Protein from Bones of 600,000-Year-Old Mammoth Extracted Effectively

Researchers from the University of York and Manchester have successfully extracted protein from the bones of a 600,000-year-old mammoth, paving the way for the recognition of ancient fossils.

Using an ultra-high resolution mass spectrometer, bio-archaeologists were able to create a near complete collagen series for the West Runton Elephant, a Steppe Mammoth skeleton which was discovered in cliffs in Norfolk in 1990. The remarkable 85 per cent complete skeleton -- the most total example of its species ever found in the world -- is potted by Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service in Norwich.

Bio-archaeologist Professor Matthew Collins, from the University of York's Department of Archaeology, said: "The time depth is totally extraordinary. Until several years ago we did not believe we would find any collagen in a skeleton of this age, even if it was as well-preserved as the West Runton Elephant.

"We consider protein lasts in a useful form ten times as long as DNA which is normally only useful in detections of up to 100,000 years old in Northern Europe. The implications are that we can use collagen sequencing to look at very old extinct animals. It also means we can look through old sites and recognize remains from tiny fragments of bone."

Dr Mike Buckley, from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester, said: "What is truly charming is that this basically important protein, which is one of the most abundant proteins in most (vertebrate) animals, is an ideal target for obtaining long lost genetic information."

The collagen sequencing was carried out at the Centre for Excellence in Mass Spectrometry at the University of York and is debatably the oldest protein ever sequenced; short peptides (chains of amino acids) have controversially been accounted from dinosaur fossils.

The research formed part of a study into the sequencing of mammoths and mastodons, which is published in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. The West Runton Elephant was compared with other mammoths, modern elephants and mastodons. Despite the age of the fossil, sufficient peptides were obtained to recognize the West Runton skeleton as elephantid, and there was sufficient sequence variation to distinguish elephantid and mammutid collagen.

Nigel Larkin, co-author and Research Associate with Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service, said: "The West Runton Elephant is unusual in that it is a nearly total skeleton. At the time this animal was alive, before the Ice Ages, spotted hyenas much larger than those in Africa today were scavenging most carcasses and eat greedily the bones as well as meat. That means most fossils found from this time period are individual bones or fragments of bone, making them difficult to identify. In the future, collagen sequencing might help us to decide the species represented by even smallest scraps of bone.

"Therefore this research has important insinuation for bones and bone fragments in all archaeological and palaeontological collections in museums and archaeology units around the world, not just those of Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service in Norwich."

Largest Fossil Spider Established in Volcanic Ash

The largest fossil spider exposed to date once ensnared prey back in the age of dinosaurs, scientists find.

The spider, named Nephila jurassica, was discovered buried in ancient volcanic ash in Inner Mongolia, China.

Tufts of hairlike fibers seen on its legs showed this 165-million-year-old arachnid to be the oldest known species of the largest web-weaving spiders living today — the golden orb-weavers, or Nephila, which are big sufficient to catch birds and bats, and use silk that excels like gold in the sunlight.

The fossil was about as large as its contemporary relatives, with a body one inch (2.5 centimeters) wide and legs that reach up to 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) long. Golden orb-weavers nowadays are mainly tropical being, so the ancient environment of Nephila jurassica probably was similarly lush.

"It would have lived, like today's Nephila, in its orb web of golden silk in a payment in a forest, or more likely at the rim of a forest close to the lake," researcher Paul Selden, director of the Paleontological Institute at the University of Kansas, told LiveScience. "There would have been volcanoes nearby producing the ash that forms the lake residue it is entombed within."

Spiders are the most many predators on land today, and help keep insect numbers in check. So these findings help us "understand the development of the insect-spider predator-prey relationship," Selden said, suggestive of that golden orb-weavers have been ensnaring insects and influencing their evolution since the Jurassic Period

"There were many large or medium-sized flying insects around at that time on which it would have fed arbitrarily," Selden said.

In modern golden orb-weaver species, females are characteristically much larger than males. This new fossil was a female, suggesting this trend stretches back at least as far as the Middle Jurassic, Selden said — that is, back previous to the first known bird, Archaeopteryx, or giant dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus.

Although this is the largest fossil spider known to date, it is not the oldest. Two species from Coseley, England, Eocteniza silvicola and Protocteniza britannica, both come from about 310 million years ago.

