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Scientists Discover Forest by Searching Google Earth

Scientists find hundreds of new species in uncharted African forest

(Newser) - British scientists have stumbled upon an unexplored forest in northern Mozambique—without taking a step. A conservationist for the Royal Botanic Gardens was scanning for a new project site on Google Earth when he came across the untouched area known as Mount Mabu, and an expedition later discovered hundreds of...

Name This Species&mdash;for a Fee
 Name This Species—for a Fee 
Dec 8, 2008 11:44 AM CST

Name This Species—for a Fee

Purdue auctions rights on newly discovered bats, turtles to raise research cash

(Newser) - Purdue University has some recently discovered bats and turtles to name, and you can be the one to do it—if you’re willing to pony up some cash, the Chicago Tribune reports. The university is auctioning off naming rights to a number of species, planning to use the money...

Bush Pardons Eagle Killer
 Bush Pardons Eagle Killer 

Dec 1, 2008 11:02 AM CST

Bush Pardons Eagle Killer

Bush lets off man who indirectly poisoned birds

(Newser) - Twelve years after pleading guilty to federal charges in the deaths of three bald eagles, Leslie Owen Collier learned last week that his name was cleared: He was pardoned by President Bush. "I guess I was humbled is the best way to say it—I never thought it would...

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Nov 10, 2008 10:32 AM CST

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species

(Newser) - Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of...

At 22.3 Inches, Insect Is World's Longest

Just-discovered Phobaeticus chani roams the Borneo jungle, looking twiggy

(Newser) - A stick insect called Phobaeticus chani has claimed the distinction of world's longest insect, beating out its nearest competitor by an inch, the Independent reports. Named after the amateur naturalist who brought it to scientists' attention, the bug measures 22.3 inches with its legs outstretched. A treetop rainforest dweller,...

Midwest Fights Weeds With Bugs

Biological control takes a food-chain approach to invasive plants

(Newser) - Officials in the Midwest are returning to a tried-and-true technique to fight invasive plants, the Chicago Tribune reports. Biological control uses natural enemies to rein in pests, and importing a tiny brown beetle in the 1990s brought under control a fast-spreading European weed, known as loosestrife, that was terrorizing agriculture....

Species Site Overwhelmed by Traffic on Opening Day

Encyclopedia of Life will eventually describe all 1.8M species on Earth

(Newser) - A much-anticipated web encyclopedia of all Earth’s life forms crashed hours after its launch yesterday, inundated by traffic. The Encyclopedia of Life had 11.5 million hits in its first 5½ hours—including 2 hours down—leading the site’s founders to ask their opposites at Wikipedia for bandwidth...

75% of Bear Species at Risk
75% of Bear Species at Risk
Nov 12, 2007 7:15 PM CST

75% of Bear Species at Risk

Asia's sun bear now the fifth of eight bear species endangered worldwide

(Newser) - Southeast Asia's sun bear is now the sixth of eight bear species facing extinction worldwide, the Telegraph reports. Experts admit they know little about the bear, but blame deforestation, hunting, and fearful villagers for menacing the species. "We estimate that sun bears have declined by at least 30 per...

Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah
Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah
Nov 1, 2007 8:29 PM CDT

Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah

American scientists won't be allowed into Iran to help endangered Asiatic species

(Newser) - In an unlikely collaboration, the US and Iran will undertake efforts this month to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah, whose numbers could be as low as 60, Der Spiegel reports. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society will send a team to the Kavir Desert in central Iran for a cheetah-tracking...

Half of All Species Risk Extinction as Earth Warms

Humans will survive climate change, many other species won't: study

(Newser) - Global warming could trigger the extinction of half the world's plant and animal species—although humans will probably survive, according to a new British study of the likely effects of climate change. Researchers studied links between mass extinctions and climate changes over 520 million years. In one event, 95% of...

Huge New Dinosaur Species Found in Argentina

(Newser) - The recently discovered fossil of a giant dinosaur that roamed South America 80 million years ago is not only remarkably complete but also represents a new species, Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists announced today. Futalognkosaurus dukei, a four-legged, long-necked herbivore, measured about 110 feet from head to tail and was four...

Hybrid Lizards Muscle Out Mom and Dad

Discovery of new salamanders’ ‘vigor’ is a scientific first

(Newser) - The offspring of California tiger salamanders and barred tiger salamanders are living proof that not all hybrids are mule-style genetic dead ends: They’re breeding their parents out of house and home. In a watershed instance of "hybrid vigor" among animals, Science reports, the progeny of two species for...

Hunters Take Aim in Wyoming
Hunters Take Aim in Wyoming
Sep 15, 2007 4:20 PM CDT

Hunters Take Aim in Wyoming

Hunters look to thin once-endangered population

(Newser) - Hunters take aim at a symbol of the American West today, as Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge opens the first buffalo season in almost a decade. Officials say they need to lower the population from 1,200 to 500 because of overgrazing and disease. But killing the once-endangered species has...

'Extinction Crisis' Threatens 40% of Species

Watchdog group sees serious danger to one in four mammals

(Newser) - More than 16,000 species are in serious danger of extinction, including one in four mammals and one in three amphibians being monitored by a global conservation group. With 40% of 40,000 surveyed species facing the highest levels of threat, “We’re at code red,” a top...

Bad News Plagues Bears
Bad News Plagues Bears
Sep 9, 2007 3:09 PM CDT

Bad News Plagues Bears

As ice caps melt, trophy hunters take aim, polar bears belong on endangered list

(Newser) - It's bad enough when 40% of your habitat will disappear by mid-century, but add trophy hunters taking advantage of a loophole in US law, and it's not a good time to be a polar bear, the Independent on Sunday reports. The bears are not listed as endangered so 950 pelts...

Save the Whales—but Forget the Delta Smelt

Endangered Species Act hurts animals, industry

(Newser) - The Endangered Species Act , enacted in 1973 to protect the likes of the bald eagle and the California grizzly, is in desperate need of overhaul, the Economist argues. The act’s latest ravagement is the protection of the delta smelt, a three-inch fish a judge deemed important enough late last...

Stranded by War, Forest Yields Treasures

Remote, unspoiled region of Congo conceals 6 new species

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered six animal species in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area closed to scientists for nearly 50 years. The region is rich in biodiversity, Reuters reports, and beyond the bat, rodents, frogs, and shrews found on a brief trip this past winter, the...

River Dolphin Declared Extinct
River Dolphin Declared Extinct
Aug 8, 2007 5:54 AM CDT

River Dolphin Declared Extinct

Scientists failed to find species in expedition

(Newser) - Calling it a "shocking tragedy," a team of marine scientists have declared the Yangtze river dolphin "likely extinct" after their failure to find a single animal in a recent research expedition. The scientists blamed massive over fishing along the Yangtze as the primary cause of the species'...

Giant Chimps Found in Congo
Giant Chimps Found in Congo
Jul 14, 2007 1:30 PM CDT

Giant Chimps Found in Congo

(Newser) - Scientists from the University of Amsterdam have discovered a population of giant, near ape-size chimpanzees in the Congo. Long rumored to exist, they are referred to by local hunters as lion-eating chimps. And while the scientists could not confirm the lion-eating, they did see a band of the chimps eating...

Giant Penguin Fossils Found in Peruvian Desert

Spearfishing birds waddled the earth 36 million years ago

(Newser) - Penguins haven't always lived on ice, scientists have concluded after unearthing fossils of giant penguins in Peru's Atacama desert. The penguins, nearly human-sized at 4.5 feet tall, had extraordinarily long beaks apparently used for spearfishing, and waddled the earth some 36 million years ago, the National Geographic News reports....

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