Animal

The South American Lungfish, Lepidosiren Paradoxa, Has The Largest Animal Genome At 30x A Human’s. A Living Fossil & Closest Relative To Early Land Vertebrates, It Breaths Air Through Lung-Like Organs.Its Genome Offers Insights Into Tetrapod Evolution. A Plant, Tmesipteris Oblanceolata, Holds The Largest Genome Overall At 50x A Human’s.

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Researchers Have Completed An Autopsy On The First Complete Adult Wolf From The Late Pleistocene (44,000-Year-Old), Discovered In The Siberian Permafrost In 2021 By A River In Yakutia. The Autopsy Aims To Reveal The Wolf’s Diet, Ancient Viruses, And Microbiota, Aiding The Understanding Of Life And Microbial Communities During The Ice Age.

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Scientists In South Africa Have Discovered The World’s Oldest Active Termite Mounds, Over 34 Kyrs Old, Along The Buffels River In Namaqualand. These Mounds, Called “Heuweltjies,” House Southern Harvester Termites (Microhodotermes Viator). Their Foraging Promotes Carbon Sequestration By Forming Calcium Carbonate, Locking Carbon Deep In The Soil.

Fossilized Bones Found In Somerset, England, In 2020, Identified As Part Of A Giant Ichthyosaur From 202 Myrs Ago, And Linked To An 8-Year Prior Find Of A 3 Ft Long Bone, Led To The Identification Of A New Species Of Ichthyosaur, Ichthyotitan Severnensis, Said To Be The Largest Marine Reptile Ever Found. The New Species Was ~82 Ft Long.

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A Wild Animal, An Orangutan In Indonesia, Was Observed For The First Time Applying A Potent Medicinal Plant Directly To A Wound And Then Covering It With The Chewed Plant, Like A Bandage In A Likely Form Of Self-Medication. Other Primates Have Also Been Known To Use Plants For Healing, Which Raises Questions About The Evolution Of Medicine.

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In 2024, Brood XIX (13-Year–Largest Periodical Cicada Brood) And Brood XIII (17-Year) Cicadas Will Co-Emerge Across 17 US States, In A Rare Event Seen Every 221 Years. The Adult Cicada Will Mate, Lay Eggs, Then Die, While The Nymphs Will Burrow Into The Ground For The Next Cycle. There Are 3,000 To 5,000 Species Of Cicadas Around The World.

A Researcher, In Queensland, Australia, Has Discovered A Potentially World’s Hairiest Beetle, Excastra Albopilosa, In Dec., 2021. With Long Fluffy White Hairs, It’s Believed To Mimic Fungus-Infected Insects, A Possible Deterrent To Predators. This cm-Long Longhorn Beetle Is Said To Be Of A New Genus, And Only One Specimen Has Been Found.

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A New Tiny 38 cm Tall Species Of The World’s Smallest Deer, Pudella Carlae, Found In Peru‘s Central Andes, Marks The First Cervid Species Discovery In South America In 60+ Years. P. Carlae, A Jack Russell Terrier-Size Deer, Is A Separate Species From The Northern Pudu, & Inhabits Diverse Habitats: The Andean Grasslands To The Cloud Forest.

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In Peru‘s Amazon, A 16-Myr-Old Fossil Of Pebanista Yacuruna (PY), The Largest Freshwater Dolphin (FWD), Was Found. ~3.5m Long, It’s ~25% Larger Than Modern FWD. PY Is Said To Be Related To The Modern South Asia FWD. PY Extinction May Be Linked To Ancient Amazon Lake Drainage. This Find Highlights FWD Evolution And Ecosystem Vulnerability.

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Researchers Found, In Ecuador‘s Rainforest, The World’s Largest Snake– A Green Anaconda Of Species Eunectes Akiyama, Which Split From Its Relatives, Eunectes Murinus, 10m Yrs Ago. Despite Identical Looks, Genetic Analysis Revealed A New Species. This Find Was Made During A Study Of Anacondas As A Key Indicator For Ecosystem Health Due To Oil Spillage.

Photographer Carlos Gauna May Have Filmed The First-Ever Footage Of A Newborn Great White Shark (GWS) Off Santa Barbara, Challenging Birthing Assumptions. Gauna’s Observations, Like Shedding Intrauterine Milk, The Shark’s Size (~5ft), And Shape Suggest It’s A Newborn, Providing Rare Insights. This Discovery Contributes To GWS Conservation.

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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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