Meg 4?

For those keeping up with modern day cryptofiction, Variety reports that the movie based on the original novel Meg, by Steve Alten, is being pushed back due to budgetary increases:

"New Line picked up the rights last year and put the pic on the fast track for a 2006 release. At the time, it was hoping to make 'Meg' for $75 million, with a significant chunk financed by selling off foreign distribution rights. But when the estimated budget came in much higher -- some put the figure at $150 million, mostly due to costly f/x -- New Line began scaling back.
"According to an outsider who's seen the script, the CGI work for 'Meg' would itself cost $40 million to $70 million. Aside from aquatic challenges (CGI waves, thousands of species of fish), the giant shark attacks ships and a helicopter.
"Now, the pic is looking to shoot this spring for a summer 2008 release, at the earliest." ...
"Alten, too, is playing the waiting game. He says he won't begin 'Meg 4: Hell's Aquarium' until the pic is greenlit.
"'I need the movie to generate publicity for that book,' he says."

I'm not a big fan of the first three Meg novels, but Alten's Loch was better. Hopefully, that means we can look forward to Meg 4 with something other than trepidation. And, if Alten is relying on the movie to push sales of the next book, there's a chance we might be spared any viral ad hoaxes with this one.

Livestock Predator Still a Mystery

From news reports, the Montana livestock killer is still undetermined, but genetic tests suggest it may be a hybrid:

"Even after wolves were hunted, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of Montana, lone predators continued to haunt sheepherders. There was the White Wolf of the Judith Basin, hunted for 15 years, and the Ghost Wolf of the Little Rockies.
"'These things became mythological,' said Ed Bangs, the Fish and Wildlife Service recovery coordinator for the Rocky Mountains. 'Some people said they had supernatural powers.'
"They were, however, wolves. Wildlife officials are not sure what the latest phantom livestock killer was.
"For 10 months, ending in November, an elusive animal that federal officials assumed was a feral dog went on a killing spree in remote north-central Montana, slaughtering dozens, perhaps hundreds, of sheep and injuring many more. It was shot and killed from an airplane Nov. 2 by federal wildlife officials. Nearly two months later, the biological evidence is inconclusive." ...
"Ranchers in Dawson, Garfield and McCone Counties who saw the animal say they have no doubt it was a wolf, and they suspect it migrated hundreds of miles from large wolf populations in the Yellowstone region or in Canada.
"It is not just a question of taxonomy. If the animal is a wolf, the ranchers could be paid tens of thousands of dollars by conservationists for their losses. If it is a dog or a hybrid, they are probably not eligible for reimbursement.
"Federal trappers first assumed the animal was a feral dog because a wolf has not been seen in this area since the early 1920s. The animal also attacked and wounded the sheep in many places, which is characteristic of dogs, not wolves." ...
"At 105 pounds, however, the animal was much larger than a dog, closer to the size of the gray wolves that inhabit the Northern Rockies. Yet the feet were small, and the face pointed, uncharacteristic of wolves. The gray-and-cream-colored fur, with flecks of orange, was also unusual. Western wolves are usually gray or white, but never brown.
"Tests have shown some similarity to coyote DNA but have been inconclusive. State officials say they are waiting for more DNA testing before making a determination. It could be a number of things: a wolf-dog cross; a very unusual hybrid of a gray wolf and a coyote; a coydog, a coyote-dog cross; or a wolf from Minnesota or Wisconsin.
"A state biologist who picked up the carcass of the animal said he believed it was a pet because of its teeth.
"'The teeth were perfect,' said the biologist, Jon Trapp, a wolf management specialist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 'Not even a chip. And there was tartar buildup.' Wolves often have broken teeth and no tartar because they chew up bones.
"Ranchers who experienced losses are skeptical of the talk of hybrids. 'There’s no doubt it was a wolf,' said Jim Whiteside, a rancher near Jordan, Mont. 'It’s a matter of trying to evade the burden of damage.'"

If nothing else, we can note that the ethnozoology of the ranchers is skewed in this case: a large canine will be called "wolf" regardless of its true taxonomic status. And, there does not appear to be any basis for referring to it as any specific cryptid canine.

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

And Another PDF

Craig forwarded another PDF, now up on the Archive. This one is a 1953 paper from the Wilson Bulletin on the "Bird of Washington."

Additions to PDF Archive

Craig passed along a couple historical journal articles, which have been added to the BioFortean Review PDF Archive. These include:

A Last Remnant of Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers in Cuba, by John V. Dennis
The Auk, 65(4), 1948

A Remarkable Case of External Hind Limbs in a Humpback Whale, by Roy Chapman Andrews
American Museum Novitates, 1921

California Bigfoot

In a retrospective on 1974 in the Santa Clarita Valley, a reporter notes reports of a Bigfoot-like creature seen at the time:

"Back in August of 1974, Saugus resident Bob Curasi made a plaster of paris model of a Bigfoot spotted locally. Curasi had been curious after a series of reported Sasquatch sightings in the SCV, including one by a pair of boys staying at a remote hog farm up Lost Creek Canyon. Of course, the teens were ridiculed after perfectly describing a 9-foot-tall Bigfoot, adding that he had been wearing a blue bell. But then, the boys' story (save for the bell) was corroborated by a pair of young lovers who were parked up Plum Canyon and making out by the full moon. The young woman screamed when she opened her eyes in the front seat and saw a hairy face the shape of a bullet staring in through the windshield. The creature, she estimated, was between 9 and 10 feet tall. It ran away when she screamed. Curasi went out to where the couple had been parked and that's where he found the bare footprint. However, it was only 10 inches long and 6 inches wide - unusually small for other reported Bigfoot tracks of creatures being reported as the same size."

The Song of the Gibbon

The full Open Access paper is available at:
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000073

Please see: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061221074623.htm for an abbreviated news entry, excerpted herein.

