Source: BBC / The Sky at Night.

The discovery they eat live rather than just dead plants will change the way we think about earthworms, which had been thought to benefit plants by recycling soil nutrients.

Earthworms eat live rather than just dead plants

It may offer a way for gardeners and farmers to encourage more earthworms into their soil, for example.

But it also means invasive earthworms could be reducing populations of plants in once pristine soils.

Confirmation that earthworms feed on living plants is published in the journal Soil Biology and Biochemistry by Dr Nico Eisenhauer of the Georg-August-University Göttingen in Germany.

With colleagues, Dr Eisenhauer made the discovery studying the behaviour of Lumbricus terrestris, an anecic earthworm that inhabits soils around the world.

Originating in Europe, the worm occurs in grasslands, agricultural fields and forests and is invading soils across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Previous studies have shown that some earthworms will swallow plant seeds, while others appear to collect seeds, burying them in their burrows.

But it was not clear why, whether the earthworms were actually seeking rotting seeds, or whether they derived any nutritional benefit from the habit.

So Dr Eisenhauer set up a series of experiments to find out, offering earthworms housed in the lab a selection of food, including seeds and seedlings from different plant species.

The results were startling.

The earthworms selectively fed on slow-germinating, nitrogen-rich seeds and seedlings, actively ingesting the plant material, killing the young plant.

Earthworms allowed to feed on live plants gained weight, and their performance would vary depending on what plants they were offered, such as legumes or grasses, suggesting they do derive nutritional benefits from such a diet.

Source: BBC [link].
Related Links: Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

Micro Moth (Ectoedemia heckfordi)

A 3mm long Moth, which was first found in 2004, has been recognised as a new species!

The micro-moth, which lives in Hembury Woods in Devon is believed to be unique to the UK and not found anywhere else in the world.

The tiny moth, with a wingspan of just 6mm, was first spotted in 2004 by amateur naturalist Bob Heckford.

In January this year (2010), the moth was officially recognised in the journal Zookeys as a new species, and named Ectoedemia heckfordi after its discoverer.

Source: BBC [link].
More info: Ectoedemia Heckfordi (Wikipedia).

Loch Ness Fish

The Loch Ness monster was believed to exist according to a 1930s declassified document.

In 1938, the chief constable of Inverness-shire raised concerns about protecting Nessie from hunters!

In a letter released by the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), he wrote: “That there is some strange fish [creature] in Loch Ness now seems beyond doubt.”

Interestingly he refers to it as a “strange fish“, and not a creature or monster.

But what is clear is at the time there was a real concern for the safety of the locals, tourists and the monster itself (if it exists!).

Transcript of the letter can be found below.

INVERNESS-SHIRE CONSTABULARY
COUNTY CONSTABULARY HEADQUARTERS THE CASTLE
INVERNESS. 15th August, 1938

The Loch Ness Monster.

I should like to refer you to your letter to me dated 21st Nov., 1933 (Ref. No. 36125/1) with which you enclosed a copy letter dated 13th Nov., 1933 received by you from Sir Murdoch MacDonald, M.P. for Inverness-shire.

In my reply to this correspondence, dated 23rd Nov., 1933, I indicated the only step which the Police could usefully take, was to warn the people resident in the neighbourhood and as many as possible of the visiting public, that the preservation of the Monster was desired.

It has now come to my notice, that a Mr. Peter Kent and Miss Marion Stirling, both of London, are determined to catch the Monster dead or alive.

Mr. Peter Kent visited Fort Augustus on Friday, 12th August, and was seen there by my Officer stationed at Fort Augustus, to whom he stated that he was having a special harpoon gun made and that he was to return with some twenty experienced men on the 22nd of August for the purpose of hunting the Monster down.

That there is some strange fish (creature) in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the Police have any power to protect it is very doubtful. I have, however, caused Mr. Peter Kent to be warned of the desirability of having the creature left alone, but whether my warning will have the desired effect or not remains to be seen.

If you have any suggestion to make or can offer any guidance in the matter, I shall be grateful.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

William Fraser

Chief Constable.

