#Elephant Mystery at Ancient Syrian Battle Solved Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:40 a m. E t. on Jan 24.
The mystery of an ancient battle between two warring troops of elephants has been solved thanks to a modern genetic analysis of the lumbering beasts.
Researchers have now found that Eritrean elephants which live in the northeastern portion of Africa are savanna elephants
and are not related to the more diminutive forest elephants that live in the jungles of Central africa.
That in turn discounts an Ancient greek account of how a battle between two warring empires played out with one side's elephants refusing to fight
The matchup included tens of thousands of troops thousands of cavalry and dozens of war elephants on each side.
The elephants were the ace in the hole able to trample the enemy and sow terror with their massive size.
Elephants were considered the tanks of the time until eventually the Romans figured out how to defeat war elephants in later times said study co-author Alfred Roca an animal scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Antiochus had easy access to Asian elephants from India but Ptolemy didn't. Instead he set up outposts in
what is now modern-day Eritrea to get African elephants. Unfortunately that strategy didn't work out so well:
According to Polybius'account the African elephants turned tail and ran when they saw how gigantic the Asian elephants were.
Ptolemy however was able to recover due to missteps by Antiochus and eventually won the battle.
African elephants In reality Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants so some historians speculated that perhaps the Ptolemies were using African forest elephants
So Roca and his colleagues conducted a thorough genetic analysis of the elephants found in Eritrea the descendants of the losers in the ancient battle.
We showed using pretty much every genetic marker that they were savanna elephants Roca told Livescience.
This was contrary to some speculation that there may be forest elephants present in that part of the world.
The team also found that there were just 100 to 200 African elephants left in isolated pockets in Eritrea
and the African elephants got spooked for some other reason than the overpowering size of the Asian elephants.
and they claimed that India had the biggest elephants in the world Roca said. Polybius who wasn't actually at the battle likely read those accounts
and surmised the Asian elephants'bigger size caused their opponents to panic. In fact until about the 1700s when scientists actually measured the two most people still thought Asian elephants were the larger species Roca said.
And even now games such as Age of empires that recreate the Battle of Raphia depict the Ptolemaic elephants as smaller.
Editor's Note: This article was corrected to note that there are 100 to 200 African not Asian elephants in Eritrea.
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitterand Google+.+Follow Livescience@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Livescience S
Last year an average of 96 elephants were killed for their tusks every day to feed an ever-growing demand for ivory trinkets the new bling in Asia.
If just 10 percent of Chinese families making more than $16000 per year buy one two-ounce ivory carving about the size of a piece of hotel soap 32600 elephants must die.
and are now even hacking off elephants'toenails for new traditional medicine cures. Raising awareness about the plight of elephants is without doubt necessary.
It has galvanized Former Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea the Vice-Chair of the Clinton Foundation to mobilize support from presidents of elephant-range states to take concrete action to halt the slaughter of elephants for their ivory.
It convinced U s. President Barack Obama to issue an Executive Order on Combating Wildlife Trafficking
and risking their lives doing so elephants have a much greater chance of escaping the poacher's bullet axe and chainsaw.
and consumer demand elephants will never be safe from the slaughter driven by a desire to own ivory
because catching poachers with ivory does not help the elephants who died. So what disincentives can conservationists muster to curb the trade
and prevent the death of the next elephant? Great work by the conservation community is confirming our suspicion that the trade in ivory is driven no longer by poor hunters who see poaching as a quick albeit risky way out of poverty.
and their allies can ensure that elephant poachers and the thousands of other participants in the illegal wildlife trade might become just a little less untouchable.
#New Action Plan to Save Madagascar's At-Risk Lemurs (Op-Ed) This article was published originally at The Conversation.
Contrary to the film of Dreamworks'imagining Madagascar is ruled not by King Julien and his colony of lemurs.
In fact the status of the lemurs on the island the only place on earth that they exist is a very precarious one.
To try to reverse the frightening fact that 94%of lemur species are under threat myself
and lemur experts around the world have issued a renewed action plan for their conservation. We highlight three key ways to save lemurs:
community-based conservation management the long-term presence of researchers at field sites and ecotourism. While the action plan separately identifies these three areas they do not exist independently of each other.
Madagascar s political problems have helped make lemur species the most endangered group of mammals on the planet.
There are currently 106 species of lemurs in Madagascar (new species continue to be discovered) and their natural forest habitats especially suffered from this political turmoil.
Increased banditry illegal logging in national parks and nature reserves and a sharp increase in the hunting of lemurs as bush meat#has left them facing extinction.
