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A 33,000-year-old dog skull unearthed in a Siberian mountain cave presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and, together with an equally ancient find in a cave in Belgium, indicates that modern dogs may be descended from multiple ancestors…

An ancient dog skull, preserved in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia for 33,000 years, presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and, together with equally ancient dog remains from a cave in Belgium, indicates that domestication of dogs may have occurred repeatedly in different geographic locations rather than with a single domestication event.

In other words, man’s best friends may have originated from more than one ancient ancestor, contrary to what some DNA evidence previously has indicated.

“Both the Belgian find and the Siberian find are domesticated species based on morphological characteristics,” said Greg Hodgins, a researcher at the University of Arizona…

The Altai Mountain skull is extraordinarily well preserved, said Hodgins, enabling scientists to make multiple measurements of the skull, teeth and mandibles that might not be possible on less well-preserved remains. “The argument that it is domesticated is pretty solid,” said Hodgins. “What’s interesting is that it doesn’t appear to be an ancestor of modern dogs…”

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Where’s Matilda?

A new species of brightly coloured snake has been found in a remote area of Tanzania in East Africa.

The striking black-and-yellow snake measures 60 cm and has horn-like scales above its eyes. The newly discovered snake, named Matilda’s horned viper, has been described in the journal Zootaxa.

The exact location of the new species is being kept a secret, because it could be of interest to the illegal pet trade.

Campaign group the Wildlife Conservation Society said the snake’s habitat, estimated at only a several square km, is already severely degraded from logging and charcoal manufacture.

The authors of the study in Zootaxa expect the viper will be classified as a critically endangered species. They have already established a small captive breeding colony.

Watched the film “CREATION” last night – about that critical period in Darwin’s life when he had to confront both his daughter’s death and the matching conflict with his family, his own circle of friends and neighbors, over completion of “ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES”.

Sad, always moving, triumphant in the decision we all know he made. He would have felt the effort to save these snakes from society’s despoilment of nature as worthwhile this week – as he did in his own day.

Cetti’s Warbler

Once heard only rarely outside the north Kent marshes, the loud voice of the Cetti’s warbler is now delighting a whole new set of listeners, from the isle of Anglesey to the banks of the Humber. The bird has moved 150 kilometres further north within the UK in the last 40 years, in response to the changing climate.

Cetti’s warbler is not alone – the little egret has now colonised Britain, which had previously been too cold for the bird; and the comma butterfly can now be found in Edinburgh, at least 220 kilometres north of its former central England home.

These changes, in response to global warming, have happened two to three times faster than was previously expected, according to a new study from the biology department of York University, published…in the peer review journal Science. Although such responses to global warming have been predicted, the study is the first to show that animal and plant species have moved furthest in the regions where the climate has warmed the most.

Species have tended to move towards the poles, fleeing in search of their more accustomed temperatures as climate change has resulted in warming of their normal habitats, according to the new research. The phenomenon is one of the clearest examples of climate change in action.

Chris Thomas, professor of conservation biology at York University and leader of the project, said: “These changes are equivalent to animals and plants shifting away from the equator at around 20 centimetres per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year. This has been going on for the last 40 years and is set to continue for at least the rest of this century. “

RTFA. Lots of details, lots of examples. No doubt the article in Science – as it becomes available free on the Web – will add a great deal more.

In recent years, I’ve noted several examples from local observations here at Lot 4. Redwing Blackbirds which used to pass through spring and fall on migrations – now stay for the winter. We acquired mockingbirds here this year – for the first time – no surprise at this latitude; but, in combination with the altitude, it’s new. I’ve noted a new species of lizard typically found closer to Sonoran desert – but, not in New Mexico’s high desert plains – that showed up here about three years ago. I was really worried about that one – afraid they might push out our native Blue Tail Skinks; but, they seem to be competing OK.

Sir David with schoolchildren aiding the Big Butterfly Count

City-dwellers are now so “divorced from nature” the only wild animals they are likely to see is a rat or a pigeon, according to Sir David Attenborough. The veteran presenter, who has introduced viewers to some of the most spectacular wildlife in the world through his television programmes, said most people are unlikely to see animals in the wild.

“Worldwide we are estranged from nature,” he said. “Over half of the world’s population is now urbanised which means that more than one person in two is to some degree cut off from the natural world. There will be some people who do not see a wild creature from one day to the next – unless it is a rat or a pigeon – and they aren’t wild.”

The 86-year-old, who is planning a visit to the rainforests of Borneo for three weeks, admitted that most people are unable to travel to exotic places. But he said the wildlife on our doorsteps is just as important…

The natural world is around us all the time in our houses and gardens. And it is not just a question of standing back and looking at it in a passive way it is about getting involved in an active way and that transforms your attitude.”

