Tiny monkey teeth suggest Flores hobbit was a dwarf

COULD the world's tiniest monkey help unravel the mysterious origins ofHomo floresiensis, the "hobbit" human relative?

The hobbit's skull is similar to that of a taller hominin, Homo erectus. This suggests to some that H. floresiensis, whose remains were found on an Indonesian island 10 years ago, was a dwarf species that evolved from this larger one. However, its brain and teeth are proportionally much smaller than in typical dwarf species, which others say indicates the hobbit is merely an unusual form of our species. But perhaps the hobbit was not a typical dwarf.

Stephen Montgomery and Nicholas Mundy at the University of Cambridge looked at pygmy marmosets (Callithrix pygmaea). They too have previously been put forward as a dwarf species but, again, have unusually small teeth.

"This pointed against dwarfism," says Montgomery. Now, using a primate evolutionary tree, the pair have confirmed that these monkeys did indeed evolve from larger ancestors and undergo dwarfism.

So why the small teeth? The evolution of a dwarf species usually involves shortening the length of pregnancy or infancy, but recently it has been suggested that there might be a more unusual route: pregnancy length stays the same but the growth of the fetus slows down. This might influence brain and tooth size as these develop early.

Montgomery and Mundy found that the pygmy marmoset's pregnancy and infancy are similar in length to their evolutionarily close, larger relations. This suggests they took the unconventional route to small stature (Journal of Evolutionary Biology, doi.org/kpc).

Read on: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729074.300-tiny-monkey-teeth-suggest-flores-hobbit-was-a-dwarf.html

Salmonella from Pet Frogs Sickens 200+ (Via HerpDigest)

Salmonella from Pet Frogs Sickens 200+

Monday, April 11th, 2011, NewsInforno.com

A Salmonella outbreak has sickened at least 217 people and is being blamed on pet African dwarf water frogs, according to government health officials, MSNBC reports. Most of those who have fallen ill have been young children.

The infections have all originated from one California frog breeder and the Salmonella has been identified as Salmonella Typhimurium, said MSNBC, which added that the outbreak spans 41 states and has been ongoing since April 2009, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC investigators confirmed the presence of Salmonella in the breeder's environment in March and tests continue to determine if there is a match to the strain being seen in the nationwide outbreak, added MSNBC.

The infections have been reported in people under one year of age and as old as 73 years of age, with a median age of five, said MSNBC; over 70-percent of those stricken have been under the age of 10 and about 30 percent have required hospitalization.

Interviews with those who have fallen ill revealed that they had contact with the frogs in the days prior to their falling ill and, of those who were able to identify the frog, 84 percent said they were in contact with African dwarf frogs, according to the CDC, wrote MSNBC. People generally fell ill between one week to eight months, with most becoming sick in about 15 days. Most people have cited symptoms that include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.

CDC officials said that the California breeding center was first identified as the outbreak source in 2010 and noted that water frogs, such as those involved in this outbreak, are typically kept in "home aquariums and fish tanks," said MSNBC. In 2009, we wrote that the outbreak had sickened 48 people in 25 states.

Salmonellae are, explained MedPageToday previously, "natural intestinal flora for all reptiles." The problem with the small reptiles is that children likely handle them differently than they do other reptiles such as "pet snakes, lizards, or iguanas," noted MedPageToday.

During a massive outbreak in 2007-considered the largest in this country linked to turtles-children handling the small pets experienced an astronomical 41-fold increased risk of Salmonella contamination versus control groups. Emerging evidence points to a rise in reptile-originated Salmonella outbreaks.

While salmonella bacteria are most often associated with food poisoning, a growing percentage initiate with pet reptiles, which can carry a variety of salmonella without symptoms, releasing the germ in their feces. Small pet reptiles are especially troublesome because they are often bred in crowded conditions and are more likely to be given to children as pets.

Very young children are at greatest risk for Salmonella infections and CDC officials warn that water frogs should not be given to children and that frogs should not be introduced to "homes with young children, children's care centers, hospitals, and nursing homes," wrote MSNBC. Health officials also point out that not just water frogs, but other amphibians and reptiles, such as turtles, can pose risks.