Ecotourism can allow rural communities in Madagascar to earn revenue for protecting lemur habitats; create economic incentives and benefits for local residents;
While Madagascar is one of the world s top biodiversity hotspots lemurs easily represent the country s brand#for drawing ecotourists.
The success of Rwanda s and Uganda s mountain gorilla ecotourism ventures shows that ecotourists are certainly willing to pay a premium to observe rare species in their natural habitat Madagascar can provide that in spades.
One success story that can serve as a model for promoting lemur and forest conservation at other sites across Madagascar is centred on Maromizaha Forest in the eastern part of the island.
This vast forest is rich in biodiversity including no fewer than 13 lemur species. With good transport links to the capital
It is actually a combination of 30 action plans each targeting different sites of importance for lemur conservation.
Ecotourism driven by lemurs along with research inspired by them would contribute significantly to that cost. Ian Colquhoun does not work for consult to own shares in
#Black mamba Facts The black mamba has quite a reputation. It is one of the world s deadliest snakes;
it is the fastest land snake in the world; and it is Africa s biggest poisonous snake.
This snake s potential danger has been the subject of many African myths and it has been blamed for thousands of human deaths.
The black mamba's reputation is undeserved not. These snakes are fast skittish and highly aggressive when threatened.
Their venom is potentially lethal and though antivenom exists it is not widely available in the black mamba s native habitat of southern and eastern Africa.
For this reason they are considered a top killer in a land where nearly 20000 people die from snake bites every year.
The black mamba is one of four species of mamba. Others are Jameson s mamba eastern green mamba and western green mamba.
Mambas are slender agile and active with smooth scales and powerful venom. They all live throughout Sub-saharan africa.
Contrary to what its name would suggest black mambas are actually brownish in color ranging from olive to greyish tones with paler bellies.
The snake gets its name from the blue-black color of the inside of its mouth
which it displays when threatened. Black mambas have shaped coffin heads and are lithe athletic snakes. They can grow to be 14 feet long (4. 25 meters)
though their average length is around 8 feet (2. 4 m). Black mambas can live up to 11 years in the wild.
Black mambas reside in South and East Africa s savannas rocky hills and open woodlands. They like low open spaces
and enjoy sleeping in hollow trees rock crevices burrows or empty termite mounds. These speedy serpents can move faster than most people can run a fact that partly explains why they are feared so.
Black mambas can reach speeds of up to 12 mph (19 kph) making them the fastest snake on land
but still slower than the myths of them outrunning horses would suggest. Over longer distances they average about 7 mph (11 kph.
They slither quickly in short bursts over level ground and can zoom along with about one-third of their bodies off the ground
and their heads proudly held high. The black mamba racing along with its head nearly 4 feet (1. 2 m) in the air is a terrifying and amazing sight.
However black mambas use their incredible speed to escape threats not to hunt. Black mambas hunt and are active during the day and return to the same place every night to sleep.
They are often found in pairs or small groups though they are fundamentally shy around humans.
They get nervous and will run away quickly if a human approaches unless of course they feel threatened.
In that case they may become aggressive If they feel threatened black mambas will lift the front third of their bodies 3 to 4 feet (0. 9 to 1. 2 m) off the ground open their mouths hiss
and expose the dark foreboding interior of their mouths. They spread their flat cobra-like hoods and shake their heads.
This is a defensive posture aiming to scare away the threat. If black mambas need to attack to defend themselves they will strike quickly several times then scurry away as fast as possible.
The black mamba has no specific predators. Its greatest threat is habitat destruction. Black mambas typically eat small mammals
and birds though there have been reports of mambas found with whole parrots or full-grown cobras in their stomachs.
Black mambas hunt small animals by biting them and holding on until the prey becomes paralyzed.
If hunting a larger animal black mambas strike their prey and then release it. They then follow it until it becomes paralyzed
or dies at which point they eat it. It doesn t usually take prey very long to die after being bitten by a black mamba.
Black mambas devour their food whole. They have flexible jaws that they can dislocate in order to fit food up to four times the size of their head into their mouth.
Black mambas usually mate during the spring or summer. Males fight for the affections of females.
After mating females lay between 6 to 25 eggs in a damp warm burrow. The female then leaves her eggs
and never sees them again. Babies hatch about three months later and are born measuring between 16 and 24 inches.
Just two drops of potent black mamba venom can kill a human. Black mambas have a neurotoxic venom
which shuts down the nervous system and paralyzes victims. Without antivenom the fatality rate from a black mamba bite is 100 percent.
Victims can die within 20 minutes to 4 hours and if antivenom isn t administered within 20 minutes it can be a death sentence.
