New Giant Ancient Penguin Discovered in New Zealand

By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Fossils from New Zealand have revealed a giant penguin that was as big as a grown man, roughly the size of the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The creature was slightly shorter in length and about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) heavier than the official stats for hockey star Sidney Crosby. It measured nearly 5 feet, 10 inches (1.77 meters) long when swimming and weighed in at 223 pounds (101 kilograms).

If the penguin and the Penguin faced off on the ice, however, things would look different. When standing, the ancient bird was maybe only 5-foot-3 (1.6 meters).

The newly found bird is about 7 inches (18 centimeters) longer than any other ancient penguin that has left a substantial portion of a skeleton, said Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany. A potentially bigger rival is known only from a fragment of leg bone, making a size estimate difficult.

The biggest penguin today, the emperor in Antarctica, stands less than 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall.

Mayr and others describe the giant creature in a paper released Tuesday by the journal Nature Communications. They named it Kumimanu biceae, which refers to Maori words for a large mythological monster and a bird, and the mother of one of the study's authors. The fossils are 56 million to 60 million years old.

That's nearly as old as the very earliest known penguin fossils, which were much smaller, said Daniel Ksepka, curator at the Bruce Museum of Greenwich, Connecticut. He has studied New Zealand fossil penguins but didn't participate in the new study.

The new discovery shows penguins "got big very rapidly" after the mass extinction of 66 million years ago that's best known for killing off the dinosaurs, he wrote in an email.

That event played a big role in penguin history. Beforehand, a non-flying seabird would be threatened by big marine reptile predators, which also would compete with the birds for food. But once the extinction wiped out those reptiles, the ability to fly was not so crucial, opening the door for penguins to appear.

Birds often evolve toward larger sizes after they lose the ability to fly, Mayr said. In fact, the new paper concludes that big size appeared more than once within the penguin family tree.

What happened to the giants?

Mayr said researchers believe they died out when large marine mammals like toothed whales and seals showed up and provided competition for safe breeding places and food.  The newcomers may also have hunted the big penguins, he said.

New Species Discovered: 6 Tiny Tree-Climbing Anteaters

The never-ending tale of the hunt for the tricky tree-climbing mini anteaters of Brazil.

For years, researchers thought there was just one anteater species, that is until one relentless lady found 6 more in hiding.

A biologist named Flavia Miranda was studying anteaters in Brazil and noticed something strange in some of their fur. She "began to see differences between the colors of the population of the Amazon and the Atlantic forest."

Well, after over 10 years and 10 expeditions of Miranda and her team searching jungles and museums in South America, they collected DNA samples from 313 anteaters; 280 from museums and 33 from wild ones. 

They passed out flyers to the local native peoples asking for their help finding these tricky tree-climbers and their hard work paid off... eventually.

"It took us two years to capture the first animal," Miranda says.

Since these lived high up in the trees, only came out at night, and are pretty small you can imagine the difficulties of trying to find and capture some specimens for live study. The average person might have given up the hunt but Miranda was inspired and on a mission. 

These furry little animals seem to have followed ants up the trees, finding enough food to happily stay up there while avoiding larger predators down below. They're only 20" long and super cute. 

Basically, they found smaller tree-climbing species with different silky fur.

"This is a good example of the startling results that can emerge when a widespread animal that has hardly ever been studied in any detail is examined with modern techniques for the first time," says Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist at the University of Adelaide in Australia. "I won't be surprised if future research on these beautiful animals shows even more overlooked species," he says.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm more curious as to how these researchers were able to spend 10 years roaming the Brazillian forests looking for some little anteaters. This seems like quite an expense over that long period of time and for an, arguably, insignificant discovery of more kinds of anteaters. Anyway, I'm sure Miranda wasn't the only one relieved when she finally found them. 

Miranda's team measured the anteaters' skulls and recorded the various colorings of their silky fur to divide the groups they found. So, in total, the team discovered 6 new species that were previously overlooked.

