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 A new species of bird has been spotted in the rainforests of Borneo.Leeds University biologist Richard Webster first glimpsed the bird from a canopy walkway 35m above ground. The spectacled flowerpecker, a small, wren-sized, grey bird, was feeding on some flowering mistletoe in a tree. On one sighting it was heard singing. The bird has white markings around its eyes, belly and breast. It has not yet been given a scientific name because so little is known about it. Dr David Edwards, a tropical ecologist at the University of Leeds, identified the bird as a new species from photographs. Full story... Image credit: BBC/RE Webster Source: BBC Science News
 A marine biologist says he has discovered a new crab species off the coast of southern Taiwan that looks like a strawberry with small white bumps on its red shell. National Taiwan Ocean University professor Ho Ping-ho says the crab resembles the species living in the areas around Hawaii, Polynesia and Mauritius. But it has a distinctive clam-shaped shell about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) wide, making it distinct. Taiwanese crab specialist Wang Chia-hsiang confirmed Ho's finding. Ho said Tuesday his team found two female crabs of the new species last June off the coast of Kenting National Park, known for its rich marine life. The crabs died shortly thereafter, possibly because the water in the area was polluted by a cargo ship that ran aground. Source: Yahoo! News/AP Image credit: AP Photo/National Taiwan Ocean University
Simply astonishing. The diversity of species that live beyond any hint of sunlight has astounded the team of international scientists as they near the end of a ten year deep sea census of marine life. The team has finally released a treasure trove of new photos and video from the deep sea census that will awe and amaze. Above, scientists appear to be examining -- or maybe cuddling and petting -- one of the largest and cutest of the deep sea species: a dumbo octopod, named for the oversized, dumbo-like ears it uses for swimming (photo overleaf). Our pick of the best of the photos, released today, of some 17,650 species now known to thrive in the watery depths follows.  The dumbo octopod, among the largest deep sea creatures at lengths up to five feet, hovers cutely before the camera, flapping ears like a cartoon elephant. Courtesy of David Shale  An odd sea cucumber found at 2,750 m deep in the Northern Gulf of Mexico swims slowly up the length of its own tentacles. Moving at only 2cm per minute, the translucent creature sucks up a meal of detritus-rich sediments collected on the tentacles. Courtesy of Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution A golden copepod looks like a coin from a lost treasure until the camera gets up close to see magnified detail of this insect-like marine crustacean. Fully 99 percent of some 680 copepod specimens collected in the deep sea census were new to science. Courtesy of © Bünzow/Corgosinho This is the first photograph ever made of a Neocyema on the mid-Atlantic ridge, and only the 5th specimen ever caught of the bizarre, elongated orange fish. Courtesy of David ShaleSource: Treehugger.com
 A tiny chameleon species with a scaly horn atop its snout and blue dots on its limbs has been discovered in Tanzanian forests. "It would sit quite easily on one finger," said Andrew Marshall of the University of York, adding the chameleon's body spans just 2.8 inches (about 72 mm) with a tail of nearly equal length. Marshall first spotted the animal, now called Kinyongia magomberae, while surveying monkeys in the Magombera forest. He disturbed a twig snake that had been eating one of the chameleons. Once startled, the snake dropped its already dead prey. So far, four specimens of the species have been observed in Tanzania's Magombera forest, which is unprotected, and the Mwanihana forest within the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Full story...Source: Yahoo! NewsImage credit: Andrew Marshall/Livescience.com
 A new amphibian species can survive on land with no nostrils, lungs, or legs, say researchers who discovered the bizarre beast. The creature, found in Guyana, is part of the wormlike group of amphibians known as caecilians. Only one other caecilian species is known to live without lungs. In general, the presence of lungs is among the key characteristics that make amphibians different from fish. Until recently, scientists thought salamanders were the only amphibians that lack lungs. But in 1995 researchers found the first known lungless caecilian, and in 2008 another team reported a tiny, land-dwelling, lungless frog. The new species is even more of a surprise, because the animal-named Caecilita iwokramae-is strikingly different from the other known lungless caecilian, the study authors note. Caecilita lives on land and is just 4.4 inches (11 centimeters) long, while its lungless relative is fully aquatic and reaches 27.5 inches (70 centimeters) in length. Full story...Source: National GeographicImage credit: Marvalee Wake, University of California, Berkeley
 Japanese marine researchers said on Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" in deep water off Indonesia. The creature was found on October 6 at a depth of 161 metres (528 feet) in Manado Bay off Sulawesi Island, where the Indonesian coelacanth was first discovered, according to the researchers. Video footage showed the 31.5 centimetre (12.6-inch) coelacanth, coloured blue with white spots, swimming slowly among rocks on the seabed for about 20 minutes. Video Footage
Full story...Source: Yahoo! Science NewsImage credit: AFP/AQUAMARINE FUKUSHIMA
 More than a mouthful for most coralA coral is recorded eating a jellyfish for the first time, in intriguing photographs taken by scientists. Coral usually feed on tiny plankton as well as products provided by photosynthetic algae. Yet the photos reveal a stationary mushroom coral sucking in a large moon jellyfish. Researchers believe the ability to feed on a variety of food sources like jellyfish may give the coral an advantage in a changing world. The researchers publish their findings in the journal Coral Reefs. Full story...Source: BBC Science NewsImage credit: Omri Bornstein/BBC
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