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Showing posts from June, 2020

Fossil tracks left by an ancient crocodile that 'ran like an ostrich'

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Scientists have been stunned to find that some ancient crocodiles might have moved around on two feet. The evidence comes from beautifully preserved fossil tracks in South Korea. I thought this was something like an old dinosaur, looks similar to the raptor, but it's a variant of the old crocodile. I am really confused since how can a crocodile be like this.   So I thought it's worth sharing!!! Nearly a hundred of these 18-24cm-long indentations were left in what were likely the muddy sediments that surrounded a lake in the Early Cretaceous, 110-120 million years ago. The international team behind the discovery says it will probably challenge our perception of crocodiles. "People tend to think of crocodiles as animals that don't do very much; that they just laze around all day on the banks of the Nile or next to rivers in Costa Rica. Nobody automatically thinks I wonder what this [creature] would be like if it was bipedal and could run like an ostrich or a  T. rex ,&qu

Red pandas tracked by satellite in conservation 'milestone'

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Conservationists are satellite tracking red pandas in the mountains of Nepal to find out more about the factors that are driving them towards extinction. The mammals are endangered, with numbers down to a few thousand in the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. Ten red pandas have been fitted with GPS collars to monitor their range in the forests near Mount Kangchenjunga. The GPS collars are said to be working well and yielding "exciting data". The six females and four males are being tracked and photographed using camera traps in a conservation effort involving scientists, vets, government officials in Nepal, and conservation group Red Panda Network. "This is a great milestone in red panda conservation", said Man Bahadur Khadka, director-general of Nepal's department of forests and soil conservation. The 10 pandas have been named by local people as Paaru, Dolma, Chintapu, Mechhachha, Bhumo, Senehang, Ngima, Brian, Ninamma and Praladdevi. The red panda ( Ai