Selden and his colleagues are now investigating other fossil spiders from China, "as well as those from elsewhere in the world — currently Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Korea," he said.
The scientists detail their findings online April 20 in the journal Biology Letters.

Branson charitable Caribbean island to lemurs

British billionaire Richard Branson plans to turn over one of his Caribbean islands to lemurs.

Well, perhaps not the Whole Island, but Branson wants to set up a colony of the rare primates on Moskito Island, one of two private isles he owns in the British Virgin Islands, according to news reports.

Branson, whose Virgin group covers businesses from airlines to music to casinos, told the reporters last week that illegal classification in Madgascar, which he says has increased since a coup two years ago, intimidates lemur populations on that island, the only place in the world the animals live in the wild.

"We've been helping to try and protect lemurs, and sadly in Madagascar because of the government being conquers the space for lemurs is getting less and less," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Some scientists are questioning whether a species should be introduced into territory half a world away from its homeland.

Biologist James Lazell, an knowledgeable researcher in the Virgin Islands and president of the U.S.-based Conservation Agency, called Branson's plan a "terrible idea," saying the lemurs could damage the island's ecological balance, according to the Beacon.

“They eat everything. They eat lizards. They eat fruits. They eats roots, insects, bird eggs, absolutely everything,” Lazell is quoted as saying.

Penelope Bodry-Sanders, vice-chairman of the Lemur Conservation Foundation, told The Guardian, "the jury is out on this."

Branson told The Guardian that his experts said risks were small and local species would be protected if it became evident the lemurs were posing a threat.

"We will have to play it by ear. If this works out well, we will bring in more lemur species and eventually hope to find a bigger island for them," the Guardian quotes him as saying.

Creepy – Genetically Modified Cows to Produce Human Milk

You might want to think two times about dunking that chocolate chip cookie into that glass of moo – scientists have developed new “human-like” milk that comes from cows, in an effort to create an option to breast milk and formula (what’s wrong with the original formula?).

Yes scientists have productively introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows to produce milk with the same goods as human breast milk.

The research, which is backed by a major biotechnology company, is being complete in hopes of getting these genetically modified dairy products on shelves at your local grocery store – maybe the next to the ice cream made from human breast milk?

If you think this bizarre idea of drinking genetically modified milk is a little bit stank and harmful to the cows, scientists already have answers prepared for detractors.

According to The Telegraph, Professor Ning Li, the scientist who led the research and director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at the China Agricultural University says the milk would be completely safe and just like milk from regular dairy cows.

He said: “The milk tastes stronger than normal milk. No thanks!

“We aim to commercialize some research in this area in coming three years. For the “human-like milk”, 10 years or maybe more time will be requisite to finally pour this enhanced milk into the consumer’s cup.”

The world is becoming a creepy place…but I think we can all agree that the packaging isn’t nearly as nice as the original.

Bronx Zoo's lost Egyptian cobra found

The Bronx Zoo's lost deadly Egyptian cobra has been found "living and well".

The 20in (50cm) poisonous snake was discovered in the zoo's reptile house on Thursday morning, nearly a week after it runaway.

Officials say the cobra was twisting in a dark corner of the reptile house and that it is in good health.
The zoo's reptile house has been closed since the snake went lost last Friday but officials say they hope to reopen it soon.

"When we are sure that the snake is in good condition, we will reopen the Reptile House and plan to have the animal on exhibit," a declaration by the zoo said.

The zoo spread the good news via Twitter, saying: "FOUND! Bronx Zoo cobra found alive & well in Reptile House in non-public area. The key was endurance."

Zoo officials had earlier said they were confident the teenager Egyptian cobra was hiding in a non-public area of the Reptile House but approved that finding it would be difficult.

In the days that it was lost, the snake became amazing of a celebrity, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers on a Twitter account set up in its name.

Orangutan DNA Enhances Survival Chances

Orangutans are far more genetically varied than thought, a finding that could help their survival, say scientists bringing their first full DNA analysis of the critically-endangered ape. The study, published Thursday in the science journal Nature, also reveals that the orangutan -- "the man of the forest" has hardly evolved over the last 15 million years, in sharp difference to Homo sapiens and his closest cousin, the chimpanzee.