Singing For Survival: Gibbons Scare Off Predators With 'Song'Science Daily — It is well known that animals use song as a way of attracting mates, but researchers have found that gibbons have developed an unusual way of scaring off predators -- by singing to them.
The primatologists at the University of St Andrews discovered that wild gibbons in Thailand have developed a unique song as a natural defence to predators. Literally singing for survival, the gibbons appear to use the song not just to warn their own group members but those in neighbouring areas.

They said, "We are interested in gibbon songs because, apart from human speech, these vocalisations provide a remarkable case of acoustic sophistication and versatility in primate communication. Our study has demonstrated that gibbons not only use unique songs as a response to predators, but that fellow gibbons understand them."

"This work is a really good indicator that non-human primates are able to use combinations of calls given in other contexts to relay new, and in this case, potentially life-saving information to one another. This type of referential communication is commonplace in human language, but has yet to be widely demonstrated in some of our closest living relatives - the apes."

Gibbons are renowned amongst non-human primates for their loud and impressive songs that transmit over long distances and are commonly used in their daily routine when mating pairs 'duet' every morning. Songs in response to predators -- mostly large cats, snakes and birds of prey -- have been previously noted, but no extensive research into its purpose or understanding by other gibbons has been done until now.

Two Geckos from Vietnam

A couple new geckos have been described in the latest Russian Journal of Herpetology:

"A Vietnamese biologist has recently discovered two new lizard species in Ba Den mountain, Tay Ninh province. They are of the Gekkonidae, Cyrtodactylus family.
"Mr. Nguyen Ngoc, who found of the creature, is now working at HCM City’s Institute of Tropical Biology. Mr Ngoc, together with his Russian colleagues, named the two new species as Cyrtodactylus nigriocularis and Cyrtodactylus badenensis. Both of these creature live in caves or cliffs of 100 – 500 metres high.
"The typical characteristics of the Cyrtodactylus badenensis are white dots in its back and tail, yellow brown head and living on cliffs. Meanwhile, the Cyrtodactylus nigriocularis is of bigger size but more difficult to find as they often live inside the caves. Commonly, Cyrtodactylus nigriocularis has a brown body, which, in some case, can change in accordance with the light, temperature and habitat."

Thailand: New Lizard

New lizards and other small vertebrates are fairly common, and most never make it to the public's attention, but a recent news posting from Thailand is worth pointing out, if only to make a correction. The news posted is:

"New species of salamander founded in Chaiyaphum

"Researchers working in the Biodiversity Research and Training (BRT) programme have discovered a new species of salamander featuring a short tail with thornlike scales.
"The Huai Hang Nam salamander was found living in a seasonal rain forest near Tevada Mountain in Chaiyaphum's Phu Khieo Wildlife Reserve, the park's forestry official, Monkol Khamsuk, said Monday.
"The salamander is among 37 species found for the first in the time in wildlife reserve during a study of its amphibians and reptiles sponsored by the BRT programme. Fifteen of the species were amphibians and 22 reptiles. However, only the Huai Hang Nam salamander, whose scientific name is Tropidophorus hangnam, sp nov, is entirely new to the world.
"Monkol said its discovery was accidental because the salamanders are hard to spot.
"They often stay in holes underneath stones, whereas other salamander species crawl around on the forest floor and riverbanks.
"He urged that a study of Huai Hang Nam salamanders' environment and population in other parts of the country be undertaken to enable conservation of the species."

What is actually being described is a lizard, not a salamander. Tropidophorus is a genus of keeled skinks (thus the mention of thornlike scales, which salamanders don't have).

Dholes Rebounding in Vietnam

The dhole, Cuon alpinus, is one of the few wild dog species still living on this planet. It is considered endangered throughout its range, including India, Russia, mainland southeast Asia, Sumatra, and Java. (A good basic information site on dholes can be found here.) A news report from Vietnam notes that villagers in Cam Chinh Commune, Cam Lo District, are seeing more of them:

"Cam Chinh Commune is no longer a secluded outback town. A new paved road replaced the rough red-clay path that made travelling to the area difficult. During a visit, Nguyen Van Luong, who was a hunter but has since stopped due to legal prohibitions, told me that he had seen a dhole pack barking as they surrounded their prey.
"At first sight, a dhole may look like an ordinary dog, but its large size and hair colour distinguish it from other breeds. It grows up to a metre long, about the size of German shephered, with blazing red hair along its back. Their stomach fur is usually a lighter reddish hue, while their muzzle and tail are black.
"The dog’s legs are especially long and its ears are always perked." ...
"While spending several days in the Cua, I picked up various pieces of gossip from residents that reportedly saw dholes. The locals didn’t understand why the red dogs had chosen the province’s forests as their new home.
"Woodsmen had also grown fond of the dogs because dholes are often very friendly. Normally, when they capture their prey dholes only disembowel the animal, leaving the flesh and bone mostly intact.
"According to locals, the dogs race to seek men’s approval for their work after feasting.
"Once they find somebody, dholes yap fiercly in a peculiar way. Woodsmen have become accustomed to the various yelps and barks employed by the dogs to garner attention, which has led forest workers to declare the sounds as signs of good news to come.
"To be honest, I found the tales doubtful at first and it wasn’t until hearing Nguyen Van Nghia, a woodsman living in Cam Chinh Commune, tell his stories on tracking dholes’ footsteps leading to dead animals that I began to believe.
"One day while working in the forest, Nghia abruptly heard some loud barking. He was so astonished to hear such sound in the forest that he tracked the noise through the foothills. When he reached the third hill, the woodsmen found a dead spotted deer, which the dholes had killed and eaten the viscera.
"Only when the red dogs witnessed Nghia take the dear away did they stop barking." ...
"Leaving Ha Noi, a group of experts from the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources, lead of Professor Pham Trong Anh and two other foreign scientists, made their way to Quang Tri Province to investigate.
"When they arrived, they had their doubts about the dhole’s existance.
"'I don’t think dhole can survive in this hilly environment,' proclaimed a visiting Russian scientist, and there was a growing fear among conservationists that the evidence gathered during the first search was not from dholes but another species of pack dogs.
"After being persuaded by the conservationists to stay a bit longer, the scientist visited the house of Cam Chinh Commune resident who claimed to have accidently trapped a dhole just a few days prior. The Russian scientist still held some disbelief.
"He assumed that the trapped animal belonged to another species and asked his host to provide proof. The man hastily gave the hard-to-please expert four dhole legs and a fur pelt taken from the dog’s red abdomen.
"The evidence was convincing, even for the Russian. Several days later, the appearance of dhole in Quang Tri Province was officially recognised by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which published the news on their website."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Australia`s deep ocean frontier to be explored

Source: "http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=344017&ssid=26&sid=ENV">

Sydney, Dec 24: Marine scientists will for the first time explore Australia's deep sea territories, a pitch-black frontier one kilometer below the surface that is home to giant squid and other mysterious creatures of the deep.

