#MERS Virus Found in Camels Camels are carriers of the new Middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus according to a new study.
The researchers used genetic sequencing methods to identify a strain of the MERS virus in camels on a Qatar farm where two people caught the disease.
The virus found in the camels was very similar but not identical to the MERS virus seen in people.
The study provides definitive proof that camels can be infected with MERS-Cov the researchers said using the official name of the virus
. However the study cannot prove that people caught the virus from camels. It's possible that humans gave the virus to the camels
or that both humans and camels were infected by an unidentified third source the researchers said.
Previously the researchers found that camels had developed antibodies against the MERS virus. So far health officials have reported 163 human cases of MERS including 71 people who died.
All of these cases could be traced back to the Middle east region n
#Mesa verde: Cliff Dwellings of the Anasazi The Mesa verde archaeological region located in the American Southwest was the home of a pueblo people who during the 13th century A d. constructed entire villages in the sides of cliffs.
The adoption of the bow appears to have increased their hunting proficiency resulting in some game animals like deer eventually becoming overhunted
For example chocolate coyote tomato and avocado all originated in Nahuatl. Religions of Mexico Close to 90 percent of Mexicans identify themselves as Catholic
#Monkeys Shun Selfish Others Capuchin monkeys are known for their ability to recognize when they're being treated inequitably
but it now appears the primates can even spot unfairness in situations that don't involve themselves.
The fluffy-faced monkeys judge the social interactions of others and hold biases against individuals behaving poorly new research shows.
In a pair of studies researchers investigated how capuchin monkeys in captivity reacted to different third-party social interactions.
In one study capuchins watched two actors engage in reciprocity exchanges in which one actor handed over several balls to another who then either reciprocated or selfishly kept all the balls.
After each scene the monkeys chose a treat from one of the actors they consistently avoided treats from actors who refused to reciprocate or help.
Capuchins in the wild may keep tabs on group members to figure out whom to avoid interacting with on a specific day researchers said.
The research implies capuchin monkeys are judging other individuals even when they aren't involved in the action something that humans do said all the time Sarah Brosnan an ethnologist at Georgia State university who wasn't involved in the new research.
It suggests the behavior may be rooted deeply in the primate family tree. Video: Watch the Monkeys Judge Selfish Humans In all fairness In 2003 Brosnan
and her colleagues discovered capuchin monkeys have a sense of fairness. They trained captive monkeys to hand them an object in exchange for a cucumber slice or the preferable grape.
If a capuchin saw another monkey receive a grape while it was given a cucumber it would refuse the reward or even throw the cucumber at the researcher.
Subsequent research showed other cooperative primates including chimpanzees also know when they're being treated unfairly
but nobody has looked at whether nonhuman primates can spot inequity in situations that don't involve themselves.
So we wondered if they're sensitive to third-party interactions said James Anderson a primatologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland
and lead author of the new studies. Can they form impressions of individuals based on how those individuals behave towards one another?
To find out Anderson and his colleagues tested capuchins'reactions to scenes of reciprocity. Two actors began with two containers each one
After each scene both actors offered an identical treat to the monkey the capuchin chose a treat by reaching toward one of the outstretched hands.
The primates showed no preference when both actors reciprocated but they consistently avoided taking treats from non-reciprocators the researchers found in the study detailed online recently in the journal Cognition.
The monkeys showed no significant preferences in either cases but were overall more likely to accept treats from impoverished than incomplete reciprocators
as if the monkeys accepted her intention to fully reciprocate Anderson said. Showing biases In a companion study published today (March 5) in the journal Nature Communications the researchers tested how capuchins regard unhelpful people.
Here one actor struggled to open a container and requested help from the second actor who either helped
Similar to before the capuchins avoided accepting treats from unhelpful actors. No Fair? 5 Animals With a Moral Compass The researchers then investigated
Again if the second actor refused to help the monkeys showed a sharp bias against her and accepted treats only from the other actor.
because she was occupied too with her own container the capuchins showed no biases further suggesting the monkeys considered the actors'intentions.
if the act of turning away rather than being unhelpful was specifically to blame for the monkeys'biases;
it wasn't.)Importantly the objects handled in both studies had no relevance to the monkeys Anderson said.
If actors handled food the monkeys would likely choose whoever they thought would give them the most treats.
Using food could have changed the capuchins'behaviors. A widespread behavior? I think it's a really interesting study with implications for helping us understand how cooperation comes about said Malini Suchak a primatologist at Emory University who wasn't involved in the research.
