| Congo River Fishes Questions Melanie Stiassny answers readers' questions about her recent expedition to collect fresh water fish in the Malebo region of the Congo. feeds.nytimes.com |
Today's mystery bird for you to identify This sexually dimorphic African species is the only one of its genus that "should" be found in this locationMystery Bird photographed at Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir, near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Dan Logen, 14 January 2010. [larger view].Nikon D300, 600 mm lens ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/320 sec.Hint: This sexually dimorphic African species is the only one of its genus that "should" be found in this location. Daily Mystery Bird Rules: 1. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators. 2. Expert and intermediate level birders: do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and for those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.3. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation. 4. Each bird species will be demystified 48 hours after publication. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
In praise of … fossil footprints Polish discovery reveals that the ancestors of all birds were small, light and four-footedFossil footprints have a special place in scientific research. They are testimony to bygone life in action. New research today in a journal gnomically known as Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals that dinosaurs were alive and scuttling about the planet millions of years before the first evidence from fossilised bones. Sets of footprints beautifully preserved in the mountains of Poland confirm that pioneers of the lineage were already afoot in the Triassic around 250 million years ago, soon after the calamitous Permian extinction that wiped out 90% of life on Earth. Fossil footprints freakishly preserved in ancient mud provide concrete evidence of the size, gait and identity of their makers. These tracks, the largest no more than 40mm, were made by little creatures now called dinosauromorphs, ancestors of the birds. A set of ancient hominid footprints preserved 3.6 million years ago in volcanic ash in Laetoli, Tanzania, are so clear that palaeontologists have been able to argue that they might have been made by a couple, perhaps holding hands. The world changed for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe when a naked human footprint in the sand showed that he had company on his desert island. Every footprint tells a moving story, and the Polish discovery reveals that the ancestors of all birds were small, light and four-footed. Like some Hollywood disclaimer, the footprints also assure us of another comforting thing: no dinosauromorphs were injured in the making of this picture.DinosaursFossilsZoologyEvolutionPolandguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Male bonding: Penguins 'flirt' with homosexuality King penguins do not form long-term homosexual pairs despite same-sex "flirting", one of the first evidence-based studies shows. news.bbc.co.uk |
Reserve saves trees but not monarch butterflies ZITACUARO, Mexico (AP) -- This small patch of mountain fir forest is a model of sorts for the global effort to save trees and fight climate change. The problem is that saving trees has not saved the forest's most famous visitors: Monarch butterflies.... hosted.ap.org |