Animals
S


Butterfly

Scientists shocked to find lizard that can both lay eggs and give birth, speculate it's undergoing an evolutionary shift


The Science Times
Tue, 07 Apr 2020 10:48 UTC
Saiphos equalis
Scientists from the University of Sydney observed the three-toed skink giving live birth and laying eggs at the same time, something no one has ever documented before
An Australian lizard shocked scientists with its unique ability to both give birth and lay eggs. There have been studies of animals being able to evolve, not only in appearance, but also with their way of life. Animals that used to lay eggs could eventually be able to give birth. Scientists believe this lizard could be caught somewhere in between.

The Three-toed Skink

If you didn't know before, a skink is a type of lizard. The three-toed skink, scientifically known as Saiphos equalis, is found in eastern Australia. It is also known as the yellow-bellied skink.

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Attention

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Federal food control, federal debt: Obey


Adapt 2030
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 14:46 UTC
US food control
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Apple snails begin to devour rice crops across the S.E USA for the first time ever. Federal mandates to dump milk and forbid "non-essential" items like seeds, fertiliser and wasp killer as we the populace head into spring. More inflation as the US food supply grinds to a halts and is gobbled up by federal distress purchases, if Smithfield foods halts operations due to money flow pressure it will be nationalised. Meat bad, insect protein good. OBEY your masters as they tell you what you can eat or grow.


Comment: COVID-19 lockdown = Auto-genocide? Food shortages likely as US farmers dump MOUNTAINS and LAKES of food

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Attention

Thousands of migratory birds killed by strong winds over Europe


wionews.com
Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:09 UTC
Swallows
Swallows
Bird watchers across the world have brought to notice a natural catastrophe.

Thousands of birds like swallows and swifts that were migrating to Europe from Africa as part of their yearly cycles have been killed by high winds that have taken over Greece.

Hundreds of birds were found in Athens' streets, with many residents reporting finding corpses in their balconies. Further up, dead birds were found in the Aegean islands and in a lake located close to the port of Nauplia in the Peloponnese.

"It's a major disaster," Maria Ganoti of the wildlife protection group Anima told AFP on Thursday.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed goat named 'Janus' born on Wisconsin farm


tmj4.com
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:35 UTC
The goat was born last Sunday, and is one of about 1,000 goats born on the farm this year. His name is 'Janus,' named after the ancient Roman god who also had two faces.
The goat was born last Sunday, and is one of about 1,000 goats born on the farm this year. His name is 'Janus,' named after the ancient Roman god who also had two faces.
Neuske Farms in the western part of the state just welcomed a new and unique member to their family - a two-headed goat.

The goat was born last Sunday, and is one of about 1,000 goats born on the farm this year. His name is 'Janus,' named after the ancient Roman god who also had two faces.

The Neuske family says they want to keep the goat as a pet, and they hope he survive.

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Attention

More than 20 dead seals wash up in Englishtown, Nova Scotia

Sharon Montgomery
Cape Breton Post
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 13:29 UTC
Some of the more than 20 dead seals discovered
© Jans EllefsenSome of the more than 20 dead seals discovered along the shoreline near the Englishtown ferry, Saturday. Jans Ellefsen, originally of Glace Bay and now of Halifax, found the seals all confined to about a 500 to 1,000-foot area along the shoreline while out for a walk.
What was supposed to be a nice walk along a shore ended up being a tragic count of dead seals.

Jans Ellefsen, originally of Glace Bay and now of Halifax, was walking by the Fisherman's Wharf near the Englishtown ferry on April 4 when he noticed a couple of dead seals on the beach. As Ellefsen continued to walk, he continued to find more.

"It was shocking at first," he said. "I wondered how much further long this beach am I going to continue to see these seals? I just continued to follow the beach line and found 20 plus along there."

The seals ended up appearing to be confined along about a 500 to 1,000-foot stretch and in different stages of decay.

"Their bodies looked perfectly fine, there didn't seem to be any signs of trauma," he said.

"There were a couple carcasses that didn't have any decay at all."
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Fish

Radioactive signature help reveal the whale shark's age

Nick Carne
Cosmos Magazine
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 23:01 UTC
Whale Shark
© WAYNE OSBORNAustralian researcher Mark Meekan swimming with a whale shark.
Scientists say they now know how old whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) can get, thanks in no small part to the radioactive legacy of the arms race.