Starting in late 2007, the three-year "Deep Australia" project led by researchers at the University of Queensland will use a pair of two-man submersibles to study marine life and, hopefully, discover new species.

"We only have a very limited idea of what really lives down in the depths around Australia," lead researcher Justin Marshall from the University of Queensland told a news agency.

"The only time we get to look at examples of what lies deep down is when a dead specimen, like a giant squid, floats to the surface or on deep-water trawling expeditions."

More than 80 percent of Australia's sea territory lies below 200 meters (660 feet). Previous explorations have relied on divers who are limited to a depth of 100 meters.

The specially designed submersibles will be able to explore one kilometer below the surface for six hours at a time.

"Deep Australia" will search for the elusive giant squid that can grow to 20 meters, as well as pygmy blue whales and big sharks that are known to live in the deep ocean.

"We expect to see species we've never seen before, that's a certainty," said Marshall.

The submersibles will use mechanical arms to examine samples of marine life and cameras to film the deep ocean creatures. A mother ship will have a cool room to store deep sea creatures at their natural ocean temperature.

The "Deep Australia" project will explore sites on the outer slopes of the Great Barrier Reef, Osprey Reef off the far north coast, deep sea canyons off the south and west coast and sea mountains off the east and southeast coasts.



Additional Notes: What can we expect from the region? New fish most likely, anything larger? Could a serpentine creature be found? Time will tell, 2007 is but a week away.

Craig Heinselman
Peterborough, NH

Socorro Doves Reintroduction

The Socorro Dove, extinct on its native island in the Pacific, is soon to be reintroduced there thanks to a captive breeding program. From the news:

"The Socorro Dove became extinct more than 30 years ago in its home in a remote Pacific island chain known as Mexico's Galapagos.
"Fewer than 100 adult birds now exist in captivity around the world. But in 2007 it is to be reintroduced to Socorro, 600 miles west of the Mexican coast, following a successful breeding programme involving Edinburgh Zoo." ...
"Around 20 of the small brown doves will be released first into specially constructed aviaries to adapt to island conditions. Once acclimatised they will be set free to attempt to form a new breeding colony." ...
"The uninhabited island was discovered in the 16th century by Spanish explorers, but the dove was first described by a 19th-century American naturalist, Andrew Jackson Grayson, at work in the Pacific about 20 years after Charles Darwin began logging the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, which is thousands of miles to the south.
"The bird was spread across the 157-square-mile island, but flocks of sheep introduced in 1869 started destroying the natural habitat of the ground-nesting species.
"Then, in 1957, the Mexican Navy moved in, setting up a base and building an airstrip. The 250 personnel brought their families and pet cats, which bred and spread into the wild.
"The last sighting of a Socorro Dove was by a scientific expedition in 1972. It was declared extinct in the early 1980s." ...
"It is hoped the return of the dove will mark a turn in the island's ecological fortunes. Several other species from there are endangered, including the Socorro Mockingbird, which number fewer than 400, the Socorro Parakeet, the Socorro Elf and the Townsend's Shearwater."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Abstracts from J. Zoology

Looking over the contents of the latest Journal of Zoology, per that Kouprey article, I see there are a few other interesting articles about the stranger side of biology. A few additional abstracts from December 2006, Vol. 270, Issue 4:


Dissociation between mane development and sexual maturity in lions (Panthera leo): solution to the Tsavo riddle?
T. P. Gnoske, G. G. Celesia & J. C. Kerbis Peterhans

The mane characteristics of lions Panthera leo in the greater Tsavo ecosystem (GTE) were compared with those of lions from the equatorial middle-elevation plains (EMEP). Contrary to popular belief, most full-grown GTE lions are not maneless; 87% had manes, with 49% possessing good manes. The manes of GTE lions, however, were poorer on average, relative to age, than the manes of EMEP lions. For both groups, there was a significant relationship between age and mane type. In EMEP lions, mane development started early and grew to a full mane by age 4–5. In GTE lions, mane development began later and developed more slowly. Delayed onset and a slower rate of development are correlated with the consistently hot Tsavo climate. Poorly maned but fully mature lions mated actively, showing dissociation between mane development and sexual maturity. The correlation between climate and mane development suggests that climatic adaptation results in the inhibition and/or delay in the development of a secondary sexual character without compromising reproductive viability.


A new genus and species of 'giant hutia' (Tainotherium valei) from the Quaternary of Puerto Rico: an extinct arboreal quadruped?
S. T. Turvey, F. V. Grady & P. Rye

A large incomplete rodent femur from a Quaternary cave deposit near Barahona, Puerto Rico, is established as the holotype of Tainotherium valei, a new extinct genus and species. Although biogeographic and body size similarities suggest that it may be related to the Puerto Rican giant hutia Elasmodontomys, the Antillean large-bodied rodent family Heptaxodontidae is now interpreted as invalid, and it is impossible to assign Tainotherium to a particular caviomorph family in the absence of associated craniodental material. Tainotherium differs from other West Indian species in possessing a large femoral head, a proximally angled femoral neck, a short greater trochanter and a medially positioned lesser trochanter unconnected by an intertrochanteric crest, and a transversely flattened, anteroposteriorly bowed shaft lacking well-defined ridges. These characters are all associated with arboreal life habits in other mammal groups. The Puerto Rican land mammal fauna was dominated by a rodent radiation occupying a wide variety of niches before human arrival in the West Indies, but although arboreality is correlated with increased likelihood of survival in Quaternary mammalian extinction events, all of this fauna is now extinct. It is unlikely that decreasing aridity and the reduction of Puerto Rican savanna-type environments at the end of the Pleistocene contributed to the extinction of the arboreal Tainotherium, and habitat destruction by pre-Columbian Amerindians may instead have been responsible.



