Tag Archives: Canada

Rare birds in Arctic Svalbard

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This video from Canada says about itself:

This is a male (in full breeding plumage) and a female Lapland Longspur seen in the Victoria B.C. area

The site Birds of Svalbard and Jan Mayen has interesting updates about birds in the Arctic.

On 30 May, they reported a female Lapland longspur, not far from Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard. This is an Arctic species. But, usually, Svalbard is a bit too Arctic, even for Lapland longspurs.

In Isdammen lake on Spitsbergen island, also on 30 May, there was a group of six male teal. Also a northern Eurasian species; but, usually, not so far to the north. So, also a rare species for Svalbard.

This is a teal video.

Finally, in the Adventdalen valley in Svalbard, a pectoral sandpiper. This is a migratory wader, breeding in the colder regions of North America and East Asia, and wintering in South America and Oceania. Also very rare in Svalbard.

This is a pectoral sandpiper video. The bird was filmed on spring migration in Norway; amidst dunlins and a ringed plover.

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Reptiles, amphibians and fire

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The Sticky Tongue Project in Canada says about this video:

The Importance of Fire

Wildfires can be devastating to property and lives. But the fact is many of our native habitats are fire-dependent and will eventually burn sooner or later.

“The great outdoors is the foundation of all life on Earth, including yours.”

Episode 14 of a year-long 24 episode education-outreach video series starring Whit Gibbons (Herpetologist and Author), produced in cooperation with The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy.

This series features “fascinating facts and helpful conservation tips” for everyone “from homeowners to professional land and wildlife managers.”

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Ancient fossil named after Johnny Depp

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Kooteninchela deppi

From Biology News Net:

Actor Johnny Depp immortalized in ancient fossil find

May 16, 2013 04:57 PM

A scientist has discovered an ancient extinct creature with ‘scissor hand-like’ claws in fossil records and has named it in honour of his favourite movie star.

The 505 million year old fossil called Kooteninchela deppi (pronounced Koo-ten-ee-che-la depp-eye), which is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, was named after the actor Johnny Depp for his starring role as Edward Scissorhands – a movie about an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands.

Kooteninchela deppi is helping researchers to piece together more information about life on Earth during the Cambrian period when nearly all modern animal types emerged.

David Legg, who carried out the research as part of his PhD in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says:

“When I first saw the pair of isolated claws in the fossil records of this species I could not help but think of Edward Scissorhands. Even the genus name, Kootenichela, includes the reference to this film as ‘chela’ is Latin for claws or scissors. In truth, I am also a bit of a Depp fan and so what better way to honour the man than to immortalise him as an ancient creature that once roamed the sea?”

Kooteninchela deppi lived in very shallow seas, similar to modern coastal environments, off the cost of British Columbia in Canada, which was situated much closer to the equator 500 million years ago. The sea temperature would have been much hotter than it is today and although coral reefs had not yet been established, Kooteninchela deppi would have lived in a similar environment consisting of sponges.

The researcher believes that Kooteninchela deppi would have been a hunter or scavenger. Its large Edward Scissorhands-like claws with their elongated spines may have been used to capture prey, or they could have helped it to probe the sea floor looking for sea creatures hiding in sediment.

Kooteninchela deppi was approximately four centimetres long with an elongated trunk for a body and millipede-like legs, which it used to scuttle along the sea floor with the occasional short swim.

It also had large eyes composed of many lenses like the compound eyes of a fly. They were positioned on top of movable stalks called peduncles to help it more easily search for food and look out for predators.

The researcher discovered that Kooteninchela deppi belongs to a group known as the ‘great-appendage’ arthropods, or megacheirans, which refers to the enlarged pincer-like frontal claws that they share. The ‘great-appendage’ arthropods are an early relation of arthropods, which includes spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, insects and crabs.

David Legg adds: “Just imagine it: the prawns covered in mayonnaise in your sandwich, the spider climbing up your wall and even the fly that has been banging into your window and annoyingly flying into your face are all descendants of Kooteninchela deppi. Current estimates indicate that there are more than one million known insects and potentially 10 million more yet to be categorised, which potentially means that Kooteninchela Deppi has a huge family tree.”