Sundarbans tigers smallest in world (claims new study)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Sundarbans tigers may be the smallest tigers in the world, suggests a new study.

The study was carried out by the Sundarbans Tiger Project, a joint initiative between the Bangladesh Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB), Zoological Society of London and the University of Minnesota.

The research was funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Tiger and Rhino Fund.

There is only one species of tiger but scientists have split this into nine subspecies based on differences in their physical appearance and genetics, a release of the WTB said yesterday.

Tigers from the mangrove forest of the Sundarbans in Bangladesh and India are currently classified under the Bengal tiger sub species along with tigers across India, Nepal and Bhutan.

However, the tigers in the Sundarbans weigh just 76.7 kg, nearly half of the weight of other wild Bengal tigers, which average at 138.2 kg. This is also less than the average weight of tigers from any of the other 8 sub-species, making the Sundarbans tigers probably the smallest in the world.

Previously, it was believed that the Sumatran tiger was the smallest with an average weight of 86.7 kg. The reasons for the small size of Sundarbans are not known but the authors of the study suggest this could be related to the small size of deer available to tigers in the Sundarbans, compared to the larger deer and other prey available to tigers in other parts of the world.

Dr Adam Barlow from WTB said, “We always thought the Sundarbans tigers were small based on their track size, but until now we didn't know just how much small they really were. After all these years of people studying tigers it is exciting to dig up new information about this elusive and highly endangered animal and to see how it is adapting to live in different environments.”

Using a vast collection of tiger skulls from the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the researchers also looked at differences in skull measurements between subspecies, finding that Sundarbans tigers have slightly different skull shapes compared to other tigers.

These findings are preliminary due to the small number of specimens used and not enough to make the Sundarbans tigers a new subspecies, which would require genetic investigation.

However, their physical differences do increase their importance in terms of conservation, because these tigers have unique physical traits not found in other tigers. They are also the only tigers in the world to live in a mangrove habitat.

The Sundarbans is the world's largest mangrove forest, with 6,000 sq km falling in Bangladesh, and 4,000 sq km over the border in India. With approximately 300-500 tigers in the Bangladesh side of the Sundarbans alone, this area may also represent one of the best chances for saving the species, which probably numbers less than 3,500 individuals in the world.

These remaining pockets of tigers are threatened by poaching for the traditional Asian medicine trade, hunting of the tiger's prey for local meat consumption and destruction of their habitat to make room for expanding human populations.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=156957
(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Experts baffled by 'small' Bangladesh tigers

1 October 2010
By Ethirajan Anbarasan
BBC News, Dhaka

Tigers prowling the famous mangrove forests of Bangladesh are about half the weight of other wild Bengal tigers in South Asia, a study has found.

The average weight of female tigers in the Sundarbans forests was 76.7kg (170lb), according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service research.

But other wild Bengal tigers in the region tipped the scales at 138.2 kg on average.

Researchers said this could be because Sundarbans tigers ate smaller deer.

The team believes the big cats found in the mangrove forest, which stretches from Bangladesh to India, could be among the world's smallest tigers.

They belong to one of nine sub-species of Bengal tiger in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Smaller dinner

Researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Bangladesh Forest Department - who carried out the study for the US Fish and Wildlife Service - weighed three Sundarbans tigers.

Two of the animals were captured and sedated, but the other one had been killed by villagers.

Adam Barlow, one of the authors of the research, said they do not know why the Sundarbans tigers are so small.

"This could be related to the small size of deer available to tigers in the Sundarbans, compared to the larger deer and other prey available to tigers in other parts," he said.

It is estimated that between 300 and 500 Bengal tigers live in the Bangladesh side of the Sundarbans alone.

They are isolated from the next tiger population by a distance of up to 300km (190 miles).

Tigers are an endangered species. There are only about 3,500 left in the wild worldwide - less than one third of them breeding females.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11455154

These include a new dwarf wallaby:

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/worlds-smallest-kangaroo.htm

(submitted by Chad Arment)