How much fruit do fruit-eating frogs eat? An investigation on the diet of Xenohyla truncata (Lissamphibia: Anura: Hylidae)
H. R. da Silva & M. C. de Britto-Pereira

This paper presents the results of a 22-month survey and the examination of the intestinal content of 356 specimens of Xenohyla truncata (Anura: Hylidae) from Restinga de Maricá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our results confirm prior observations that fruits are intrinsic to the diet of these frogs. In addition, these new data increase our understanding of the relationship between frogs and the plants they feed upon. Plant consumption follows availability of fruits in the area, indicating that the diversity of fruits consumed by the frogs does not represent choice, but rather plant phenology and fruit availability.

More on Kouprey Demotion

The recent genetic study on the kouprey, and the argument that it is only a feral ox population rather than a distinct species, is citable as:

Journal of Zoology
Vol. 270 Issue 4 Page 561 December 2006
Genetically solving a zoological mystery: was the kouprey (Bos sauveli) a feral hybrid?
G. J. Galbreath, J. C. Mordacq, F. H. Weiler

The abstract is:
A famous zoological discovery of the 20th century was that of the kouprey Bos sauveli, a medium-sized ox inhabiting Cambodian forests. The kouprey was suspiciously intermediate between banteng oxen and domestic zebu cattle in its structure. Mitochondrial DNA sequences of mainland banteng are compared here with a published kouprey sequence, and the comparison demonstrates a close relationship. Either the kouprey derives partly from banteng or (less likely) these particular banteng acquired kouprey DNA via recent genetic introgression. The kouprey may have been a feral hybrid form, a descendant of domestic oxen, rather than a natural species.

From a recent press release on the topic:

"It was one of the most famous discoveries of the 20th century. Shrouded in mystery since its recognition as a new species in 1937, the kouprey -- an ox with dramatic, curving horns -- has been an icon of Southeast Asian conservation. Feared extinct, it’s been the object of perilous expeditions to the region’s jungles by adventurers, scientists and journalists.
"Now, in a paper published by the Journal of Zoology (London), Northwestern University biologists and a Cambodian conservationist present compelling genetic evidence that the kouprey may never have existed as a wild, natural species.
"The researchers compared a published DNA sequence from the kouprey with sequences obtained from a true Cambodian wild ox, the banteng. The researchers had predicted, based on a study of kouprey anatomy, that the kouprey was a hybrid form and would show mitochondrial DNA similar to that of the banteng. The prediction was confirmed by their analysis.
"The kouprey, which is now the national animal of Cambodia, may have originated as a domestic hybrid, between banteng and zebu cattle, that later became wild. ('Kouprey' means 'forest ox' in the Khmer language.)
"'The kouprey has acquired a rather romantic, exotic reputation,' said Gary J. Galbreath, senior author of the paper and associate director of Northwestern’s Program in Biological Sciences. "'Some people would understandably be sad to see it dethroned as a species.'
"But, added Galbreath, 'It is surely desirable not to waste time and money trying to locate or conserve a domestic breed gone wild. The limited funds available for conservation should be used to protect wild species.' Galbreath has been traveling to Southeast Asia studying its animals since 1999.
"Ironically, Galbreath initially began his work in Southeast Asia in hopes of identifying a new species of bear. It turned out to be an undescribed golden color phase of the moon bear. He also was involved in the debunking of another alleged new species of hoofed animal, the 'khting vor,' that was only known to science from specimens of its horns. Galbreath and others showed that these horns were the work of human artisans -- the 'khting vor' was a fake.
"Instead of finding new species, Galbreath said, 'I’ve been involved in showing that two named species of large mammal may never have existed as such.' But, he notes, 'In the end, good science is about what is true, not what is desired to be true.'
"Galbreath hopes the paper will serve to focus conservation time, dollars and attention on real species that need saving. 'The definitely real wild oxen of mainland Southeast Asia -- Banteng, Gaur, wild Water Buffalo -- could soon become extinct if more is not done to protect them from rampant poaching,' Galbreath said. 'I hope that the publicity from the kouprey story can help make people aware of this problem.'"

Some Mammals Sniff Underwater

According to a new study, there are a few mammals that can smell underwater:

"The 22-digit proboscis that gives the star-nosed mole its name is one of the most sensitive organs of touch in all mammals, the Vanderbilt University neurobiologist said. Catania knows the mole well and his earlier research on the animal already has earned him one of the so-called 'genius grants.'
"But while filming the mole in slow motion underwater he noticed something weird. The animal was using its unusual nose not only to touch the objects it encountered, but also to blow air bubbles at them that it sucked back in rapidly." ...
"Catania had never thought to question the common scientific assumption that mammals are totally unable to smell underwater." ...
"But as he studied the video on slow motion, the star-nosed mole appeared to be sniffing. Catania devised a very simple way to test this: He laid down an underwater scent trail leading to little bits of food.
"His moles were able to follow the trails with great accuracy, and he was convinced they were using the air bubbles to smell.
"Then, to be sure this was not just a fluke of what he acknowledges is a very unusual creature, Catania decided to test another semi-aquatic mammal. The water shrew also was able to follow a scent trail.
"His discovery appeared Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.
"Catania likened the behavior of the mole and shrew to that of mice and rats, which also exhale and then inhale when sniffing for food.
"Watching a video of the mole blowing and inhaling bubbles on his office computer screen, Catania said, 'What's so weird about it is you usually don't get to see a sniff, because air in air ... you can't see that. And here we're basically seeing a sniff.'" ...
"The study suggests that other semi-aquatic mammals, like seals and otters could have this ability, something Catania hopes to research in the future, he said. And the studies could have greater significance as they progress."