Not surprisingly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified C. didactylus as a species of least concern, because they're found all over the place. However, now that this main anteater family tree is divided into more branches, each one may be in a uniquely dangerous situation. 

But not to worry, Miranda is excited to continue her grand adventure to protect these newfound animals from deforestation and pollution.

"The work is just beginning," she says.

New Blue Tarantula Discovered in South American Forest

Scientists discovered a rare spider in Guyana, South America.

If you thought the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker was amazing, you haven't seen this blue tarantula.

The researchers are from the Global Wildlife Conservation that went hunting through the forests for exciting new species and this is just 1 out of 30 new species they found in the Kaieteur National Park, which includes:

• 3 plants
• 5 dragonflies
• 6 fish
• 15 swimming beetles

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“Guyana is one of the world’s most important countries for biodiversity conservation with the second highest percentage of forest cover on Earth, high levels of biological diversity and species that are found nowhere else.”

— Global Wildlife Conservation spokesperson

In case you don't know, there are actually already 40 different kinds of blue spiders in the world with another blue tarantula found only in a very small region of India. It's categorized as "critically endangered" because of this limited habitat and since that location's pollution and is getting worse and worse. That one is bright blue with white stripes and called poecilotheria metallica. 

In a 2015 study of blue tarantulas leader, Mr. Bor-Kai Hsiung told the BBC: 'It evolved from multiple origins and different mechanisms produce the very same blue color. That's very strong evidence to suggest that this blue color has a very important visual signaling function. But if it's not for other tarantulas, then it must be to some other receivers out there.'

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Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5122119/BLUE-tarantula-one-30-new-species-discovered.html#ixzz50bH9iSZM

Amateur Canadian Explorers Accidentally Discover 15,000-year-old Caves Below Montreal

It's not every day someone uncovers portal into ancient history, so you can imagine it came as quite a surprise to these two Canadians when they accidentally broke through a limestone wall and fell into a huge cavern network from the last Ice Age. These amateur explorers were digging around in an existing cave with hammers and drills until they made this historic breakthrough discovery into an ancient world dating back 15,000 years. 

It was Daniel Caron and his friend, Luc Le Blanc, who made the discovery. 'Normally you have to go to the moon to find that kind of thing,' Daniel Caron, one of the explorers, told The Canadian Press.

It's 650-foot long, 9-foot wide cave with a 20-foot ceiling above a lake. Caron believes the caverns were created during the Ice Age when pressure from the massive glaciers split the rock apart. Made from thousands of years of dripping water, stalactites hang from the ceiling with a 15-foot deep lake that they had to use an inflatable boat to cross. 

Cave explorer Daniel Caron points to a wall of a cave under a park in Montreal

The hallway looks almost manmade with vertical walls and horizontal ceiling. Perhaps they stumbled upon the legendary Mines of Moria?! Well, so far there are no signs of dwarves or orcs so it seems this is a natural network of inner earth caves. 

Francois Gelinas, the director of Quebec's speleological society told The Canadian Press, 'They built the street over the cave and they never found the cave. There is no technology available to detect the presence of caverns. Underground excavation is the only thing on the planet where there is no scientific, technical or technological means of knowing if there are caverns, and whether they are large or small,' he said.

Check out the video of these ancient caverns!

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5150023/Two-explorers-discover-15-000-year-old-cave-Montreal.html#ixzz50V7zzQKY 

Ancient Underwater Castle Discovered in Turkey After Decade of Searching

After 10 years of searching, Turkish underwater diving team finally make a huge discovery. 

Hidden beneath the waters of Turkey's Lake Van researchers found a 3,000-year-old castle. The leader of this long adventure is Tahsin Ceylan from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University who admits he was actually hunting for the mysterious Lake Van monster instead.

"There was a rumor that there might be something under the water but most archaeologists and museum officials told us that we won't find anything," Ceylan told the Daily Sabah. But he paid no heed to the neigh sayers, kept following his vision, and now made an even greater discovery than he dreamed. Arnold Schwartzenegger would call this kind of person a champion. 