Capuchins and some other primate species are very cooperative so knowing who in their community will be the most reciprocal
If social evaluation isn't widespread among primates it may mean the behavior evolved from some kind of selective pressure she said.
if capuchins really do judge the actions of their own kind. I would want to see what they could get the capuchins to understand about two other capuchins Proctor said adding that the studies'results suggest the monkeys evaluate each other in the wild.
For now Anderson is investigating what capuchins think of people who over-reciprocate. Can monkeys develop a positive bias for a person who behaves generously?
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#More than 30,000 Miles of Roads Built in Amazon in 3 Years How long does it take to build a little more than 30000 miles (50000 kilometers) of new roads through the rain forest?
#Most Interesting Science News articles of the Week<p></p><p>A mystery blob scorpion-eating mice and trees of gold?
But the tiny grasshopper mouse shakes off the sting like it's nothing.</</p><p>Now researchers have found for the mouse the sting really is nothing.
Instead of causing pain the scorpion venom blocks it a fact that could lead to the development of new pain-blocking drugs for people.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/40684-scorpion-eating-mice-no-sting. html target=blank>Scorpion-Eating Mice Feel No Sting</a p><p
but the teary endeavor probably has little impact on the turtles other than perhaps making them more vulnerable to predators like big cats
They simply uptake salts through a process similar to absorption by placing the proboscis on the salt-laden tears and passively'feed.'
Certain types of monkeys also eat dirt for the same reason he added. The Top 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries Swabbing turtle eyeballs The butterflies also may be seeking other minerals in the turtles'tears
#Mysterious Elk Deaths Plague New mexico Officials with the New mexico Department of Game and Fish are puzzling over the mysterious deaths of more than 100 elk apparently all within a 24-hour period in rural New mexico.
The elk were found Aug 27 on a 75000-acre ranch north of the city of Las vegas. Livestock deaths by themselves are not unusual there are many things that can fell large animals including predators poachers
The elk weren't shot (nor taken from the area) so it was not poachers.
Officials found feral canines were the real culprits. Whatever killed the New mexico elk was apparently neither a chemical spill nor a flesh-eating fungus though the deaths remain a genuine mystery at least so far.
Tissue and blood samples are still being analyzed and scientists hope to have answers soon. Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine
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In a series of experiments in people and mice scientists for the first time demonstrated that carnitine from foods as well as from supplements influenced cardiovascular risk.
Hazen's group also compared mice fed their normal chow which is basically a vegetarian diet with mice
whose food was supplemented with carnitine. We saw that carnitine supplements doubled the rates of atherosclerosis in the mice Hazen said.
It did this by dramatically increasing levels of TMAO which is produced by gut bacteria that metabolize l-carnitine.
At the other end of the country the Zumwalt Prairie is home to large populations of mammals birds and prey.
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/18689-high-heels-hurt-infographic. html>How High Heels Hurt (Infographic)</a p><p.>We found an increased risk of hindfoot pain
when a predator was introduced into their environment in this case how the birds'eyes followed a taxidermic raccoon as it rolled past the enclosure on a skateboard.
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He also approached the practice of hitting a baseball as a science even attending physics lectures at MIT to better understand the dynamics of swinging a bat.
He ended up bonding with his bat rather than with other people. The benefits of mental illness There's a large and growing body of research devoted to the link between successful high-achieving personalities and some degree of mental illness.
It is where humpbacks whales mate on their southern migration down the coast; a critical nesting area for hawksbills olive ridley sea turtles and green turtles;
Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world. Males can grow up to 18 feet (5. 5 m) tall
and a plant that has smaller fruit is better able to fill each tomato with nutrients than a plant that bears a larger fruit Klee said.
or corn on the cob in foil is crucial if you don't know if the grill has been cleaned especially after marinades containing gluten have been used
Some options include a bowl of mixed berries baked beans corn on the cob or a gluten-free potato salad.
Some animal studies also suggested that H7n9 can spread between mammals. But so far the virus does not appear to spread efficiently there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission with H7n9 Rudge
and toxic rat poison other studies have shown. Rare predator species such as spotted owls and fisher cats eat the poisoned mice and die.
The marijuana cultivators make trail systems to go in and put toxicants at every clearing said Mourad Gabriel a University of California Davis wildlife disease ecologist who studies the effects of rodenticides on rare species. A lot of predators will use any type of trail system
The cultivators spray pesticides and fertilizers and spread rat poison. Rodents that eat the poison live for two to seven days before keeling over giving predators plenty of time to capture their dazed prey.
UC Davis'Gabriel and his colleagues are seeing the effects of these chemicals on the fisher cat a carnivore being considered for Endangered Species Act listing.
