New Tyrannosaur named 'Pinocchio rex'

Pinocchio was smaller than T. rex but its nose was a third longer - perhaps for a different hunting strategy

A new type of Tyrannosaur with a very long nose has been nicknamed "Pinocchio rex".

The ferocious carnivore, nine metres long with a distinctive horny snout, was a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Its skeleton was dug up in a Chinese construction site and identified by scientists at Edinburgh University, UK.

The 66-million-year-old predator, officially named Qianzhousaurus sinensis.

"Pinocchio" looked very different to other tyrannosaurs.

"It had the familiar toothy grin of T. rex, but its snout was long and slender, with a row of horns on top," said Edinburgh's Dr Steve Brusatte.

"It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier.

"We thought it needed a nickname, and the long snout made us think of Pinocchio's long nose."

Researchers now think several different tyrannosaurs lived and hunted alongside each other in Asia during the late Cretaceous Period, the last days of the dinosaurs.

The enormous Tarbosaurus (up to 13m) had deep and powerful jaws likeT. rex - strong enough to crush the bones of giant herbivores.

The thinner teeth and lighter skeleton of Qianzhousaurus suggest it hunted smaller creatures, such as lizards and feathered dinosaurs. But at nine metres tall and weighing almost a tonne, it was still a gigantic carnivore.

"You wouldn't want to run into either of these guys," said Dr Brusatte.

'Weird features'

Pinocchio's snout was 35% longer than other dinosaurs of its size. So, why the long face?

"The truth is we don't know yet. But it must've been doing something different," Dr Brusatte told BBC News.

"The iconic picture of a tyrannosaur is T. Rex, the biggest, baddest dinosaur of all.

"But this new species was lighter, less muscular. It breaks the mould. Perhaps it had a faster bite and hunted in a different way."

Prof Junchang Lu and Dr Steve Brusatte at the discovery site

The discovery of "Pinocchio" settles an argument over a series of strange new fossil finds.

In recent years, two tyrannosaurs with unusually prominent proboscises were dug up in Mongolia, and named Alioramus.

The horny-snouted predators appeared to come from an entirely new branch of the tyrannosaur family.

"The trouble was, they were both juveniles. So it was possible their long snouts were just a weird transient feature that grows out in adults," said Dr Brusatte, an expert in tyrannosaur evolution.

But this new Qianzhousaurus specimen is an almost fully mature adult. It was found largely intact and remarkably well preserved by road construction workers near Ganzhou in southern China.

"It's twice the size of the juveniles, and yet it still shows the same features - including the distinctive horns," said Dr Brusatte.

"This is the slam dunk we needed: the long-snouted tyrannosaurs were real."

Palaeontologists are now confident that Qianzhousaurus and Alioramusare part of a new subgroup of tyrannosaurs with elongated skulls.

Their discovery from Mongolia to southern China suggests these "second tier" carnivores were widely distributed, according to Prof Junchang Lu of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, a co-author on the paper.

"Although we are only starting to learn about them, the long-snouted tyrannosaurs were apparently one of the main groups of predatory dinosaurs in Asia," he said.

With these "weird" creatures now accepted as being part of a whole family, more and more of their long-snouted relatives are expected to be unearthed.

As for the riddle of Pinocchio's nose, the scientists hope to solve it via biomechanical studies of its jaw - which may hint at its feeding habits.

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New species of dolphin found in Australian waters

A species of humpback dolphin previously unknown to science is swimming in the waters off northern Australia, according to a team of researchers working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and numerous other groups that contributed to the study.

To determine the number of distinct species in the family of humpback dolphins (animals named for a peculiar hump just below the dorsal fin), the research team examined the evolutionary history of this family of marine mammals using both physical features and genetic data. While the Atlantic humpback dolphin is a recognized species, this work provides the best evidence to date to split the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin into three species, one of which is completely new to science.

"Based on the findings of our combined morphological and genetic analyses, we can suggest that the humpback dolphin genus includes at least four member species," said Dr. Martin Mendez, Assistant Director of WCS's Latin America and the Caribbean Program and lead author of the study. "This discovery helps our understanding of the evolutionary history of this group and informs conservation policies to help safeguard each of the species."

The authors propose recognition of at least four species in the humpback dolphin family: the Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii), which occurs in the eastern Atlantic off West Africa; the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea), which ranges from the central to the western Indian Ocean; another species of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), which inhabits the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans; and a fourth Sousaspecies found off northern Australia yet to be named (the formal adjustment of the naming and number of species occurs through a separate and complementary process based on these findings).