Government protection for ‘Nessie’ – National Archives of Scotland
April 2010
http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/100408.asp

Gigantic Scorpion

A cast is being made of tracks left by a two-metre long ancient animal in north east Fife.

The tracks were made by a giant six-legged “sea scorpion” called Hibbertopterus as it crawled over damp sand about 330 million years ago.

It is the largest known walking trackway of a eurypterid or any invertebrate animal.

The tracks were discovered by Dr Martin Whyte from the University of Sheffield while he was out walking.

Scottish Natural Heritage, which is funding the project, described the find as unique and internationally important because the creature was gigantic.

The trackway, which is preserved in sandstone, consists of three rows of crescent shaped footprints on each side of a central groove.

The groove was made by the tail of the animal as it dragged over the sand.

This contrasts previous fossil evidence which suggested that the creatures lived in the water for most, if not all of the time.

Source: BBC [link].

The animal’s rampage at the On Luck Chinese nursing home in Melbourne ended only when it was caught by police.

The seven-year-old goat, named Billy, wandered into the grounds of the nursing home after escaping its enclosure at a nearby home.

The animal became agitated when a gardener tried to shoo it away, butting the gardener before attacking a second man, in his seventies, who rushed over to help.

Both of the men suffered suspected spinal injuries during the incident and the gardener, aged 60, was also left with cuts to his head and elbow.

A woman who had witnessed the furore also injured her ankle as she ran for help.

Source: Orange Quirky News [link].

A study of a 150 million year old dinosaur fossil has revealed it had multi-coloured feathers.

The research, published in the journal Science, compared the structures which determine colour in living bird feathers with those in the fossil.

“This would be a very striking animal if it was alive today,” said Yale University’s Professor Richard Prum, co-author of the report.

It is believed the colours would have helped the dinosaur attract a mate.

Anchiornis huxleyi is a four-winged dinosaur which lived in the late Jurassic Period in China. Researchers chose this particular fossil to work on because the feathers were so well preserved.

Source: BBC.

The female whale had been delighting watchers every morning with tail flapping and water breaching, but experts had voiced their concerns as it was very unusual for such a whale to be found along the south coast.

There has been lots of whale sighting in the past, but they are usually spotted passing up or down the English Channel and very rarely stay in one place for long.

The dead whale was discovered around 9pm yesterday (21 September 2009) and is now being examined by conservationists to try to determine its cause of death.

One theory is that Gilbert became caught in a rope as a deep mark around her beak had been found and several cuts are clearly visible on its belly, which is believed to have been caused as she thrashed around in an attempt to free herself.

More info and photos of Gilbert can be found on the Bournemouth Echo website.

Montauk Monster found in Panama

Another hairless creature has been found, this time near Panama City.

The creature, dumbed a Montauk Monster look-a-like was allegedly spotted by teenagers crawling out of a cave near the town of Cerro Azul, north of Panama City.

Fearing for their safety as the beast moved towards them, they attacked the creature with sticks before throwing it into a pool of water.

They later returned to take pictures of the hairless, rubbery body, which were then posted on the website of the Central American Telemetro Television station.

The story and photos have now been reported on almost every Cryptozoology website with varying theories and explanations – hairless sloth seems to be one theory?

I’m a bit sceptical and suspect we will continue to see more and more of these weird things.

What do you think – real or fake?

The elusive African Golden Cat

Three images of one of Africa’s most elusive cats has been caught on camera.

The African Golden Cat (Profelis aureate) was caught with a digital infrared camera trap, set up by Yale biologist Dr Gary Aronsen.

Cat info: Due to its extremely reclusive living style, not much is known about this cat’s behaviour.

The African Golden Cat is able to climb, but hunts primarily on the ground. Prey includes rodents, birds, small monkeys, the tree hyrax, small antelope species, such as the duiker, and even the Giant Forest Hog. These cats have also been known to take domestic poultry and livestock.

Source: BBC Earth News.
Image: © Gary Aronsen.