Fallout from nuclear tests in the 1950s and 60s left clearly recognisable timelines in the vertebrae of the world's largest fish, they report in a paper in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

This allowed them to establish that one of the specimens they studied was 50 years old at death - the first time, they say, that such an age has been unambiguously verified.

The project brought together researchers from the US, Iceland and Australia, with support from others in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The key was determining how much time the timelines represent.

Like all sharks and rays, Rhincodon typus lacks an otolith - the bony structure used to assess the age of other fish.

Its vertebrae do feature distinct bands that increase in number with age, in much the same way as rings of a tree trunk, but this has been of minimal value because it wasn't clear until now how often a new band formed.
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Cloud Lightning

More than 150 wild birds in Iraq killed by lightning strike

Zhelwan Z. Wali
Rudaw
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 18:36 UTC
More than 150 wild birds die in lightning strike
A large number of birds died in a lightning strike in the Kurdistan Region's Halgurd-Sakran National Park on Friday, officials have confirmed.

"At this time of the year, these [birds] migrate from the hot to cold places. While flying towards the Caspian sea in Iran, a lightning strike hit them," Mohammed Abdulla, an employee at the Halgurd-Sakran National Park, told Rudaw English. "We have so far managed to discover around 150 of them."

"There are many others that we have not yet been able to discover as their bodies have dispersed across the mountain," he added.

Sulaiman Tameer, head of the Kurdistan Organization for Animal Rights Protection categorized the birds as common cranes, a medium-sized species most commonly found in Europe.
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Biohazard

Thailand hit by African Horse Sickness, killing over 100 horses


Reuters
Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:29 UTC
African Horse Sickness
Diseased horse
More than 100 horses have died from African Horse Sickness (AHS) in Thailand, government data showed, in the Southeast Asian country's first instance of the illness that only affects animals.

"This disease has just occurred in Thailand. We've never had it in the past," director-general of the Department of Livestock Development, Sorawit Thanito, said on Thursday.

The government has quarantined sick horses to limit the spread of the disease, Sorawit said.

At least 131 horses have died across four provinces, latest government data showed.

Comment: This comes alongside the African Swine Fever outbreaks and rising bird flu cases, as well as numerous strange outbreaks of various kinds amongst humans.

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Question

About 100 starlings found dead on road in Switzerland


Indonewyork.com
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:06 UTC
starlings
At the end of February over 100 starlings in the Thurgau village of Triboltingen are suddenly on the main road. The Tagblatt media reports the birds injuries.

"A third was moving its wings, the rest of the birds were dead," said an eyewitness, according to a report in the newspaper media. On a relatively small area on the street and the adjacent Meadow around 120 starlings were found. The hunting and fishing management in Frauenfeld, the news Agency Keystone-SDA confirmed on inquiry of the incident.

An examination of several of the starlings at the centre for fish and wildlife medicine at the University of Bern, showed lung injuries, and skull trauma . "Such violations indicate a collision back," said Livio Rey, spokesman of the Swiss ornithological Institute in Sempach LU, opposite Keystone-SDA. The injury came about during the impact after the crash of the birds, he said this was unlikely. "It looks more likely that they are colliding in flight with something."
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Blue Planet

With India on lockdown, endangered sea turtles on course to lay SIXTY MILLION eggs this year

Elias Marat
The Mind Unleashed
Sat, 28 Mar 2020 05:10 UTC
Olive Ridley sea turtles
While the coronavirus may have sparked one of the biggest crises seen by the planet in modern times, the global pandemic has had some positive effects on the environment.

In India, along the coast of the eastern state Odisha, over 475,000 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have come ashore to a roughly 3.75-mile (6-km.) Rushikulya beach to dig their nests and lay eggs.

However, restrictions in place due to the CoViD-19 threat has allowed for hundreds of thousands of endangered turtles to be protected from any human presence — especially the presence of tourists — resulting in what may be their most successful mass nesting in years.

According to the forest service, well over 250,000 mother turtles have taken part in the daytime nesting activity within the past week alone, reports Down to Earth.
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