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A stuffed Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany. Image credit: Mazur Travel/Shutterstock.com Scientists claim to have pieced together the most complete genome of a Tasmanian tiger to date – with the help of RNA from a head that’s been preserved in alcohol for over a century. The potential breakthrough is the latest chapter in an effort by Colossal Biosciences and the University of Melbourne’s Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research (TIGRR) Lab to resurrect the extinct animal, also known as a thylacine. The team estimates that their new genome of the animal is over 99.9...

Scientists working in the remote rainforests of Madagascar say they’ve discovered seven new frog species whose calls sound similar to Star Trek sound effects, which are often heard on the iconic TV franchise’s various series. Due to these auditory similarities, the researchers have named the newly discovered amphibians after seven of the franchise’s most iconic captains. “Not only do these frogs sound like sound effects from Star Trek, but it seems also fitting that to find them, you often have to do quite a bit of trekking!” quipped senior study author, Assistant Professor Mark D. Scherz from the Natural History...

An exotic large cat native to parts of Africa and Asia has been found hiding under a resident’s deck after being spotted wandering around an Illinois golf club in the suburbs of Chicago, police said. The Hoffman Estates Police Department in Illinois said they were made aware over the last few days of a “large cat in the area of Della Dr and the Hilldale Golf Course” and that the cat was identified to be a caracal, which are characterized by their striking looks with long legs, short tail, long tufted ears and large canine teeth... It is currently unknown...

Xibalbanus tulumensis contains toxins that are suitable for the development of active substances against neurological diseases. Credit: Björn M. von Reumont ================================================================== Venom from the marine remipede, Xibalbanus tulumensis, exhibits unique medical potential for treating neurological disorders, showcasing the importance of marine biodiversity in pharmacological research while facing environmental threats. Many animals use venom for self-defense or hunting. The components of venom, known as toxins, affect a wide variety of physiological processes, making them particularly interesting for the development of new pharmacological agents. While the venoms of some animal groups, such as snakes, spiders, scorpions, and insects, have been extensively...

White blobs have been washing up on the beaches of Newfoundland recently, sparking an investigation by Canadian officials. They have been described by resident Stan Tobin as doughy - "like someone had tried to bake bread and done a lousy job" - with an odour reminiscent of vegetable oil. Beachcombers on the southern tip of the Canadian province began reporting the strange substance around early September. ... Photos of the substance began cropping up on a beachcombers group online, prompting speculation that it was fungus or mold, palm oil, paraffin wax or even ambergris - a rare and valuable substance...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As if the largest bug to ever live – a monster nearly 9 feet long with several dozen legs – wasn’t terrifying enough, scientists could only just imagine what the extinct beast’s head looked like. That’s because many of the fossils of these creatures are headless shells that were left behind when they molted, squirming out of their exoskeletons through the head opening as they grew ever bigger — up to 8 to 9 feet (2.6 meters) and more than 100 pounds (50 kilograms). Now, scientists have produced a mug shot after studying fossils of juveniles that...

The ancient organisms could help us understand the origins of life on Earth, and may also aid the search for life on other planets. Microbial cells were detected in fractures in the 2-billion-year-old rock sample, stained green, and analyzed. Image credit: Y. Suzuki, S. J. Webb, M. Kouduka et al. 2024/ Microbial Ecology A2-billion-year-old rock has been unearthed in South Africa – and if its advanced age wasn’t enough to knock your socks off, it’s also home to pockets of microbes that are still alive and thriving. Having been around for eons, these are the oldest examples of living microbes...

Henry is thought to have been born before Salvador Dalí and Dr Seuss, but he's still going strong. At the ripe estimated age of 123 years old, Henry is the oldest known crocodile in the world – and what a life he’s led. In the past few decades alone, the mature gentleman has fathered thousands upon thousands of offspring With all those decades under his belt, Henry has amassed a gigantic size. The immensely hefty croc measures over 5 meters (16 foot 5 inches) from snout to tail and weighs 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds). For context, the average Nile crocodile...

A mysterious sound heard booming from deep under the ocean waves has finally been traced to a fascinating source. First recorded in 2014 in the west Pacific, the "biotwang" is actually the call of the Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) traveling long distances in the open ocean. What's more, the techniques used to identify the sound have led to the development of a new tool for understanding whale populations and how they move about in and inhabit Earth's enigmatic seas. "Bryde's whales occur worldwide in tropical and warm temperate waters, but their population structure and movements are not well understood," writes...

The Grumpy dwarfgoby, Sueviota aethon. Credit: Viktor Nunes Peinemann The grumpy dwarfgoby, a new fish species with a menacing look, has been discovered in the Red Sea, emphasizing the importance of conservation efforts in this environmentally sensitive area. Researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the University of Washington have discovered a new fish species with a perpetual frown, the grumpy dwarfgoby. Appearance and Habitat of the New Fish Although the grumpy dwarfgoby is less than 2 centimeters long, its large canines and fierce expression give it a rather intimidating look for such a small fish....

