Thanks to all of you who have followed Born Animal these past few years. Please note that the blog is moving to:
http://news.discovery.com/
I invite you to join me there for the latest Discovery News about animals and the beast in all of us.
(Images: Volunteers in the Imire Volunteer Program, Imire Safari Ranch, Zimbabwe)
Please visit Imire's website for more information and to support the Black Rhino Fund.
Swine flu has been confirmed in a pet cat. This news just in from the Iowa Department of Public Health (thank you to Susan McCullough for sharing):
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) remind Iowans that in addition to protecting their families, friends and neighbors from the spread of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, it’s important to remember to protect family pets from the illness, as well. People who are sick with H1N1 can spread the virus not only to humans, but to some animals.
The Departments are sharing this message following the confirmation of a case of H1N1 in an Iowa cat.
The 13-year-old indoor cat in Iowa was brought to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where it tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The diagnosis is the culmination of collaborative efforts between IDPH, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Advanced Host Defenses, Immunobiotics and Translational Comparative Medicine, USDA, and IDALS Animal Industry Bureau.
“Two of the three members of the family that owns the pet had suffered from influenza-like illness before the cat became ill,” said IDPH Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ann Garvey. “This is not completely unexpected, as other strains of influenza have been found in cats in the past.” Both the cat and its owners have recovered from their illnesses.
People can keep their pets healthy by washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes, and minimizing contact with their pets while ill with influenza-like symptoms. If your pet exhibits signs of a respiratory illness, contact your veterinarian.
“Indoor pets that live in close proximity to someone who has been sick are at risk and it is wise to monitor their health to ensure they aren’t showing signs of illness,” said Dr. David Schmitt, State Veterinarian for Iowa.
For more information about H1N1, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/h1n1/ or call the Iowa Influenza Hotline at 1-800-447-1985.
A long forgotten fossil skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London has now provided crucial clues to the early stages of the lengthy evolutionary history of Tyrannosaurus rex and related large carnivorous dinosaurs.
Tyrannosaurus rex and related large carnivorous dinosaurs together form the family Tyrannosauridae. A long forgotten fossil skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London has now provided crucial clues to the early stages of the lengthy evolutionary history of these fearsome predators. Almost a century after its discovery, the specimen, named Proceratosaurus, has now been recognized as the oldest known relative of the Tyrannosauridae.
(Image: Ghedo)
With the help of an ultramodern imaging
technique, a team of researchers led by Dr. Oliver Rauhut from LMU
Munich and Dr. Angela Milner from the Natural History Museum London,
have been able to show that Proceratosaurus resembled its approximately
100-million-years younger descendant T. rex in a number of ways. The
teeth, the jaws, and the structure of the cranial cavity of the two
species have many features in common. Proceratosaurus weighed only
about 40 kg, says Rauhut. Nevertheless, like the later tyrannosauroids,
the animal obviously depended on its powerful biting apparatus. Later
modifications of the jaw muscles and the overall structure of the
cranium then gave rise to the perfect hunting weapon wielded by T. rex.
(Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society online, 4 November 2009).
Among
the dinosaur specimen housed in the collections of the Natural History
Museum in London is an almost complete skull that was found in the West
of England about 100 years ago. The fossil was initially misclassified,
but was later recognized as representing an otherwise unknown genus,
which was named Proceratosaurus. The skull has only recently been
subject to detailed study by a team led by the palaeontologist Dr.
Oliver Rauhut, who holds dual appointments in the Department of
Geological and Environmental Sciences at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
(LMU) in Munich and the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and
Geology, and Dr Angela Milner, Associate Keeper of Palaeontology at the
Natural History Museum in London.
This skull, which had been
overlooked for so long, turns out to be a spectacular find.
Proceratosaurus is the earliest known ancestor of the family
Tyrannosauridae (named after its most famous representative
Tyrannosaurus rex). Proceratosaurus and T. rex were both bipedal
carnivores and each had a massive body, short and stubby forelimbs, a
powerful tail, and sharp teeth set in a bulky skull. The best known
members of the family, T. rex, lived during the late cretaceous period,
although smaller species are known from the earlier Jurassic era.
Little
is known about the origins and later evolution of this important group
of dinosaurs. Proceratosaurus could now cast much needed light on the
process. “It is quite astonishing that this fossil has received so
little attention, since it is one of the best preserved dinosaur skulls
in Europe”, reports Rauhut. Parts of the skull that were still embedded
in the rock matrix and these had to be exposed carefully by preparator
Scott Moore-Fay at the Natural Histsory Museum in London; the team also
used an advanced imaging technique to probe the detailed structure of
the fossil.
