Animal

Geneticists, For The First Time, Have Extracted RNA From An Extinct Animal—A 130-Yr-Old Tasmanian Tiger. This Achievement Offers Insights Into The Genetic Functioning Of Thylacine, Which Vanished 2k Years Ago, Except In Australia, Where It Went Extinct Primarily Due To Hunting. This Research Could Aid Thylacine De-Extinction Efforts.

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A 127 Myr-Old Fossil Of A Side-Necked Turtle (SNT), Said To Be UK’s First SNT, Was Discovered On The Isle Of Wight. SNT Is Known For Retracting Its Neck Sideways When Threatened. The Fossil, Dubbed ‘Burby,’ Missing Only The Skull, Was Radiometrically Dated & Analyzed Via Micro CT Scan. The Findings Were Donated To The Dinosaur Isle Museum.

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A Live Invasive Yellow-Legged Hornet (YLH) Was Spotted For The First Time In The US, Near Savannah, GA. YLHs, Native To SE Asia & Cousin To Murder Hornet, Pose Major Threats To Honeybees & Agric, As They Are More Predatory Than Native Hornets, Jeopardizing Honey Prod. & Pollination, Valued At $15 B. Efforts Are Underway To Eradicate Them.

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A Spotless Female Reticulated Giraffe Was Born At Brights Zoo, Tennessee, On July 31, 2023—A Rarity Seen Only Once Before In A 1970s Japanese Birth. The Public Is Helping To Name The Calf From 4 Swahili Name Options. Reticulated Giraffes’ Population, In The Wild, Has Declined From 36,000 To 16,000 In 35 Years, Raising Conservation Concerns.

A Record-Breaking 111 Python Eggs, From A Burmese Python Nest, Was Removed In The Florida Everglades. The Previous Record Was 96 Eggs Found In 2022 In Big Cypress. The Large Reproductive Capacity Of The Species–Can Lay 50 To 100 Eggs At A Time, Has Contributed To Their Success As Invasive Creatures, With Over 16,000 Being Removed From Florida Since 2000.

Regulators, For The First Time, Approved The Sale Of Lab-Grown Meat (LGM) In The US, With Upside Foods And Good Meat Authorized To Sell Chicken Made From Animal Cells. LGM Will Be Served In Some Restaurants Initially. Supermarket Availability May Take Time. LGM Aims To Reduce Harm To Animals And The Envir. But Public LGM Skepticism Remains

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Elephant Seals’ Sleep Patterns Have Been Recorded For The First Time, Showing That During Foraging Trips They Sleep For Only 2 Hrs/Day, Similar To African Elephants. They Nap For 10 Mins At A Time During Deep 30 Mins Dives And Sleep Over 10 Hrs/Day On The Beach During Breeding Season. This Data Could Identify & Protect Seals’ Rest Areas.

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French Bulldog, For The First Time In 31 Years, Has Been Ranked As The Most Favorite Dog In The USA, Surpassing The Labrador Retrievers. The Rank Was Done By The American Kennel Club Based On Data From 716,500 Voluntary Registrations From Dog Owners. The 3rd, 4th, And 5th Positions Went To Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, And Poodles.

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The World’s First Cataract Surgery On Penguins Was Done, By Mandai Wildlife Group, On 6 Geriatric Penguins That Reside At Singapore’s Jurong Bird Park, A Popular Tourist Attraction That Houses Some 5,000 Birds. The Cloudy Lens, In A 2.5 Hours Surgery Per Penguin, Were Replaced With Lenses Manufactured In Germany To Fit Each Penguin’s Eye.

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An Arctic Walrus, For The First Time In Over 25 Years, Was Spotted Along The W. Coast Of Scotland. Walrus Are Long Distance Travelers, And Some Experts Are Speculating This To Be The Same Walrus Seen In Netherlands, France, England, & Iceland. 2 Walrus Groups Are Thought To Exist In The Wild: ~25,000 Atlantic And ~ 200,000 Pacific Walruses.