Sir David urged people to take part in the Big Butterfly Count, which asks people to count butterflies in their local park, woodland or even the garden for 15 minutes over the next couple of weeks. He said the scheme, now in its second year, is the perfect opportunity for even “townies” to reconnect with nature.

“This enables you to get involved in the natural world, in your own garden. If you start counting butterflies, you become aware of them…

“Butterflies are in danger and we are doing our best to try and help them but we cannot help them unless we know what is happening to them. So the Big Butterfly Count is very important…

If my heart is not going to be lifted by a butterfly because they’ve gone my life is going to be much the poorer.”

I tell folks the story of being at a high school [American] football game in the Texas Oil Patch at twilight. As the powerful lights clattered on to illuminate the contest, insects gathered in clouds around the brightness. I expected next to see swifts and other birds knifing through the schools of flying bugs – but none appeared.

He said, “Breathe deeply. We call that the smell of money.”

With its dark red and black stripes, spotted fins and long venomous black spikes, the lionfish seems better suited for horror films than consumption. But lionfish fritters and filets may be on American tables soon.

An invasive species, the lionfish is devastating reef fish populations along the Florida coast and into the Caribbean. Now, an increasing number of environmentalists, consumer groups and scientists are seriously testing a novel solution to control it and other aquatic invasive species — one that would also takes pressure off depleted ocean fish stocks: they want Americans to step up to their plates and start eating invasive critters in large numbers.

“Humans are the most ubiquitous predators on earth,” said Philip Kramer, director of the Caribbean program for the Nature Conservancy. “Instead of eating something like shark fin soup, why not eat a species that is causing harm, and with your meal make a positive contribution?”

We’re already at consideration of three questions at this point in the article: 1. Ready access to the invader?; 2. How easy and cost effective is it to harvest? 3. Any cultural barriers to overcome [back to the marketing department folks].

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Japanese researchers will launch a project this year to resurrect the long-extinct mammoth by using cloning technology to bring the ancient pachyderm back to life in around five years time.

The researchers will try to revive the species by obtaining tissue this summer from the carcass of a mammoth preserved in a Russian research laboratory, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. “Preparations to realise this goal have been made,” Akira Iritani, leader of the team and a professor emeritus of Kyoto University, told the mass-circulation daily.

Under the plan, the nuclei of mammoth cells will be inserted into an elephant’s egg cell from which the nuclei have been removed, to create an embryo containing mammoth genes, the report said.

The embryo will then be inserted into an elephant’s uterus in the hope that the animal will eventually give birth to a baby mammoth.

The elephant is the closest modern relative of the mammoth, a huge woolly mammal believed to have died out with the last Ice Age.

Some mammoth remains still retain usable tissue samples, making it possible to recover cells for cloning, unlike dinosaurs, which disappeared around 65 million years ago and whose remains exist only as fossils…

The team, which has invited a Russian mammoth researcher and two US elephant experts to join the project, has established a technique to extract DNA from frozen cells, previously an obstacle to cloning attempts because of the damage cells sustained in the freezing process.

I can picture cockroach scientists some vague time in the far distant future trying to clone human beings via the few primates that survive our environmental negligence.

Don’t forget a little grits and grease on the side!

Umm, no, at least not according to the latest results of a study on fish consumption and stroke. The survey found that people who live in the so-called “stroke belt” of the United States, which stretches from the Carolinas to Arkansas and Louisiana and where stroke rates are among the highest in the country, are less likely to eat the recommended two servings of fish per week. And when residents in these states do eat fish, they are more likely to have it in fried form.

That’s not a surprise, says the study’s lead author, Dr. Fadi Nahab, director of the stroke program at Emory University Hospital, given the popularity of fried foods in the South. But the results highlight one of the major contributors to the higher rates of stroke in the region, and that involves diet…

It turns out that most of the fish being consumed was fried, which negated its potential stroke-preventing benefits on several levels. First, as studies by researchers in Spain have found, the act of frying fish can cause fatty fish such as salmon, which is rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, to lose its beneficial oils; those oils get replaced with the often unhealthier oil in which the fish is fried. In addition, the types of fish that are normally fried, such as cod and other white fish, tend to be less dense in omega-3 fats.

“What we hope to highlight with our study is that it’s not just about having fish, but about how you prepare that fish,” says Nahab. “And it’s not about any kind of fish whatsoever, but having certain fish species that have more omega-3 fats, so if you’re going to have fish, it’s better to have fish like salmon, herring and mackerel that are much higher in omega-3 fats…”

Until then, the current study suggests that it’s not enough to simply eat fish, but to make sure that it’s cooked any way but fried. That may not be so easy to do in the South, but it could potentially shrink the girth of the stroke belt.

Shrinking any part of the average American girth is praiseworthy. Yes, including my own.

There are better – and worse – methods for deep-frying than are usually practiced at retail. But, the point made in general about just using healthier techniques makes the most sense.