“Computerized tomography is a wonderful method,
because it offers us a non-destructive means of visualizing the
internal structures of fossils”, says Angela Milner, the researcher
responsible for the specimen at the Natural History Museum, who
personally took the fossil to Texas, where the tomographic scan was
performed. Detailed studies of the resulting images and of the skull
itself were subsequently carried out back in London.
The
investigations uncovered a wide range of features in the cranial
cavity, teeth and jaws that Proceratosaurus shares with the huge T.
rex, despite the fact that the Proceratosaurus skull is about 100
million years older and much smaller. The Proceratosaurus cranium was
about five times less massive than that of its mighty relative, and the
intact animal appears to have weighed only about 40 kg. Mature
specimens of Tyrannosaurus, in contrast, weighed in at up to eight tons.
Because
the Proceratosaurus skull already displays characteristics that are
typical of its later descendants, the powerful jaw with its slicing
teeth was probably the animal’s most important weapon. “It is likely
that this hunting strategy developed first”, says Rauhut. The basic
tool kit was perfected in later tyrannosaurids: The skull became more
robust and the jaw muscles larger and, overall, the body increased
enormously in size. Proceratosaurus also confirms that the
tyrannosauridae developed over a very long stretch of time, and gave
rise to a great diversity of forms. Further members of the family
surely await discovery.”
The study was financially supported by the SYNTHESIS program of the European Union. (suwe)
Montana has a new dinosaur, a species that's been compared to an army tank. The new ankylosaur, Tatankacephalus cooneyorum, is described below by the Buffalo Museum of Science:
New dinosaur species from Montana
BUFFALO, NY (October 30, 2009) -- A husband and wife team of American paleontologists has discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago during the early Cretaceous of central Montana.
The new dinosaur, a species of ankylosaur, is documented in the October issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Ankylosaurs are the biological version of an army tank. They are protected by a plate-like armour with two sets of sharp spikes on each side of the head, and a skull so thick that even 'raptors' such as Deinonychus could leave barely more than a scratch.
(Illustration: William Parsons)
Bill and Kris Parsons, Research associates of the Buffalo Museum of Science, found much of the skull of the newly described Tatankacephalus cooneyorum resting on the surface of a hillside in 1997. Because the skull was 90% complete, it was possible to justify this fossil as a new species.
"This is the first member of Ankylosauridae to be found within the Early Cretaceous Cloverly Geologic Formation," said Bill Parsons, who characterized the fossil as a transitional evolutionary form between the earlier Jurassic ankylosaurs and the better known Late Cretaceous ankylosaurs.
The skull is heavily protected by two sets of lateral horns, two thick domes at the back, and smaller thickenings around the nasal region. "Heavy ornamentation and horn-like plates would have covered most of the dorsal surface of this dinosaur" said Bill Parsons.
"For years, Bill and Kris have been collecting fossils from a critical time in Earth's history, and their hard work has paid off," said Lawrence Witmer, professor of paleontology at Ohio University who was not involved with this study. "This is a really important find and gives us a clearer view of the evolution of armored dinosaurs. But this is just the first; I'm sure, of what will be a series of important discoveries from this team."
Parsons also illustrated the dermal armour of this new species based on the theory by Museum of the Rockies paleontologist John R. Horner that there was an outer keratinous sheathing on it as found in modern turtle shells and bird beaks. In his new reconstruction, Parsons suggests that Tatankacephalus exhibited complex and colorful patterns rather than the dull appearance suggested in earlier ankylosaur portraits. "According to Horner's theory, many other dinosaurs also had this kind of sheathing and also may have been diversely colored" said Parsons.
As to its name, the broad, short horns on the back of its skull resemble the horns found on a modern buffalo skull and Tatankacephalus loosely translates as 'Buffalo head.' Parsons also noted, "of course any further allusions to the city of Buffalo are completely intentional as well".
Bill Parsons works as a teacher at the Gow School in South Wales, NY, and as scientific illustrator for the Buffalo Museum of Science. He is also freelance dinosaur illustrator whose images have appeared on the covers of Science, Nature, Time and Newsweek. The publication of Tatankacephalus may be the first time that an established dinosaur illustrator has discovered, prepared, researched, and published on a new dinosaur taxon.