In the future, David Legg intends to further his research and study fossilised creatures from the Ordovician, the geological period that saw the largest increase in diversity of species on the planet. He hopes to understand why this happened in order to learn more about the current diversity of species on Earth.

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Syrian war refugee attacked by Greek nazis

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Syrian refugees flee from terrible war. They flee, to, eg, Greece. They may fear governmental violence. Or they may fear the violence of cannibalistic fake ‘freedom fighters’, financed by the CIA, and/or the emir of Qatar, or one of the torturing princes and princesses of the kingdom of Bahrain.

And then, in Greece, comes the violence of Golden Dawn. Holocaust-denying, Hitler songs singing nazis, with their violence against Afghan refugee teenagers, against twelve-year-old girls, against Leftist women, etc. etc.

This video from Canada says about itself:

Golden Dawn Neo Nazi Scum Coming To A Country Near You

Nov 15, 2012

So many people supporting the Golden Dawn neo nazis from countries far and wide. I guess there are retards in every country that go around supporting people that only talk about juntas and idolizing right-wing dictators like the Golden Dawn party

From I Can’t Relax in Greece blog:

He got beaten in Attica Square because he said he is from Syria

16/05/2013

Before the shock from the racist attack against the 14-year-old Afghan subsided, a new racist attack was recorded. It took place … Tuesday and the victim this time was a 20-year-old Syrian in Attica Square.

According to Médecins du Monde, the young man was attacked as he was exiting the underground station of Attica Square. He was approached by five men dressed in black, they asked him where he is from and then beat him violently.

After the attack the 20-year-old was taken by some compatriots of his to the surgery of ‘Doctors of the world’ [Médecins du Monde] at Koumoundourou Square to receive first aid treatment.

…

[Translated from 'Ethnos' newspaper, 15/05/2013, found online at:
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22768&subid=2&pubid=63827983
]

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Pachycephalosaur discovery in Canada

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Researchers think Acrotholus audeti looked much like this. Image Courtesy: Julius Csotonyi

From Science Fare Media:

New dog-sized pachycephalosaur unearthed in southern Alberta

Small size hints that more similar-sized dinosaurs are still probably waiting to be discovered

Lee Flohr

May 7, 2013

When Roy Audet let researchers scour his ranch for creatures that roamed there roughly 85 million years ago, he didn’t expect them to find the fossil of a new dinosaur with features that he’ll jokingly admit they might share – he didn’t expect it to be named after him either.

But, a team of researchers from Canada and the United States did just that when they found a skull cap belonging to a new species of pachycephalosaur on his southern Alberta ranch in 2008.

“I get lots of jokes because I am a bit hard headed you know,” Audet told SciFare.com.

Formally named Acrotholus audeti, it’s the oldest pachycephalosaur dome found in North America – maybe even the world – it’s roughly two inches thick and sat on the head of a dinosaur that’s about as big as a large dog, but stretched roughly six feet long from tip-to-tip.

“It has a very well developed dome for its geological age,” David Evans, study co-author and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, told SciFare.com. “The vast majority of dome-headed dinosaurs in the fossil record are basically based on isolated skull caps.”

Fortunately for researchers, they found a less complete dome sitting on their shelf after it was recovered from the same region, more than 50 years ago.

“Even though I had recognized it as being something distinct, it wasn’t until Caleb found the really good specimen in 2008 that we really clinched it,” Evans said. “It’s very well preserved, has a lot of detail and shows how a lot of characteristics of pachycephalosaurs that we thought appeared later in the fossil record, actually occurred earlier.

In order to look dome’s internal structure, researchers used a CT-scanner and found that by the time the dinosaur started walking into the fossil record it had already evolved into one complete unit.

“So, the acquisition of a very tall dome had occurred, at least, by the time of Acrotholus, 85 million years ago,” he added.

The CT-scan also allowed them to determine the dinosaur’s life stage without destroying it – traditional methods require them to slice the bone and dye it – and weighing roughly 100 pounds, it was entirely possible that it belonged to a juvenile.

“We can tell by the density how mature the individuals are,” Evans said. “In this case the dome’s extremely dense and that’s something we only see in the most mature adults.”

Turns out their thick skulls actually have profound consequences for the entire fossil record – their unique head gear may be the only reason we know them at all.

By dinosaur standards, Acrotholus is small. The researchers say that if a mature, small bodied pachycephalosaur exists, small bodied versions of other dinosaurs should exist too – but they don’t.