Once widely dispersed across Southeast Asia, only two populations of the intelligent, tree-dwelling ape remain in the wild, both on islands in Indonesia. Some 40,000 to 50,000 individuals live in Borneo, while in Sumatra deforestation and hunting has abridged a once robust community to about 7,000 individuals, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

These two groups split genetically about 400,000 years ago, significantly later than once thought, and today comprise separate albeit closely related species, Pongo abelii (Sumatra) and Pongo pygmaeus (Borneo), the study showed. An international group of more than 30 scientists decoded the full genomic sequence of a female Sumatran orangutan, nicknamed Susie.

They then completed précis sequences of 10 more adults, five from each population. "We found that the average orangutan is more varied genetically speaking -- than the average human," said lead author Devin Locke, an evolutionary geneticist at Washington University in Missouri.

Human and orangutan genomes partly cover by about 97 percent, compared to 99 percent for humans and chimps, he said. But the big surprise was that the far smaller Sumatran population showed more difference in its DNA than its close cousin in Borneo.

While confusing, scientists said this could help boost the species' chances of survival. "Their genetic difference is good news because, in the long run, it enables them to maintain a healthy population" and will help shape conservation labors, said co-author Jeffrey Rogers, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

Ultimately, however, the fate of this great ape whose behavior and unenergetic expressions can be eerily human at times will depend on our stewardship of the environment, he said. "If the forest disappears, then the genetic variation won't matter -- home is absolutely essential," he said. "If things continue as they have for the next 30 years, we won't have orangutans in the wild."

The researchers were also struck by the unrelenting stability of the orangutan genome, which appears to have changed very little since branching off on a separate evolutionary path. This means the species is hereditarily closer to the common ancestor from which all the great apes are presumed to have originated, some 14 to 16 million years ago.

One likely clue to the lack of structural changes in the orangutan's DNA is the relative absence, compared to humans, of telltale bits of genetic code known as an "Alu". These short stretches of DNA make up about 10 percent of the human genome figuring about 5,000 and can pop up in unpredictable places to create new mutations, some of which persist.

"In the orangutan genome, we found only 250 new Alu copies over a 15-million year time span," Locke said. Orangutans are the only great apes to dwell first and foremost in trees. In the wild, they can live 35 to 45 years, and in captivity an additional 10 years. Females give birth, on average, every eight years, and the longest interbirth interval among mammals.

Earlier research has shown that the great apes are not only adept at making and using tools, but are capable of cultural learning, long thought to be an exclusively human trait.

White Lioness Bears 3 Cubs in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Zookeepers in Buenos Aires showed off triplets Wednesday three white cubs born to a pair of white lions brought in from South Africa.

Zoo bureaucrats say the two females and a male were born Nov. 16 and are the first white lions to be born in South America. Children who visit the zoo this Argentine summer can take part in a challenge to name them.

"We're very swollen with pride. There aren't many white lions born in zoos," veterinarian Miguel Rivolta told AP Television News.

Since both parents are white, their cubs each have the recessive genes that make them pure white, he explained.

Zoo visitors loved their debut on Wednesday. The cubs' mother, not so much. She growled at the crowd and carried one of the cubs off in her mouth.

Triplets Born after 11 Years Apart

Ever wonder what you were like when you were rising up? Two 11-year-old sisters in England will have just that possibility, thanks to the amazing birth of their newborn triplet who had been on ice since she was conceived more than a decade ago.

When Adrian and Lisa Shepherd decided to start a family in 1998, they underwent in vitro fertilization at the Midland Fertility Clinic because Lisa undergo from fertility issues that made traditional conception hard.

Doctors obtained 24 eggs from the mother, 14 of which were productively fertilized. Two of those embryos were then entrenched in Lisa, who gave birth to twins Megan and Bethany in 1999.

The other 12 embryos were placed in cryogenic storage space until the Walsall family in progress talking about having another child last year.

"We didn't know if it would work, and we decided that we would just have one go with one embryo and if it didn't work, we wouldn't try again," Lisa, 37, told the Daily Mail. "It was one last chance, and if it was meant to be, then it would occur."