"New information about distinct species across the entire range of humpback dolphins will increase the number of recognized species, and provides the needed scientific evidence for management decisions aimed at protecting their unique genetic diversity and associated important habitats," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program and senior author on the paper.

A new as-of-yet unnamed species of humpback dolphin is shown off the coast of northern Australia.

Working to bring taxonomic clarity to a widespread yet poorly known group of dolphins, the authors assembled a large collection of physical data gathered mostly from beached dolphins and museum specimens. Specifically, the team examined features from 180 skulls covering most of the distribution area of the group in order to compare morphological characters across this region.

The researchers also collected 235 tissue samples from animals in the same areas, stretching from the eastern Atlantic to the western Pacific Oceans, analyzing both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA for significant variations between populations.

The humpback dolphin grows up to 8 feet in length and ranges from dark gray to pink and/or white in color. The species generally inhabits coastal waters, deltas, estuaries, and occurs throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans to the coasts of Australia. The Atlantic humpback dolphin is considered "Vulnerable" according to the IUCN Red List, whereas the Indo-Pacific dolphin species Sousa chinensis is listed as "Near Threatened." Humpback dolphins are threatened by habitat loss and fishing activity.

The Eurasian lynx as a key to the conservation and future viability of the endangered Iberian lynx

Understanding the mechanisms which control reproduction in lynx is essential for their continued viability and effective conservation.

A team of international scientists from Europe discovered that the Corpus luteum of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) has the longest lifespan among mammals known to date. This hormone producing tissue is responsible for restricting this lynx species (and presumably the other lynx species as well) to only having one estrous cycle per year (mono-estrous) and therefore only one opportunity per year to become pregnant. The findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

The Eurasian lynx recovered in many parts of its European range.

The scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin (IZW) took the Eurasian lynx as a "model" species to investigate the reproductive cycle of lynxes in order to assist in the conservation of the highly endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), the most threatened cat species worldwide, restricted to a few locations in southern Spain. A key component in the conservation strategy for the Iberian lynx are the captive breeding centers in Spain and Portugal where Iberian lynx are bred in order to be re-introduced back into the wild. Improving reproductive performance in captivity entails a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate reproduction in these felids.

The team's key discovery is that lynxes have corpora lutea (CLs, the gland producing the pregnancy hormone progesterone) which are maintained in their ovaries over many years -- the longest lifespan known in mammals, and therefore indicative of a reproductive strategy unique for felids -- and probably for mammals in general. In other species, the CLs disappear before, or shortly after, the female gives birth. Surprisingly, the female lynx can switch off its CL's progesterone production when entering a new cycle during spring or before giving birth without destroying the CL. Later on, progesterone is produced continuously, suppressing the follicular development in the ovary and therefore preventing the onset of a second oestrus cycle within the same year. If a female cannot mate during its 5 -- 7 estrous days per year, an entire reproductive period will therefore be lost, reducing fertility and effective lifetime reproductive output, a substantial problem for a small population such as the Iberian lynx.

"To obtain these results, our international team followed the reproductive cycles of captive Eurasian lynx in German zoological gardens and of free-ranging Eurasian lynx in Norway with the help of a Norwegian wildlife research project, Scandlynx, over a period of almost three years. We used advanced three-dimensional ultrasound techniques and in-house hormone analyses to uncover the mysterious development of the oestrus cycle," says veterinarian scientist Johanna Painer from the IZW.

Europe is home to two Lynx species, the Eurasian lynx and the Iberian lynx. Both species experienced drastic declines in population size during the last century. Whereas the Eurasian lynx recovered in many parts of its European range with the help of re-introduction projects, the population of the Iberian lynx crashed completely and was declared to be the most critically endangered felid species worldwide, today.

It is unknown to what extent lynxes will have the flexibility to adapt their reproduction to anthropogenic environmental changes. This study provides essential information for the assisted reproduction techniques in Iberian lynx which continue to be refined and improved, such as artificial insemination or embryo-transfer. Future research will focus on the manipulation of reproductive cycles to increase the reproductive output for breeding centers and to discover the molecular mechanism underlying this unique phenomenon.

Researchers find unique fore wing folding among Sub-Saharan African Ensign wasps

Researchers discovered several possibly threatened new species of ensign wasps from Sub-Saharan Africa -- the first known insects to exhibit transverse folding of the fore wing. The scientists made this discovery, in part, using a technique they developed that provides broadly accessible anatomy descriptions.