England’s five rarest bumblebees have made a comeback in a former stronghold thanks to wildlife-friendly farming that aims to support an extinct bee being reintroduced from New Zealand…

The five threatened species, including the shrill carder bee which is England’s rarest bumblebee, have spread their geographic range in the south-east as a result of environmental schemes in Dungeness and Romney Marsh.

Around 50 farms in the area have been working since January 2009 to restore habitats suitable for the short-haired bumblebee ahead of its reintroduction from New Zealand where it was taken more than a hundred years ago – and survived while becoming extinct here.

The project to bring back the species, which was transported to the other side of the world in the 19th century to pollinate red clover grown to feed sheep, was delayed after captured bees died in hibernation.

But the work to improve habitats in the area ahead of the short-haired bumblebee’s eventual release has already had a positive effect on threatened species which are still found in the area, the wildlife experts said.

The five bumblebee species – the large garden bumblebee, the shrill carder bee, the shanked carder bee, the moss carder bee and the brown banded carder bee – have all increased their ranges in Kent and East Sussex this summer after decades of decline.

The shrill carder bee has been seen in areas where it has not been recorded for 25 years, according to the groups running the project…

Project leader Dr Nikki Gammans said…”We hoped that we would begin to see results like this for these species but we really didn’t expect to see it quite so quickly. It’s a great result, and one we’re very excited about…”

Of course, the new Conservative-led government will probably cut the funding for programs like this one. Next month, we hear.

Deep in the Sahara desert are honeybees that have remained isolated from all other bees for at least 5,000 years.

The bees arrived at Kufra in Libya when the Sahara was still a green savannah, and have survived ever since around an oasis in the desert, over 1,000km from their nearest neighbouring bees…

Around 10,000 years ago, the Sahara was a green savannah, a habitat well suited to honeybees (Apis mellifera).

Today, the Sahara is inhospitable to honeybees, which can’t survive in the large sand deserts that lack any vegetation. However, honeybees do survive in many oases that litter the desert. Most are maintained by local beekeepers that keep the insects for honey production and to pollinate oasis plants. But some wild populations of bees survive.

One such group lives at the desert oasis at Kufra in southeast Libya, while another lives at an oasis at Brak to the west of the country…

Though honeybees living at Kufra have colonies of a similar density to bees elsewhere, certain genetic traits appeared in the Kufra bees at much high frequencies, with some being unique.

That shows that the Kufra bees have remained isolated from all others for at least 5,000 years and perhaps up to 10,000 years, since the moment they were cut off by the creation of the Sahara desert…

The Kufra bees could also be a source of new genetic traits that could be useful to beekeepers elsewhere, the researchers suggest.

Just like the sensible botanists who maintain heritage species of fruits and vegetables for the same purpose.

Reports of maples on the march northward and butterflies flitting far afield are already flooding in, and climate scientists predict that with escalating temperature changes more species will need to either get out of Dodge, or hope for emissions reductions that will help the planet dodge the climate bullet.

Much of Earth’s life forms are fine-tuned for specific ecosystems and their associated climates. Plunk a tree frog down in a harsh habitat it is not well adapted for, and it will fail to thrive—or even survive. Now, with regional climates shifting as a result of global warming, it is unclear just how far—and how fast—organisms will need to travel to keep up with moving climates. A new study, published online in Nature, aims to paint a clearer picture by uncovering the variable velocity of climate shifts across the globe…

On average, given annual average temperature change models, local climates will move about 0.42 kilometers (or a quarter of a mile) each year, the study found. And 28.8 percent of the world’s biomes (or ecosystems, areas with similar climatic conditions) are facing rates of change more than 1 kilometer per year. “What we’re bringing attention to is the speed with which these things happen,” Loarie says about the study, which analyzed these climate change velocities across the globe at the resolution of a single kilometer.

Although these shifts might sound like small beans for mobile animals like birds, which can pick their environment with relative precision, for the very small, the very large and the very rooted, such a pace might be impossible. “Plants might be particularly vulnerable” in the case of rapid local climate changes, says Dov Sax, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University in Providence, R.I. And even species that can travel more easily, like butterflies, can be dependent on specific plants or other biome system members that are slower to follow temperature changes. If a species can move to more comfortable climes, “the right ecosystem needs to be there” for them to thrive, Sax explains.

Calculating climactic changes is a tricky business, and temperature is by no means the whole story. Loarie and his team chose temperature as a key marker, he says, because organisms are “bathed in temperature.” His team also ran the models with predicted precipitation changes and arrived at similar conclusions, even though moisture levels can prompt more nuanced responses across species. Sax, who wasn’t involved in the study, notes that predicting how species will respond to these changes can be even more difficult. “We’re in a very early stage of figuring these things out,” he says.

RTFA. It will help your own understanding. Presuming you are one of those rational human beings who orders their life and politics through expanding knowledge – rather than talking points, trite and ideological.

All short-term phenomena; but, differing qualitatively from the recorded history of the region.