[Full text in StrangeArk archive.]

Japanese Scientists Film Giant Squid

Following the earlier release of photos of a live giant squid, Japanese scientists now offer live footage of a giant squid while they were capturing it. From the news release:

"Images of the squid -- a relatively small female about 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in) long and weighing 50 kg (110 lb) -- were the ultimate prize for zoologists at the National Science Museum, who have been pursuing one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures for years.
"'Nobody has ever seen a live giant squid except fishermen,' team leader Tsunemi Kubodera of the museum's zoology department said in an interview on Friday. 'We believe these are the first ever moving pictures of a giant squid.'" ...
"The Japanese research team tracked giant squid by following their biggest predators -- sperm whales -- as they gathered to feed near the Ogasawara islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo between September and December.


"They succeeded in taking the first still photographs of a living giant squid in 2005, observing that it moved around in the water more actively than previously thought, and captured food by entangling prey in its powerful tentacles.
"The latest specimen, whose formalin-preserved carcass was displayed at a news conference at the museum in Tokyo, was caught on a baited hook laid 650 meters (2,150 ft) under the sea off the Ogasawara islands, on December 4, the scientists said.
"A squid about 55 cm (21.65 inches) in length had been attracted by the bait and the giant squid was hooked when it tried to eat the smaller squid, the scientists said."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Heaviest Golden Eagle?

Interesting raptor news from Wyoming:

"A female golden eagle captured as part of a research project in Buffalo Valley might weigh more than any other scientists have found in the United States.
"The bird, captured Nov. 13 by Beringia South researchers, weighed 18.5 pounds. Female golden eagles in America typically weigh 8 to 13 pounds.
"Bryan Bedrosian, one of the researchers who captured the bird, said the animal’s crop, a muscular pouch in a bird’s throat used to temporarily store food, was 'about the size of a softball' and full of meat at the time of capture, which may have contributed an extra 1.5 pounds.
"But even without the full crop, the animal still has a shot at the record books." ...
"The large female, estimated to be more than 5 years old, was the first golden eagle the team had captured in a couple of years, though it has captured more since.
"Beringia South, a research group based in Kelly, is collecting blood samples from eagles and ravens to find out if the birds have lead poisoning. The scientists think birds that feed on gut piles may ingest bullet fragments, causing elevated lead in the blood." ...
"The strange thing, Bedrosian said, is that the measurements of the bird, other than the weight, were fairly typical for a large female golden. An average-sized female is 32 inches long with a wingspan of 78 inches. Female golden eagles, like most raptors, weigh more than males.
"For Bedrosian, the next step is to confirm the record and then, if no bigger birds are found, publish the results in a scientific journal. Researchers took a blood sample from the bird, attached an aluminum leg band and released her back to the wild."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Rare Beaked Whales Spotted

News from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research:

"On the 17th of December, Meike Scheidat & Linn Lehnert, the whale watchers on board of Polarstern, made a remarkable cetaceans sighting: Four Arnoux's Beaked Whales (Berardius arnuxii), observed from the helicopter.
"The Arnoux's Beaked Whales is one of the least known species of the Beaked Whales family (Ziphidae), itself poorly known in general. Arnoux's is one of the biggest species amongst beaked whales. The ones observed were probably 9 metre long. These deep-sea feeding whales are particularly sensitive to underwater acoustic disturbances. The pictures showed a whole array of scars on their skin, which are already under investigation. Some of these scars could have been inflicted by orcas, their potential predators, or by squids, their most common preys, as proposed by Elaina Jorgensen one of our cephalopod specialist onboard. Other scars could be caused by cookie-cutter sharks, which would imply big migration between the subtropical waters where these sharks are found and the ice-edge (64°06 S) where they were observed."

Nanoorganisms

A new study notes the discovery of what may be the smallest living organisms on Earth:

"For 11 years, Jill Banfield at the University of California, Berkeley, has collected and studied the microbes that slime the floors of mines and convert iron to acid, a common source of stream pollution around the world.
"Imagine her surprise, then, when research scientist Brett Baker discovered three new microbes living amidst the bacteria she thought she knew well. All three were so small - the size of large viruses - as to be virtually invisible under a microscope, and belonged to a totally new phylum of Archaea, microorganisms that have been around for billions of years.
"What made Baker's find possible was shotgun sequencing, a technique developed and made famous by Celera Corp., which used it to sequence the human genome in record time." ...
"Banfield, Baker and their UC Berkeley and University of Queensland, Australia, colleagues report their findings in the Dec. 22 issue of Science." ...
"The organisms in the mine drainage, which live in a pink slick on pools of acidic green water, obtain energy by oxidizing iron - that is, generating rust -- and in the process create sulfuric acid and dissolve pyrite (iron sulfide or fool's gold) to release more iron and sulfur. This self-sustaining process creates the acidic drainage that pollutes creeks and rivers, including those around the researchers' study site, the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, Calif. The mine is one of the largest Superfund sites in the country.
"Banfield has been trying to understand how the extremophiles - microbes that live in extreme environments - live together and generate the acid drainage that makes such mines toxic hazards. The green runoff from the mine, captured and treated by the Environmental Protection Agency, is a hot 108 degrees Fahrenheit, as acidic as battery acid, and loaded with toxic metals - zinc, iron, copper and arsenic.
"In 2004, Banfield collaborated with the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute to shotgun sequence a drop of the slime. This type of sequencing involves homogenizing the organisms in the sample, isolating the combined DNA and breaking it into lots of random strands. Each strand is then sequenced, and a powerful computer is used to find overlaps so that the pieces can be properly reordered.
"This process identified five separate genomes that corresponded to five bacteria and Archaea - four of them uncultivated at that time, though closely related to known microbes.
"Baker probed the gene fragments more thoroughly to turn up three Archaea from a totally unknown group, probably representing a new phylum among the several dozen known phyla of Archaea. They fall within a large class of microbes known as thermophiles, which are Archaea that live in warm and even scalding conditions. Many of these thermophiles have been recovered from hydrothermal vents in the deep mid-ocean ridges, where lava boils up between continental plates.
"Once Baker had found gene segments (ribosomal RNA) from three Archaea, he was able to fish the microbes out of the slime soup and found that they were extremely small, around 200 nanometers in diameter, the size of large viruses. Bacteria average about five times this diameter.
"These therefore could be the smallest organisms ever found, though Baker needs to culture them before confirming this. Because they're so small, however, they may not be free-living." ...
"Baker now is trying to find the right conditions for these Archaea to thrive in a culture dish. For now, he has dubbed them ARMAN-1, -2 and -3, for Archaeal Richmond Mine Acidophilic Nanoorganisms."

