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'Hobbits' not a different species, say scientists By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 7:01pm GMT 03/01/2008 The long-running debate about the existence of so-called hobbits of Indonesia has taken a new turn with a study that suggests these ancient people were not an unusual species of human but modern humans with a growth disorder. Scientists believe the "hobbit" had the same growth condition as Paddy Ryan The work, if confirmed, suggests that there could be up to around 100 documented such "hobbits" in the world today, the people who have the mutation that leads to them being normally proportioned...

A giant rodent five times the size of a common rat, has been found in the mountainous jungles of New Guinea.

Giraffes And Frogs Provide More Evidence Of New Species Hidden In Plain SightGenetic subdivision in the giraffe based on microsatellites alleles. (Credit: David M Brown et al., Courtesy BMC Biology) ScienceDaily (Jan. 2, 2008) — Two new articles provide further evidence that we have hugely underestimated the number of species with which we share our planet. Today sophisticated genetic techniques mean that superficially identical animals previously classed as members of a single species, including the frogs and giraffes in these studies, could in fact come from several distinct 'cryptic' species. In the Upper Amazon, Kathryn Elmer and Stephen Lougheed working...

Not one but 'six giraffe species' Anna-Marie Lever Science and nature reporter, BBC News Giraffe populations have dropped by 30% over the past decade The world's tallest animal, the giraffe, may actually be several species, a study has found. A report in BMC Biology uses genetic evidence to show that there may be at least six species of giraffe in Africa. Currently giraffes are considered to represent a single species classified into multiple subspecies. The study shows geographic variation in hair coat colour is evident across the giraffe's range in sub-Saharan Africa, suggesting reproductive isolation. "Using molecular techniques we found...

NAIROBI (AFP) - A new giant species of spitting cobra -- about 2.6 metres long and with enough venom to kill up to 20 people in one bite -- has been discovered in Kenya, a study said Friday. The large brown spitting cobra, initially included under the black-necked spitting cobra species, was discovered at a snake farm in June 2004, but confirmed as a separate species this year. The black-necked species grows to a maximum two metres, with an average of 1.5 metres, scientists said, making the new species the largest in the world. The new Naja Ashei species, named...

Human race will 'split into two different species' The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist. 100,000 years into the future, sexual selection will mean that two distinct breeds of human will have developed. The alarming prediction comes from evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry from the London School of Economics, who says that the human race will have reached its physical peak by the year 3000. Go to the link in the header/excerpt for more, or the link in the...

MANILA, Philippines - Scientists exploring a deep ocean basin in search of species isolated for millions of years found marine life believed to be previously undiscovered, including a tentacled orange worm and an unusual black jellyfish. Project leader Dr. Larry Madin said Tuesday that U.S. and Philippine scientists collected about 100 different specimens in a search in the Celebes Sea south of the Philippines. Madin, of the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said the sea is at the heart of the "coral triangle" bordered by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia — a region recognized by scientists as having a high...

MANILA (AFP) - A new species of flying fox or fruit bat has been discovered on an island south of Manila, it was reported Monday. The orange-coloured bat with a distinctive white-stripped face was discovered in a protected wildlife area on Mindoro Island, the Philippine Star newspaper said quoting the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The discovery was a result of joint research between the University of Kansas' Biodiversity Research Center and a team from the Comparative Biogeography and Conservation of Philippine Vertebrates (CBCPV), the paper said. Known as the Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruitbat for its striking facial features...

In a once-lost forest in Africa, six animal species new to science have been discovered, members of a two-month expedition now reveal, including a bat, a rodent, two shrews and two frogs. "If we can find six new species in such a short period, it makes you wonder what else is out there," said Wildlife Conservation Society researcher Andrew Plumptre. The bat appears to be a kind of horseshoe bat (genus Rhinolophus), known for the large horseshoe-shaped "nose leaves" used for directing their ultrasound. These new species were discovered in an expedition from January and March 2007 into woods just...

HUMANS are just one of the millions of species on Earth, but we use up almost a quarter of the sun's energy captured by plants - the most of any species. The human dominance of this natural resource is affecting other species, reducing the amount of energy available to them by almost 10 per cent, scientists report. Researchers said the findings showed humans were using "a remarkable share" of the earth's plant productivity "to meet the needs and wants of one species". They also warned that the increased use of biofuels - such as ethanol and canola - should be...

A frog with fluorescent purple markings and 12 kinds of dung beetles were among two dozen new species discovered in the remote plateaus of eastern Suriname, scientists said Monday. The expedition was sponsored by two mining companies hoping to excavate the area for bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum, and it was unknown how the findings would affect their plans. Scientists discovered the species during a 2005 expedition led by the U.S.-based nonprofit Conservation International in rainforests and swamps about 80 miles southeast of Paramaribo, the capital of the South American country, organization spokesman Tom Cohen said.