The Shepherds returned to the clinic, where doctors implanted a third embryo in Lisa that had been conceive on the same day as Megan and Bethany.

"It seemed odd to think that we were using embryos that we had stored all those years ago, that were conceived at the same time as the girls," Lisa said. "We knew that if we had another baby it would in effect be the girls' triplet as they were all conceived at the same time."

Ryleigh was born last month at 7 pounds 10 ounces -- 11 years after her sisters. Experts told the paper it could be the longest age gap between siblings conceived during the same fertility treatment.

"When Ryleigh arrived, she looked like both the girls did when they were born 11 years before," Lisa said. "It was uncanny."

Stem Cell Therapy To Monkey

A once paralyzed monkey has become the first case in which a small monkey recovered from a spinal injury.

Japanese researchers said Wednesday they had used stem cells to restore incomplete mobility in a small monkey that had been paralyzed from the neck down by a spinal injury. "It is the world's first case in which a small-size monkey recovered from a spinal injury using stem cells," Professor Hideyuki Okano of Tokyo's Keio University told AFP.

Okano's research team, which earlier helped a mouse get well its mobility in a similar treatment, injected so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into a paralyzed marmoset, he said.

The team placed four types of genes into human skin cells to create the iPS cells, according to Kyodo News. The injection was given on the ninth day after the injury, considered the most effectual timing, and the monkey started to move its limbs again within two to three weeks, Okano said.

"After six weeks, the animal had recovered to the level where it was jumping around," he told AFP. "It was very close to the normal level."

Scientists say the use of human developing stem cells as a treatment for cancer and other diseases holds great promise, but the process has drawn fire from religious conservatives and others who be in opposition to it.

Embryonic stem cell research is contentious because human embryos are destroyed in order to obtain the cells capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body.

Super bug! World’s strongest insect discovered

 

After months of demanding tests, a species of horned dung beetle takes the title for world's strongest insect.

The beetle, called Onthophagus taurus, was found to be able to pull an enormous 1,141 times its own body weight, which is the equivalent of a 150-pound (70-kilogram) person lifting six full double-decker buses. While the study researcher knows of a mite that can take on a hair more, that organism is an arachnid, not an insect.

The finding, published in the current subject of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, does more than elevate the beetle's status, as it lends insight to questions of evolutionary biology.

The beetles aren't the dung-ball-carrying variety, and instead the females bury most of the fecal material from, say, cow droppings.

The females build little tunnels, where they lay their eggs in the dung. It's within this tunnel that mating, and the pre-mating fightsbetween waiting males, takes place. But not all males are equipped for battle. Some sport horns while others are hornless. The no-horn beetles instead wait at the tunnel's entrance, sometimes hiding out in self-built side tunnels, and sneak in to mate before they're caught by a horned male.

The horned males, on the other hand, duke it out head-to-head.

"Their horns kind of meet on the shoulders, and they push each other backward and forward, and the guy being pushed will brace when pushed in the tunnel," Rob Knell from Queen Mary, University of London told LiveScience.

'Singing Mouse' Made With Genetic Modification

Japanese scientists said Tuesday they had produced a mouse that tweets like a bird in a genetically engineered "evolution" which they hope will shed light on the origins of human language.

A team of researchers at the University of Osaka created the animal in their "Evolved Mouse Project," in which they use genetically modified mice that are prone to miscopying DNA and thus to mutations.

"Mutations are the driving force of evolution. We have cross-bred the genetically modified mice for generations to see what would happen," lead researcher Arikuni Uchimura said.

"We checked the newly born mice one by one... One day we found a mouse that was singing like a bird," he said, noting that the "singing mouse" was born by chance but that the trait will be passed on to future generations.

"I was surprised because I had been expecting mice that are different in physical shape," he said by telephone, adding that in fact the project had also produced "a mouse with short limbs and a tail like a dachshund."

The laboratory, directed by professor Takeshi Yagi at the Osaka University's Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences in western Japan, now has more than 100 "singing mice" for further research.

Considering that mutant mice tweet louder when put in different environments or when males are put together with females, Uchimura said their chirps "may be some sort of expressions of their emotions or bodily conditions."

"I know it's a long shot and people would say it's 'too absurd'... but I'm doing this with hopes of making a Mickey Mouse some day," he said.

