Posted on 01/16/2016 6:24:13 PM PST by presidio9
A breed of sea snake thought to be extinct for years was recently discovered off the west coast of Australia, another in a string of similar findings among species scientists believed were lost forever.
It was the first time the species of snakes was seen in more than 15 years since disappearing from the Timor Sea, according to researchers at Australia's James Cook University who identified the snakes.
The discovery of the Short Nose sea snake was confirmed after an Australia Parks and Wildlife officer sent a photo to researchers for identification, the university said.
The study's lead author, Blanche D'Anastasi, of the university's ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said the findings would give scientists a second opportunity to protect the species.
"But in order to succeed in protecting them we will need to monitor populations as well as undertake research into understanding their biology and the threats they face," D'Anastasi said in a statement.
D'Anastasi noted that the pair of snakes was believed to be "courting," indicating that there is a breeding population and offering a hope for a more sustainable comeback.
"We were blown away," D'Anastasi said. "These potentially extinct snakes were there in plain sight living on one of Australia’s natural icons, Ningaloo Reef."
A second breed of extremely rare Leaf Scaled sea snake was also recently found in Australia's Shark Bay, several hundred miles away from the species normal territory, which D’Anastasi called a "real surprise."
Both species had vanished from the Timor Sea, though in recent years scientists had seen examples of dead specimens.
The sightings are significant because it increases the known geographic range and habitats for the snakes, though their disappearance in the Timor Sea could not be explained, according to the study.
They also follow a trend of -SNIP-
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
No problem. The headlines when this came out were misleading. They seemed to indicate that Hawking (who's most important research has do with black holes) was now suddenly disputing their existence. That wasn't the case.
Why revive, because they are good eating. They were a very important source of protein in the diet of poor settlers and slaves for centuries. There are probably plenty of people who would eat them today if they were available in quantities, and a lot of them would be lower income.
I appreciate the gracious response.
Whoops! I thought you were referring to the woolly mammoth. Guess that was someone else.
Looks like hell on a ship’s bottom...
Hey, I've got a rep to protect on this website as Mr. Civility...
I knew there was a catch!
“:^)
Take care.
Two things about the dodo:
First, there are multiple reports that it tasted terrible.
Second, it is urban legend (or perhaps a convenient eco-myth) that they were hunted to extinction. They built their nests on the ground, and rats and pigs on the island ate their eggs. That's how they went extinct. However, man brought the rats and pigs to the island, so man is ultimately still responsible for their disappearance.
Global Change
But I doubt anyone is ever going to find a dodo...
Oh come now, Yeb could find it...
How can we tell for sure if a species has gone extinct?
Science tells us so.
Science is not a crystal ball that can tell us things that otherwise can not be seen.
Taxonomy is such a mess as to have designated individual species for decades that in fact were not. As an example, we have seven "species" of oak trees here on our property, as designated by the "authoritative" Jepson e-Flora. Yet I had a tree geneticist up here recently who declared them all "mutts," and has both the DNA and physical evidence to prove it. In fact, the cross breeding among species was so significant, that even deciduous Quercus kellogii was crossing with Q. parvula shrevii, which is an evergreen tree and still bearing viable progeny! Yet for decades, people have missed noting the symptoms of hybridization simply because they believed they were distinct species when in fact there may only be "red" and "white" oaks.
The Passenger Pigeon went extinct because of the demand for squab back east, and the ease with which huge numbers could be harvested with a couple of shotgun blasts. They didn’t come back because of habitat destruction (their big nesting area was over in the Thumb of Michigan somewhere, like the rest of the state it got lumbered out).
That is absolutely frightening :O
exactly- - lol
Carville head...hahaha
For example, late last year we were bombarded with tragic accounts of the "extinction" of the "northern" white rhino, when the last male in captivity died after living in captivity for years.
What they did not tell you was that the genetically identical southern white rhino is not endangered.
The black rhino may disappear in our lifetime, but the white rhino is in far less trouble.
There are white RINO senators in such dissimilar places as South Carolina and Arizona for that matter.
Thank goodness! What would the world be without a short-necked oil beetle?
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