Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sometimes it’s tempting to look back on the history of science and feel just a little envious of the people that went before us. Imagine being alive at a time when you could jump on a boat, sail to some tropical country and discover thousands of species not yet known to science. Even better, you could use your discoveries learn some of the most important ideas in biology. Darwin is the obvious example, but imagine being Wallace and finding flying frogs and searching for birds that were said to spend their whole lives on the wing and, so, have no feet. Or being with Banks and Solander as they arrived in New Zealand and discovered an entirely new flora to describe, catalogue and learn from.

It would be pretty great to live in those times, but I wouldn’t swap places for the world – biology’s age of discovery is still going strong. There are probably ten times as many species on earth as we know about. In the last couple of months we’ve heard news of new fish species discovered in the kermadecs, a nematode that survives a mile below earth’s surface, bioluminescent fungi, and an antelope species discovered in a meat market. Then there’s biodiversity’s dark matter; whole groups of creatures we know must exist, but have no clue as to their biology. Recently DNA sequences have revealed a new group of fungi discovered in a pond in Devon, and maybe, just maybe, a whole new branch of life in a set of DNA sequences that are similar to each other but like nothing else we know. In the 21st century there is no lack of species for us to discover, and, in fact, modern tools mean we don’t have to get on boat to discover them. You’re average shovel load of soil almost certainly has bacteria and fungi that aren’t known to science.

Sunday spinelessness has, rather arbitrarily, limited itself to animals (I am from a zoology department, these things rub off) – and one of my favourite examples of how little we really know about biology comes from some very strange animals. Meet a placozoan (literally ‘flat animal’):Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 4, 2011) - Honey Badger Exploration, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TUF) (the "Company") announces the results of its Annual General and Special Meeting ("AGM") of its Shareholders held on June 23, 2011 at the Company's corporate offices. A quorum of the Company's outstanding common stock as of the record date of May 16, 2011 was present in person or by proxy at the AGM.

Proposed Resolutions

1. To receive and consider the financial statements of the company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and the Auditors' Report thereon.

2. To appoint MSCM LLP, Chartered Accountants, as the auditors of the Company, and to authorize the Directors to fix the remuneration.

3. To elect Directors to serve until the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

4. To approve continuation of the Stock Option Plan of the Company as instituted and as approved by the TSX Venture Exchange.

5. To approve share issuances in lieu of cash remuneration to Directors and Officers with respect to services rendered to a maximum limit of 2,000,000 shares collectively.

6. To approve the sale of the remaining 49% interest in the Blackjack Property.

7. The resolution to approve a share consolidation as per the addendum to the information circular dated May 16, 2011 was withdrawn from consideration at the Meeting.

Read More

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Have you seen this? Holy hotcakes, you are going to need a Depend DIAPER by the time you finish watching. Get ready to DIE laughing! Cause honey badger don't give a s#it.

Now, watch this, too. It's a spoof of what would happen to Ophelia if she'd had a sassy gay friend during Hamlet. Amazing! Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Long live the honey badger. No flash in the proverbial pan is he, no sir, honey badger has staying power. He's not going anywhere, and thanks goodness, because he provides some funny sh**.

Heck in the last few days, he's been seen splashed across Olivia Wilde's chest, and he even made President Obama's first-ever Twitter Townhall from the White House. Someone submitted the question: "Does honey badger care?" Obama has yet to respond to that particular question, but perhaps he needs time to ponder.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about then you've been missing out and must watch the following video titled "Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger." If you've already seen it you know you want to watch it again.

Since it was uploaded in January it has gotten more than 11 million clicks. When I first wrote about the video back in April, it had only received 4 million clicks, so honey badger just keeps getting bigger.

Now Wilde and her chest have given him a whole new boost of popularity. Who knows how far honey badger will go? The awesome narrator, who makes the whole video, is a guy known just as Randall. He has some other one great ones too like "The Miracle of the Daffy Jesus Lizard" and "The Slowass Sloth," and it's easy to get lost laughing in his YouTube channel.