NEW DELHI - An Indian zoologist said Monday he has found a new species of limbless lizard in a forested area in the country's east. "Preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus Sepsophis," said Sushil Kumar Dutta, who led a team of researchers from "Vasundhra," a non-governmental organization, and the North Orissa University. The newly found 7-inch long lizard looks like a scaly, small snake, Dutta said. "It prefers to live in a cool retreat, soft soil and below stones." "The lizard is new to science and is an important discovery. It is not found anywhere...

BOGOTA, Colombia - There's a new chirp in the forest but it may be choked by the slashing and burning of trees by coca farmers, researchers said. The Gorgeted Puffleg, a rare hummingbird that boasts a plumage of violet blue and iridescent green on its throat, has been discovered living in the cloud forests of southwestern Colombia, researchers announced. The species belongs to the Puffleg genus, which appear to have "little cotton balls above their legs," said Luis Mazariegos-Hurtado, who has spent 30 years documenting hummingbirds and founded the Colombian Hummingbird Conservancy. The species — known by its scientific name...

Source: University of California - Berkeley Date: March 11, 2007 Gene Transfer Between Species Is Surprisingly Common Science Daily — Bacteria are known to share genes, spreading drug resistance, for example. But how common is it in other organisms, including mammals like us? Two new studies show that most bacteria have genes or large groups of genes shared by other bacteria. Even among higher organisms, shared genes are the rule rather than the exception, UC Berkeley and LBNL researchers say. Two new studies by University of California, Berkeley, scientists highlight the amazing promiscuity of genes, which appear to shuttle frequently...

CLEVELAND - A new dinosaur species was a plant-eater with yard-long horns over its eyebrows, suggesting an evolutionary middle step between older dinosaurs with even larger horns and the small-horned creatures that followed, experts said. The dinosaur's horns, thick as a human arm, are like those of triceratops — which came 10 million years later. However, this animal belonged to a subfamily that usually had bony nubbins a few inches long above their eyes. Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate paleontology for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, published the discovery in this month's Journal of Paleontology. He dug up the...

JAKARTA (Agencies): Andalas, the first Sumatra rhino born in captivity in more than 100 years was now heading home to its habitat on Sumatra Island with a single task -- to breed with females and help save the endangered species from extinction. The 5-year-old rhino, Andalas, was being flown from a zoo in the United States to Jakarta's international airport. He then is to travel by truck and ferry to a rhino sanctuary in Lampung province, where males Rosa and Ratu await.

Florida State University Date: January 29, 2007 Anthropologist Confirms 'Hobbit' Indeed A Separate Species Science Daily — After the skeletal remains of an 18,000-year-old, Hobbit-sized human were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003, some scientists thought that the specimen must have been a pygmy or a microcephalic -- a human with an abnormally small skull. Not so, said Dean Falk, a world-renowned paleoneurologist and chair of Florida State University's anthropology department, who along with an international team of experts created detailed maps of imprints left on the ancient hominid's braincase and concluded that the so-called Hobbit was...

SAN FRANCISCO - A judge has overturned a decision by state wildlife regulators to reject a petition to give protected status to the California tiger salamander. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly ordered the Fish and Game Commission to conduct a 12-month review to determine whether to list the yellow-and-black amphibian as an endangered or threatened species. Connelly said the commission "misstated or ignored substantial evidence" and "relied on conflicting information of doubtful scientific value" when it voted 3-2 two years ago to reject the petition to list the salamander under the California Endangered Species Act. In the Dec....

Bring dingoes back to stop species extinction 17:23 02 November 2006 NewScientist.com news service Rachel Nowak Dingoes may make a comeback Bizarrely, reintroducing dingoes – Australia’s top natural predator – could improve the survival of smaller marsupial species that they often prey on, researchers say. The Eastern hare-wallaby? Gone. The lesser bilby? Gone. In the past two centuries, 18 mammals have gone extinct in Australia, accounting for almost half the mammalian extinctions in the world over that time period. Biologists usually blame that infamous record on a complex set of circumstances, including changes in how people use fire to clear...

In new ads, ski company says global warming could dry up snow during the next century... The Aspen Skiing Co. hopes potential customers are ready for a snow job. On Wednesday, the company unveiled a new advertising campaign for the 2006-07 season that centers around the message that snow — and skiing — will disappear around 2100 if humans don’t take drastic action to slow global warming. Three full-page ads, which show a melting snowflake imposed over Highland Bowl, will run in SKI and Outside magazines in the next few months. One ad portrays a “certificate of death” for snow....