New Species Abound
By Emma Norman
Get your binoculars and ladybird guide to birds, insects and dinosaurs at the ready. With discoveries of new, old and ancient species are popping up all over the world, there should be something for everyone to find.
Here’s a round up of three amazing recent discoveries to whet your appetite:
Beetle mania
A species of beetle whose UK population was thought to be extinct has been rediscovered on the south Devon coast. The short-necked oil beetle was last spotted in 1948 in Sussex.
It was thought to be extinct because of the reduction in its habitat due to the intensification of farming practises and resulting decline in miner bee populations on whom the beetles depend. However, the beetles have been rediscovered during a National Trust wildlife survey on their land which hasn’t been disturbed by modern agriculture between Bolt Head and Bolt Sands in south Devon.
Good news for British entomologists but not such great news for miner bees. The beetles survive by hitching a ride on the bees’ backs to their nest where on arrival they consume their ride’s eggs and get their daily dose of protein from the bees’ lovingly prepared protein rich pollen stores.
The birds and the trees
Meanwhile across the Atlantic in the US state of Idaho a new species of bird has been discovered in two small mountain ranges, the South Hills and Albion Mountains. The bird is the South Hills crossbill and has co-evolved with the lodgepole pine trees on which they feed. The beaks of these birds have evolved over five to seven thousand years to become more successful at accessing the seeds of the lodgepile pines from their pine cones.
However, in retaliation the pine trees have evolved to make their seeds more difficult to extract from their cones. Amazingly the evolution of one has been met with the evolution of the other. The end result is that the co-evolution of these two species has produced a crossbill with a beak shape more able to extract the seeds than other birds in the area. These birds are therefore outcompeting their contemporaries and increasingly becoming the dominant species in the area.
An old croc in the rocks
Again in the US, this time in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, the fossils of an old croc have been discovered. The crocodile-like creature was six to eight feet long, with short legs, webbed feet, a fish-like tail and long, sharp teeth. The predator is believed to belong to the species Thalattosuchia and to have been an ocean dweller. It dates from the Jurassic period and so is around 150 to 180 million years old.
A number of fossils of the same species have been found in China yet this is the first of its kind discovered in the US. It is suggested by the croc’s discoverers that the rocks in which the croc was found may have travelled from the Far East via ancient tectonic plate movements.
So what are you waiting for? Get on out there and get discovering. Don’t forget that if you find it first you get to name it. (But this doesn’t mean you should start painting extra spots on ladybirds, pulling the odd leg off spiders or dying your dog green!)
Read more of Emma's enlightenings.
Here’s a round up of three amazing recent discoveries to whet your appetite:
Beetle mania
A species of beetle whose UK population was thought to be extinct has been rediscovered on the south Devon coast. The short-necked oil beetle was last spotted in 1948 in Sussex.
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It was thought to be extinct because of the reduction in its habitat due to the intensification of farming practises and resulting decline in miner bee populations on whom the beetles depend. However, the beetles have been rediscovered during a National Trust wildlife survey on their land which hasn’t been disturbed by modern agriculture between Bolt Head and Bolt Sands in south Devon.
Good news for British entomologists but not such great news for miner bees. The beetles survive by hitching a ride on the bees’ backs to their nest where on arrival they consume their ride’s eggs and get their daily dose of protein from the bees’ lovingly prepared protein rich pollen stores.
The birds and the trees
Meanwhile across the Atlantic in the US state of Idaho a new species of bird has been discovered in two small mountain ranges, the South Hills and Albion Mountains. The bird is the South Hills crossbill and has co-evolved with the lodgepole pine trees on which they feed. The beaks of these birds have evolved over five to seven thousand years to become more successful at accessing the seeds of the lodgepile pines from their pine cones.
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However, in retaliation the pine trees have evolved to make their seeds more difficult to extract from their cones. Amazingly the evolution of one has been met with the evolution of the other. The end result is that the co-evolution of these two species has produced a crossbill with a beak shape more able to extract the seeds than other birds in the area. These birds are therefore outcompeting their contemporaries and increasingly becoming the dominant species in the area.
An old croc in the rocks
Again in the US, this time in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, the fossils of an old croc have been discovered. The crocodile-like creature was six to eight feet long, with short legs, webbed feet, a fish-like tail and long, sharp teeth. The predator is believed to belong to the species Thalattosuchia and to have been an ocean dweller. It dates from the Jurassic period and so is around 150 to 180 million years old.
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A number of fossils of the same species have been found in China yet this is the first of its kind discovered in the US. It is suggested by the croc’s discoverers that the rocks in which the croc was found may have travelled from the Far East via ancient tectonic plate movements.
So what are you waiting for? Get on out there and get discovering. Don’t forget that if you find it first you get to name it. (But this doesn’t mean you should start painting extra spots on ladybirds, pulling the odd leg off spiders or dying your dog green!)
Read more of Emma's enlightenings.
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