Fisher cats nibble on everything from acorns to deer carcasses. The scientists found rat poison in 85 percent of fisher cat carcasses collected on public and tribal lands according to a study published in June in the journal Conservation Letters.
The animals are also passing the poison on to their kits when the babies nurse Gabriel said.
The UC Davis group is now testing barn owls which rely more heavily on rodents for food than fisher cats do.
Spotted owls have tested positive for rodenticides in Oregon and Gabriel said preliminary data indicates barn owls are snaring poison-laced mice.
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cave drawings showing armadillos birds and reptiles etched into stone thousands of years ago. Archaeologists who examined the rock art say hunter-gatherers likely created the drawings between 4000 and 10000 years ago.
In addition to human figures and geometric shapes many different kinds of animals were represented from big cats and armadillos to birds and reptiles but alas no peccaries.
While Homo sapiens evolved many vertebrates especially large mammals succumbed to the harsh climate conditions of this period.
One of the richest sources of information about life in the Pleistocene epoch can be found in the La Brea Tar pits in Los Angeles where remains of everything from insects to plant life to animals were preserved including a partial skeleton of a female human and a nearly complete woolly mammoth.
In addition to the woolly mammoth mammals such as saber-toothed cats (Smilodon) giant ground sloths (Megatherium) and mastodons roamed the Earth during this period.
Other mammals that thrived during this period include moonrats tenrecs (hedgehog-like creatures) and macrauchenia (similar to a llamas and camels.
Although many vertebrates became extinct during this period mammals that are familiar to us today including apes cattle deer rabbits kangaroos wallabies bears
The flightless birds did not fare as well as they had to compete with mammals and other creatures for limited supplies of food and water as a good portion of the water was frozen.
About 13000 years ago more than three-fourths of the large Ice age animals including woolly mammoths mastodons saber-toothed tigers
and giant bears died out. Â Scientists have debated for years over the cause of the extinction with both of the major hypotheses human overhunting
Recent research suggests that an extraterrestrial object possibly a comet about 3 miles wide may have exploded over southern Canada nearly wiping out an ancient Stone age culture as well as megafauna like mastodons and mammoths a
</p><p>From<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39165-worlds-priciest-coffee-test. html>coffee pooped out by Southeast Asian cats</a>to jellied chicken'
Eating the placenta known as placentophagy is common amongst some mammals such as goats which eat the afterbirth for its nutritional boost.
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#Preventing an Elephant Eden from Becoming Paradise Lost (Op-Ed) Richard Carroll is vice president for Africa at World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington D c. He contributed this article to Livescience's Expert Voices:
I first stepped out of the dense tropical rain forest of Central african republic's Dzanga-Sangha region into a 30-acre clearing with mineral rich soils known as the Village of the Elephants.
Instantly I was transported into prehistory with forest elephants of every size shape and color sucking the mineral salts out of the soil chasing one another rolling around in mud-pits
This elephant Eden now a crown jewel in the three-nation Sangha Trinational World Heritage Site is under attack.
and slaughtered at least 26 elephants four of them calves collecting as much ivory as possible before disappearing to most likely begin preparing their next attack.
What's left of the elephants lies as silent witness to a global crisis. A handful of elephants have returned
since but locals describe the area as an elephant mortuary. Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts On land The threat to stability posed by incidents such as the one at Dzanga Bai is being highlighted today (May 29) in a briefing before the United nations Security council.
In a report to the world's highest international security body U n. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says Poaching
Saving the elephants of Dzanga Bai is critical. Central african republic must act quickly to secure the area
These elephants travel far and carry no passports as they cross international borders throughout the Sangha Trinational.
Forest elephant populations have plummeted 62 percent over the past 10 years driven largely by demand from newly rich individuals in China and Thailand.
They also pay to visit the gorillas and to walk in the forest with Ba'Aka pygmies collecting medicinal herbs.
and the forests were largely empty of species like elephant. But with the help of Mekema and his people the government of CAR was able to protect Dzanga Sangha
#Rare Baby African Monkey Makes Photo Debut A baby kipunji one of the rarest species of African monkey sticks close to its mother in a new photo that was released today (June 5) by wildlife conservationists.
Kipunji also known as the highland mangabey are considered a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
A WCS census of the monkey species has revealed that only 1100 are known to exist in the wild.
In 2006 genetic analyses revealed it to be an entirely new primate genus the first new African monkey species since 1984.
and two years after they were discovered the WCS helped create a protected forest on Mount Rungwe to promote the conservation of these rare primates.