When a pregnant woman had her blood sampled back in 1972, doctors discovered it was mysteriously missing a surface molecule found on all other known red blood cells at the time. After 50 years, this strange molecular absence finally led researchers from the UK and Israel to describe a new blood group system in humans. "It represents a huge achievement, and the culmination of a long team effort, to finally establish this new blood group system and be able to offer the best care to rare, but important, patients," UK National Health Service hematologist Louise Tilley says, after nearly 20...

A 200-year-old South African cave painting made by the region’s first inhabitants, the San people, appears to depict an animal that has been extinct for over 200 million years. A long-bodied animal with downward-turned tusks, the warm-blooded, lizard-like creature called a dicynodont (two-toothed dog) roamed the area before the first dinosaur appeared and died off at the end of the Triassic. If the artwork from the cave’s Horned Serpent panel at La Belle France (Free State Province, South Africa) is of this extinct species, its creation would predate the first known scientific classification of a dicynodont by at least a...

A first-of-its-kind for habitat selection. Image courtesy of Miguel Vences Rejoice! There’s a new tiny chameleon on the block. Hailing from Madagascar, it joins other miniature chameleons in the Brookesia genus, subgenus Evoluticauda. At little bigger than the end of your forefinger, it was a remarkable spot in what’s presently a highly threatened habitat in Madagascar. The new-to-science species has been named Brookesia nofy after the forest it was found in, known as Ankanin’ny Nofy. Sitting at about sea level, it’s a littoral forest making this the first of the mini chameleons to be found in this kind of habitat....

When a pregnant woman had her blood sampled back in 1972, doctors discovered it was mysteriously missing a surface molecule found on all other known red blood cells at the time. After 50 years, this strange molecular absence finally led researchers from the UK and Israel to describe a new blood group system in humans. "It represents a huge achievement, and the culmination of a long team effort, to finally establish this new blood group system and be able to offer the best care to rare, but important, patients," UK National Health Service hematologist Louise Tilley says, after nearly 20...

By growing the mushroom’s mycelium into the robot’s hardware, researchers have engineered two types of robots that sense and respond to the environment by harnessing electrical signals made by the fungus. =================================================================== A wheeled bot rolls across the floor. A soft-bodied robotic star bends its five legs, moving with an awkward shuffle. Powered by conventional electricity via plug or battery, these simple robotic creations would be unremarkable, but what sets these two robots apart is that they are controlled by a living entity: a king oyster mushroom. By growing the mushroom’s mycelium, or rootlike threads, into the robot’s hardware, a...

Scientists have unearthed the remnants of more than 1,700 viruses from deep inside a glacier in western China. Most of these viruses are new to science. With this discovery, the number of ancient viruses recovered from glaciers has grown fiftyfold.The viruses, gathered from a 1,000-foot ice core taken from the sprawling Guliya Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, date back 41,000 years and span three major shifts from cold to warm. Scientists say the viruses differed markedly between colder and warmer eras, noting that a distinct community of viruses formed during the most dramatic of these climatic shifts, at the end...

The central six-ton altar stone at Stonehenge may have come from more than 450 miles away, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature. Stonehenge is thought to have been erected in several phases between 3100 BCE and 1600 BCE, with the circle of large sarsen stones placed there between 2600 BCE and 2400 BCE by Neolithic and Bronze Age people. While larger local stones may have been moved by hundreds of individuals with ropes and log rollers, the Welsh bluestones could have been transported by sea using rafts. Related Articles Researchers begin excavating a site in...

Does the 'Nguoi Rung' roam the forests of Vietnam, or is it a legend?This is my strangest wildlife adventure yet. Through the years, I’ve searched for various rare animals—forest elephants in Borneo, tamaraw in the Philippines, lions in Africa, Komodo dragons in Indonesia. Today, we’re on the trail of an animal that probably doesn’t even exist. This is my first foray into the field of cryptozoology, the study of unknown animals. Bigfoot of North America, the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland, the Yeti of the Himalayas, and the Chupacabra of Mexico are among the world’s best-known cryptids. Most cryptids, like...

One of the new OSD species – a hydrothermal vent limpet, Lepetodrilus marianae. Credit: Chong Chen, Hiromi Kayama Watanabe, and Miwako Tsuda ================================================================================= Ocean biodiversity is under significant threat due to global changes, but new initiatives like the Ocean Species Discoveries, coordinated by the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance, aim to rapidly describe and publish findings on marine species. This innovative approach reduces the usual decades-long delay in species description, directly contributing to the conservation efforts needed to protect vulnerable marine habitats and their undiscovered inhabitants. Accelerating Biodiversity Research Accelerating global change continues to threaten Earth’s vast biodiversity, including in the...

It looks like the original explanation for where Homo floresiensis came from was right all along. The Hobbit humerus fragment (left) from Mata Menge next to one from Liang Bua to scale, and the full collection of bones from the most complete Liang Bua Hobbit. Image Credit: Yousuke Kaifu ================================================================================ Three new fossils, including part of a humerus, have been found at Mata Menge on the Indonesian island of Flores. They indicate that Homo floresiensis, popularly known as Hobbits, were descended from Homo erectus, and became small relatively soon after arriving on Flores. Indeed, it seems at least some Hobbits...