[lotuseclat79]

Giant Lungless "Worm" Found Living on Land.

A new amphibian species can survive on land with no nostrils, lungs, or legs, say researchers who discovered the bizarre beast.

The creature, found in Guyana, is part of the wormlike group of amphibians known as caecilians. Only one other caecilian species is known to live without lungs.


The newfound species of amphibian seen above can survive on land with no nostrils, lungs, or legs, according to researchers who discovered the bizarre beast in Guyana. The animal is the second known caecilian—or wormlike amphibian—found to live without lungs, researchers reported in a November 2009 study. Photographs courtesy Marvalee Wake, University of California, Berkeley, via Proceedings of the Royal Society B

-- Tom

[lotuseclat79]

Thousands of Strange Sea Creatures Discovered.

The deep sea is teeming with thousands of species that have never known sunlight, explorers now say.


At 1.7 miles down (2,750 meters) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, scientists found this transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, creeping forward on its many tentacles at less than 1 inch (2 cm) per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. The creature was discovered as part of the decade-long, international 14-project Census of Marine Life. Credit: Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution


What might look like ancient gold treasure is a magnified crustacean, a tiny copepod collected this year from deep in the Atlantic abyss, where the sun doesn't shine. The creature was discovered as part of the decade-long, international 14-project Census of Marine Life. Copyright Bunzow/Corgosinho


At more than 1 mile down (2,000 to 2,500 meters), scientist discovered this bizarre, elongated orange animal identified as Neocyema -- only the 5th specimen of the fish ever caught and never before on the mid-Atlantic Ridge. The odd fish was found as part of the decade-long, international 14-project Census of Marine Life. Credit: David Shale


A newfound deep-sea species of gelatinous dumbo (Grimpoteuthis sp.) flap a pair of large ear-like fins to swim. The creature was discovered as part of the decade-long, international 14-project Census of Marine Life. Credit: David Shale

-- Tom

[ekim68]

Dino discovery supports migration theory

(12-10) 16:25 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Dinosaur hunters digging in a New Mexico quarry have unearthed the fossil bones of an early meat-eating beast whose remains tell a remarkable story of evolution that started more than 200 million years ago when the whole world was one supercontinent known as Pangaea.

The bones boost theories that the first dinosaurs originated in what is now South America and some migrated north into the present day United States as the giant landmass began breaking into pieces.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0FN1.DTL&tsp=1

[lotuseclat79]

Flying dinosaur controversy resolved.

New research appears to have ended a scientific debate that has vexed palaeontologists for almost 100 years.


Reconstruction of a pterosaur. Photo by Dmitry Bogdanov

-- Tom

[lotuseclat79]

Prehistoric Pygmy Sea Cow Discovered in Madagascar.

A new species of extinct pygmy sea cow (illustrated above with skull inset) is one of the first fossil mammal species found in Madagascar from the mysterious time period between 80 million years ago and 90,000 years ago, experts say.



-- Tom

[ekim68]

Dinosaur with feathers and fangs prowled forests like a predatory turkey

The remains of a venomous, feathered beast that terrorised prehistoric forests like a predatory turkey have been unearthed by fossil hunters in northern China.

Palaeontologists uncovered a well-preserved skull and partial skeleton of the bird-like dinosaur, Sinornithosaurus, that lived in the region 128 million years ago.

The creature, a close relative of the velociraptor, had fangs similar to those seen in modern poisonous snakes and venomous lizards, such as the Mexican gila monster.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...nornithosaurus

[lotuseclat79]

Fossil shelved for a century reworks carnivore family tree.

More than a hundred years after its discovery, the limbs and vertebrae of a fossil have been pulled off the shelf at the American Museum of Natural History to revise the view of early carnivore lifestyles. Carnivores—currently a diverse group of mostly meat-eating mammals like bears, cats, raccoons, seals, and hyenas—had been considered arboreal in their early evolutionary history. But now that the skeleton of 'Miacis' uintensis has been unpacked from its matrix of sandstone, it is clear that some early carnivores were built to walk on the ground at least part of the time. The new research is published this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.


An early carnivore that was a close relative of Miacis uintensis, Vulpavus, is about to climb on a tree trunk. This illustrates the varied locomotor adaptations seen across even the earliest relatives of living carnivorans. Credit: Marlene Donnelly and The Field Museum

-- Tom

[lotuseclat79]

Students' sharp eyes restore dinosaur's rightful name.

Three graduate students in paleontology blew dust off dinosaur toes found in 1924 to discover that something didn't quite add up. After examining a few more fossilized bones, they concluded that a 1970s reclassification of the dinosaur's species was wrong, and that the original paleontologist had it right the first time around.

-- Tom

[ekim68]

What Happened to the Hominids Who Were Smarter Than Us?

The Boskops had big eyes, child-like faces, and an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens.

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/the...marter-than-us

[Fidelista]

Originally Posted by ekim68

What Happened to the Hominids Who Were Smarter Than Us?

The Boskops had big eyes, child-like faces, and an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens.

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/the...marter-than-us

I bet we ate em. >f

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by ekim68

What Happened to the Hominids Who Were Smarter Than Us?

The Boskops had big eyes, child-like faces, and an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens.

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/the...marter-than-us

Hi ekim68,

I would treat the article with skepticism due to the fact that the article offers no proof that the Boskops were smarter than us - i.e. their IQs were never tested and if they were so smart why didn't they survive? The whole article stinks of assumptions that cannot be verified except by sterotypes which only verifies that we can easily be duped.

-- Tom

[Knotbored]

I would dispute any brain size comparison meaning increased inteligence within a species. I have a (part) chihuaua that can outsmart many (most?) Saint Bernards. And I have a Siamese cat I would bet can outsmart both.

[ekim68]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Hi ekim68,

I would treat the article with skepticism due to the fact that the article offers no proof that the Boskops were smarter than us - i.e. their IQs were never tested and if they were so smart why didn't they survive? The whole article stinks of assumptions that cannot be verified except by sterotypes which only verifies that we can easily be duped.

-- Tom

Good point Tom. But, Fidelista's comment might be right on, too...
Happy New Year...

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by ekim68

Good point Tom. But, Fidelista's comment might be right on, too...
Happy New Year...

And that would make them not very smart!

-- Tom

[ekim68]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

and that would make them not very smart!

-- tom