World’s Tiniest Chameleons Found in Madagascar

Researchers have recently discovered four new chameleon species, which rank among the world’s tiniest reptiles. Adults of the smallest species are just over an inch from snout to tail.

The four new species belong to the genus Brookesia, also known as the leaf chameleons, which live in remote rainforests in northern Madagascar. The genus is already known to contain some very small species, with members typically resembling juvenile versions of larger species.

Brookesia species tend to live within a very small range. Half the members of this genus are found in only a single location and the smallest of the newly found species — Brookesia micra — lives only on a small island called Nosy Hara. Extreme miniaturization of this sort is common in island populations. Known as island dwarfism, it may occur due to limited resources and pressure to reproduce faster.

Read more in the original article here.

'Supergiant' amphipod discovered in deep sea near New Zealand

Scientists on an expedition to sample a deep-sea trench got a surprise when their traps brought back seven giant crustaceans glimpsed only a handful of times in human history.

The "supergiant" amphipods are more than 20 times larger than their typical crustacean relatives, which are generally less than a half-inch long, and thrive in lakes and oceans around the world. They are sometimes called the "insects of the sea."

The largest of the seven specimens was about 11 inches long.

The pale, leggy creatures were found 4 miles down in the Kermadec Trench, off the northeast coast of New Zealand, one of the deepest trenches on Earth.

In addition to the animals captured in the trap, a seafloor camera more than a mile away spied at least nine supergiant amphipods. It's not clear why so many of the typically elusive creatures were in the area. A week later, when the expedition returned to the same spot, there was no sign of the supergiant amphipods.

Supergiant amphipods (Alicella gigantea) were first discovered in 1899, when a trawling expedition turned up two specimens from the Atlantic Ocean. The species wasn't seen again for nearly 100 years. In the 1970s, scientists photographed the oversized creatures in the northern Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles north of Hawaii.

Read more in the original article here.

Den Camera Shows Baby Bears’ Birth

Thanks to fiber-optic camera technology, you can watch real-time footage of a black bear named Lugnut as she hibernates in a den beneath an upturned sugar maple in northern Maine. 

Just two weeks ago, the 8-year-old Lugnut gave birth to two cubs (watch video above.) Because of their demands, her hibernation won’t be as deep as usual, and she’ll wake regularly to check on them. Most of the time, however, the cubs will be curled up against Lugnut’s warm belly, nursing as she sleeps.

The cubs will likely stay in the den for several months, and with their mother for more than a year, departing only when they’ve learned enough to survive on their own. The camera is expected to stay on indefinitely, so viewers will have a chance to watch them grow up.

Original article here.

Bio-luminescent Spewing Shrimp

A shrimp named Acanthephyra purpurea spews a bioluminescent cloud from its mouth when attacked. The burst of bright substance is enough to put would-be predators off their mark.

The bright blue bioluminescent cloud the shrimp expels isn’t "vomit." Instead, luminous fluid probably originates in the hepatopancreas – an organ that plays roles similar to the liver and pancreas in us – and, depending on the species of shrimp, can come from the mouth or nearby organs.

Original article here.

Watch a Baby Condor Hatch and Grow on Live Webcam

You can watch a pair of California condors, among the most endangered birds in the world, as they raise a new baby in view of a webcam set up by scientists at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park.

Shatash, 21, and her partner Sisquoc, 28, will take turns caring for the 9-ounce egg until it hatches in early March.

The hatching process will take a day or two, and if the chick runs into trouble along the way, Sisquoc and Shatash will be standing by to help.

Right now, Shatash and Sisquoc are tending to a life-like faux egg while theirs sits in an incubator. Closer to the end of the 52-day incubation period, scientists will switch the artificial egg for the real one.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CONDOR CAM.

California condors are very nurturing parents. They’re also very egalitarian: Both parents take care of their young. Sisquoc and Shatash will discipline, groom and play with their baby. They’ll give it feathers to play with and rub their baby’s soft pink face with their own.

 Five to six months after Shatash’s egg hatches, her chick will start to hop and flap around the nest as it learns to fly. By then, its wispy white feathers will have turned to grey. The fledgling will stay with its parents for about a year imitating them and learning how to pick up food and forage. During this time, the young bird will also learn how to interact with other condors.

Today there are only about 400 California condors left in the world.

Original article here.

High-Speed Animal Flight Videos Show Hidden Aerial World

A Dutch program called Flight Artists sent high-speed video tools to amateur photographers around the world.

The challenge was to capture nature in flight. Over the course of a year, the contest drew 460 amateurs who uploaded more than 2,400 slow-motion video clips shot with their complimentary cameras. A jury of scientists, philosophers and video experts then picked their favorites, which can be seen below.

For more information, including descriptions of all these videos, see the original article here.

World's tiniest vertebrate is a frog

The world's smallest vertebrate - animals that have a backbone - is a frog that could sit within the confines of your fingernail, a new study reports.

Scientists found the new species, which on average is just 7.7 millimeters long, in the southwestern Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea.

The frog, scientifically named Paedophryne amauensis, spends its life in moist leaf litter on the floors of tropical wet-forests. Males call out with a continuous series of high-pitched notes at dawn and dusk, resembling the sound of crickets.

Typically, small frogs dry out quickly, but this tiniest species has a habitat that stays moist for most of the year. 

Researchers say the animals have simplified skeletons and are born directly as frogs, as opposed to first going through a tadpole stage. Researchers believe these creatures eat even smaller animals, such as mites.

Previously the smallest vertebrate was believed to have been a fish known as Paedocypris progenetica, which matures at 7.9 millimeters. There has been speculation that aquatic habitats are home to the world's smallest and largest vertebrates, but this frog contradicts that theory.

Original article here.