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.

Caption (rough translation):
On August 9, 2009 at 19:03:00, five witnesses (myself included), observed an object completely silent at low altitude, moving from north to south. [It] virtually stops for a moment, then accelerates and disappears [for] 20 seconds, [then another light] appeared or the same object again from north to south.

This object meets the same characteristics as the first, but then changed his tone [possibly colour?] and disappears.
After 5 minutes, a helicopter with a spotlight that illuminates the area that was not discarded or aware of the objects [sounds like the helicopter was unaware of the lights?].

Brackets are my words. Hopefully they will release the second footage soon which I believe also shows the second light and the helicopter.

Anyway – the top stories for August are as follows – interestingly a couple of old stories have crept back into the top ten!

Scary Ants?

1) Scary! Ants form Global Mega-Colony
Very Scary: A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.
Read the whole start here >>>

2) Mermaid spotted in Israel
Israel was in the grips of mermaid fever in August after numerous sightings of the mythical sea creature off its coast.
Read the whole story here >>>

3) Orange balls of light seem over South London
Crowds of people gathered in Balham and Tooting (South London) to watch two sets of orange lights fly in formation across the night sky.
Still a very popular story – now with 75+ comments!!!
Read the whole story here >>>

The alleged Sewer Monster!

4) Very Weird Unknown life form found in Sewers! (Video)
Unsurprisingly, the Sewer monster is still in the top 10. What is it? The debate seems to still be ongoing.
Read more, watch the video and decide for yourselves >>>

5) Sewer Creature is REAL – but not what you’d expect!
One possible answer – Bloodworms (Tubifex tubifex) – what’s your thoughts?
Watch the video here >>>

6) Lights, Lanterns and UFOs!
Lots and lots of people are seeing strange lights all over the world. Here in the UK, there are new sightings on an almost daily basis – but what are they?
Read the full story and watch the video here >>>

The Bare-faced bulbul

7) Bald Songbird discovered in Laos
The latest strange creature to emerge from a rugged region of Laos is a bald songbird, dubbed the “bare-faced bulbul”.
Read the full story here >>>

8 ) 4 new Thylacine sightings in 3 months!
An old story from June 2006 has crept back up the charts – Four new sighting of the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) have been reported in the last three months on the outskirts of Portland, Southern Australia.
Read the whole story here >>>

Helensburgh Big Cat?

9) Big Cat captured on video in Helensburgh, Argyll?
An off-duty Ministry of Defence police dog handler has taken a video of what he claims is a panther-sized big cat.
Read the story (with photo) here >>>

10) Cannibal Frog found in Australia
The matchbox-sized green-stripe frog normally eats bugs – but this one swallowed a green tree frog.
Read the full story (with photo) here >>>

Do you Drink Milk?

The ability to digest the milk sugar lactose first evolved in dairy farming communities in central Europe, not in more northern groups as was previously thought, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) scientists published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology. The genetic change that enabled early Europeans to drink milk without getting sick has been mapped to dairying farmers who lived around 7,500 years ago in a region between the central Balkans and central Europe. Previously, it was thought that natural selection favoured milk drinkers only in more northern regions because of their greater need for vitamin D in their diet. People living in most parts of the world make vitamin D when sunlight hits the skin, but in northern latitudes there isn’t enough sunlight to do this for most of the year.

In the collaborative study, the team used a computer simulation model to explore the spread of lactase persistence, dairy farming, other food gathering practices and genes in Europe. The model integrated genetic and archaeological data using newly developed statistical approaches.

The study simulated the spread of lactase persistence and farming in Europe, and found that lactase persistence appears to have begun around 7,500 years ago between the central Balkans and central Europe, probably among people of the Linearbandkeramik culture. But contrary to popular belief, they also found that a need for dietary vitamin D was not necessary to explain why lactase persistence is common in northern Europe today.

Source and quoted text: University College London

Piranha found in Devon river

The Environment Agency said its staff were amazed to find a dead piranha in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge.

The piranha, which has razor-sharp teeth, is generally considered to be the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world.

The 35cm (14in) fish was spotted by Bob Collett, Dave Hoskin and Eddie Stevens during a sampling trip on the river.

Fish species which the team would commonly expect to find within the river include Salmon, Brown Trout and possibly other species such as Bullheads, Stone loach and Minnow.

‘What we actually discovered was something we would not expect to find in our wildest dreams. We could hardly believe our eyes,’ said Eddie Stevens, from the Environment Agency.

Source: Environment Agency

Mermaid or Dolphin?

Israel is in the grips of mermaid fever after numerous sightings of the mythical sea creature off its coast.

One town council is taking the reports so seriously that is is offering a $1m (£609,000) reward to anyone who can prove the existence of a mermaid in its waters.

Kiryat Yam municipality, near Haifa, says it has been told of dozens of sightings in the past few months. “Many people are telling us they are sure they’ve seen a mermaid and they are all independent of each other,” said council spokesman Natti Zilberman.

The nautical nymph is only seen in the evening at sunset, according to media reports, drawing crowds of people with cameras hoping for a glimpse. “People say it is half girl, half fish, jumping like a dolphin. It does all kinds of tricks then disappears,” Mr Zilberman said.

Asked whether a dolphin or large fish could be a more rational explanation, he insisted: “They say it is a female figure, it looks like a young girl.”

The council denied its offer of a reward was a publicity stunt, but said it hoped to nurture the mermaid as something which could bring in more tourists.

Source: Sky News.

So, it’s probably just a dolphin, but the local council seem to think it’s a mermaid and plan on cashing in – why don’t they just set up dolphin spotting boat trips?

The Bare-faced bulbul

The latest strange creature to emerge from a rugged region of Laos is a bald songbird, dubbed the “bare-faced bulbul.” Its little-visited habitat, a sparse forest on rugged limestone karsts, is becoming known for unusual wildlife discoveries. Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Melbourne discovered the bird while working on a project funded and managed by the MMG (Minerals and Metals Group) mining company, which operates the Sepon copper and gold project in the region.

The bare-faced bulbul gets its name from the lack of feathers on its face and part of its head. It is the only known bald songbird in mainland Asia, according to scientists, and the first new species of bulbul described on the continent in over 100 years. The bulbul family includes about 130 species.

The thrush-sized bird is greenish-olive with a light-colored breast and a distinctive featherless, pink face. The bluish skin around its eye extends to the bill, and a narrow line of hair-like feathers runs down the center of its crown. It appears to primarily dwell in trees. A description of the species has been published in the July issue of the Oriental Bird Club’s journal Forktail. Authors include Iain Woxvold of the University of Melbourne, along with WCS researchers Will Duckworth and Rob Timmins.

Source: WCS, The Latest from Laos: Bald-Faced Flyer.