February 26th, 2011 The rich and unique biodiversity of Madagascar has a new member: a forest dwelling bird in the rail family, dubbed Mentocrex beankaensis. In 2009 US and Malaygasy scientists conducted a survey in Madagascar’s dry Beanka Forest. They discovered several new species, of which the new rail is the first to be described.
May 27th, 2010 BirdLife International has announced, in the 2010 IUCN Red List update for birds, the extinction of Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus. Restricted to a tiny area of east Madagascar, this species declined rapidly after carnivorous fish were introduced to the lakes in which it lived. This, along with the use of nylon gill-nets by fisherman which [...]
March 5th, 2010 The team of 41 international scientists have come to their conclusion after analysing the past 20 years of research. The mass extinction wiped out more than half of all species on the planet, including the dinosaurs and some large marine reptiles, the scientists decided.
November 14th, 2009 The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (SCEMS) supports continuous professional development. SCEMS offers the Fellowships in Museum Practice (FMP) program to serve the needs of mid-career practitioners and to promote the exchange of knowledge in the field. The deadline for the next application cycle is February 15, 2010, for fellowships beginning after October [...]
November 6th, 2009 Shakespeare’s character Macbeth could have been speaking about Slumgullion when he mentioned tomorrow creeping in a petty pace from day to day. This relatively loose, nearly 4-kilometer-long tongue of soil and rocks is indeed creeping: It’s moving down a slope in southwestern Colorado at about a centimeter every 24 hours. But several times a day, [...]
November 3rd, 2009 The rise of the Appalachians plunged Earth into an ice age so severe that it drove nearly two-thirds of all living species extinct. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which finds that the mountains’ rocks absorbed enough greenhouse gas to freeze the planet. The Appalachians, a heavily forested mountain range stretching more than 1500 [...]
November 3rd, 2009 The number of species threatened with extinction has risen again in 2009, says the world’s most comprehensive assessment of international biodiversity. The IUCN’s Red List of threatened species reports that 17,291 out of 47,677 species assessed are now at serious risk. This includes 21% mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates.
October 21st, 2009 Pour more rain on Ida’s parade. Last May, a team of researchers announced that the 47-million-year-old lemurlike fossil represented a missing link between primitive primates and humans. Many paleoanthropologists were skeptical, however, and shortly thereafter a new find challenged Ida’s status. Now, another skeleton has come out of Ida’s closet: a younger relative from Egypt [...]
October 20th, 2009 The Journal of Entomology and Nematology (JEN) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published that will be monthly by Academic Journals http://www.academicjournals.org/JEN). JEN is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject.
September 3rd, 2009 On 15 September the landmark Darwin Centre opens to the public. Museum visitors can explore world-class science in action in a dramatic new public space. The new Darwin Centre is a state-of-the-art science and collections facility and the building is the most significant expansion at the Museum since it moved to South Kensignton in 1881.
