June 3, 2006, 2:10 PM CT

Indonesian Coelacanth Caught On Video

Robin Stobbs, a coelacanth researcher in South Africa, has informed me that an individual of the Indonesian coelacanth was filmed at the depth of 170 m, 17, at 8:30 am on May 30, 2006, off shore Buol, about 350 km west from Manado, Sulawesi Island, with a ROV operated by the Aquamarine Fukushima Survey team. This town is only a few miles (east) from where the Jago team saw two coelacanths in a cave near ToliToli. Word now comes that two other coelacanths were seen on May 31, 2006, at Buol.

The African species (the beautiful blue ones) was re-discovered in 1938, and for decades people thought that's all there was. In the 1990s, they were finally filmed live.

But then in 1998, to the surprise of zoologists and ichthyologists worldwide, 6000 miles away, a whole new and different species (they are the beautiful brownish variety) of coelacanth were discovered off Indonesia. This videotaping of this fish is news because it is the "first video of a coelacanth in its Indonesian habitat since a German team videotaped one in 1999," as per Jiji, Chunichi Shimbun. From the one image seen (above), it does appeat to be remarkable footage.........

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June 3, 2006, 11:58 AM CT

Ancient Ecosystem Found

Scientists in Israel say that a cave containing an ecosystem with unknown life forms have been discovered in the Israeli city of Ramle. The cave was found when miners were drilling in a rock quarry.

"Until now eight species of animals were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science," said a biologist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr Hanan Dimantman. He also said that all of the life forms were found alive except for one.

At least eight species of unknown life forms were found to closely resemble scorpions. Dimantman also said that the cave has been sealed off from the outside world, receiving no sunlight for at least 5 million years, when parts of Israel were under the Mediterranean Sea. The life forms consist of four freshwater and seawater species and at least four terrestrial species. Scientists believe that they are related. Bacteria were also found, which scientists say served as food for the life forms. DNA tests have shown these life forms to be "unique" and unknown in science.

"Every species we examined had no eyes which means they lost their sight due to evolution," added Dimantman. "This is a cave of fantastic biodiversity."

The cave has been closed so researchers can examine it further.........

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June 1, 2006, 11:52 PM CT

Wrapped Up Tight

"Venom is the weapon of choice for most spiders, but some prefer a satisfying "crunch." Philoponella vicina wraps its prey in hundreds of meters of silk to make a crushing shroud, scientists [William Eberhard, STRI, and Gilbert Barrantes and Ju-Lin Weng from Universidad de Costa Rica] report in the recent issue of Naturwissenschaften.........

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June 1, 2006, 11:48 PM CT

Prime-ate Discovery

WCS scientists knew it was an unusual find, but they had no idea how unusual. Their discovery: a long-haired monkey with a whiskery face, shy temperament, and unique "honk bark" living high in the trees of Tanzania's Mt. Rungwe. At the time of their discovery, they believed it to be correlation to the mangabeys, forest-dwelling African primates found near the equator.

But a year after the species was described, the results of a recent genetic study reported in the journal Science have revealed that the animal is so unique, it represents a new genus-the first one for monkeys since 1927, when Allen's swamp monkey was discovered. The new genus, Rungwecebus, (pronounced rung-way-CEE-bus) refers to the mountain habitat where researchers discovered the new monkey. The animal stands about 3 feet tall and its long coat is likely an adaptation to living at heights of up to 8,000 feet, where temperatures can fall below freezing. Perhaps 500 of its kind remain in the wild.

"The discovery of a new primate species is an amazing event, but the discovery of a new genus makes this animal a true conservation celebrity," said Dr. Tim Davenport, WCS conservationist and lead author of the study. "The scientific community has been waiting for eight decades for this to happen, and now we must we move fast to protect it".........

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May 30, 2006, 11:11 PM CT

Race Horse Physiology Is Model For Speed

When the elite horses of the Kentucky Derby jump from the gate on May 6, will the physiologists who study them be able to predict the likely winner?

Exercise physiologists have used horses for research for hundreds of years because the equine athlete's blood vessels are large, they love to exercise, and they are domesticated, noted Eric K. Birks, assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Important discoveries about heart rate, blood clotting, blood pressure and the role of oxygen in the blood have resulted from research with horses, said Kenneth H. McKeever, associate professor and associate director of the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, and an advisor to the New York state racing board's medicine advisory committee.

And the research continues. McKeever, for instance, is currently doing research funded by the U.S. Army, looking at the anti-inflammatory properties of several foods. Soldiers, who run and walk with lots of heavy equipment, often develop inflammation, which can lead to injuries, he said. His team found that extracts of cranberry, black tea and orange peel reduced inflammation in horses, but ginger did not. This finding could help soldiers reduce inflammation by eating these foods.........

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May 27, 2006, 10:43 AM CT

What Lies Beneath

When most people think of Louisiana as being unique, they think of Mardi Gras, crawfish and Cajun culture. Few realize that what lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico along Louisiana's coast is also unique, from the terrain and habitat to the animals living there. And two LSU scientists are diving down some 3,000 meters to explore it.

Scientists Harry Roberts and Bob Carney are combing the most unique continental slope in the world to study some of the most unique animal communities on the planet - all just off the coast of Louisiana.

Roberts and Carney are studying 14 different sites where oil and gas seep up from the bottom of the Gulf. In particular, they are studying the animals that live near these "seeps." These organisms include bacteria that feed on hydrogen sulfide gas, a by-product of the oil and gas seepage; tube worms, mussels and clams that serve as hosts to those bacteria; and shrimp, crabs, fish, snails and starfish that, in turn, feed on the worms, mussels and clams. These animal communities are unique because they only exist near these seeps, and because the bacteria at the base of the food chain are "chemosynthetic," or grow without sunlight.

