Millipede From Scotland is World's Oldest-Known Land Animal
A fossilized millipede-like creature discovered in Scotland may represent the oldest-known land animal, a humble pioneer of terrestrial living 425 million years ago that helped pave the way for the throngs that would eventually inhabit Earth's dry parts.
Researchers said the fossil of the Silurian Period creature, called Kampecaris obanensis and unearthed on the island of Kerrera in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, inhabited a lakeside environment and likely ate decomposing plants.
Fossils of the oldest-known plant with a stem, called Cooksonia, were found in the same ancient lake region as Kampecaris.
May 29, 2020
Punitus Sanctus: New Freshwater Fish
The fish has been identified and named by the Department of Zoology, BJM Government College in Kollam. Sanctus means holy (pilgrim town) in Latin.
Species of Puntius are known from India mainly from the drainages of the Western and Eastern Ghats, as well as the Eastern Himalayas.
Recently, Puntius Sanctus, a new freshwater fish, has been found in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu. It has been found in a small waterbody.
May 27, 2020
Australia's Megafauna Roamed the Tropics with First Humans But Then Disappeared
Giant wombats, six-metre-long goannas and the world's largest kangaroos are among the enormous megafauna that inhabited Queensland between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago.
Some scientists have argued that hunting by humans was a possible cause of their extinction, but new evidence suggests it was most likely major climatic and environmental change.
May 26, 2020
Scientists at BSI Discover 3 New Plant Species in Western Ghats
A team of scientists led by K.A. Sujana at the Kolkata based Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered 3 new plant species namely- Eugenia sphaerocarpa, Goniothalamus sericeus and Memecylon nervosum at the Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu (TN).
Eugenia sphaenrocarpa found primarily in the Kakkayam area of the Malabar wildlife sanctuary in Kerala at an altitude of 800 m, it belongs to the Myrtaceae or Rose apple family.
Goniothalamus sericeus discovered in the Kanyakumari wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu (TN) at an altitude of 1400m, this species belongs to the Annonaceae family of custard apple.
Memecylon nervosum found at an altitude between 700-900m at the Kanyakumari wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu (TN), this species belongs to the Melastomataceae (Kayamboo or Kaasavu in local parlance) family.
May 25, 2020
Millions of Periodical Cicadas to Emerge in Parts of US
After spending 17 years underground, millions of cicadas will be emerging in parts of the United States.
Periodical cicadas are expected to come out in early summer across southwest Virginia, parts of North Carolina, and in West Virginia.
The last time the cicadas emerged in many of those regions was in 2003 and 2004, though some areas saw an emergence in 2013.
As many as 1.5 million of the insects can emerge per acre of land.
While they are some of the longest-lived insects in the world, periodical cicadas spend almost their entire lives underground as what entomologists call "nymphs".
ANTIA Finds High Energy Particles From Ice
The NASA researchers have found high energy particles erupting from ice in the Antarctic region. The researchers believe that these particles are proof to parallel universe.
The ANTIA is high-energy cosmic neutrino that detect radio pulses that are being emitted by Antarctic ice sheet.
The ANTIA instrument detect cosmic-ray neutrinos through a scientific ballon that is flying in the region of Antarctica. It is the first NASA observatory of neutrinos.