Countdown: The World's 6 Deadliest Snakes The other mamba species are all smaller and slightly less venomous than the black mamba though still very poisonous.
These snakes are all brilliant green. They are also all arboreal species residing in trees.
They are known to drop from branches onto their prey below. All are solitary snakes. Jameson s mamba This is a slender snake that lives in trees
and actively and speedily pursues its small animal prey during the day. It can grow up to 8 feet long (2. 4 m) and lives in West and Central africa.
Eastern green mamba This is the smallest mamba usually measuring about 4 or 5 feet (1. 2 to 1. 5 m). It is common in the forests throughout East Africa.
Western green mamba The largest green mamba this snake can reach 10 feet (3 m). It is the second-longest venomous snake in Africa after the black mamba.
As its name suggests it lives in West Africa. Related: Image Gallery: Snakes of the World Fun Facts About Snake e
#Can Backpacking Flies Rescue Queensland's Farmers?(Op-Ed) This article was published originally at The Conversation.
The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Queensland s fruit and vegetable farmers are under pressure having lost their main weapon against their main enemy fruit flies.
Last year the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary medicines Authority banned the use of the pesticides dimethoate
and fenthion used by horticulturalists to keep Queensland fruit fly (also called Q-fly) at bay after finding that these chemicals pose an unacceptable risk to human health.
Q-fly is the highest priority pest for a range of horticultural industries and can inflict considerable financial losses on producers both through the money spent on pest management and in lost production and exports.
It affects citrus orchard fruits grapes and vegetables industries that together are worth A$5. 3 billion a year.
Managing Q-fly costs an estimated A$26 million annually. But the pesticide ban has opened up the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated and benign way to beat the Q-fly.
Bizarre as it might sound flies wearing tiny radio-tracking backpacks could help by revealing the fruit flies'movements
Figuring out where insects spend their time how far they travel and what they are doing has traditionally been very difficult to do in real time.
The ultimate aim is to improve honeybee pollination and productivity on farms as well as help us monitor for any biosecurity threats including Colony Collapse Disorder a global phenomenon where worker bees from a beehive
or colony abruptly disappear or die. The sensors are tiny radio frequency identification sensors that work in a similar way to a vehicle s e-tag recording
when the insect passes a particular checkpoint. The information is sent then remotely to a central location
and visualise how the insects move through their landscape. The sensors are 2. 5mm x 2. 5mm in size
less is more as smaller sensors will interfere less with the flies'behaviour. Honeybees are perfect as a starting point for our research as they are social insects that return to the same point
and operate on a very predictable schedule. Any change in their behaviour indicates a change in their environment.
Meanwhile back in Queensland instead of studying an insect that is vital to our food supply we are faced with one that threatens it.
Our sensor technology will be used in combination with our sterile insect technology (SIT) research where we are working with government
and cost-effective approach to controlling this noxious pest. SIT is a scientifically proven method for suppressing
or eradicating fruit fly populations and managing their potential impacts in horticulture production areas. It has already been used with great success around the world
and in South australia to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly. However the development of male-only sterile Q-fly will be a world first.
Despite all our knowledge of fruit flies we do not actually know where they go to reproduce.
By releasing fruit flies with backpacks#that can track their movements we will be able to answer that question which will assist us in targeting where to release the sterile Q-fly males.
This will also help farmers in currently pest-free areas to protect their produce. While these areas have not needed to use treatments before sending their fruit
and vegetables to interstate or international markets they face increasing risk as Q-fly incursions are happening more frequently threatening the ability to maintain pest-free zones.
The next generation of sensors will generate power from insect movement store the energy in batteries being developed at CSIRO
Among other things we also want to understand insect behaviour under different weather conditions. That would truly represent a game-changing opportunity allowing us to track and record thousands of insects in their natural habitats in relatively remote areas.
Queensland is no stranger to swarms of backpackers but this time it s a little more high-tech.
but that population descends from a group of animals brought there by conservationists in 1975.
It also lacked big predators like mountain lion and disease-transmitting animals like domestic sheep. 6 Extinct Animals That Could Be brought Back to Life The fossilized poop was found in a cave in the Sierra Kunkaak mountain range of the eastern side of the island
while scientists were looking for the traces of ancient woodrats. Researchers took DNA samples from the dung
and compared it with poop from both living and extinct herbivores matching it with the feces of modern desert bighorn sheep.
The size and shape of the poop pellets apparently also matched. It's a very clear result study researcher Clinton Epps a conservation geneticist at Oregon State university said in a statement.
when or why the animals became locally extinct during the past 1500 years they have a few suspicions.
