Australia's Ground parrots are distinct species - Critically Endangered

Only about 110 birds survive in the wild

December 2011: A new, critically endangered species of ground parrot has been discovered in Western Australia.

A team of researchers, led by Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Dr Stephen Murphy, used DNA from museum specimens up to 160 years old to reveal that populations of ground parrots in eastern and western Australia are highly distinct from each other and that the western populations should be recognized as a new species, Pezoporus flaviventris.

‘The discovery has major conservation implications,' said Dr Murphy. ‘The western ground parrot has declined rapidly in the past 20 years, there are now only about 110 birds surviving in the wild and most of these are confined to a single national park. It is now one of the world's rarest birds.'

An urgent need to protect the remaining population
WA Department of Environment and Conservation's Dr Allan Burbidge said: ‘A single wildfire through the national park or an influx of introduced predators, such as cats, could rapidly push the species to extinction. There is now an urgent need to prevent further population declines and to establish insurance populations into parts of the former range.'

Team member Dr Jeremy Austin, of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide, said: ‘Our findings demonstrate that museum collections, some going back more than 150 years, continue to be relevant and can provide critical information for understanding and conserving the world's biodiversity into the future.'

Director of CSIRO's Australian National Wildlife Collection, Dr Leo Joseph, said: ‘Even after 200 years of study, we are still recognizing new species of birds in Australia. This finding highlights the need for further research on Australia's unique, and sometimes cryptic, biodiversity.'


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ground-parrot2011.html

Worms With Teeth Attack Aussie Couple

Couple Being Eaten Alive By Parasites, But Now Recovering
An Australian couple is recovering after discovering they were being eaten alive by tiny worms with teeth.

The duo discovered the culprits after weeks of chronic illness, the Herald Sun reported.

They first became ill after cooking fish they had caught while camping in Western Australia, and ingesting the gnathostomiasis larvae.

It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia.

The worms are less than 1 inch long, have sharp teeth and can work their way around the body until it dies or is killed by the immune system.

"They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick and it can be very hard to diagnose," Dr. Andrew Fuller told the Herald Sun. "They eat your tissues."

The 52-year-old man told doctors he could even feel movement under his skin.

A course of antibiotics killed the parasite and the couple have recovered.

http://www.wapt.com/r/28460768/detail.html

Fish had sex for fun first, Western Australian fossil study suggests

SHARK-like fishes were the first animals to have sex for fun, Discovery News reported today, citing research based on well-preserved fossils of the creatures found in Western Australia.


Previously it had been thought that the jaws of the fish were developed over time to facilitate feeding - but scientists now believe the jaws were used to aid mating.

"Jaws might not have first evolved for feeding, as widely presupposed, but to facilitate copulatory mating," project leader John Long said.

"In many sharks the jaws are used to hold on to pectoral fins of females so copulation can take place."

Intimate sex by copulation first occurred 400 to 410 million years ago, according to scientists, in the early Devonian Period.

Mr Long, who is vice president of research and collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said mating between the fish was "not just spawning in water, but sex that was fun".

Mr Long and his team announced the determinations today at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's 70th Anniversary Meeting in Pittsburgh.

The scientists came to their conclusions after studying fossil embryos from ptyctodontid and arthrodiran placoderm fishes - similar to today's sharks.

"Our finds show that these extinct armored fishes, the placoderms, had intimate copulation with males inserting claspers (a structure that is part of the pelvic fin) inside the female to deposit sperm," Mr Long told Discovery News.

The find "is significant because it means that an advanced form of reproduction involving copulation and live-bearing was more widespread than previously thought."

Read more at Discovery News.

Fish had sex for fun first, Western Australian fossil study suggests

SHARK-like fishes were the first animals to have sex for fun, Discovery News reported today, citing research based on well-preserved fossils of the creatures found in Western Australia.


Previously it had been thought that the jaws of the fish were developed over time to facilitate feeding - but scientists now believe the jaws were used to aid mating.

"Jaws might not have first evolved for feeding, as widely presupposed, but to facilitate copulatory mating," project leader John Long said.

"In many sharks the jaws are used to hold on to pectoral fins of females so copulation can take place."

Intimate sex by copulation first occurred 400 to 410 million years ago, according to scientists, in the early Devonian Period.

Mr Long, who is vice president of research and collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said mating between the fish was "not just spawning in water, but sex that was fun".

Mr Long and his team announced the determinations today at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's 70th Anniversary Meeting in Pittsburgh.

The scientists came to their conclusions after studying fossil embryos from ptyctodontid and arthrodiran placoderm fishes - similar to today's sharks.

"Our finds show that these extinct armored fishes, the placoderms, had intimate copulation with males inserting claspers (a structure that is part of the pelvic fin) inside the female to deposit sperm," Mr Long told Discovery News.

The find "is significant because it means that an advanced form of reproduction involving copulation and live-bearing was more widespread than previously thought."

Read more at Discovery News.