A new minute freshwater snail species belonging to the genus Daphniola was found by a researcher from University of Athens (Canella Radea) in a spring covered by snow on Mt. Parnassos, central Greece. This study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.
The new species, Daphniola eptalophos, has a transparent conical-flat coiled shell, grey-black pigmented soft body and a black penis with a small colorless outgrowth on the left side near its base. D. eptalophos differs from its congeners in shell dimensions, soft body pigmentation and coloration of penis.
Daphniola is an endemic genus for Greece, inhabiting most of mainland Greece. Two of the three currently known species are included in the category Endangered and Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.1. It is notable that D. eptalophos was found in only one spring until now and its population abundance seems to be low.
The new species could be threatened by habitat destruction because the localities of freshwater gastropods in Greece, most of them springs, are prone to changes due to urbanization, water pollution, waste accumulation, tourism and agricultural practices. Effective conservation measures must be urgently taken to protect these localities before their unique gastropod fauna disappears.
Original source: Radea C (2011) A new species of hydrobiid snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Hydrobiidae) from central Greece. ZooKeys 138: 53-64. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.138.1927
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/pp-ans_1110111.php
Showing posts with label greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label greece. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Rare monk seal colony found in the Mediterranean
Scientists have found a colony of rare Mediterranean monk seals at an undisclosed location in Greece.
The species is the world's most endangered seal, and one of the most endangered marine mammals - fewer than 600 individuals remain.
Researchers are keeping the location of the colony secret to avoid having the seals disturbed by human visitors.
It is the only place in the region where seals lie on open beaches, rather than hide in coastal caves.
Alexandros Karamanlidis, scientific co-ordinator of the Mom/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk seal, explained that this was the seals' "original behaviour".
"It is human disturbance that has caused the species to retreat to inaccessible caves," he told BBC News.
"So this place is incredibly important - the seals feel so secure that they go out on to open beaches."
The Mom researchers, whose society name is derived from the Latin name of the species, Monachus monachus, have been monitoring and studying monk seals for more than 20 years.
This has not been an easy task when most of the animals now live in areas that are not visible from the water line.
By driving the seals into secluded caves, the scientists say, human activity has also affected the number of seal pups that survive into adulthood.
Dr Karamanlidis explained: "Because of human disturbance, [the seals] give birth in these coastal caves, [meaning that] more pups die during storms."
The number of seal pups born annually in the newly discovered colony on this tiny island is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
The team has placed cameras on the island to study the seals remotely.
The area's popularity with tourists has gradually driven the animals away from other beaches, and the scientists hope to stop the same thing happening on this island.
"It's a small island in the Aegean with nice sandy beaches," Dr Karamanlidis told BBC News.
So if it remains open to people, the place will get crowded and the seals will start going away again."
More than half of the world's remaining monk seals live in Greece.
The society is now appealing to the Greek government to make the part of the island where the seals live, and its inshore waters, a marine protected area.
"The seals only survive in Greece because we have these isolated islands that people do not have access to," said Dr Karamanlidis.
"So we're trying to make this a place where the seals feel secure."
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9317000/9317582.stm
The species is the world's most endangered seal, and one of the most endangered marine mammals - fewer than 600 individuals remain.
Researchers are keeping the location of the colony secret to avoid having the seals disturbed by human visitors.
It is the only place in the region where seals lie on open beaches, rather than hide in coastal caves.
Alexandros Karamanlidis, scientific co-ordinator of the Mom/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk seal, explained that this was the seals' "original behaviour".
"It is human disturbance that has caused the species to retreat to inaccessible caves," he told BBC News.
"So this place is incredibly important - the seals feel so secure that they go out on to open beaches."
The Mom researchers, whose society name is derived from the Latin name of the species, Monachus monachus, have been monitoring and studying monk seals for more than 20 years.
This has not been an easy task when most of the animals now live in areas that are not visible from the water line.
By driving the seals into secluded caves, the scientists say, human activity has also affected the number of seal pups that survive into adulthood.
Dr Karamanlidis explained: "Because of human disturbance, [the seals] give birth in these coastal caves, [meaning that] more pups die during storms."
The number of seal pups born annually in the newly discovered colony on this tiny island is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
The team has placed cameras on the island to study the seals remotely.
The area's popularity with tourists has gradually driven the animals away from other beaches, and the scientists hope to stop the same thing happening on this island.
"It's a small island in the Aegean with nice sandy beaches," Dr Karamanlidis told BBC News.
So if it remains open to people, the place will get crowded and the seals will start going away again."
More than half of the world's remaining monk seals live in Greece.
The society is now appealing to the Greek government to make the part of the island where the seals live, and its inshore waters, a marine protected area.
"The seals only survive in Greece because we have these isolated islands that people do not have access to," said Dr Karamanlidis.
"So we're trying to make this a place where the seals feel secure."
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9317000/9317582.stm
Rare monk seal colony found in the Mediterranean
Scientists have found a colony of rare Mediterranean monk seals at an undisclosed location in Greece.
The species is the world's most endangered seal, and one of the most endangered marine mammals - fewer than 600 individuals remain.
Researchers are keeping the location of the colony secret to avoid having the seals disturbed by human visitors.
It is the only place in the region where seals lie on open beaches, rather than hide in coastal caves.
Alexandros Karamanlidis, scientific co-ordinator of the Mom/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk seal, explained that this was the seals' "original behaviour".
"It is human disturbance that has caused the species to retreat to inaccessible caves," he told BBC News.
