Animals & Pets

Gray whales live in the North Pacific, and once also lived in the North Atlantic, but appear to have been driven to extinction by the 18th century. A gray whale hasn't been spotted in the Atlantic basin for nearly 300 years, until three years ago when in May 2010, a gray whale was spotted off the coast of Israel. In July 2010, that same whale was spotted off the coast of Spain. Until now, gray whales had never been found in the Southern Hemisphere.

Four tour boats on dolphin-spotting cruises near Namibia's Walvis Bay spotted an unusual whale. Just eight days later, John Paterson of the Albatross Task Force confirmed that the lone whale was a gray whale -- the first ever recorded south of the equator.

Comparing photographs with the whale spotted nearly Israel and Spain in 2010 confirm that the whale found in the Southern Hemisphere was not the same whale. Scientists are now trying to determine the origins of the whale.

It is possible that the whale swam south past Baja California, rounded the tip of South America and across the Atlantic, but it seems unlikely as the whale would have to travel a large distance against currents, through open ocean, from west to east. Gray whales typically do not do any of that.

Scientists at the Animal Reproductive Institute of Uruguay have implanted a glow-in-the-dark gene from the Aequorea victoria jellyfish into nine sheep, which has transformed them from boring white sheep to one's that can be easily spotted in the dark of the night.

The scientists claim that the sheep are healthy and grew up no differently to their normal relatives, which is a key factor in the happiness of the species. Their behavior is also similar to other sheep, aside from the fact that they now glow green when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Alejo Menchaca, head of the research team, said:

"We did not use a protein of medical interest or to help with a particular medicine because we wanted to fine-tune the technique. We used the green protein because the color is easily identifiable in the sheep's tissues."

The nine glowing lambs were born in October 2012 at a farm that belongs to the Animal Reproduction Institute, which is also linked to the French non-profit science group Pasteur Institute.

Researchers have discovered a new species of tree-dwelling porcupine in Brazil and thrives north of the Sao Francisco River, which is considered to be an important biodiversity hotspot in the country. The small, spiny mammal is named Coendou speratus, and unlike other porcupines it lacks long dorsal fur instead of appearing completely spikey.

The spines of the Coendou speratus are also unusual and feature brownish-red tips that contrast with the blackish dorsal background color. It was discovered in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, which is a location known for its biodiversity and is considered to be the fourth most important hotspot for species on the entire planet.

The porcupine is also a vegetarian, and feeds on immature seeds, palm nuts, bark, leaves, and green or ripe fruit. It tends to stay in the upper reaches of the forest canopy, and sleeps in hollowed-out holes in tree trunks during the day.

A new study suggests that genetic traits may predispose some people to being less motivated for physical hard work, meaning laziness could be written into our DNA.

Scientists were able to selectively breed rats that were either extremely active or extremely lazy, and state that this indicates that genetics plays a role in humans' willingness to exercise.

Study co-author Frank Booth, a professor at Missouri University, says:

If you suffer from arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, then here's one spider you'll definitely never want to encounter. A face-sized tarantula known as Poecilotheria rajeal has been discovered in Sri Lanka and a photo of the creepy creature has already gone viral.

The image of the massive tarantula can be seen above, and it should be noted that the image is NOT to scale. The spider is actually much larger than it appears here. The spider has a leg span of eight inches.

Scientists believe that the giant spider's habitat is likely old trees, however they may have also recently been found in other places as well.

Researchers have discovered weapons that were made from the teeth of a shark species that was previously unknown to science.

The sharks lived in the Gilbert Island reefs located in the Central Pacific about 130 years ago. The Gilbert Islands are a major part of the Republic of Kirbati in the Pacific Ocean.

The shark-teeth weapons were made by people living in the islands in the 19th century. Historic records indicate that the weapons made by the Gilbertese Islanders were a big part of their cultural identity and that special customs were performed while hunting these sharks.

A team of researchers led by Joshua Drew from Columbia University examined a collection of 120 of the weapons from the Field of Museum of Natural History. Among the weapons were clubs, daggers, lances, spears, and swords. Analysis reveals that the weapons were made from the teeth of eight shark species, two of which - the Spot-tail (Carcharhinus sorrah) and the Dusky (C. obscurus) - have never been identified in the region.

The Spot-tail shark can be found near Australia and Indonesia, while Dusky sharks are located near Fiji. Neither of these sharks is present in Kirbati right now, and researchers speculate that either the shark species live undiscovered near the islands, or that they've gone extinct.

Commercial beekeepers say that up to 50 percent of hives that are needed to pollinate many of the United States' fruits and vegetables have been wiped out over the past year. What this means is that Colony Collapse Disorder is destroying honeybee populations at an unprecedented rate.

Colony Collapse Disorder first surfaced in 2005 when annual honeybee losses increased from 5 to 10 percent to 30 percent.

Researchers believe that a number of factors, including a fungus, virus, and stress of trucking bees down south for the winter, have contributed to the honeybees' decline. The main problem, however, looks to be a commonly used pesticide known as neonicotinoids, which have recently been shown to disorient bees and affect their memories and abilities to get back to their hive.

Neonicotinoids were introduced in the 1990s by Monsanto and Bayer, and are today used to treat 94 percent of all corn seeds in the U.S.

The pesticide unfortunately permeates corn plants, which then manifests in the pollen, nectar and water that bees rely on as a key protein source. Bees often bring the contaminated pollen back to the hive.

Researchers have discovered two new species of mouse lemur on the African island nation of Madagascar, and are now showing off the tea-cup sized primates to the world.

The mouse lemurs have so much in common that it is impossible to tell them apart without genetic sequencing. They also only weight about 2.5 to 3 ounces. They feature grey-brown fur, large eyes, and are shy and nocturnal and blend in with the rainforest.

The first of the two new species is called Anosy mouse lemur, Microcebus tanosi. The other species is the Marohita mouse lemur, Microcebus marohita. Despite being cousins, the two species apparently do not interbreed.

These two species of lemurs were first discovered in 2003 and 2007, when study co-author Rodin Rasoloarison captured them. He then weighed and measured the tiny primates, and took skin samples for genetic analysis in the lab.

The species looked similar on the outside, however their DNA told a different story. In order to determine where the animals fit into the lemur family tree, scientists analyzed two mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA genes.

In April 2011, a two-headed shark was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a tiny bull shark discovered by fishermen in the uterus of an adult female shark. Researchers have finally confirmed that it was an actual two-headed shark, and not a conjoined twin.

Researchers from Michigan State University said that the two-headed shark would not have survived for very long in the wild. They also say that there have been other reports of two-headed sharks, specifically blue sharks, but this marks the first time that a two-headed shark has been discovered among bull sharks.

The researchers who were investigating the shark used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the shark to determine that it had two distinct heads, hearts, and stomachs. The rest of the shark's body ended in just one single tail. According to the scientists, this condition is known as axial bifurcation, which can also happen in humans.

Scientists say that they were able to collect and preserve embryos from the world's most endangered wild cat - the Iberian lynx - by removing the ovaries.

Conservationists hope that the fertilized eggs could be implanted into a surrogate mother of a closely related species, possibly a Eurasian lynx female. Just one successful surrogate pregnancy could help the endangered felines, whose dwindling population was estimated at less than 200 a decade ago.

An Iberian lynx by the name of Azahar was a part of a breeding program in Silves, Portugal, but had difficulties giving birth and had to undergo two emergency Caesarean sections in two consecutive pregnancies.