The Buffalo Museum of Science is the non-profit educational institution dedicated to the study and interpretation of the natural and physical sciences. Its extensive collections of over 700,000 specimens and artifacts represent all facets of the natural world with an emphasis on Western New York as well as man-made objects spanning the globe. Based at 1020 Humboldt Parkway and anchoring Buffalo's East Side in Olmsted-designed Martin Luther King, Jr. Park since 1929, the Museum presents a wide variety of programs and services for children, teachers, families, adults, and community organizations throughout each year. General admission to the Museum is $7 adults; $6 seniors (age 62+); $5 students and children over 3; and free for members and children under 3. The Museum also operates Tifft Nature Preserve in South Buffalo, a 264-acre urban wetland preserve on reclaimed former industrial land and seasonally sponsors archaeological exploration at the Hiscock Site in nearby Genesee County, NY, one of North America's richest Ice Age sites.
For further information on the Museum and its upcoming activities, call 716-896-5200 or visit www.buffalomuseumofscience.org.
This just in from UC Berkeley:
Paleontologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Museum of the Rockies have wiped out two species of dome-headed dinosaur, one of them named three years ago – with great fanfare – after Hogwarts, the school attended by Harry Potter.
Their demise comes after a three-horned dinosaur, Torosaurus, was assigned to the dustbin of history last month at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in the United Kingdom, the loss in recent years of quite a few duck-billed hadrosaurs and the probable disappearance of Nanotyrannus, a supposedly miniature Tyrannosaurus rex."Juveniles and adults of these dinosaurs look very, very different from adults, and literally may resemble a different species," said dinosaur expert Mark B. Goodwin, assistant director of UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology. "But some scientists are confusing morphological differences at different growth stages with characteristics that are taxonomically important. The result is an inflated number of dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous."
Images and more information are at UC Berkeley News.
To celebrate the Halloween weekend, naturalist Mark Fraser presents a look at creatures of the night.
"Often we wonder about the sounds we hear at night," he said, explaining that sometimes we're frightened by what we can hear, but not see.
"Is it a monster? Is it a Vampire? There are actual creatures of the night and they are 100% real! The truth is they are not species you should be afraid of at all," he said.
"They are nocturnal animals trying to survive and adapt to the changing environment and ever-shrinking habitat.New Long Distance Migration Route for Pronghorn Found
in Idaho by Wildlife Conservation Society and Lava Lake Institute
GPS collars reveal that southern Idaho pronghorn population
has one of the longest overland migrations in the American West
Effort underway to protect herd numbering 1,000 animals
threatened by increasing development
BRONX, NEW YORK (October 29, 2009) – Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Idaho-based Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation discovered a new overland migration route of pronghorn antelope that ranks among the farthest for any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere.
The migration route stretches from the base of Idaho’s Pioneers Mountains to the continental divide’s Beaverhead Mountains, passing through Craters of the Moon National Monument and Reserve – a round trip in excess of 160 miles. The route crosses federal, state, and private land and narrows in one stretch to a bottleneck less than two football fields wide. There, animals are restricted by mountains, fences, a highway, and fields of jagged lava from Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.
(Images: WCS)
The discovery is part of an ongoing study to track pronghorn using GPS and radio collars. The study’s investigators include Dr. Scott Bergen of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Tess O’Sullivan of the Lava Lake Institute of Science and Conservation, and Mark Hurley of Idaho Fish and Game.
“This study shows that pronghorn are the true marathoners of the American West,” said Scott Bergen, project director for WCS. “With these new findings, we can confirm that Idaho supports a major overland mammal migration – something that is becoming increasingly rare in the U.S. and worldwide.”
The researchers tracked the pronghorn’s daily movements during their annual migration. They estimate 100-200 pronghorn currently use the migration route. During the winter, the pronghorn congregate with other regional herds from the area, making it Idaho’s largest pronghorn herd of around one thousand animals.
The authors warn that the route is threatened by increased habitat fragmentation from development and other land-use changes. Growing interest in development of large-scale wind farms and their associated power-lines could threaten the migration route.
“As the American West continues to face increased development pressure, preserving migratory corridors will become more and more crucial to safeguarding large populations of wildlife like pronghorn,” said Dr. Jodi Hilty, Director of North America Programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and author of the book Corridor Ecology. “We have lost so many migrations globally, that these sorts of finds should inspire more of us to help give this uniquely American species a chance to roam in Idaho and throughout its range.”