Lyme disease Deer ticks (also called blacklegged ticks) which carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease are most active during the spring early summer and fall.
The ticks don't jump or fly and so they can only get onto people by direct contact.
and Lyme disease avoid walking in places where ticks are likely to live. The CDC recommends using insect repellents with DEET on the skin or clothing or permethrin on clothing.
#Sloth Facts: Habits, Habitat & Diet Sloths are tropical mammals that live in Central and South america.
They use their long claws to hang onto branches while they feast on the leaves that other animals can't reach.
Unfortunately for the sloth their long claws 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 centimeters) make walking on the ground difficult so they spend most of their time in the tall trees they call home.
There are two categories of sloths. The two-toed sloth is slightly bigger than the three-toed sloth though they share many of the same features.
They are about the size of a medium-sized dog at around 23 to 27 inches (58 to 68 cm) and 17.5 to 18.75 pounds (about 8 kilograms.
Thousands of years ago sloths were much bigger according to the San diego Zoo. Ancient sloths could grow to be as large as an elephant.
They roamed North america and became extinct around 10000 years ago. Though their ancestors lived in North america modern sloths live in Central
and South america enjoying the tall trees found in rain and cloud forests. Sloths prefer sleeping
while curled into a ball in the fork of a tropical tree. They also like to sleep hanging by their claws from tree branches.
For the most part a sloth's life revolves around sleeping and eating in their tree homes. The only times these mammals leave their tree is to use the bathroom
and to take a swim. Sloths in captivity sleep from 15 to 20 hours per day which can leave them very little time for social activities.
Sloths in the wild though sleep about as much as humans according to research by the Planck Institute for Ornithology in Starnberg Germany.
After around nine hours of sleep the sloth still doesn't make an attempt at getting friendly with others.
They live solo lives. The closest a sloth gets to social time is sleeping in the same tree with another sloth.
Sloths mate in trees and give birth to their young in trees. Courting starts when a female yells a mating scream to let the males in the area know she is ready to mate.
Males will fight for her by hanging from branches by their feet and pawing at each other.
The victor wins the prize of mating with the female. Like many other mammals sloths only have one baby at a time.
Baby sloths have a gestation of five to six months for some types sloths and as much as 11.5 months for others such as the Hoffman's two-toed sloth.
After they are born the babies aren't in a hurry to leave their mother. They ride around clinging to their mother's belly for several weeks after birth.
Even after they stop dangling from their mother little sloths stay by their mother's side for up to four years.
The tough leaves in a sloth's diet are difficult to digest. Sloths have a four-part stomach that slowly digests the leaves with bacteria.
It can take up to a month for a sloth to digest one meal. Their leafy diet isn't very nutritious
though so they don't get much energy from it. This may be why sloths are so slow.
The sloth's scientific name is Bradypus tridactylus. Here is its taxonomy according to the National History Museum:
The pygmy three-toed slothis on the IUCN Species Survival Commission's top 100 listof most threatened species. These tiny sloths can only be found on Escudo Island which is found off the coast of Panama.
Its scientific name Bradypus is Greek for slow feet which makes sense since it is the world's slowest animal.
It is so slow in fact that algae grows on its fur according to National geographic. The algae works to the sloth's advantage though.
The green of the algae helps the sloth blend into the trees hiding it from predators.
Compared to most mammals a sloth moves very slowly. Sloths can climb only 6 to 8 feet (1. 8 to 2. 4 meters) per minute.
Sloths are excellent swimmers. Like humans they can do the breaststroke with ease. To get to the rivers for a swim sloths will drop themselves off of branches into the water.
Since sloths bodies are only 25 percent muscle they can't shiver when they are cold to warm up.
It is a good thing they live in a tropical climate and are covered in fur. There are times of cold in the forest though.
If a female gets too cold she is unable to digest food. If her young is still nursing she may starve to death.
A sloth only has its claws for defense against predators. However its very low level of movement
and the camouflage make it difficult to notice. Nina Sen contributed to this article. Other resources:
San diego Zoo-Two-toed sloth National geographic-Two-toed sloth National geographic-Three-toed sloth BBC Nature-Three-toed sloth Smithsonian National Zoological Park-Slot l
#Rare Sight: Colorado river Reaches Gulf (Photos) For the first time in 16 years freshwater from the Colorado river has flowed into the salty waters of the Gulf of california.
On Thursday (May 15) a high tide surged past a stubborn sandbar and connected the river with the Sea of Cortez said Francisco Zamora director of the Colorado river Delta Legacy Program for the Sonoran Institute.
