| Mediterranean dragonflies and damselflies disappearing with region's freshwater As goes the water, so go the dragonflies. That's the finding of a new report from the IUCN concluding that one fifth of dragonflies and damselflies in the Mediterranean region are threatened with extinction as a result of increasing freshwater scarcity . Threats facing the insects include habitat degradation, pollution and climate change. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Tiny tyrannosaurs rewrite evolutionary rules Looming larger than a double-decker bus and baring teeth that have been likened to serrated bananas, Tyrannosaurus rex has long been considered one of the most fearsome creatures ever to have walked the earth. Other familiar tyrannosaurs, such as Albertosaurus and Tarbosaurus , were likewise terrifying in their size and bite--despite those absurd-looking but characteristic arms. But it turns out that not all tyrannosaurs have these hallmark features.This past fall paleontologists unveiled two tyrannosaurs new to science that are shaking up long-standing ideas about everyone’s favorite mega-predator. The finds are forcing researchers to reevaluate the origin of the tyrannosaur body plan and reconsider what they thought they knew about the diversity of this well-studied group. “Our view of tyrannosaur evolution has changed dramatically,” says doctoral student Stephen L. Brusatte of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Good Taste That Outlives the Tents Just because the models won’t be there to strut for Fashion Week doesn’t mean the neighborhood has lost its sense of style. nytimes.com |
A Hotel Debuts, and a Playground Gets a Makeover A brand-new InterContinental hotel debuts in the theater district, and a playground in Greenwich Village gets a makeover. nytimes.com |
20 die in air disaster after smuggled crocodile escapes on a plane Wildlife smugglers will do just about anything for a quick buck, including sneaking a live predator onto an airplane with no regard for the risk to the animal or fellow passengers. This illegal activity reached a devastating and absurdist extreme recently when a man reportedly smuggled a live crocodile onto a plane departing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The crocodile got loose, the crew and passengers panicked, and the plane crashed, killing 20 people.Oddly enough, the crocodile survived the crash, only to be hacked to death by machete-wielding locals on the ground. [More] rss.sciam.com |