Lake Van is the largest body of water in Turkey and once belonged to the Urartu civilization that peaked about 2,600-2,900 years ago, corresponding to the biblical Kingdom of Ararat. There were many conflicts around here in the past and it's debatable that this castle was actually used as a fortress in ancient times. 

It measures .6 miles long (1 km) and made of cut stones stacked up to 13 feet high. Despite being underwater for many years, it's still in good shape due to the alkaline water.

"Many civilizations and people had settled around Lake Van," Ceylan told Hurriyet Daily News. "They named the lake the 'upper sea' and believed it had many mysterious things. With this belief in mind, we are working to reveal the lake's 'secrets'."

Finding More Sunken Treasures

Besides this fortress castle, Ceylan's team has found other impressive treasures along their journey of discoveries. Last year they found 1.5 square miles of stalagmites they nicknamed "Underwater Fairy Chimneys" after Cappadocia's famous "Fairy Chimneys" that were supposedly built or inhabited by mountain fairies. Perhaps then these new ones built by mermaids? They also found thousands of years old gravestones and a Russian ship from 1948. 

Ceylan is very excited to find such a large historically significant artifact and is eager for researchers to arrive so the world can learn more. 

"It is a miracle to find this castle underwater. We now believe we have discovered a new area for archaeologists and historians to study. Archaeologists will come here to examine the castle's history and provide information on it," Ceylan said. 

With an estimated 600,000 year history, this lake is set to contain many more remnants of our humankind's distant past. The only way to know for sure is to keep looking deeper like Ceylan and his team have been doing. So, sometimes you have to just trust yourself and ignore the skeptics to make true breakthroughs.

Keep exploring and go further. Let us know what you find. 

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Sources:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/castle-discovered-lake-turkey-underwater-lake-van-urartu-thousands-years-old-a8070911.html

http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/mysterious-3000yearold-castle-found-hidden-in-turkish-lake/

Strange 518-Million-Year-Old 'Mythical Beast' Sea Creature Fossil Discovered

An artistic rendition shows the rare creature had a long worm-like body, a shell over its head like a bike helmet and lengthy scary spikes poking out from either side of its body.

Experts find rare ancient fossilized sea creature that's 'strange beyond measure'

• The second one of its kind ever found
• 518 million years old from Cambrian Period
• Likely lived in shallow waters less than 100 meters deep
   

This bizarre prehistoric sea creature looks like an armored spikey caterpillar from outer space! It was found by archaeologists at southern China's famous fossil site of Yunnan Province where a treasure trove of ancient history lies hidden beneath the earth dating back to the Cambrian Period 541 to 485.4 million years ago. 

Its official name is orthrozanclus elongata, after its long body and despite the tens of thousands of fossils in the area, only 2 of these have ever been found so far. 

1. The first one was dug up in 2015 in Chengjiang fossil site by Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology's researchers. 
2. The second was discovered in 2016 in Kunming by a fossil lover who gave it to Mr. Zhao, who learned it was the same as species. 

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Zhao Fangchen holds one of the two fossils of the ancient species that have been discovered in Yunnan Province, China.

“The two specimens could shed light on the diversity of extinct creatures as well as their connection with animals in modern times.”

— Zhao Fangchen, researcher

Zhao Fangchen knew as soon as he saw the fossil it was different from others 'even if it was very small' because of its extremely long spikes and unsegmented body. These made it difficult to categorize.

"The creature was about 1.5cm long and 3mm wide, but its spikes were about 6mm long. It just looked so different," said Mr. Zhao.

Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology. Shell-armoured creatures, sclerite-covered taxa, discovered in Chengjiang, Yunnan fossil site. A, b, f, and g are the two new specimens.

Ancient Mythical Beasts

With an armored body and long spikes all around Dr. Smith said "the creature is like a mythical beast." He added that "we don't know much about the animal underneath these mineralized plates - whether it had legs or a slug-like foot, whether it had teeth or tentacles." 