Jackson's Mongoose Found in Tanzania

Here's a report about a paper published in Oryx describing the first confirmation of Africa's least-known carnivore, Jackson's Mongoose (Bdeogale jacksoni), from anywhere outside Kenya:

"The Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that a camera-trap study in the mountains of Southern Tanzania has now recorded Africa's least-known and probably rarest carnivore: Jackson's mongoose, known only from a few observations and museum specimens. The findings, reported in the latest issue of the journal Oryx, mark not only a range extension for the bushy-tailed carnivore, previously known to exist only in Kenya, but also another species for the Udzungwa Mountains, a veritable 'lost world' of rare and unique wildlife.
"WCS scientist Dr. Daniela De Luca--together with Dr. Francesco Rovero from Italy's Trento Museum of Natural Sciences--captured several images of the Jackson's mongoose in Matundu Forest within the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Most of the photos were taken between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., indicating that the animal is largely nocturnal.
"'These mongooses may represent a separate subspecies from the one that exists in Kenya,' said Dr. De Luca of WCS' Tanzania Program. 'Given the fragmentation and small sizes of the forest patches in which they live, full protection of nearby forests would improve conditions for conserving this species.'
"In 2004, WCS conservationists working in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania discovered a new species of primate--the kipunji monkey--which in 2006 they described as a new genus as well. The kipunji turned out to be present also in the Udzungwa Mountains. A few years prior, WCS researchers working in the same area 'photo-trapped' a Lowe's servaline genet, the first of its kind recorded in 70 years.
"Jackson's mongoose has round, broad ears, with yellow fur on the neck and throat, and a white bushy tail. It is a close relative of the bushy-tailed mongoose, and is poorly known; previous records for the Jackson's mongoose are limited to forests in Kenya over 900 kilometers (559 miles) to the north. There are 14 museum specimens in existence from Kenya, and next to nothing is known about its biology."

Moth Mimicry

A new study published in the inaugural issue of PLoS ONE (an online open-access journal of science) notes the discovery that metalmark moths (Brenthia) mimic jumping spiders. There are other insects that mimic jumping spiders (a certain zebra-winged fly comes to mind), and we know that there are other moths out there with mimicry phenotypes (large "eyes" on the wings, etc.), so the discovery isn't completely surprising, but it is interesting. From an interview:

"Scientists have now discovered that metalmark moths in Costa Rica use mimicry to escape hunters as well, by mimicking the very predators that might normally eat them.


"Intriguingly, the predators in question—so-called jumping spiders—may also get mimicked by a variety of flies and butterflies. Ironically, some jumping spiders mimic ants to avoid getting devoured by them.
"'Crazy things happen with mimicry and this is another such example,' said researcher Jadranka Rota, a lepidopterist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
"Rota was exploring the forests of Costa Rica when metalhawk moths perching on leaves near her suddenly flared their wings 'in a really strange way, and then they jumped around,' she told LiveScience.
"Jumping spiders are common predators in these habitats. These territorial hunters track prey with their eyes, and their vision is sharp, capable of making out details 40 body lengths away. The spiders often move in short, rapid, jerky motions.
"In experiments, when metalhawk moths were cooped up with jumping spiders, Rota and her advisor David Wagner found the spiders only caught the moths only about six percent of the time. On the other hand, when normal moths and jumping spiders were caged together, the spiders caught the moths roughly 60 percent of the time."

Crocodile Tourism

An odd situation in Ghana, Africa. From ABC Travel News:

"There is something strange going on in the small village of Paga in northern Ghana in West Africa. It appears to defy the laws of nature, and certainly the laws of fear.
"Most of the outside world is unaware of the special but bizarre relationship that exists here between humans and crocodiles, animals that anyone with an ounce of common sense would run from.
"But the people of Paga swim joyfully and wash clothes in the same village pond that 110 crocs use as their home — and their dining room.
"No one seems to know how long the crocodiles have lived in the pond, or how they got to this land-locked area. But Yahaya Ahasan, the head crocodile keeper, told ABC News that no one from the village has ever been harmed by the crocs. That's extraordinary, considering that crocodiles are notoriously nasty if you get in their way, or if you resemble food.
"But Ahasan said the crocs don't feel threatened by humans here. 'We believe that they are the souls of relatives of this town,' he said. 'They are sacred animals, so we don't hate them, we don't kill them, we don't harm them.'" ...
"One secret to the coexistence may be that the crocs here are some of the best-fed animals on the planet. They have lots of frogs and fish to snap at or gobble up in the water.
"And for 10 specially trained crocs, there is a steady diet of tasty live chickens. The chickens are paid for by tourists who come from around the world to sit on the crocs backs, pet them and wag their tails, which could well slice them in two if not attached to a creature so happily digesting a bountiful buffet of birds." ...
"It may seem cruel to sacrifice all these chickens, but the people of Paga point out that if the crocodiles didn't have this feathered fast food, they would kill the town's livestock, enter homes looking for food, and even mistake small children for supper.
"Besides, according to the the handlers, the crocs have earned their keep because they helped pay for the village day care center through money raised from the hundreds of tourists who visit each month."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Komodo Parthenogenesis

Scott Maruna (BioFort) passes this along. A zoo in the UK has a female Komodo dragon that is about to lay eggs without having been bred:

"Flora, a pregnant Komodo dragon living in a British zoo, is expecting eight babies in what scientists said on Wednesday could be a Christmas virgin birth.
"Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon, and fertilized all the eggs herself, a process culminating in parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Other lizards do this, but scientists only recently found that Komodo dragons do too." ...
"Parthenogenesis has occurred in other lizard species, but Buley and his team said this was the first time it has been shown in Komodo dragons -- the world's largest lizards.
"Scientists at Liverpool University in northern England discovered Flora had had no male help after doing genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being put in an incubator.
"The tests on the embryos and on Flora, her sister and other dragons confirmed that Komodo dragons can reproduce through self-fertilization." ...
"The scientists, reporting the discovery in the science journal Nature, said it could help them understand how reptiles colonize new areas. A female dragon could, for instance, swim to another island and establish a new colony on her own.
"'The genetics of self-fertilization in lizards means that all her hatchlings would have to be male. These would grow up to mate with their own mother and therefore, within one generation, there would potentially be a population able to reproduce normally on the new island,' Buley added."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

A Blue Green Treefrog

An interesting color mutation was found in a green treefrog in Florida: it's blue. From the News-Press:

"A green treefrog recently discovered and captured at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County is an amphibian of a different color — blue.
"The extremely rare blue green treefrog was found the weekend before Thanksgiving and has been an object of fascination for sanctuary staff and photographers." ...
"In scientific terms, the blue frog is axanthic, which means it lacks yellow pigment.
"Green treefrogs produce a layer of yellow pigment and a layer of blue pigment, and the two combine to make green.
"Something happened genetically to this frog: The genes that produce yellow are absent, and the genes that produce blue — that would be the blue genes — are present, so the frog is normal in every way except color." ...
"Somehow the frog survived and now lives in a terrarium, eating crickets and being blue, until Corkscrew officials decide what to do with their rare find — options include release."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Book: Experimental Design for Biologists

Experimental Design for Biologists
David J. Glass
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
ISBN 0879697350, Retails $59.00

A recently published book may appeal to cryptozoology enthusiasts interested in philosophy of science and the framework of scientific experimentation. While cryptozoology is certainly discovery science, there are still ways in which experimental biology can take place (see Dr. Meldrum's recent Sasquatch book for examples). How to properly frame experiments is often an overlooked subject, and this text should provide a good introduction. I did a quick search in the book, and it looks readable. Chapters include:

The Hypothesis as a Framework for Scientific Projects: Is Critical Rationalism Critical?
Scientific Settings in Which a Hypothesis is not Practical
The Problem/Question as a Framework for Scientific Projects: An Invitation for Inductive Reasoning
What Constitutes an Acceptable Answer to an Experimental Question?
How Experimental Conclusions are used to Represent Reality: Model Building
Designing the Experiments: Definitions, Time Courses, and Experimental Repeats
Validating a Model: The Ability to Predict the Future

It's geared for graduate studies in biology, so is a little expensive, but might be worth checking out through inter-library loan.

The Tule Man

Hmmmmm... from the CattleNetwork:

"The inhabitants of southern Oregon are resilient folks and just because the government is trying to depopulate the area doesn’t mean they’re going to tuck tail and run. Charley is a good example of the resourceful people who live there and he took the fed’s advice and tried to come up with something to stimulate the tourist trade. He didn’t own enough earth moving equipment to create a Bryce or a Zion and an Old Faithful-like attraction would require using some of the sucker fish’s water. He realized that the idea of creating a Civil War Battlefield was nuttier than Jamoca Almond Fudge and his hand-drawn Indian cave paintings looked a little phony. Then an idea hit him like a falling sack of spuds: Britain has Nessy, their Loch Ness Monster and the far North has Sasquatch, so why couldn’t Charley give the Klamath Basin their own Big Foot-like creature? Charley called him 'Tule Man' and ordered up lots of ash trays and T-shirts to sell to all the tourists traps that would soon be springing up.

"Luckily for Charley there’s plenty of raw material to work with in the wild tules that grow in the marshes all over the Klamath basin. He tied tules to every appendage of his body. They stuck out two feet above his head and made his arms six feet long. He attached the tules with orange fluorescent hay bale twine and chinked it all with mud. His entire body was covered in tules except for two small slits for him to see through. When Charley was done transforming himself into Tule Man he smelled worse than a wet coyote, but he was willing to make the sacrifice in order to save his community.

"Next, Charley hid in a ditch alongside a two lane country road on a night that was so dark even the bats and raccoons stayed home. And then he waited. Finally he heard a car. PERFECT! It was Mrs. O’Toole. No one had a better social network than her.

"The elderly driver swerved to miss the hideous creature that lumbered across the road, making threatening gestures with its long stalks. After a brief glimpse in her headlights the monster disappeared from whence it came... into the tule marsh. If Mrs. O’Toole survived the experience she would surely spread the sighting of Tule Man far and wide. It wouldn’t be long before satellite trucks from all the major news networks would be camped out in Klamath Falls. Motels would be full of reporters and tourists.

"Charley got rid of the evidence and went home to watch for reports of Tule Man but there was nothing on the morning news or the nightly news. The local newspaper carried not one word about the creature. In fact, Charlie heard nothing until he ventured into town to pick up a barrel of oil from his distributor.

"As he was loading the barrel the fella on the dock said, 'Mrs. O’Toole was in the other day and she said she saw you the other night crossing the road and you didn’t even wave or say hello.'