The baby kipunji's mother is one of the monkeys being studied by the WCS. This dominant female nicknamed Trike is believed to have lost a hand and lower arm in a snare accident before the creation of the protected forest in the southern highlands of Tanzania.
Kipunji have two main characteristics that help distinguish it from other monkey species: A wide crest of hair on the tip of its head and a unique call that has been described by researchers as a honk-bark.
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#Real Cause of'Satanic Sacrifice'Pony Found A pony found in Dartmoor England in July apparently died under mysterious and horrific circumstances:
The 2-month-old male pony apparently had its genitals eyes tongue and one ear removed.
and dismember a young pony. Now the mystery has been solved. Witches & Wiccans: 6 Common Misconceptions Devon and Cornwall police concluded earlier this week that the pony had died of natural causes.
The much-discussed mutilation was not in fact mutilation at all but instead the normal result of wild animals eating the pony's organs and scattering its entrails.
Initial media reports linked the death of the pony to satanic cults and ritualistic killing the police said in a statement.
The police have sought the advice of experts and have come to the view that the death of this pony was through natural causes.
All the injuries can be attributed to those caused by other wild animals. This incident received significant media reporting some
But if the pony died of natural causes what about the claims and rumors of satanic or pagan sacrifices?
and ritually sacrifice animals especially ones as cute and beloved as ponies there's little wonder why the media ran with it.
which has very specific procedures and rituals for the sacrifice (and typically sacrifice chickens or goats not horses).
when the pony died it's impossible to know what exactly killed it; suspects include wild animals disease or even lightning.
The fact is scavenger animals eat soft tissues of the body first including the parts missing from the pony:
Since the pony had been dead for several days before its body was found there was plenty of time for birds maggots blowflies
In other words just because the pony's cause of death was unknown doesn't logically mean the animal was sacrificed by satanists witches or anyone else;
Though the case resulted in some red faces the best news that can be drawn from the incident is that the pony died naturally
A few hours after his death back in England Carnarvon's beloved dog Susie let out a yelp
French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier according to legend stole a 115-carat blue diamond from the eye of a Hindu idol in India for this sacrilege Tavernier was mauled supposedly to death by dogs.
His wife and dog died not long after however and his home caught fire. Did Native american leader Tecumseh curse William Henry Harrison after Harrison's troops emerged victorious at the Battle of Tippecanoe?
Eating Meat Made Us Human Study Suggests Our raw-vegan cousin the gorilla has three times the body size of humans but one-third the brain cells;
According to a study published in October 2012 the gorilla would have needed to eat raw plants for more than 12 hours a day to consume enough calories to evolve a humanlike brain.
#Reviving the Woolly mammoth: Will De-Extinction Become Reality? Biologists briefly brought the extinct Pyrenean ibex back to life in 2003 by creating a clone from a frozen tissue sample harvested before the goat's entire population vanished in 2000.
Ten years later a group of researchers and conservationists gathered in Washington D c. today (March 15) for a forum called TEDXDEEXTINCTION hosted by the National geographic Society to talk about how to revive extinct animals from the Tasmanian tiger and the saber-toothed cat to the woolly mammoth and the North american passenger pigeon.
Some have their hopes set on the woolly mammoth a relative of modern elephants that went extinct 3000 to 10000 years ago and left behind some extraordinarily well preserved carcasses in Siberian permafrost.
and an Asian elephant egg a challenging prospect as no one has ever been able to harvest eggs from an elephant.
poll options 50 161=Tasmanian tiger; poll options 50 162=Woolly mammoth; poll options 50 163=Gastric brooding frog; poll options 50 165=Saber-toothed cat;
load poll (50; But DNA from extinct species doesn't need to be preserved in Arctic conditions to be useful to scientists researchers have been able to start putting together the genomes of extinct species from museum specimens that have been sitting on shelves for a century.
If de-extinction research has done anything for science it's forced researchers to look at the quality of the DNA in dead animals said science journalist Carl Zimmer whose article on de-extinction featured on the cover of the April issue of National geographic magazine.
A few years ago another group of researchers isolated DNA from a 100-year-old specimen of a young thylacine also known as Tasmanian tiger.
Its genetic material was inserted into mouse embryos which proved functional in live mice. Photos: The Creatures of Cryptozoology Should we?
Now that de-extinction looms as a possibility it presents some thorny questions: Should we bring back these species?
and has a healthy appetite eating up to 15 mice a day the zoo said in a statement.
and researchers have created previously glowing bunnies frogs and evenâ glow-in-the-dark cats in the name of science.