“Their bones are very small and susceptible to weathering and destruction by predators,” Evans said. “Something about the size of a small dog would be one bite for a predator, and all of those bones would be gone.”

So, if they didn’t end up as hors d’oeuvres, their skeletons were certainly ground up by the sands of time – the planet looked a lot different 85 million years ago.

When the researchers added the new find to the pachycephalosaur family tree, they found Acrotholus’ dome was closely related to a pachycephalosaur from Mongolia, known as Prenocephale.

Fortunately, its skeleton is more complete and researchers were able to use it to generate the image of Acrotholus’ – the turtle in the picture was also found on Audet’s ranch and described by a team that included Evans in 2012.

Eric Snively studies how pachycephalosaurs might have used their thick skulls – he wasn’t part of this discovery though. He told SciFare.com the research is interesting because it shows much there’s still left learn about this time period – known technically as the Santonian – and pachycephalosaur evolution during it.

“They would have split off from their sister group, which are horned dinosaurs like Triceratops and their relatives, many millions of years before we find the first good pachycephalosaur fossils,” Snively, who’s currently a post-doctoral researcher at Ohio University, told SciFare.com.

“There are still a lot of gaps to fill in, but we know that by the time this animal was around they were pretty standard looking pachycephalosaurs,” he added.

He’s also intrigued by the idea that many other small-sized dinosaurs are likely waiting to be discovered – if their existence hasn’t been ground out of the fossil record.

“It’s showing us more evidence that there’s greater diversity of small dinosaurs than we thought,” Snively said.

Evans said his team’s gearing up to head back to Audet’s ranch later this spring so they can hunt for more new and cool fossils. For Audet, it’s just another chance to learn something cool about the creatures that once dominated his ranch, 85-million years ago.

“It’s always fun for me when someone comes along from the scientific community because I can always learn something,” Audet said. “It’s not difficult for me to help ‘em across the river with a canoe or let ‘em park in the yard.”

The new dinosaur was described in the journal, Nature Communications.

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Helping amphibians, reptiles in your own backyard

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This video from Canada says about itself:

Backyard Wildlife Tips

Here are few quick tips to help you conserve amphibian and reptile populations in your own backyard.

“The great outdoors is the foundation of all life on Earth, including yours.”

Episode 13 of a year-long 24 episode education-outreach video series starring Whit Gibbons (Herpetologist and Author), produced in cooperation with The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy.

This series features “fascinating facts and helpful conservation tips” for everyone “from homeowners to professional land and wildlife managers.”

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US soldier jailed for Iraq war opposition

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This video is called Iraq War resister Kimberly Rivera honoured at Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) Gala.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Soldier gets 10 months in jail for fleeing Iraq war

Tuesday 30 April 2013

by Our Foreign Desk

US female soldier Kimberly Rivera has pleaded guilty to two counts of desertion after fleeing to Canada to avoid a second tour of duty in the Iraq war.

Private Rivera was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Monday and a bad-conduct discharge by an army court martial.

Pvt Rivera was a driver in Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and served in Iraq in 2006.

She said that while there she became disillusioned with the US mission in Iraq.

During a two-week leave in the US in 2007, she fled across the Canadian border after being ordered to serve another tour in Iraq.

Pvt Rivera applied for refugee status, but was denied.

She then applied for permanent residency, but Canadian immigration officials rejected the application and also rejected her requests to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Pvt Rivera was first ordered to leave Canada or face deportation in 2009, but appealed against the decision.

The mother of four faced another deportation order in 2012. She was arrested at the US border and taken into military custody.

Around 19,000 people signed an online petition in Canada protesting against Pvt Rivera’s deportation order and rallies were held in a number of Canadian cities calling on the government to let her stay in the country.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the US veterans’ organisation Veterans for Peace also protested against the deportation order.

Pvt Rivera’s civilian lawyer James Matthew Branum argued that she never filed for status as a conscientious objector because she didn’t know that such an option was available to her.

Mr Branum said that she should have been informed about it when she met a chaplain in Iraq to consult him over concerns that she couldn’t take a life.

Canadian activist group the War Resisters Support Campaign estimated in 2012 that there were still about 200 Iraq war resisters resident in Canada.