Mr. Zhao Fangchen believes this strange appearance is more than just some ornate decoration to attract mates but that it evolved to protect itself from enemies. The armor is a strong defense and the spikes are even better, acting as feelers through the water as well as an offensive defense to keep predators at a distance. 

Mr. Zhao and other researchers think these fossils backup the Cambrian Explosion theory that claims a huge variety of creatures emerged about 541 million years ago due to a dramatic increase in oxygen. Before that time, there were mostly simple organisms that didn't change much for a long time. This diversification explosion ended during an extinction even about 488 million years ago. 

A tiny but significant discovery.

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Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5132611/518-million-year-old-creature-strange-measure.html

https://www.livescience.com/61021-bizarre-cambrian-worm-discovered.html

Ancient 'Hell Ant' Impaled Victims with Metal Spike and Drank Their Blood

P. BARDEN, H.W. HERHOLD, D.A. GRIMALDI

Sealed away in an amber prison for all time, this evil "Hell Ant" looks like it can't wait to break free and devour its next victim.

This 99-million-year-old piece of amber from Myanmar contains a specimen of Linguamyrmex vladi and is kept safe in the American Museum of Natural History. They found several with dates ranging from 99 to 78 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period, meaning these devilish creatures walked the earth for 20 million years.

New Jersey Institute of Technology's evolutionary biologist Philip Barden and his team found this in Myanmar. They noticed that instead of the usual ant mouth, this one has tusk-like blades pointing upwards and a large metal horn! Reminiscent of Vlad the Impaler, this ancient Hell Ant would use these tusks to lift its prey onto its horn to impale them. What's even more gruesome is it would use the groove in its jaws to channeling other insects' blood into its mouth while wriggling on the hellish spike. 

Besides these viscous offensive weapons, the Hell Ant also has armor. Its head is equipped with a plate naturally reinforced with metal that stops its own or an enemy's blades from piercing through. 

“This reinforcement occurs primarily along the center of the paddle and, as the specimen is preserved with the mandibles largely ‘closed’ and positioned near this spot, suggests that the reinforcement is intended to accommodate mandibular impact,” explain Barden's team.

Talk about a monster! If this is what a prehistoric ant was like, I'm dreading what creatures may be hidden in other amber tombs. What a relief that none of them are around today. Scientists agree that their specialized predatory behavior and attack strategy are not found among today's ant species. 

Sources:

http://csglobe.com/ancient-hell-ant-metal-horns-trap-jaw-found-inside-amber/

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/hell-ant-found-amber

NEW BIRD SPECIES DISCOVERED IN PERU: Machaeropterus Eckelberryi

Machaeropterus eckelberryi. Image credit: Andy Kratter, Florida Museum of Natural History.

The Machaeropterus eckelberryi was just found in southwestern Loreto, Peru. However, in 1994, it was mistakenly thought to be another species: striped manakin (Machaeropterus regulus) found in the Cordillera Azul mountain range. It's named after 20th century bird illustrator Don Eckelberry.

Researchers realized it was a new species when hearing its unique chirping. 

“Machaeropterus eckelberryi’s song lacks undertones and has a one-noted rising vocalization, rather than two-noted falling vocalization with undertones or a falling monosyllabic vocalization with undertones.”

“With its bright yellow front feathers, the bird was different from a local subspecies of the striped manakin, but nearly identical to the subspecies Machaeropterus regulus aureopectus found in the distant Venezuelan tepuis, but it has a completely different voice,” explains ornithologist Dr. Andy Kratter, of the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science.

“Even if we weren’t discovering new species, just exploring regions of the world that are still poorly known and getting a better picture of where species are distributed, what habitats they use and how we may use this knowledge to preserve them is a worthwhile activity,” says Dr. Daniel Lane, a research associate at Louisiana State University.

“Peru still has many treasures hidden in unexplored nooks and crannies, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the opportunity to uncover them. To this day, it may be some of the most virgin terrain I’ve ever visited.”

