Animal

Researchers Have Discovered, In Callao Cave, Philippines, The Remains of 3 New Gigantic But Extinct Species Of Cloud Rats (GCR) Said To Be “Twice The Size Of Grey Squirrels.” Cloud Rats Are Nocturnal Animals That Exist Today In The Philippines Forests. And The Rats Live On TreeTops. Humans Are Speculated To Have Led To GCR Extinction.

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A Lone Male Duck, Known As A Common Pochard Was Spotted For The First Time In British Columbia. And There Is Speculation That This May Be The First Time That This Wild Bird Has Been Spotted In Canada. The Bird Is Said To Be Native To Europe And Asia And Usually Migrates South Of The 2 Continents For The Winter.

The Weather Network…

A New Study, Based On The Computer Model Of A Fossilized T. Rex Tail, Is Indicating That T. Rex Likely Moved At A Speed Of ~3 Miles/Hour. Researchers Believe That This Speed, Comparable To The Walking Speed Of Humans, Was Adapted By T-Rex As It Would Require Minimal Energy. Another Study Did Estimate T. Rex Top Speed To ~12-18 Miles/Hour.

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Researchers May Have Discovered How The Largest Known Flying Animal, Azhdarchid Pterosaurs (AP), With Neck Longer Than A Giraffe, Held Its Head Up In-Flight Or Carried Large Preys. They Discovered, Using CT Scan On Fossils From Morrocco, That AP Had A Unique Internal Neck Structure That Optimized Its Neck For Strength And Lightness.

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Researchers Have Estimated That Some 2.5 Billion T. Rex Lived And Died During The 2.5 Myrs That They Existed In The Cretaceous Period (65 –98 Myrs Ago). Scientists Estimated The Number Based On Fossil Record, Density Data And Data From Climate Models. They Also Deduced, For The First Time, That T. Rex Life Span Could Reach The Late 20s.

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Researchers Have Determined That The India Jumping Ant Is The First Known Insect Capable of Shrinking (By 20%) And Increasing Its Brain Size. The Ants Are Said To Decrease Their Brain Size In A Bid To Become Queen, Conserving Their Brain Energy For Reproduction. They, However, Increase Their Brain Size To Normal If Their Bid Fails.

Th…

Just Like The Human Opposable Thumbs, Which Can Be Moved Around To Touch Other Fingers, Enabling Us To, E.G, Climb And Grab Things, A Pterosaur, Named Monkeydactyl, May Be The Oldest Creature With Opposable Thumbs. This Attribute Probably Allowed This Flying Reptiles To Climb Trees, About 160 Million Years Ago, To Feed On Insects And Preys.

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A New Species Of Parasitic Wasp, Named Chrysis Parabrevitarsis (CP), Has Been Discovered In Norway. CP, Which Is Like Other Cuckoo Wasps, Was Discovered Using DNA Coding Techniques. CP Lays Eggs In Bees And Other Wasps Nests, Which Then Hatch Before The Host’s Eggs, Enabling CP’s Larvae To Eat The Host’s Eggs, Larvae, And Other Nest Food.

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Japanese Researchers Discovered That Sea Slugs Could Decapitate Their Heads And Still Survive, Even To The Extent, For Some, Of Regenerating A New Body That Includes A Heart And Digestive System—Body Parts That Are Essential To Human Survival. But The Regeneration Only Applies To The Younger Ones, As The Older Ones Eventually Died.

One Of The World’s Rarest And Critically Endangered Toad, Atelopus Varius, Was, For The First Time, Bred In Captivity. Scientists, Were Able To Mimic, In Captivity, The Natural Conditions That Are Similar To Where The Toads Lives In The Central American Rainforests Of Panama And Costa Rica, Such As Lighting, Temp., And Water Levels.

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Wisdom, A Laysan Albatrosses Of At Least 70 Years Old, Birthed A Chick In Feb. Of 2021 In Midway Atoll Wildlife Refuge—Home To The World’s Largest Albatross Colony. This Birthing Makes Her The World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird To Birth A Chick. The US Fish And Wildlife Service Estimates That Wisdom May Have Mothered At Least 30–36 Chicks.

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Nature Conservationists In Australia Are Planning To Build The World’s First Duck-Billed Platypus Refuge, As The Animal Hinges On The Verge Of Extinction Due To Bushfires and Drought. The Refuge Is Expected To Accommodate About 65 Platypus, Especially In Times Of Crisis. The Refuge Would Also Help To Better Understand The Animal, To Ensure Its Future.

A Rare Bee Species, Native To Queensland, Australia, Which Has Not Been Seen In 100 Years Was Re-discovered After An Attempt To Verify Its Extinction. The Bee Species, Pharohylaeus Lactiferus, For Which Nothing Is Known Of Its Biology, Is Said To Be Struggling To Survive Due To, For Example, Habitat Loss, Wildfires, And Climate Change.

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Researchers Accidentally Discovered, As A Fossil, The Biggest Coelacanths Ever. The Discovered Fossil, Found In Morocco, Estimated To Be About 5 Metres In Length, Is Said To Be As Big As A Great White Shark. Coelacanths Still Swim In The Oceans Today And Are Said To Have Survived The Extinction That Killed Off The Dinosaurs.

Ancient…

The First Black-Footed Ferret, Called Elizabeth Ann, An Endangered Animal Native To North America, Was Cloned From Cells That Were Banked In 1988. The Cells Were Developed Into Embryos, Then Implanted Into A Domestic Ferret Surrogate, From Which Ann Was Delivered Via C-Section. This Feat Could Lead To Genetic Diversity For Endangered Species.

Researchers Have Discovered Another Similarity Between Mice And Humans. They Found That Baby Mice Tend To Remember Their Mum Even As Adults, Just Like Human Infants Do. And The Memories Formed Are Linked To Increase In Brain Neurons Associated With Social Memory, Which Is An Animal’s Ability To Recognize And Remember Members Of Its Species.

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Scientists May Have Discovered, In The Sorata Massif Rainforests, In Northern Madagascar, The World’s Smallest Reptile, A 13.5 mm Long Male Chameleon Species Called Brookesia Nana (BN). But The Female BN, At 19.2 mm Long, Is Larger Than The World’s Smallest 16 mm Long Female Gecko, A Reptile Of The Sphaerodactylus Ariasae Species.

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Researchers, Based On A Trace Fossil And Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging, May Have Discovered A New Species Of Praying Mantis, Called Labradormantis Guilbaulti. The New Praying Mantis Species, Which Lived In Labrador About 100 Myrs Ago, During The Time Of The Dinosaurs, May Throw More Light On Praying Mantis Evolution.

Excep…

A Snowy Owl Was Spotted In New York City’s Central Park For The First Time In 130 Years. The Snowy Owl, Which Resides In the Arctic Tundra, Has Not Been Seen In New York City Since It Was Last Spotted In The Winter Of 1890. The Owl Has Since Moved On. But Exhibit Of It Can Be Seeing At The American Museum of Natural History.

Snowy O…

Jonathan, A Seychelles Giant Tortoise, Hatched In 1832, At 189 Years Old, Is The World’s Oldest Known Land Animal. Jonathan, Now Blind Due To Old Age, Lives, Since The Late 1880s, On The Remote Island Of St. Helena, In The South Atlantic, And Has His Portrait Printed On The Back Of The Island’s 5 Pence Coin. Cool!

This 189…