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A Very Rare Insect, The Giant Lacewing, Or Polystoechotes Punctata, Of The Jurassic Era, Has Been Spotted For The First Time Since It Vanished In The 1950s From E. North America. The Bug, Found In 2012 At An Arkansas Walmart, Was Identified In 2022. Factors Like Pollution & Artificial Light Are Said To Have Caused Its Disappearance.

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The Biggest Living Frog On Earth, Said To Grow As Big As A Cat, Is Now Endangered As It Has Been Over-Hunted For Food And Pet Trade In Cameroon And Equatorial Guinea. A Conservative Group Is, However, Effectively Making Efforts To The Save The Frog By Working With Hunters And Setting Up Alternative Food Sources, Snail Farms, For The Locals.

The USDA Has Approved The First-Ever Vaccine For Honey Bees. The Vaccine License, Conditionally Issued To Diamond Animal Health On December 29th, 2020, Would Help Prevent And/Or Treat The American Foulbrood Disease In Honeybees. The Disease Is Said To Be One Of The Most Widespread And The Most Destructive Of The Honey Bee Brood Diseases

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An Armoured Dinosaur From The Cretaceous, Named Jakapil kaniukura, Has For The First Time Been Discovered, By Palaeontologists, In Southern Argentina. The Creature, Part Of The Thyreophoran Dinosaur Group That Includes Stegosaurus, Is Said To Be The Size Of An Average House Cat. And Is Speculated To Have Walked Upright On Its Back Legs.

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Whale Sharks, According To Scientists, Are The Largest Fish Species And The Biggest Living Onmivores On Earth, Taking The Title From Alaska’s Kodiak Bear. But Unfortunately, The Creature, Which Can Survive For Over A Century, Are Endangered, And Little is Known About Their Behaviour And How They Give Birth To Help Better Protect Them.

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A 17-Year-Old Hairless Chinese Crested-Chihuahua Mix, Called Mr. Happy Face, Has Been Crowned The World’s Ugliest Dog In A Contest Held In Calif. On June 24th, 2022. And Took Home The $1500 Grand Prize. Mr. Happy Face, Who Was Adopted From An Arizona Shelter By Jeneda Benally, Was Not Expected To Live This Long Due To Medical Issues.

Conservancy Biologists, To The Best Of Known Record, Caught The Largest, 215-Pound, 18 Ft Long, Burmese Python Ever Found In Florida State. The Python, Pregnant With 122 Eggs And Caught In December 2021, Is Believed To Be A Pet That Was Released To The Everglades. The Snake Was Euthanized To Protect The Everglades Ecosystem.

An Endangered Stingray, Caught In The Mekong River In Cambodia, Is Said, To The Best Of Known Record, To Be The World’s Largest Freshwater Fish. The Stingray, Caught On 6/13/22, Weighed 300kg (661lb) And Measured 3.98m Long And 2.2m Wide. This Record Beats The Previous Record Holder, A 646lb (293kg) Mekong Giant Catfish Caught In Thailand In 2005.

Scientists Are Indicating That The White Rock Spinosaurid, A Giant Crocodile-Faced Dinosaur, Discovered On The Isle Of Wight, Could Be Europe’s Biggest Predatory Dinosaur. The Animal, Estimated To Be 125 Myrs Old And Said To Exceed 10 Metres (33 Feet) In Length, Could Be A New Spinosaurid Species, And The Youngest Spinosaurid Ever Found.

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Wain, The Wombat, Has Been Confirmed By The Guinness World Records As The Oldest Living Wombat. Wombats Are Said To Live To An Average Age Of 15 Years In The Wild And Up To 20 Years In Captivity, But Wain Is Currently At The Age of 32, Which Is Equivalent To 100 Human Years. Folks Can Visit Wain At The Satsukiyama Zoo, In Japan.

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