A few weeks ago, I reported the possible disappearance of the Yangtze River dolphin when Biological Letters published an article suggesting this may be the first human-caused extinction of a cetacean species. And would you know it, according to The New York Times, a baiji dolphin was filmed in the Yangtze River this very week. Good news for marine mammal enthusiasts everywhere. Then again, Bigfoot's sighted quite often too.
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They say extinction is the only real certainty. Species are constantly blinking in and out of existence. This may or may not be of concern depending on your scale of interest. In 2007 we're doing all sorts of things to pillage and plunder life on this incarnation of planet earth, but of course…
First, the bad news: the current issue of Biology Letters reports the extinction of the baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin, in what amounts to the official publication of an earlier announcement that the species could no longer be found in its already limited habitat. That would make the baiji (…
The New York Times was reporting this story like it was surprising in the slightest:
A rare, nearly blind white dolphin that survived for millions of years is effectively extinct, an international expedition declared Wednesday after ending a fruitless six-week search of its Yangtze River habitat.…
One Species' Entire Genome Discovered Inside Another's:
Scientists at the University of Rochester and the J. Craig Venter Institute have discovered a copy of the entire genome of a bacterial parasite residing inside the genome of its host species. The finding, reported in Science August 30,…
This is a good example of how the language of science ("functionally extinct") is lost in translation by the media, which in this case includes us science bloggers.
Sheril,
All unknowingly you've caught on to the truth. That's not a baiji dolphin, that's a tuna in a baiji dolphin suit.! :)