It's hard to explain why honey badger hits the funny bone of America just right, other than it's just funny and infectious. Of course, not everyone thinks so, but guess what ... honey badger don't give a sh**. Read More

Elephants In Mysore, Elephant Attack In Mysore, Wild Elephants In Mysore

Elephants In Mysore, Elephant Attack In Mysore, Wild Elephants In Mysore

ELEPHANT ATTACK: BABY TUSKER KILLS ONE, DAMAGES PROPERTY ENROUTE

Mysore, June 8 (KMC,RK & KK)- A wild female elephant and its male calf went on a rampage in city early this morning, trampling to death a man, attacking cattle, damaging several vehicles and other property.

Though elephants are a common sight in Mysore city during Dasara, this is for the first time that wild elephants entered this city and caused havoc for about three hours, before one of them was tranquilised, secured with ropes and chains and with the help of three tamed elephants, shifted in a truck to elephant camp in Dubare, Kodagu. Tension prevailed throughout the city as news of the wild elephants spread.

The elephant attack also forced the district administration to declare a holiday for educational institutions in the city. But some schools refused to let the children out due to security reasons.

Though initially the DC had obtained permission to shoot the rogue calf to death as three shots of tranquilisers had no effect, the tranquilisers kicked in and subdued the elephant soon after, avoiding the shooting of the calf.

The mother and son were first spotted near the RMC Yard in Bamboo Bazaar at around 5.30 am. After creating havoc in the vicinity, the mother-elephant ran away towards Tilak Nagar, reaching Naidu Farm along the KRS road, via Bannimantap and LIC Circle. It was later spotted standing in the middle of a large water-body in the farm, close to the Sewage Plant.

Forest Department personnel, led by Zoo Director K.B. Markandaiah and Veterinarian Dr. Suresh Kumar, attempted to transquilise the elephant but did not succeed for a long time as it was far beyond the gun's firing range and also they had to fire many times as the tranquiliser dose they initially had at hand was low.

Where they came from

It is said that the elephants, lost and frightened, came from T. Narasipur taluk side, traversing 24 kms overnight. The female and calf were spotted yesterday in a sugarcane field in Kodagalli village of Bannur Hobli which was reported in today's morning newspapers. It seems the Forest officials did not expect them to come into the city.

Sequence of events

5.30 am: The mother elephant and calf were first spotted by Yathish Kumar, 35, a vegetable trader, when he went to answer nature's call near the main drainage close to the RMC yard in Bamboo Bazar. He ran away in fright and alerted others. Soon, hundreds of people gathered in the vicinity, making the beasts panic and run helter-skelter. Read More

kung fu panda 2 review, kung fu panda 2 imdb, hangover 2 rating review

kung fu panda 2 review, kung fu panda 2 imdb, hangover 2 rating review

When Kung Fu Panda was released in 2008, I was not prepared. Like Po, the titular Kung Fu fighting panda bear, the film was a diamond in the rough -- a wise Buddhist parable about destiny, identity, mentality and harmony, which also happened to be a cute and funny cartoon that tripled as an epic kung fu movie. Needless to say, these were not achievements readily discernible from a title like Kung Fu Panda and the tagline “featuring the voice of Jack Black!”

However, like another big sequel being released this summer (The Hangover II) Kung Fu Panda 2 is facing a challenge in the raised expectations of its audience, and the potential staleness of its subject matter.

So, does the sequel build upon the strong foundation of the original?

Short answer: Sort of.

In this second chapter, Po the Panda (Jack Black) is now The Dragon Master, living alongside his idols The Furious FIve -- Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). Po finally has the life he dreamed of (battling bad guys as a Kung Fu legend), but that happiness is soon shattered. One day, while in the midst of battle, Po is confronted by the Wolf Boss (Danny McBride), a villain whose armor bears a strange insignia -- one that sends all kinds of repressed memories flooding back into Po’s mind, depicting his days as a child and hinting at his true origins.

These unlocked memories knock Po off his kung fu center, and he is instructed by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to learn new techniques of inner peace and harmony if he wants to both settle his soul and take his kung fu to the next level. Of course there is little time to meditate: The Furious Five (and Po) soon learn of the evil Lord Shen’s (Gary Oldman) return -- a nefarious kung fu master who is connected to the wolf bandits, and has developed a new weapon that could conquer both kung fu and China itself. The Furious Six set off for the city to stop Shen and save the day.

And so, it is on the road to avoid all the hard questions facing him that Po inevitably meets his destiny -- one which goes far beyond his initial quest to become The Dragon Warrior.