Study researcher Stefan Moisyadi a bioscientist from the University of Hawaii at Manoa explained in a statement that the GFP in the piglets is marker to show that we can take a gene that was not originally present in the animal
and branches in chimpanzee nests which are viewed as a feasible comparison for what a primitive human home might have been like.
These animals include more than 1 million wildebeest and zebra which make up one of the most amazing animal migrations on the planet.
Truckers currently have to take a road that circumvents Tanazania's Serengeti National park and Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve a long journey.
and almost single-handedly suppressing elephant poaching for nearly two decades Ronald Clarke a Rutgers criminologist who helped organize the conference told Livescience.
and to address the underlying poverty that motivates people to kill and traffic animal products like rhino horns.
Rhino poaching is raging out of control and is worse than it has ever been.)
He also advocated building more fences around large reserves a suggestion that was met with some resistance by at least one ecologist present at the conference who questioned Leakey after his talk about the fence's ability to stop elephants.
It reminded me of a dead deer on the side of the road in the Florida Everglades with a big pile of really soggy moldy laundry next to it.
#Snow leopard's Fate Hinges on Historic Talks (Op-Ed) Bradnee Chambers Executive secretary of the United nations Environment Program Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals contributed this article
Snow leopards are struggling to survive in their mountain habitats driven to the brink of extinction by increasing intrusions into their rocky domain and by the insatiable demand for their fur and bones.
But the Global Snow leopard Conservation Forum in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in October can reverse this trend.
Snow leopards often travel huge distances along ridge lines and cliff bases but increasing threats from a growing human footprint are dissecting their habitat putting the survival of these animals at risk.
Expanding human populations and the demand for more and more land for agriculture and livestock herding are encroaching on snow leopard ranges even into protected areas.
As leopards are forced into living in closer proximity to humans conflicts with shepherds are almost inevitable.
Because of overhunting and poaching of their favorite prey the endangered Argali sheep the leopards are turning to domestic animals goats and sheep instead.
This leads to retributive killing of snow leopards by angry herders. Feral dogs hunt livestock as well but since the snow leopard is protected a species farmers blame snow leopards for attacking livestock
because they will be reimbursed. Also contributing to the snow leopard's downfall is its splendid coat essential for the animal to survive the bitter cold of The himalayas the Hindu kush the Pamirs and the Altai Mountains of Central asia at altitudes as high as 5 kilometers (3 miles.
The species is classified as endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)' s Red List.
Despite the highest level of protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) a lucrative illegal trade flourishes as leopards are killed for their skin and bones meeting the demands of both the fur industry and traditional Chinese medicine.
In today's market a top-quality garment made of leopard skin made up of between six and twelve animals could command a price as high as $60000 in affluent global markets.
Estimates suggest that there are between 3500 and 7000 snow leopards left in the wild from Afghanistan in the west China to the east Russia to the north and Myanmar to the south.
But the upcoming Global Snow leopard Conservation Forum in the Kyrgyz Republic might change the course of the snow leopard's fate.
In promoting the conservation of the snow leopard Kyrgyz's President Almazbek Atambayev is playing a similar role to the one played by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Global Tiger Summit in St petersburg Russia in November 2010.
Surprising Ally For Snow leopards: Buddhist Monks At St petersburg a cast of celebrity supporters such as Leonardo Di caprio as well as donor nations and conservation nongovernmental organizations were in attendance.
The contributions over five years will to try to double the number of tigers living in the wild.
Despite countries making encouraging noises half of them had failed to meet their obligations to protect tigers under CITES.
The snow leopard one of the tiger's smaller more elusive and enigmatic cousins is in a similar predicament.
Kyrgyzstan has already hosted a preparatory meeting with support of the World bank Global Tiger Initiative.
The meetings provided an opportunity for countries to present the zero drafts of their National Snow leopard Ecosystem Protection Priorities
which are the initial building blocks for the proposed Global Snow leopard Protection Program. CMS is represented well in the region of the 12 snow leopard range states six are parties to CMS four more participate in regional CMS conservation instruments
and one of the remaining two is reportedly close to joining to the convention. The snow leopard has been inscribed on the CMS Appendix
I since 1985 requiring parties to accord the species the highest level of protection. CMS has a long track record of engagement in Central asia the first CMS agreement between governments concluded more than 20 years ago
and covers species such as the Siberian crane along with recent additions of the Saiga antelope the Bukhara deer and the Argali sheep.
There are many forums dealing with the conservation of endangered species. We cannot afford fruitless attempts to conserve this magnificent big cat
The World bank's resources and the Convention on Migratory Species'expertise and experience in the region could be the winning combination that the snow leopard so desperately needs.
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