350 million-year-old fossil of a fern-like plant unearthed in Australia over 50 years ago is finally identified as a new species Keraphyton mawsoniae was discovered after its fossil was cut open and studied Fossil was found in 1964, but languished in a drawer for more than 50 years Plant that lived before the dinosaurs is … Read more
Non-native ‘alien’ species introduced by humans to an area near to a protected wildlife site are destroying natural habitats and killing local species, study warns. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science and University College London found that protected areas across the globe were at risk from these ‘alien’ species. The team say the majority … Read more
Marine species are edging closer to Earth’s poles at an average pace of 3.7 miles per year as climate change causes global ocean temperatures to rise Experts reviewed 258 studies into shifting habitat ranges with climate change They used this to make a database, BioShifts, that covers some 12,000 species Marine species are moving poleward six times faster … Read more
A new species of iguana has been identified in the Caribbean after scientists analysed the DNA of individuals thought to be an introduced South American variety. The Southern Antilles iguana, which lives on St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, was shown to form a distinct genetic group. Known to humans for centuries, it was … Read more
Human activity is destroying more than 50 billion years of evolutionary history, with the Caribbean and parts of Southeast Asia hit the hardest, researchers claim. The study, by the Zoological Society of London and Imperial College mapped the evolutionary history of the world’s land vertebrates including birds and mammals. An ever increasing ‘human footprint’ with … Read more
A frog no bigger than a 5p coin has been discovered in Madagascar – and already classed as critically endangered by conservationists. The new species of stump-toed frog, named Stumpffia troschaueri, is brown in colour with black spots on its side, in an apparent attempt to camouflage itself among the leaves around it. Four specimens were … Read more
Two million-year-old hominin with human-like thumb knuckles is the earliest ancient human ancestor to use its hands to grasp objects as well as climb trees, study shows Australopithecus sediba is a distant relative that lived two million years ago Study claims its fingers were suited to climbing and grabbing branches But its thumb was well-suited … Read more
New species of fungus that pierces its host to suck nutrients is discovered on TWITTER after biologists spot a image of an American millipede with bizarre red dots in a tweet A new species of fungus was discovered in a picture posted to Twitter Biologists saw bizarre, tiny red dots on an American millipede After … Read more
Four relatives of the bat species thought to be the original source of the novel coronavirus have been found in Africa. The previously undiscovered animals are considered to be ‘sister’ species to the horseshoe bat, which is widely believed to be the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which has caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Bats act … Read more
New species of green pit viper discovered in India is named after Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series whose house crest is a snake The new Salazar snake species was discovered in Aranachal Pradesh in India Researchers say little is known about the biodiversity of the Himalayan region Salazar’s pit viper is … Read more