The large number of oil and gas seeps and the vast amount of salt under the Gulf floor near Louisiana's coast, along with all the sediment dumped into the Gulf by the Mississippi River, make the continental slope off the coast of Louisiana unique. "It's the most complicated continental slope in the world, geologically," Roberts said. "There are more seep communities off the coast of Louisiana than most places in the world. The salt, the oil and gas and the sediment create a very dynamic geologic framework".........

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May 24, 2006, 0:24 AM CT

Tracking Caspian Sea Sturgeons

Researchers working in the Ural River, Kazakhstan, have successfully attached Pop-up Archival Transmitting (PAT) tags to four sturgeons and have released the animals into the Caspian Sea, hoping to get a clear picture of Caspian Sea sturgeon movement and behavior never before available.

Led by Dr. Phaedra Doukakis of the University of Miami's Pew Institute for Ocean Science and researchers from the Research and Production Center for the Fish Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and in collaboration with Daniel Erickson of the Wildlife Conservation Society, this study of three beluga (Huso huso) sturgeons and one adult ship (Acipenser nudiventris) sturgeon is a rare collaboration between Kazakhstani and American scientists.

"This study is precedent setting," says Dr. Doukakis. "It is the first to use satellite tagging to study Caspian Sea sturgeons. Kazakhstan has taken a giant leap forward with this research and set an example for other Caspian nations to follow. What we learn will be critical for conservation of these highly endangered sturgeons."

Collecting data every minute for a specified period of time and then relaying the archived information to scientists, satellite tags are an increasingly important tool for studying fish biology, particularly for sturgeons. Mr. Erickson was the first to apply satellite technology to study sturgeon, using it with green sturgeon on the west coast of the United States.........

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May 21, 2006, 9:37 AM CT

Giant Deep-sea Tubeworm's Meal Ticket

Giant tubeworms found near hydrothermal vents more than a mile below the ocean surface do not bother to eat: lacking mouth and stomach, they stand rooted to one spot. For nourishment, they rely completely on symbiotic bacteria that live within their bodies to metabolize the sulphurous volcanic soup in which they both thrive.

But the microscopic larvae of these giants are born bacteria-free, with a complete digestive system. Juveniles swim, hunt, and eat before permanently settling down and taking up with their microbial partners. Now the idea that the larvae acquire their symbionts by eating them has been overturned. By collecting the giant worms' tiny spawn from traps laid on the ocean floor, oceanographers have shown that the sulfur-eating bacteria infect the larvae through their skin.

Andrea Nussbaumer and Monika Bright of the University of Vienna, and Charles Fisher, professor of biology at Penn State, report their findings this week in the British journal Nature.

Prior groups had shown that, after a larva quits swimming and attaches itself to the bottom of the ocean near a volcanic vent, its mouth disappears and its stomach shrinks away, even as it grows a specialized organ called the trophosome that houses the symbiotic bacteria it collects. "It is an absolutely obligate symbiosis for the worm," Fisher explains. "If the larvae do not get the right symbiont, they die."........

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May 18, 2006, 11:17 PM CT

Young Scientist Finds Frog Thought To Be Extinct

Justin Yeager, a University of Delaware junior, had no idea his study abroad trip to Costa Rica last summer would present the kind of opportunity a scientist can wait a lifetime to experience. The amateur herpetologist rediscovered the Harlequin frog (Atelopus varius), an amphibian species believed to be extinct in the tropical rainforest of that country. Tiny at 1 to 1.5 inches long, this colorful frog species had last been seen in Costa Rica in 1996.

The discovery was a happy accident. Yeager, 21, had traveled to Latin America to study poisonous dart frogs and general herpetology at the University of Costa Rica. While there, he interacted with the locals, practicing his Spanish and teaching animal husbandry. It was from a local guide that Yeager first heard about an uncommonly colorful and poisonous toad living in the rainforest nearby. As he listened to the description of what sounded like a Harlequin, Yeager was wary. "I kept thinking, he's got to be mistaken," he said. "The species the man was describing was listed as extinct".

Still skeptical, Yeager asked to see the frog. Because red tape prohibited him from taking an immediate hike deep into the private rainforest reserve, the guide returned two days later with a Harlequin pair. Yeager knew immediately. The female and male frogs with the black-and-neon-orange markings had not disappeared completely. "It's literally a second chance for this species," he said.........

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May 17, 2006, 10:22 PM CT

Beavers In Massachusetts

The beaver is a valuable component of Massachusetts' fauna. Not long ago the beaver was absent from the state. In fact, it was absent from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. Beavers are semi-aquatic mammals spending approximately 80% of their time in water. They feed on aquatic vegetation and twigs from trees. Their conspicuous lodges and dams are built from trees. As early Massachusetts farmers cleared the land for pasture and crops, beaver habitat disappeared. Habitat recovered in the early 1900s when farming was more lucrative in the fertile Midwestern United States. Our forests continue to provide excellent beaver habitat, and the beaver has been fully restored to the Commonwealth.

This webpage is intended to provide you with biological information about beaver as well as laws and regulations that involve dealing with nuisance beaver and recreational harvest. When the beaver population was fairly small in Massachusetts, MassWildlife concentrated on the a number of beneficial aspects of this large rodent. By damming brooks beavers expand wetlands which provide important filtration for groundwater as well as valuable wildlife habitat. As the beaver population increases and people build residential and commercial developments, adverse impacts from beaver damming activity increases. It is, therefore, critical that people know how to live with beaver in the environment.........

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