MOST BIZARRE LIFE STORY ON EARTH—APRIL 28, 2010
There's no question that discovering a new species
is very cool. But how about discovering a new
phylum? |
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GENE RESEARCH REVEALS FOURTH HUMAN SPECIES—MARCH
24, 2010
A fourth type of hominid, besides Neanderthals,
modern humans and the tiny “hobbit”, was living as
recently as 40,000 years ago, according to research
published in the
journal Nature.
The discovery by Svante Pääbo and colleagues at
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, is based on DNA
sequences from a finger bone fragment discovered in
a Siberian cave. |
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SCIENTISTS GO 'GAGA' TO FIND CREATURES BENEATH 600
FEET OF ICE—MARCH 15, 2010
In a surprising discovery about where higher life can thrive, scientists for the first time found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish frolicking beneath a massive Antarctic ice sheet.
Six hundred feet below the ice where no light shines, scientists had figured nothing
much more than a few microbes could exist.
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SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: BLOOD
WATERFALLS—MARCH 2,
2010
It’s always surprising when an entirely alien
ecosystem is found on Earth. It makes me hopeful
that when we start to explore other planets, we’ll
find life in splendid and incredible varieties.
Nature is clever, vast, and has had a long long time
in the lab to experiment. If we can find things so
alien in a place so familiar, what will happen when
we explore a truly alien world? |
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60 NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED ISOLATED INSIDE 2-MILE
WIDE VOLCANIC CRATER IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
—SEPTEMBER
7, 2009
A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting
fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been
discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the
Pacific island of Papua New Guinea. A team of
scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua
New Guinea found more than 40 previously
unidentified species when they climbed into the
kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a
pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has
evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted
200,000 years ago. |
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GREATER MEKONG: MORE THAN 1000 NEW SPECIES
DISCOVERED—DECEMBER 15, 2008
“Who knows what else is out there waiting to be
discovered, but what is clear is that there is
plenty more where this came from,” said Chapman. |
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REPORT ON
IMPACT OF INVASIVE SPECIES IN 57 COUNTRIES RELEASED—JANUARY
26, 2010
Invasive alien species have been measured for the
first time in a large scale study that included 57
countries across the globe. The
Global Invasive
Species Programme (GISP) has released a report
showing that, on average, each country has 50
non-native species that are harming the biodiversity
in that country. From invasive rats causing the
extinction of bird species, to the spread of
chytridiomycosis - a pathogenic fungus, the results
of the study are illuminating, and worrisome. |
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30 NEW SPECIES
DISCOVERED IN MOUNTAINS OF ECUADOR—JANUARY
15, 2010
One look at a newly discovered species of gecko,
small enough at its full-grown size to rest
comfortably on the eraser of a pencil, and it's
difficult not to be mesmerized by the seemingly
boundless forms of biological diversity—while
simultaneously reminded of its fragility. |
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GIANT
NEW SPIDER SPECIES DISCOVERED—JANUARY
19, 2010
"The new discovery shows how much we still have to
investigate, and that there are likely to be many
more species that are unknown to us," said Shanas. |
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INVASIVE SPECIES THREAT GROWING GLOBALLY,
EXPERTS WARN—JANUARY 22, 2010
"This shows that although we are winning some
battles in the fight against invasive species,
current evidence suggests that we are losing the
war."
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SNAILS MOVE
SLOW BUT EVOLVE FAST IN ISOLATION—JANUARY
26, 2010
...snails and similar slow-movers may
split into new species more rapidly because they are
more likely to love those close by, rather than go
the distance for a long-distance relationship. |
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“HOBBIT” SPECIES ON ISLAND OF
FLORES HAD SPECIALIZED BRAIN—JANUARY
27, 2010
"Our analysis, together with studies of brain size
in island populations of living primates, suggests
we should perhaps not be surprised by the evolution
of a small brained, small bodied early human
species." |
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USDA AWARDS MORE THAN $4 MILLION
INVASIVE SPECIES RESEARCH GRANTS—JANUARY
21, 2010
"Invasive plants and animals are a major threat to
food and fiber production, costing U.S. producers
between $7 billion and $27 billion per year, but by
doing research on controlling and managing weedy and
invasive species we help protect the productivity of
America's farmers and ranchers," said Merrigan. |
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BACTERIA
FOUND THRIVING BENEATH ARCTIC GLACIER—APRIL
16, 2009
"Among the big questions here are: 'How does an
ecosystem function below glaciers?', 'How are they
able to persist below hundreds of meters of ice and
live in permanently cold and dark conditions for
extended periods of time, in the case of Blood
Falls, over millions of years?" |
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THE VEXING BUGS IN THE
GLOBAL TRADING SYSTEM—JANUARY
15, 2010
The yearly economic impact of invasive species in
the U.S. is estimated at $133.6 billion, according
to a study in Agricultural and Resource Economics
Review in 2006. |
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