Amazon

We are not sure what the bigger story here is: the discovery of a new species of tiny adorable river manatee or the fact that this happened in July and we just learned about it last week! Anyway, these critters were discovered by a pioneering Amazonian biologist by the name of Marc van Roosmalen and covered by Darren Naish of Tetrapod Zoology a few months back. Tetrapod is kind of the better researched, actually informative, articulate and all around nerdier version of Zooillogix. As the story goes, Marc came across the skull of a dwarf manatee and, suspecting it was a new species, searched…
"South America chokes as Amazon Burns" is the headline on an online Independent news article. Apparently the annual practice of fall burning to clear forest land so we can eat hamburgers and get fat has spun out of control this year. The world's largest forest has become a bit of a "tinder box" due to drought conditions thought to be a result of climate change. Vast areas of Brazil and Paraguay and much of Bolivia are choking under thick layers of smoke as fires rage out of control in the Amazon rainforest, forcing the cancellation of flights. Satellite images yesterday showed huge clouds…
Daceton armigerum, a highly visual, predatory ant. Two dozen new species were identified on the plateaus of Eastern Suriname, according to scientists today. The creatures, which include 12 new kinds of dung beetle, were originally discovered during a 2005 expedition sponsored by Suriname Aluminum Company LLC and BHP Billiton Maatschappij Suriname.Purple-festooned, Atepolus toad Amazonian snail-eating snake A dwarf catfish in the Guyanancistrus genus, nicknamed "Big Mouth" by its discoverers Add to: Slashdot del.icio.usredditnewsvineY! MyWeb