Arkansas Cougar

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission say that a big cat reported near Searcy is probably a former pet. From the news report:

"The sightings and incidents have taken place in an area three miles south of Panther Creek.
"Gary Lovitte said his daughter, Angela, came face to face with the animal, also called a mountain lion or cougar.
"'She was outside talking on the phone just after dark and saw a brown cougar sitting in her yard,' Lovitte said. 'It seen her and started after her, and she liked to have killed herself getting in the house.'
"A few days after that, James Johnson, who lives and raises cattle on Bostic Road in the area, had a close encounter with the animal. One day as Johnson rode his tractor through a pasture to check on his cows, the panther attacked the vehicle, leaving superficial scratch marks.
"Johnson thinks the animal was not trying to kill him but attempting to make him leave. His dogs had already left the area before the animal, which had a long tail and was not solid brown, appeared.
"'It was a good thing his tractor didn’t die,' Lovitte said.
"Johnson found one of his calves killed under some trees just before the incident. When Lovitte went out to see the calf’s body, it had been moved in broad daylight.
"Lovitte said another resident had an experience similar to that of his daughter.
"'It was just before dusky dark and she had her dog on a leash,' Lovitte said. 'It came down the road and meowed a couple of times, and the dog pulled her back inside. It screamed, and they sound just like a woman screaming.'
"Another calf, owned by Steve King, was also killed, Lovitte said, and two gas exploration workers recently spooked two panthers from a thicket as they went about their work."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Bats and Moths

A new study published in Current Biology finds that the Yellow Underwing moths, a prey species for bats, are capable of modifying the sensitivity of their ears in response to the ultrasonic calls bats produce while hunting:

"Previously it was thought that these ears were only partially sensitive to the sound frequencies commonly used by bats and that bats would make their hunting calls inaudible to moths.
"But now it appears that even though moth ears are among the simplest in the insect world – they have only two or four vibration sensitive cells attached to a small eardrum – moths are not as deaf as previously thought.
"As a bat gets closer to the moth, both the loudness and frequency (pitch) of the bat's calls increase. Surprisingly, the sensitivity of the moth's ear to the bat's calls also increases. This occurs because the moth's ear dynamically becomes more sensitive to the frequencies that many bats use when attacking moths." ...
"And in case there is another attack, the moth's ear remain tuned in for several minutes after the calls stop."

Clouded Leopard: Two Species

Kevin Stewart passes along this intriguing paper. The citation is:

Kitchener, A. C., Beaumont, M. A., and D. Richardson. 2006. Geographical variation in the clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa, reveals two species. Current Biology 16: 2377-2383.

Over the last decade, we've seen many species being split, usually due to genetic distinctions, most significantly a few species of whales. The recognition of a new feline ranks just as high. The clouded leopard is a moderate-sized cat ranging through the rain forests of southern and southeastern Asia, into the Indonesian archipelago. Differing physical characteristics had been the basis for the traditional separation of Neofelis nebulosa into four subspecies. By sampling specimens throughout its range, the authors in this study argue that there are actually two species involved in this complex: Neofelis nebulosa of mainland Asia, and Neofelis diardi of Indonesia (including Borneo and Sumatra).
Neofelis nebulosa is diagnosed as: "On shoulders, large cloud-like markings, which extend the full depth of the flank and slope back from the dorsal midline, with mostly few spots within the clouds; a partially double dorsal stripe; pale, often tawny ground coloration."
Neofelis diardi is diagnosed as: "On shoulders, small irregular cloud-like markings, which form two or more rows that are arranged vertically from the dorsal midline on the flank, with frequent spots within clouds; ground coloration that is overall grayish yellow or gray hue; a double dorsal stripe."
A separate study (molecular analysis) published in the same issue of Current Biology strongy supports the distinction of these two species.
The authors also address the question of zoo conservation: does this mean that the global zoo population of clouded leopards is actually hybridized? Turns out, most zoo specimens (and all in non-Asian zoos) are from mainland populations, so that really isn't a problem. Conservations efforts should now be taken with the Indonesian species, of course, given the current rate of habitat destruction in Sumatra and Borneo.

White Deer Herd

There's a community rift in New York, where developers are clashing with a group that wants to preserve a herd of white deer. White deer are not that rare (being bred in captivity), but this apparently is a unique wild herd of about 300. From the news report:

"White because of a recessive gene, there is an extraordinary herd is tucked away in Seneca County, New York. Most people don't even know the deer exist because they live on a former army depot, surrounded by a 24-mile fence meant to keep intruders out – and the deer in." ...
"But the herd is caught in a modern day dilemma. A business group wants to develop 7,500 acres of the former depot while Dennis Money's white deer group wants to turn the land into a nature preserve." ...
"Seneca County is an area that's hurting economically – still trying to recover from massive job losses over the past two decades. That's why local business developers see this army depot as a gold mine for economic development." ...
"'We're looking to preserve the deer, but also pursue other activity that won't compromise their viability here,' Glenn Cooke says. 'We feel we can do both.'"

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Yowie Review

Craig's review of the new Healy and Cropper book, The Yowie, can now be viewed at BioFortean Review.

Missouri Cougar

From the expanding edges of the cougar's officially acknowledged range, comes the report of a confirmed game trail camera that photographed one of these felines in Missouri. From the report:

"Joe Neis isn’t a photographer, but he managed to capture the best photo to date of a wild mountain lion in Missouri.
"An avid deer hunter, Neis bought a motion- and heat-detecting camera about two years ago to scout for deer and find their trails near his home in Chillicothe. After checking on his camera in the tree where he had set it up, he made a surprising discovery.
"It was a digital photograph of the 10th mountain lion confirmed in Missouri since 1994." ...
"Neis’ image, recorded on Dec. 7, was the second confirmed evidence of a mountain lion in the state this year, the other coming a month earlier in Shannon County. There was no picture of that animal, but conservation agency investigators determined that a deer carcass on private property had been partially devoured by a big cat." ...
"The last confirmed sighting of a mountain lion - also known as a cougar - in Missouri previously was in 2003."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]

Ivory-Bill's Could Recover

There is an interesting National Geographic article on Ivory-Bill's, particularly focusing on the Suwanee river area. Some quotes:

"The Suwannee region may have been where the species made its last substantial stand.
"There were once so many woodpeckers there, book author Jackson said, that about half of the 400 specimens now in museums were collected in the vicinity." ...
"If a few birds do survive, they may be poised for a comeback. The forests have been regrowing for 50 or 60 years, opening the door for ivory-bills to repopulate their old range.
"And the Suwannee is a prime location for a boom, as long as the river region can withstand the latest threat: real estate development."

[Full news posted to StrangeArk archive.]