As stated, the great strength of Kung Fu Panda was in its balance (insert Buddhist pun). The comedy was fun, Jack Black was well-suited to the role of Po; the martial arts action was epic and exciting to behold (even with cartoon animals); most of all, the script was so good, on so many levels, that there were multiple times when the film gave me goosebumps, or even had me choking up (R.I.P. Master Oogway). Kung Fu Panda 2 is a much more slick and polished product than the original -- and the keyword here is “product.”

Like this summer’s other big animated feature (Pixar’s Cars 2), Po and Kung Fu Panda are a recognized brand now, and inevitably that change in awareness was going to affect the film. Where the first installment had breathing room to build a tight and cohesive multi-layered narrative, this sequel just dives right into a formulaic summer blockbuster plot. After ten minutes we have the conflict, villain, and the lesson Po needs to learn all set in place at rushed speed. Where the first film implemented action sequences at logical and organic points in the story, this sequel functions more like a three-act superhero movie: fight sequence in the beginning, pivotal action sequences in the middle, big set piece climax at the end. While some of the action is definitely slicker (now that Po and the Furious Five have more cohesive group techniques), a lot of it inevitably falls into that category of jumbled, no-stakes, hard-to-follow sequences you see in so many modern action flicks. A slightly disappointing downturn.

Thankfully, most of these issues begin to clear up some time past the halfway mark of the film. What we get towards the end is the smarter, more meaningful and resonant Kung Fu Panda that many critics fell in love with. The filmmakers indulge less in arbitrary action and Jack Black schtick, and spend more time developing Po and expanding those of themes of identity, mentality, harmony and destiny that made the first film so great.

I will say that the writers -- Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, with help from others -- do a wonderful job of tying off some of the lingering plot threads from the first film (for example, the gag about Po, a panda, thinking he’s the son of Ping, a goose). The script weaves those dangling threads into a new story that ties together both the narrative and thematic arcs of Po’s story, while simultaneously expanding the scope and size of the Kung Fu Panda world. They even manage to leave the door open for a third film ;-) . This is all to say: the problem for me was not in the story, just how the story was executed. Read More

SPCA Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

SPCA Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit animal welfare organization originally founded in England in 1824 to pass laws protecting carriage horses from abuse. SPCA groups are now found in many nations, where they campaign for animal welfare, assist in animal cruelty cases, and attempt to find new homes for unwanted animals they feel are adoptable. Policies regarding animal euthanasia, handling feral cats, no-kill status, and similar issues vary by shelter.

In 2006, SPCA International was founded in the United States to implement outreach programs, emergency financial aid for organizations, and recognition grants on an international level. It is responsible for Operation Baghdad Pups, which safely transports pets adopted by US troops while stationed overseas. Online, it runs public discussion forums, plus helps individuals find information, advocate against abuse, and connects them with nearby shelters. In line with its name, it also offers assistance opening animal cruelty investigations and offers a "Cruelty Crime Stopper" reward for tips that help lead to convictions. READ MORE

SPCA-SOCIETY for the PREVENTION of CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

The Singapore SPCA was in existence in the 1800s and a report from the Straits Times Press dated October 3rd 1878 said, “the number of cases brought under the notice of the Singapore Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals during the first quarter ending September 30th 1878 was 84, of these 3 were for cruelty to hack ponies, 17 for ill-treatment of oxen and 4 for causing suffering to birds by shooting them with ‘sumpitans’.

In 10 cases, the offenders were cautioned and discharged by the Magistrate, 6 were convicted and fined and the remainder were visited by the Agents, who in every case verified that wounded animals and those unfit for labour were not made to work until their condition improved.”

This information was recently acquired from a past committee member’s file, but until 1947, there are no other details available. After the Japanese occupation of Singapore in 1947, the RSPCA as it was known then, was revived by an Englishwoman, Miss Lucia Bach. She ran a boarding house and at the same time took in unwanted stray animals.

In the early 1950s, through the generosity of a Eurasian lady, strays were housed on her property and rehomed by volunteers.

In 1954, the RSPCA was set up formally and moved to Orchard Road which is located within the city limits. This move was facilitated by the presence of an RSPCA official from England to engineer the operation and train one of the staff as an inspector. The premises were donated its first official vehicle. At the same time two staff members were hired a telephone operator and a driver.

In 1959, the Singapore RSPCA became the SPCA when Singapore ceased to be a crown colony in that year.

