As of this year, scientists have named and described over 10,000 reptiles, marking a new milestone in cataloging one of the most diverse vertebrate groups. Last week, the Reptile Database, an online catalog of all the world’s living reptiles, announced it had passed 10,000 species. “Officially, we have logged 10,038 reptile species into the database, […]
Monjita dominica, Black-and-white Monjita, Xolmis dominicanus
Uno de nuestros objetivos para este último viaje a los Esteros del Iberá fue el de fotografiar a la Monjita dominica en su ambiente, habíamos visto fotografías de esta monjita obtenidas por amigos nuestros que viajaron a la feria de aves y fauna silvestre en Colonia Pellegrini en el mes de mayo así que las […]
Yellow spots, orange stripes: vivid new frog species discovered in Malaysia
Scientists have identified a new species of frog on the Malay Peninsula. The newly named Hylarana centropeninsularis was discovered in a peat swamp and genetic analyses revealed that it is evolutionarily distinct from its stream-dwelling cousins. After publishing the discovery in the online journal Herpetologica, Kin Onn Chan, a doctoral candidate at the University of […]
Blue-footed boobies on the decline, plummeting sardine stocks may be to blame
The iconic blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) of the Galapagos Islands has suffered a population decline of 50 percent in less than 20 years, according to research conducted by biologists from Wake Forest University. The study, which appeared in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology, suggests the unexplained disappearance of sardines from the birds’ diet is […]
Results of the Best Photo of the Week Ended 09 Aug 2014
We are delighted to announce the results of our latest “Best Photo of the Week” Competition, which was a neck-and-neck race right up to the last hurdle! First Prize is awarded to Candice Botha for her outstanding image “Focus”, Glenn Perrigo wins Second Prize with “Yellow Moon Rising” and Third Prize goes to Howard Cheek for […]
Giant penguin fossil shows bird was taller than most humans
A penguin species that lived millions of years ago would have dwarfed today’s biggest living penguins and stood as tall as most humans, according to analysis of fossils by a team of researchers from the La Plata Museum in Argentina. Palaeeudyptes klekowskii has already been dubbed the “colossus penguin”, and is the most complete fossil […]
Ringmärkning
En ny ringmärkningsdag startar trögt i dimma o dis men efter ngr. timmar lättar det och fåglarna kommer igång, i dagens fångst kan presenteras en svartmes (ung) och en ung svartvit flugsnappare.
China’s boom may mean doom for turtles
For thousands of years turtles have been used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments and diseases. Originally published in the journal Radiata and recently republished HerpDigest David S. Lee and Liao Shi Kun write, “[In Chinese culture] turtles are symbolic of long life, personal wealth, fertility, strength, and happy households.” […]