The lower house of Canada’s Parliament passed a motion in 2009 in favour of allowing US military deserters to stay, but the Conservative Party government ignored the vote.

Iraq War Resister Kim Rivera sentenced to 14 months in military prison after deportation by Harper government: here. And here.

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Canadian lynx discovery in Britain

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This video is called CANADIAN LYNX – Species Spotlight.

From Wildlife Extra:

Museum find proves exotic ‘big cat’ prowled British countryside a century ago

Canadian Lynx shot in Devon in 1900

April 2013. An old skeleton, found in a warehouse of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, of an animal shot around 1900 in Devon has proved to be that of a Canadian Lynx.

The study of the Canadian lynx, rediscovered by research team member Max Blake among hundreds of thousands of specimens at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, details records unearthed at the museum which showed the animal had originally been mislabelled by Edwardian curators in 1903 as a Eurasian lynx – a close relative of the Canadian lynx.

The animal’s skeleton and mounted skin was analysed by a multi-disciplinary team of Durham University scientists and fellow researchers at Bristol, Southampton and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx – a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.

Earliest example of ‘Alien big cat‘ in Britain

The research establishes the animal as the earliest example of an “alien big cat” at large in the British countryside.

1976 Wild Animals Act

The research team say this provides further evidence for debunking a popular hypothesis that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. The Act was introduced to deal with an increasing fashion for exotic – and potentially dangerous – pets.

The academics believe such feral “British big cats” as they are known, may have lived in the wild much earlier, through escapes and even deliberate release. There is no evidence that such animals have been able to breed in the wild.

Shot in Devon

The records also showed that the lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s, after it killed two dogs. (Another lynx was found in a freezer in 1991 in Norfolk).

“This Edwardian feral lynx provides concrete evidence that although rare, exotic felids have occasionally been part of British fauna for more than a century,” said lead researcher, Dr Ross Barnett, formerly of Durham University and now Marie Curie Fellow with the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen.

“The animal remains are significant in representing the first historic big cat from Britain.”

Co-author Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton, added: “There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK.

“It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the ‘British big cat‘ phenomenon.”

The researchers point out in their paper that Eurasian lynxes existed in the wild in Britain many hundreds of years ago, but had almost certainly become extinct by the 7th century.

Kept in captivity

Morphometric and stable isotope analyses identified the specimen as a Canadian lynx, while analysis of its bones and teeth established it had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque before it either escaped or was deliberately released into the wild.

Ancient DNA analysis of hair from the lynx proved inconclusive, possibly due to chemicals applied to the pelt during taxidermy.

Julie Finch, head of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries & Archives, said: “Bristol Museum, Galleries and Archives were pleased to be a part of this ground-breaking research, which not only highlights the importance of our science collections, it establishes the pedigree of our 100-year old Lynx and adds to our knowledge and understanding of ‘big cats’ in the UK.

“Our museum collections are extensive and caring for them requires the considerable skills of our collections officers. We have an amazing collection of taxidermy animals on display and we welcome museum visitors to come along, to take a closer look and discover more about the natural world.”

Dr Greger Larson, a member of the research team from Durham University and an expert in the migration of animals, said: “Every few years there is another claim that big cats are living wild in Britain, but none of these claims have been substantiated. It seems that big cats are to England what the Loch Ness Monster is to Scotland.

“By applying a robust scientific methodology, this study conclusively demonstrates that at least one big cat did roam Britain as early as the Edwardian era, and suggests that additional claims need to be subjected to this level of scrutiny.”

The lynx is now on public display at the museum. For further details, click here.

The research was published in the academic journal Historical Biology.

BIG CATS IN BRITAIN

Despite years of claims and alleged sightings, there has never been any proof that big cats are roaming our countryside. A lynx that was shot in Norfolk in the early 1990s was apparently an esapee from a local zoo, and there have been several claims that ‘Small big cats’ such as leopard cats and swamp cats have been run over, there has never been any proof that these land based Nessies exist.

There is, of course, great conspiracy theories that suggest it is all a great police and government cover up, along with UFO and man on the moon. That will be the same police that broadcasted their efforts to destroy a toy tiger on a golf course in Hampshire in 2011.

If you want to read more, have a look at The British Big Cats Society website – still displaying a photo of the lynx from the early 1990s.

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