"So this place is incredibly important - the seals feel so secure that they go out on to open beaches."
The Mom researchers, whose society name is derived from the Latin name of the species, Monachus monachus, have been monitoring and studying monk seals for more than 20 years.
This has not been an easy task when most of the animals now live in areas that are not visible from the water line.
By driving the seals into secluded caves, the scientists say, human activity has also affected the number of seal pups that survive into adulthood.
Dr Karamanlidis explained: "Because of human disturbance, [the seals] give birth in these coastal caves, [meaning that] more pups die during storms."
The number of seal pups born annually in the newly discovered colony on this tiny island is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
The team has placed cameras on the island to study the seals remotely.
The area's popularity with tourists has gradually driven the animals away from other beaches, and the scientists hope to stop the same thing happening on this island.
"It's a small island in the Aegean with nice sandy beaches," Dr Karamanlidis told BBC News.
So if it remains open to people, the place will get crowded and the seals will start going away again."
More than half of the world's remaining monk seals live in Greece.
The society is now appealing to the Greek government to make the part of the island where the seals live, and its inshore waters, a marine protected area.
"The seals only survive in Greece because we have these isolated islands that people do not have access to," said Dr Karamanlidis.
"So we're trying to make this a place where the seals feel secure."
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9317000/9317582.stm
The species is the world's most endangered seal, and one of the most endangered marine mammals - fewer than 600 individuals remain.
Researchers are keeping the location of the colony secret to avoid having the seals disturbed by human visitors.
It is the only place in the region where seals lie on open beaches, rather than hide in coastal caves.
Alexandros Karamanlidis, scientific co-ordinator of the Mom/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk seal, explained that this was the seals' "original behaviour".
"It is human disturbance that has caused the species to retreat to inaccessible caves," he told BBC News.
"So this place is incredibly important - the seals feel so secure that they go out on to open beaches."
The Mom researchers, whose society name is derived from the Latin name of the species, Monachus monachus, have been monitoring and studying monk seals for more than 20 years.
This has not been an easy task when most of the animals now live in areas that are not visible from the water line.
By driving the seals into secluded caves, the scientists say, human activity has also affected the number of seal pups that survive into adulthood.
Dr Karamanlidis explained: "Because of human disturbance, [the seals] give birth in these coastal caves, [meaning that] more pups die during storms."
The number of seal pups born annually in the newly discovered colony on this tiny island is amongst the highest recorded anywhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
The team has placed cameras on the island to study the seals remotely.
The area's popularity with tourists has gradually driven the animals away from other beaches, and the scientists hope to stop the same thing happening on this island.
"It's a small island in the Aegean with nice sandy beaches," Dr Karamanlidis told BBC News.
So if it remains open to people, the place will get crowded and the seals will start going away again."
More than half of the world's remaining monk seals live in Greece.
The society is now appealing to the Greek government to make the part of the island where the seals live, and its inshore waters, a marine protected area.
"The seals only survive in Greece because we have these isolated islands that people do not have access to," said Dr Karamanlidis.
"So we're trying to make this a place where the seals feel secure."
By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9317000/9317582.stm
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Millions of frogs close road in Greece
Greek officials said that the massed ranks of frogs has forced a key highway near the town of Langadas in the north of the country to close for two hours on Wednesday.
Giorgos Thanoglou, chief of traffic police in Thessaloniki, which lies 12 miles west of the Biblical frog plague's epicentre, said that there were 'millions' of frogs on the road.
Authorities had to shut the Egnatia highway down after three cars skidded off the road as their drivers tried to dodge frogs. There were no reports of any humans being injured, although a few of the frogs probably didn't fare so well.
Thanoglou suggested that the amphibians influx could have been due to the frogs leaving a nearby lake to forage for food.
'There was a carpet of frogs,' he added.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/828084-millions-of-frogs-close-road-in-greece
Giorgos Thanoglou, chief of traffic police in Thessaloniki, which lies 12 miles west of the Biblical frog plague's epicentre, said that there were 'millions' of frogs on the road.
Authorities had to shut the Egnatia highway down after three cars skidded off the road as their drivers tried to dodge frogs. There were no reports of any humans being injured, although a few of the frogs probably didn't fare so well.
Thanoglou suggested that the amphibians influx could have been due to the frogs leaving a nearby lake to forage for food.
'There was a carpet of frogs,' he added.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/828084-millions-of-frogs-close-road-in-greece
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mysterious 'Rebel Dog' of Greek riots becoming latest Web icon
Fri May 7, 5:09 pm ETIt's a time-honored adage that anyone in Washington who wants a friend had better get a dog. But who knew that man's best friend would also be a boon to Greek rioters?
Amid the turmoil of the Greece financial crisis, photos and videos of street protests have turned up a kind of canine "Where's Waldo" figure: a mutt that may have some German shepherd genes, and clearly has a strong interest in civic disorder.
While one can't be certain that it's the same pooch at every protest — Athens is something of a magnet for street-savvy stray dogs — this mutt does sport a distinctive blue collar, which may indicate that, while he's a stray, he's also current on his shots.
By some accounts, the dog has been on the Athens protest scene ever since 2008 (though some say the 2008 pooch is a similar-looking dog named Kanellos who established himself as a fixture at demonstrations and died that year).
The current mutt has won a long string of blog tributes and a number of online nicknames, including "Rebel Dog," "Riot Dog" and "Protest Dog." He even has a Facebook page devoted to him (as "Riot-Dog").
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)