“Finding the new species and the isolated mountain ridge were important for the scientific community, in part because the discovery spurred Peru to preserve the area,” Dr. Kratter says.

“The Peruvian government established a national park in the area in the early 2000s, mainly as a result of finding this novel diversity in this area, which our expedition did.”

“Finding these guys opened up a little more inventory and exploration, which led to the formation of this gigantic national park.”

Machaeropterus eckelberryi is described in a paper published in the September 15, 2017 issue of the journal Zootaxa.

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Sources:

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/machaeropterus-eckelberryi-new-bird-species-peru-05353.html

Daniel F. Lane et al. 2017. A new species of manakin (Aves: Pipridae; Machaeropterus) from Peru with a taxonomic reassessment of the Striped Manakin (M. regulus) complex. Zootaxa 4320 (2); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4320.2.11

Hundreds Of Giant Mysterious Tunnels Discovered In Brazil

Brazil – a tropical paradise and home to some of the best athletes in the world.

It is the largest country in both South America and Latin America and boasts a beautiful culture and stunning scenery. In Brazil, you can find the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue and the awe-inspiring Corcovado and Sugarloaf Mountains. Travelers and explorers will find a wonderful slate of fauna such as the giant anteater, several varieties of sloths, armadillos, otters, and even capybara in the country.

However, Brazil has more than meets the eye. In fact, the country has its fair share of mysteries.

In 2010, geologist Amilcar Adamy from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, found a giant hole a few miles north of the Bolivian border. Upon investigation, he realized that the hole could not have been naturally made. None of the caves Adamy explored looked like anything the tunnels featured, with their round passages and smooth floors.

The mysterious tunnels have since then been discovered by various experts around the country and have opened up an entirely new realm of possibilities for geological studies.   

The Tunnels

source: Disclose.tv

Geologist Heinrich Theodor Frank stumbled across the tunnels while driving on the national Novo Hamburgo Highway. While driving, a hole of around one meter in diameter caught his attention. The hole was located at a construction site, and after further investigation, Frank discovered that the hole led to a complex underground tunnel. The tunnel was about 70 centimeters high and a few meters in length, with what appeared to be strange scratches on the ceiling of its walls. 

After further exploration, Frank realized that hundreds of similar tunnels existed all over Brazil. The state of Rondonia alone has a large complex of 600 meter-long tunnels. Not only that, 2,000 burrows with similar characteristics have also been found. 

Not even the locals in the area knew about the origins of the tunnels. Further tests showed that the tunnels were not man-made in origin. 

The Mysteries

Urban legends point towards various "historical" and even supposed "mythological" origins of the mysterious tunnels. Some say the tunnels were created by Indians, Jesuits, slaves, or even revolutionaries. Others believe the tunnels are a giant anthill or were even made by bears. Very rare few point towards a great mythological serpent that may have used the tunnel as its home.

Regardless, geological evidence alone proves that the tunnels were not created by Brazilian natives. The Indians who lived in Brazil even before the Europeans arrived did not use iron, and therefore had no means of digging through the hard rocks around the tunnels. 

According to Frank, there is no natural geological process known to man that can produce the features of the tunnels. These features include the circular or elliptical cross-sections that branch, rise, and fall around the area.

The geographic distribution of the tunnels is another mystery to scientists. The tunnels were only found in the southern parts of Brazil - particularly in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. They don't exist anywhere else. 

source:Earth Touch News Network

The claw marks on the walls of the tunnels are also peculiar.

Prehistoric animals such as giant armadillos or possibly mega-sloths are thought by many to be possible creators of such marks.

The biggest burrows, with sizes of up to five feet in diameter, may have been dug by ground sloths that have adapted to the area’s environment and developed digging skills.

Giant armadillos, though shorter than sloths, may also have the skills necessary to dig these tunnels as well. The grooves along the ceiling may, in fact, be marks the animals have left whenever they pause or stop working. 

