Showing posts with label kind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kind. Show all posts

New Species of Seadragon Found after 150 Years

While new animals are regularly identified, all species of seadragons were thought to be known. Indeed, it has been 150 years since all were classified. A surprise was on hand for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australia Museum. A new type of seadragon was found off the WA coast.
Ruby Seadragon Phyllopteryx dewysea
A sample had been in a lab untested since 2007. The latest DNA testing system enables new kinds of creatures to be singled out. Named Phyllopteryx dewysea, the new seadragon is bright red in color. This is an ideal color for camouflage in deep water.

No one expected a new type, so it remained undetected until the new technique made 5,000 X-ray slices of the sample. The Ruby Seadragon has a distinct skeletal structure. It increases the number of known seadragon species by 50 per cent, because there were only two other kinds of this mysterious animal previously.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Northern Australia Has a New Dolphin

There are many species of dolphin. To most people they do look much alike. We know that they are very intelligent and like to be in the presence of Man, even if it is only following boats

A new species has been identified off northern Australia. It could have always been there or moved there from somewhere else. They are in the "hump" class, having a raised portion below the dorsal fin.

Scientists are treating the dolphin as a new species which makes three species of Indo-Pacific humpback. There are four kinds of humpback in total including the eastern Atlantic type, Sousa teuszil.
Apparently, naming of the "new" species is a complex process based on the previously used naming practice, behavior of the animal itself and its habitat.

Discovery of the northern Australian dolphin came about by the first intense study into the humpback genus. It involved examination of 180 skulls and 235 tissue samples.
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Evolution by Ty Buchanan
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New Prehistoric Crocodiles Found

A new type of crocodile now extinct has been found in northern Africa. It had three sets of fangs like wild boar tusks for killing other animals. Another kind of crocodile was found nearby. This one used a flat, wide snout to catch fish. A third species of crocodile also located close by was only three feet long. This had "buckteeth" for eating plants. It was a rich find with two other known kinds of crocodile being dug up there.

The National Geographic Society sponsored the successful project. The new crocodiles show that the region had unique animals 100 million years ago. much different than in surrounding regions. These reptiles could run along at quite a fast pace then dive into the water and swim off. Unlike modern crocodiles which have legs on the side of their bodies these had longer legs set underneath. Luckily there were no people around for them to chase and eat.

The three new species are as follows:

1) BoarCroc (Kaprosuchus saharicus) 20 feet in length with three pairs of fangs sticking out of the side of their mouths like a warthog.

2) PancakeCroc (Laganosuchus thaumastos) again 20 feet long with shorter legs, laid in wait for fish grasping them with spiked teeth set in flat wide jaws in a head 3 feet long.

3) RatCroc (Araripesuchus rattoides) 3 feet from nose to tail, had buckteeth and dug for plants and grubs.
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