Scientists at the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung have discovered nearly 500 new species, including the Yellow Dyer Rain Frog (Diasporus citrinobapheus).

Science Daily has the story:

Whether in the deep sea of the Antarctic, in the rainforests of Laos or in domestic, pastoral landscapes -- scientists from the ten Senckenberg institutes have discovered new species of plants and animals everywhere. They have even made new discoveries in allegedly familiar research collections -- either by studying previously unidentified material or using new research methods. "The objective always is to record and preserve the diversity of life on earth, in other words, biodiversity," explains Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Volker Mosbrugger, Director General of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung.

491new species from all parts of the globe were described in the last two years by Senckenberg scientists. The extent of new discoveries ranged from colourful island crabs to the Yellow Dyer Rain Frog and fossilised woodpeckers to the first eyeless huntsman spider. Some of the animals have barely been discovered and are already threatened with extinction.
Read the rest here.

Photo: Yellow Dyer Rain Frog ©Senckenberg

Australian scientists have discovered that Bessie the Moo Cow may be one-quarter snake, genetically speaking.

From ABC News:

The head of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide, Professor David Adelson, led the project and says it involved comparing dozens of DNA sequences from different species.

"There was an observation backs in the '80s that snakes and cows shared a segment of DNA that looked to be quite similar in sequence and that was found to be a repetitive sequence," he said.

"We basically went and scoured all of the databases for sequence, and did sequencing of our own across some species where there was no available information, and put all of that together."

Professor Adelson says the DNA sequence shared by cows and reptiles is known as Bov-B.

Read the whole fascinating story here.

Don't you just hate it when things like this happen?

Around 15,000 crocodiles escaped from a farm in South Africa following heavy rain.

The crocodiles sprung from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in the far north of the country when owners were forced to open the gates to prevent a storm surge after the nearby Limpopo river rose.

A number have since been recaptured, but at least half remain on the loose, scattered far and wide.

Read all about it here...

Seems like it was a slow news day in the UK, where headlines blared about some mysterious orange frogs found in the snow in a Derbyshire alley. You know, things like "Experts baffled!" and "Mystery frogs!"

Finally, one newspaper thought to contact the reptile house at the London Zoo, where team leader Ben Tapley explained the frogs don't hail from Mars, but are African clawed frogs, commonly kept as pets.



Pretty cute for mutant aliens from outer space.

Whether you're a football fan or not, Colin Kaepernick may just be every herper's favorite pro football player.

Seems the 49er quarterback, who is expected to make his first Super Bowl start when the 49ers face off against the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans, still has the now-115-pound tortoise he got as a pet when he was 10 years old.


From NESN.com:

When Colin Kaepernick was a child of just 10 years old, he got a pet tortoise. However, unlike the reptiles ...of many children which have since been flushed down the toilet, Sammy — as the tortoise is named — is still very much alive, and has grown to a whopping 115 pounds over the years.

Go, Colin! Go, Sammy!