WCS is working with ranchers, conservationists, and public lands managers to safeguard the large family ranches that have helped support this migration route over the past 100 years. The Pioneers Alliance, a coalition of landowners, ranchers, conservationists, and state and federal land managers, is working to develop conservation easements and other mechanisms to protect working ranches and farms that are part of the pronghorn migration route.
“We are committed to working with many partners, including private landowners and state and federal land managers to take the steps needed to sustain this long distance migration,” said Tess O’Sullivan, Program Director for the Lava Lake Institute.
Some of the data collected by the GPS collars will help researchers better understand – and ultimately protect – the pronghorn’s little-known wintering grounds. Data will also be used to inform the Western Governor’s Association, which continues to work toward protecting pronghorn migration. Recently the Governors of Idaho and Montana signed agreements with the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Energy to improve management on federal lands where pronghorn migrate. In addition, Congress has recognized the value of wildlife migrations corridors as a strategy for adapting to global warming in pending climate change legislation.
In 2005, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists used GPS collars to document another migratory herd of pronghorn in Wyoming that travel from Grand Teton National Park to the Green River Valley. With the leadership of the U.S. Forest Service, the nation’s first designated wildlife migration corridor to protect 150-mile round-trip movement of pronghorn in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was created. It has since been safeguarded in a unique public/private partnership called “Path of the Pronghorn.”
This project is being supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Idaho Conservation League, LightHawk Aviation, National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, The Conservation Fund, Wood River Land Trust, Carey area landowners and ranchers, The Nature Conservancy, and the Craters of the Moon Natural History Association.
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. Visit: www.wcs.org
The Lava Lake Institute works to accomplish conservation and increase understanding of wildlife and ecosystems of the Pioneer Mountains – Craters of the Moon Region. www.lavalakeinstitute.org
Cool Pronghorn Facts
At Discovery News you'll soon learn how hungry bats cause fireflies to flash. It turns out that many insects have evolved rather unusual defenses against night sky prowling bats. The below Wake Forest University press release sent to me today by its author, Cheryl Walker, explains how one moth plays a sound trick to avoid becoming a bat treat. Be sure to watch the short video at the end as it shows a moth demonstrating the technique, foiling the bat's planned attack.
(Bat Image: Wake Forest University)
In the ongoing evolutionary battle between bats and moths, a species of tiger moth plays a trick with sound to avoid becoming a bat's tasty treat, according to new research by professor William Conner and PhD student Aaron Corcoran.
"This is the first example of prey that jams biological sonar," says Professor of Biology William Conner, who made the discovery with PhD student Aaron Corcoran.
In a series of experiments set up in a "bat cave" in the basement of Winston Hall, Corcoran and Conner observed free-flying big brown bats hunting moths. High-speed infrared video cameras recorded the interactions between predator and prey. They also recorded the high-frequency sounds made by both the bats and the moths during each interaction.
(Biology graduate student Aaron Corcoran conducts research on bats and moths with professor William Conner. Photo illustration by Ken Bennett.)
When a tiger moth hears the sonar pings of a bat in search of prey, it clicks back using a paired set of structures called "tymbals," Corcoran says. The high-speed, high-frequency clicks disrupt the bat's echolocation cycle. Although they have yet to discover exactly how the jamming works, the sounds could mask the echoes that the bat uses to locate the moth. Or, it might blur the bat's acoustic image of the moth so the bat can't determine its exact location.
"Sonar jamming illustrates a new level of escalation in a 50-million-year-old arms race," Corcoran says.
Their research was first published in Science and later reported in The New York Times, on National Public Radio and in other media outlets. Corcoran presented the findings at the Animal Sonar Symposium in Japan last summer, and he will speak at the North American Symposium on Bat Research in November.
Now, Corcoran is doing field research to learn more about how the sonar-jamming defense works in the wild. He has found the perfect place to study the ultrasonic battle of bats and moths in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona, where one in every three moths is a Bertholdia trigona, the species of tiger moth that uses ultrasonic clicks as a sonar-jamming defense. Many species of bats, including the one they studied in the lab, are also prevalent.
He is trying to figure out if the moths are using evasive maneuvering along with sound to evade capture. "Are they combining defenses or does sonar jamming work so well that they go along their way without making elaborate loops and spirals to avoid being eaten," he says.
The vampire squid card slimed its way into my virtual mailbox today. It came with very interesting information about the featured species, and I believe all of the cards come with such educational info. To send one or more of the free e-cards to your favorite trick or treaters, please go to this Monterey Bay Aquarium site.
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