Unfortunately, there are no specific indications of these animals living in the country. Moreover, the sheer size of the tunnels cannot possibly be made by any “giant” armadillos or sloths – at least, ones that we know of.

The giant armadillo, the largest existing member of its family, weighs between 65 and 90 pounds and is native to South America. However, its burrows are about 16 inches in diameter, and only up to 20 feet long. If the tunnels’ five foot wide and 250-feet long burrows are in fact dug my animals, then it should be one extremely big creature – one that has not been discovered yet. 

However, it seems there is still another possibility.

Historical Evidence

source: Ancient Origins

Frank eventually sent photographs of the tunnels to Marcelo Rasteiro of the Brazilian Society of Speleology. He introduced the notion of "paleoburrows" excavated by living organisms in any geological age.

Examples of these organisms include worms in the Cambrian Era, mollusks in the Mesozoic Era, or rats in the Pleistocene. These are all organisms that have lived millions of years ago.

Until the early 2000s, hardly any burrows attributed to extinct animals can be found in scientific literature. In fact, it was only in 2015 that Adamy himself had the opportunity to extensively explore the mysterious tunnels. 

If this paleoburrow theory is to be believed, then the tunnels in Brazil may have been created between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago. If this is the case, then the Rondonia tunnels Frank have discovered may be the first - and the largest - paleoburrow in the Amazon.

These tunnels can actually be found all over the world, which adds even more depth to the mystery. Frank said similar caves could be found in countries such as Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. 

Until scientists can figure out who, what, or how these paleburrows were made, they will remain an unfathomable enigma.

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Sources:

http://www.ancient-code.com/experts-baffled-discovery-hundreds-mysterious-tunnels-brazil/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2017/03/28/paleoburrows-south-america/#.WPiI9tKGOUk
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/extinct-megafauna-dug-these-incredible-tunnels-in-brazil/
http://www.ufrgs.br/paleotocas/Producao.htm

Long Lost 'CITY OF GIANTS' Unearthed in Ethiopia

In a recent dig in Ethiopia, Archaeologists have supposedly unearthed a “long-lost city once inhabited by giants.”

This city, located in Harlaa, Ethiopia, was unearthed by a team led by Timothy Insoll from the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter.

Few people have conducted archaeological research in the region in the past, but most of their digs focused on finding ancient human remains. This time, scientists focused on finding ancient settlements that could possibly hint at the existence of giants in the city.

According to locals in the area, there were numerous stories and legends of giants inhabiting the region in the past. The possible supporting evidence of such stories belongs in some of the buildings in the region. The buildings are made of stones are that so massive in size that only giants or people with supernormal strength could possibly have lifted them. Locals also mentioned that they found old coins and pottery on a regular basis, all of which hinted at an ancient settlement that once existed in the area.

Although archaeologists have found no other evidence of giants in the region, they HAVE discovered that Ethiopia was much more connected with the rest of the world than previously thought. Evidence of islamic burials, headstones, and even a 12th century mosque were found in the area. Not only that, there were also coins, fragments of glass vessel, rock crystal, glass pottery and other artifacts from places like Madagascar, the Maldives, Yemen, China, and Egypt. This means that Harlaa was probably a rich trading hub that had close relations to many other countries between the 10th and 15th centuries.

Insoll said: "What we have found shows this area was the center of trade in that region. The city was a rich, cosmopolitan center for jeweler making and pieces were then taken to be sold around the region and beyond. Residents of Harlaa were a mixed community of foreigners and local people who traded with others in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and possibly as far away as the Arabian Gulf.”

Further investigation is still being conducted in the city to find out more about its people and origins. Around 300 people from the city’s cemetery are currently being analyzed to understand more about the people who lived in Harlaa earlier in history. Did giants really exist in the city? There hasn’t been any solid evidence found yet. But if you look at all the evidence of giants from around the world, there shouldn’t be much doubt that these huge creatures must’ve existed some time in ancient history.