Because of water use upstream little flow from the 1450-mile Colorado river 2330 kilometers has reached the sea in 50 years.
and animals that once thrived in the river's outlet. When the pulse flow was unleashed on March 23 from the Morales Dam scientists didn't know
Though the amount of water reaching the estuary habitat where river mixes with sea will likely be said small Zamora it could help the hundreds of bird species who nest in the Gulf
#Chinchilla Facts Chinchillas are rodents that are native to the Andes mountains of northern Chile. Often kept as pets chinchillas are prized also for their luxuriously soft fur
and were driven nearly to extinction because of the demand. Chinchilla fur was mottled originally yellow-gray in the wild according to The Merck Veterinary Manual.
Through selective breeding however other colors have become common including silver yellow-gray bluish-gray white beige and black.
Each hair ends in a black tip no matter what color the chinchillas are. First appearing around 41 million years ago the chinchilla's ancestors were some of the first rodents to infest South america.
Chinchilla fur became popular in the 1700s and the animals were hunted nearly to extinction by 1900 About that time Argentina Bolivia Chile
and Peru banned the hunting of wild chinchillas. However according to the Chinchilla Chronicles website an American mining engineer named Mathias F. Chapman got special permission from the Chilean government to bring chinchillas to the United states in 1923.
Nearly every pet chinchilla in the United states today is a direct descendant of 11 chinchillas that Chapman brought to the country.
Chinchillas are related to guinea pigs and porcupines. With short forelimbs and long muscular hind legs chinchillas resemble rabbits
but their ears are much shorter and rounder. They have large black eyes and bushy tails.
They have four toes on each foot and the thin claws on each toe are surrounded by stiff bristles.
Chinchillas are typically 9 to 15 inches (23 to 38 centimeters) long but the tail can add another 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) to their length.
They generally weigh 1. 1 to 1. 8 lbs. 0. 5 to 0. 8 kilograms.
Chinchillas are covered in thick fur for a reason. In the Andes they can live in elevations of about 3000 to 5000 meters (9800 to 16400 feet.
At those heights it can be very cold 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 degrees C is the average minimum temperature in some places.
Chinchillas can tolerate freezing temperatures but they cannot survive in temperatures higher than 80 F (27 C);
high temperatures and humidity can cause these rodents to suffer from heat stroke. Chinchillas are crepuscular and nocturnal
which means they are very active at dawn or dusk and sleep during the day.
They make their homes by burrowing in underground tunnels or nestling in rock crevasses. They are very social
and live in colonies that consist of hundreds of chinchillas. Females tend to be aggressive toward other females.
When females are ready to mate they can also be aggressive toward males and are the dominant of the two genders.
Females are mostly monogamous; they have only one mate throughout their lives. Males on the other hand can have many female mates.
The breeding season for chinchillas runs from November to May in the Northern hemisphere and from May to November in the Southern hemisphere.
Once a female chinchilla becomes pregnant she will carry her young for about 111 days before giving birth.
Generally chinchillas live eight to 10 years though some have lived as long as 20 years. Chinchillas are omnivores;
they eat both plants and meat. Primarily they eat grass and seeds but they also eat insects
and bird eggs when they get the chance. To eat they hold their food in their front paws
and nibble on it. There are two species of chinchillas: the long-tailed chinchilla and the short-tailed chinchilla.
According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS) the taxonomy of chinchillas is: Though chinchilla fur is valued highly for use in clothing
and coats the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has restricted the sale and trade of wild chinchillas since 1975.
Many chinchillas are bred commercially for their fur. Both species of chinchilla are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources'endangered-species list.
Both the short-tailed chinchilla and the long-tailed chinchilla are listed as critically endangered. Short-tailed chinchillas are thought to be extinct in Bolivia
and Peru but are suspected to be recovering in other areas. In 1996 there were only 42 colonies of long-tailed chinchillas
and the population has declined since then and continues to decline. The Michigan Humane Society recommends keeping domestic chinchillas in a wire mesh cage with a solid floor.
The cage should be well ventilated and kept dry and cool in temperatures from 60 to 70 F 16 to 21 C). Chinchillas do not get along well
when caged together and should be kept in individual cages. Chinchillas can eat food pellets available from pet stores as well as hay dried fruits and nuts and carrots and green vegetables in moderation or about 10 percent of their daily diet.
A bottle equipped with a sipper tube is the best way to provide water. To stay clean these rodents give themselves dust baths.
It is recommended that domestic chinchillas take dust baths once or twice per week in fine volcanic ash that can be purchased at pet shops.
Chinchillas are thought to be smarter than rabbits and can be taught to play with humans. They do not make good pets for small children
however because chinchillas are hyperactive and high-strung. t
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