Llamaslikesciencetoo - This Is My Side Blog About Science

Ancient ‘otter bear’ may have popped clams off rocks like a bottle opener

By Sid Perkins

A creature that roamed the coasts of the Pacific Northwest about 20 million years ago may have had a feeding style like no other mammal, a new study suggests.

Kolponomos is known only from two bearlike skulls, jawbones, and some toe bones found a few decades ago, so scientists aren’t sure where it fits on the carnivore family tree or even what it really looked like (one artist’s idea is seen above).

Rather than having cheek teeth that could shear meat, as many carnivores do, Kolponomos’s molars were similar to the flattened, low-crowned teeth that otters use to crush their shelled prey—yet the creature lived long before anything similar to modern-day otters evolved.

Now, a new analysis using the same sort of computer software that engineers employ to analyze bridges and aircraft parts suggests that Kolponomos may have collected its shelly prey in a unique way…

(read more: Science Magazine/AAAS)

illustration by Roman Uchytel

Come and take a “bite” out of nature & science, attending Explorers Society Members Event. #northmuseum #stemsisters #sharks (at North Museum of Nature & Science)

Quoll Returns to the Australian Mainland After 50 Years

On March 1st, Fourteen eastern quolls were released into Australia’s mainland to rebuild their population because of a team’s effort from Australian National University. Since the 1770′s, quoll numbers have been declining due to many dangers such as habitat loss and predators that include foxes, wild dogs, and cats.

The quoll is carnivorous and feeds on smaller mammals, small birds, lizards, and insects. Until now, it has inhabited inland parts of Australia. There are six current species(pictured is the tiger quoll). The larger of which live longer than the smaller, with an average life span of two to five years.

So, whats the point of this translocation? Well, quolls are important to the functioning of the mainland ecosystem where they regulate the prey species. The released quolls will have radio tracking collars to be monitored.

Fact about the quoll: Male and female quolls only meet for mating, and male den territories often overlap female territories. However, they have communal toilets where they may have up to 100 droppings in them.

Photo by:  joshua cunningham via Flickr

A Deep Sea Squid Cares for Her Eggs

In recent years, submersibles have allowed scientists to explore the lives of deep-sea animals in ways that were not possible before. One of the many exciting discoveries was that a mother of the deep-sea squid species Gonatus onyx broods her eggs by holding them in her arms, a behavior that had never been previously reported for squids.

This shocking discovery was the first time scientists had evidence of parental care in squids. In 2012, a team of researchers led by Stephanie Bush, reported finding another species of deep-sea squid that broods eggs, Bathyteuthis berryi, suggesting that this form of parental care may be a common solution to a reproductive problem for deep-sea squids.

Watch a video about this amazing deep-sea discovery:

http://ow.ly/ZS9jc

(via: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

This picture looks just like another dead fish washed up on shore - until you realize that it’s actually a whale, and those are grizzly bears standing on it.

(Source)

New Species of Shieldtail Snake Discovered in India 

by Enrico de Lazaro

The Khaire’s black shieldtail (Melanophidium khairei) is described in a paper recently published in the journal Zootaxa by an international team of scientists led by Dr. David Gower of the Natural History Museum, London, UK. The newfound species occurs in southern Maharashtra, Goa, and northern Karnataka. It is the most northerly member of the genus…

(read more: Science News)

photographvia: David J. Gauer et al.

Microbiolgy & Virology flash cards i made today.

Russian deep sea fisherman becomes online hit after revealing bizarre catches

1. Frilled Shark 2. Unidentified, possibly a stoplight loosejaw, a deep-sea dragonfish from the genus Malacosteus 3. Ghost Shark 4. Black Scabbardfish 5. Sea Spider 6. Grenadier or Rattail Fish 7. Unidentified 8. Anglerfish, species unidentified 9. Unidentified 10. Ray, species unidentified