I ❤ Tortoises

After the death of Lonesome George the world felt an empty place in their heart as one of the greatest tortoises passed away along with the fact he was the last of a long lineage of tortoises. Luckily scientists have found 17 new Galapagos tortoises and have found that they have similar genetic traits to George and may also have the same genus. Yale scientist have found 9 females, 3 males, and 5 young hatch-lings. Before George died they thought about resuscitating  the species, but Georges old body wasn't quite up to the challenge. Before humans came there were believed to be around 300,000 tortoises, but hunting, and invasive species made their numbers fall drastically. They still hope to incorporate the turtles into research, and are happy to think that the species can be saved.



http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/26/last_giant_tortoise_not_last/

I ❤ Pandas

Yesterday a fossil was found in Spain. This fossil is believed to have belonged to an ancient breed of bear who are believed to be the oldest ancestors of the modern day panda. The paleontologists believe that the two jaws (with teeth) are 11.6 million years old and represent a new genus that were members of the giant panda family. The fossils are very bear-like, but have adapted to eat tough plant material instead of meat. Author Juan Abella says that the genus is not only the first bear recorded in the Iberian Peninsula, but the first lineage of the giant panda.





http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121114172831.htm