In 1976 from the Orchard Road premises, an official clinic was set up to provide a service to members of the public. The facilities also were used to treat the Society’s animal and carry out sterilisations which since 1969, was compulsory if one adopted an SPCA pet.

Singapore underwent massive changes with the development of Housing Board Government high-rise flats. People were relocated from the kampongs into these flats and as a result countless pets, mainly cats and dogs were left abandoned and homeless.

The SPCA launched a special programme to collect animals from areas being cleared for development before occupants vacated their homes. The Ministry of national Development, the Primary Production Department (now AVA) and the Dog unit at the City Veterinary Centre, co-operated in this scheme to providing prior information on areas about to be demolished.

The work was particularly painful in that it involved the removal of owned animals from people forced to relinquish their pets because they were unable to relocate them. READ MORE

Sloth 树赖 Folivora

Sloth 树赖 Folivora ; 树赖, what is a sloth, sloth bear, sloths, 树濑 

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Pilosa
Suborder: Folivora

Sloths are extremely slow-moving mammals found in the rainforest canopies of Central and South America. There are two species of sloths:two-toed and three-toed. Most sloths are about the size of a small dog and they have short, flat flat heads. Their hair is grayish brown but, at times they look grey-green in color because they move so slowly that tiny camouflaging algae grow all over their coats.

Some sloths stay in the same tree for years. Their huge hooked claws and long arms allow them to spend most of their time hanging upside-down from trees. Since they have a slow metabolism, they need very little food. They feed on fruit, leaves, buds, and young twigs. Sloths also sleep upside-down for up to 18 hours at a time. Mothers also give birth to babies upside-down. Babies cling to their mothers until they are able to take care of themselves.

Sloths are nocturnal and sleep curled up with their head placed between the arms and the feet drawn close together. This disguises them as part of a tree so that its enemies like the jaguar do not see them. Sloths rarely climb down from the trees and can live for up to 30 years. --- source

Anthropologist Discovers New Fossil Primate Species West Texas 2011

Anthropologist Discovers New Fossil Primate Species West Texas 2011

TiFa News : AUSTIN, Texas–Physical anthropologist Chris Kirk has announced the discovery of a previously unknown species of fossil primate, Mescalerolemur horneri, in the Devil’s Graveyard badlands of West Texas.

Mescalerolemur lived during the Eocene Epoch about 43 million years ago, and would have most closely resembled a small present-day lemur. Mescalerolemur is a member of an extinct primate group – the adapiforms – that were found throughout the Northern Hemisphere in the Eocene. However, just like Mahgarita stevensi, a younger fossil primate found in the same area in 1973, Mescalerolemur is more closely related to Eurasian and African adapiforms than those from North America.

“These Texas primates are unlike any other Eocene primate community that has ever been found in terms of the species that are represented,” says Kirk, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin. “The presence of both Mescalerolemur and Mahgarita, which are only found in the Big Bend region of Texas, comes after the more common adapiforms from the Eocene of North America had already become extinct. This is significant because it provides further evidence of faunal interchange between North America and East Asia during the Middle Eocene.”

By the end of the Eocene, primates and other tropically adapted species had all but disappeared from North America due to climatic cooling, so Kirk is sampling the last burst of diversity in North American primates. With its lower latitudes and more equable climate, West Texas offered warm-adapted species a greater chance of survival after the cooling began.

Kirk says Marie Butcher, a then undergraduate who graduated with degrees in anthropology and biology from The University of Texas at Austin, found the first isolated tooth of Mescalerolemur in 2005. Since that time, many more primate fossils have been recovered by Kirk and more than 20 student volunteers at a locality called “Purple Bench.” This fossil locality is three to four million years older than the Devil’s Graveyard sediments that had previously produced Mahgarita stevensi. “I initially thought that we had found a new, smaller species of Mahgarita,” Kirk says. However, as more specimens were prepared at the Texas Memorial Museum’s Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, Kirk realized he had discovered not just a new species, but a new genus that was previously unknown to science.

Fossils of Mescalerolemur reveal it was a small primate, weighing only about 370 grams. This body weight is similar to that of the living greater dwarf lemur. Mescalerolemur’s dental anatomy reveals a close evolutionary relationship with adapiform primates from Eurasia and Africa, including Darwinius masillae, a German fossil primate previously claimed to be a human ancestor. However, the discovery of Mescalerolemur provides further evidence that adapiform primates like Darwinius are more closely related to living lemurs and bush babies than they are to humans.