The researchers used principles of origami paper folding to physically visualize the transverse folding of the wings. In their paper, they included a print, cut and fold template to help readers comprehend the wing fold system.

"Ensign wasps are predators of cockroach eggs, and the transverse folding exhibited by these species may enable them to protect their wings while developing inside the cramped environment of cockroach egg cases," said Andy Deans, associate professor of entomology, Penn State. "It also may be useful while they are active in their cockroach prey's leaf-litter environment."

According to Deans, only a few other insects -- mainly some earwigs, cockroaches and beetles -- are capable of folding their hind wings transversely, along a line between the front and back wing margin, as opposed to longitudinal folding, which occurs along a line from the wing base to the wing tip.

"These other insects fold their wings transversely so that the wings can be shortened and tucked under a modified, shell-like fore wing," he said. "This, however, is the first time anyone has observed an insect that folds its fore wings transversely."

The researchers examined wasps belonging to the family Evaniidae from Sub-Saharan Africa. They named five new species -- one of them, Trissevania slideri is named after their colleague David "Slider" Love, coordinator of farm and greenhouse operations, Penn State. The scientists also created an identification key for the new tribe,Trissevaniini.

" We didn't know these new species existed until now, and at least two of them --Trissevania heatherae and T. mrimaensis -- are found only in a small patch of forest in Kenya that is threatened by mining activity," Deans said.

According to Deans, to officially give a new species a name one must, among other things, provide a diagnosis that describes how this species differs from others.

"In most cases, the diagnosis lists certain phenotypic aspects of the wasps, such as having a black head or fuzzy hind legs," he said. "Diagnoses are typically written in natural language and using one's own custom lexicon. There is no standard syntax to describe the way an organism looks, which makes these data difficult to extract in any large-scale way."

To get around this problem, the researchers developed a technique that provides broadly accessible descriptions.

"The gist is that one could actually query across existing anatomy data using computers," he said. "For example, one could search for all the species that have fuzzy heads, or all the species that have a patch of hairs on the ventral surfaces of their abdomens. One could then cross-reference the result with information about the surrounding environment, the cockroach host, or the evolutionary history of the wasp. The more we test and refine this approach the better we'll understand its capabilities and utility."

In addition to photographing the wasps' wings, the team used principles of origami paper folding to physically visualize the transverse folding of the wings.

"We used origami, one of the most ancient and simple art forms to understand the wing folding, which, based on our observations through microscopes was otherwise impossible to understand," said István Mikó, research associate in entomology. "In our paper, we included a print, cut and fold template for the readers that helps them and us to comprehend the simple, yet enigmatic, wing fold system of the new tribe,"

According to Mikó, insect wings are common subjects of researchers who investigate bio-inspired technologies.

"The relatively simple wing-folding mechanism of the new tribe can be utilized in advance technologies, such as applying morphing systems in aerospace vehicle research or expandable structural systems in space missions," Mikó said.

The team's results appeared in the May 1 issue of PLOS ONE.

The researchers said that by characterizing the phenotypes of these species of wasps, they are one step closer to understanding the evolutionary history of the family Evaniidae.

"Understanding the evolutionary history of this family of wasps is important because this knowledge will inform our attempts to reclassify the wasps in a way that is robust and predictive," Deans said.

In the future, the team plans to use the same methods it developed to investigate other groups of wasps in the family Evaniidae as well as those in the lineage Ceraphronoidea, small wasps that parasitize many other groups of insects and for which very little is known about their diversity and morphology.

Journal Reference:

1. István Mikó, Robert S. Copeland, James P. Balhoff, Matthew J. Yoder, Andrew R. Deans. Folding Wings like a Cockroach: A Review of Transverse Wing Folding Ensign Wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae: Afrevania and Trissevania). PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (5): e94056 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094056

FIRST NEW RIVER SPECIES SINCE 1918

                      Scientist of Brazil have discovered the first new river dolphin species since the the end of the 1st world war. Named after the Araguaia river where it was found, the species only the fifth known of its in the world. writing on the journal Plos One, the researchers said it separated from the South American river species more than two million years ago. There are believed to be about 1000 of the creature living in the Araguaia river basin.
                       River Dolphins are very rare creatures. According to the IUCN, there are only four known species, and three of them are red listed (Critically Endangered)