For example, the right and left halves of Mescalerolemur’s lower jaws were two separate bones with a joint along the midline, a common trait for lemurs and bush babies. Mahgarita stevensi, the closest fossil relative of Mescalerolemur, had a completely fused jaw joint like that of humans.

“Because Mescalerolemur and Mahgarita are close relatives, fusion of the lower jaws in Mahgarita must have occurred independently from that observed in humans and their relatives, the monkeys and apes” Kirk says.

The new genus is named Mescalerolemur after the Mescalero Apache, who inhabited the Big Bend region of Texas from about 1700-1880. The species name, horneri, honors Norman Horner, an entomologist and professor emeritus at Midwestern State University (MSU) in Wichita Falls, Texas. Horner helped to establish MSU’s Dalquest Desert Research Site, where the new primate fossils were found.

Kirk and his colleague Blythe Williams of Duke University will publish their findings in the Journal of Human Evolution article, “New adapiform primate of Old World affinities from the Devil’s Graveyard Formation of Texas.”

Source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516121537.htm

national aquatic animal of india biosphere

national aquatic animal of india biosphere ; biosphere reserve, kyoto protocol, brahmaputra, biosphere reserves in india, largest producer of petroleum in south america

Ganges Dolphin Declared National Aquatic Animal Of India

The endangered Ganges river dolphin has been declared India's national aquatic animal. This was communicated by a spokesperson of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), India statistics, there are only about 2000 Ganges dolphins left in this aquatic system. And, this step would surely ensure more protection to this species. Stating the main reasons behind the drop in dolphin numbers, the spokesperson said, "Poaching and habitat degradation due to declining flow, heavy siltation and construction of barrages causing physical barrier for this migratory species are the main reasons for its decline in numbers".

Earlier, the government had taken the decision to declare the Ganges river dolphin as India's national aquatic animal on Oct 5 last year during the first meeting of the newly-constituted National Ganga River Basin Authority.

According to the WWF, the dolphins are sparsely found in rivers of seven states such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Their ideal habitats include the Ganga, Chambal, Ghaghra, Gandak, Sone, Kosi, the Brahmaputra and Kulsi rivers. --- READ MORE

Ganga Action Plan

• An action plan, popularly known as “Ganga Action Plan” (GAP) for immediate reduction of pollution load on the river Ganga was prepared by Department of Environment (now Ministry of Environment & Forests) in December 1984 on the basis of a survey on Ganga basin carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board in 1984.
• To oversee the implementation of the GAP and lay down policies and programmes, Government of India constituted the Central Ganga Authority (CGA) under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in February 1985.
• It was later renamed as the National River Conservation Authority (NRCA) in September 1995,. The Cabinet approved GAP in April 1985 as a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme.
• The GAP was thus launched in June 1985 with the establishment of the Ganga Project Directorate (GPD), renamed as the NRCD (National River Conservation Directorate) in June 1994, as a wing of the Department of Environment, to execute the projects under the guidance and supervision of the CGA. The state agencies like Public Health Engineering Department, Water and Sewage Boards, Pollution Control Boards, Development Authorities, Local Bodies etc. were responsible for actual implementation of the scheme.
• More than two decades after Rajiv Gandhi conceptualised the Ganga Action Plan (GAP), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 3, 2008 decided to declare Ganga a ‘National River’ to achieve the objectives of the clean-up operation.
• It was also decided to set up a Ganga River Basin Authority, which will be entrusted with the responsibility of planning, implementing and monitoring projects regarding the river.
• The authority, headed by the Prime Minister, would comprise of chief ministers of states through which the Ganga flows.
• Unlike the original Ganga Action Plan, which primarily focused on municipal sewage treatment, November 2008 decisions were aimed at broad-basing the river management efforts, integrating pollution control with measures for sustainable use of water and flood management.
• The Dophins found in Ganga are rare species. Union government has declared them as the national aquatic animal on October 5, 2009. This decision was taken in the first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday October5, 2009.
• The Ganges River Dolphin (Biological name: Platanista gangetica gangetica) is a sub-species of freshwater or river dolphins found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
• The Ganges River Dolphin is primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.