A dog in Germany gives birth to 17 puppies

A dog in Germany has given birth to 17 puppies, leaving their owner thrilled but fatigued after having to feed them with a urn for several weeks because their mother couldn't cope with the demand.

Owner Ramona Wegemann said Monday she barely slept for more than a couple of minutes without interruption during about four weeks in a "very tiring" struggle to make sure all of the purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies would survive.

She said when she was "finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again." Wegemann's dog Etana gave birth to eight female and nine male puppies on Sept. 28 in Ebereschenhof, which is near Berlin. Wegemann said when dogs give birth to so many puppies several of them die within the first week. "But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful," the 32-year-old added. It was the second time that Etana gave birth. She gave birth to eight puppies in her first pregnancy, not uncommon for the dog's breed, Wegemann said.

"The birth of the puppies was very special. All puppies were born naturally, no cesarean was necessary," she added. It took Etana a full 26 hours to give birth to all of the puppies — and Wegemann was as baffled as amazed.


But even Wegemann still struggles to recognize them: The females puppies are called Bahati, Binta, Bahya, Bashima, Batouuli, Binki, Bora, Bisa and the male ones are Baakir, Banjoku, Belay, Bruk, Bundu, Bayo, Bukekayo, Biton and Bulus.

Wegemann gave them all African names because the Rhodesian Ridgeback is an African hunting dog.

Wegeman and her husband now plan to give most of the puppies away. A price of ?800 ($1,050) per puppy would only cover the expenses for the veterinary, vaccinations, food and the mandatory paperwork, Wegemann said. She hopes to get about ?1,000 ($1,315) per dog, but said they would only give them to families with children, not breeders.

Four of the puppies have been sold, two more are already paid for and will leave their siblings shortly.

Rare flower unleashes once-a-decade smell

It only happens once a decade or so - maybe longer - and anybody with a nose will tell you that's a good thing. A Devil's Tongue, or konjac to a botanist, has flowered at Wellington's Botanic Gardens, releasing a smell described as "rotten meat" into the air.

It is a rare event – thankfully – but one that has flower lovers equal parts eager and repulsed. Owner Charmaine Scott told news site stuff.co.nz she was relieved to have it off her hands when it flowered.

"My husband's really, really pleased I've donated it to the Botanic Garden for a couple of weeks because it stinks," Ms Scott said. "It just smells nauseating, it's pure dead hedgehog, honestly." In 2006, a Devil's Tongue flowered at Timaru's Botanic Gardens, after sitting dormant for 13 years.

Native to Southeast Asia and Africa, the plant releases its distinctive stink to attract flies, which it uses for pollination instead of bees. It only flowers for a few days at a time, and it can be decades between flowerings.

In the face of its stinky reputation, it is popular in China and Japan as a dietary supplement. In the US and some Asian countries, it is turned into dangerous jelly snacks that have been linked to several suffocation deaths.

Why are female squirrels licentious?

Why do female squirrels amuse as many suitors as available?

Canadian researchers say rampant promiscuity among female squirrels in the mammal world is linked to how many males are knocking at their door.

"Their behaviour is overpoweringly influenced by opportunity,'' says Eryn McFarlane of the University of Guelph near here.

"There are no strong ties between mating behavior and genetics in red squirrels. So even if the costs of mating with many males outweigh the benefits, there doesn't seem to be much capacity for them to evolve lower levels of promiscuity".

But female squirrels are less than picky when it comes to mating, often entertaining as many suitors as possible, according to her.

But "having multiple partners means more energy expended on mating, increased exposure to predators as well as increased potential for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases,'' she says.

"Promiscuity also encourages harassment from male squirrels trying to coerce them into having sex.''

Interestingly, a female red squirrel goes into heat for only a single day each year. On that day, she runs around to encourage interested males to give her a chase and mates with as many as are available, according to the researchers.

Dogs show students: Exams’ bark is worse than bite

Tufts University is throwing stressed-out students a bone therapy dogs to play with during their final exams.

Colleges have long extended library hours and offered extra therapy around test time. Now they're adopting quirky stress-fighting events for students, who face a rough job market in addition to finishing up the semester. From dog visits to free midnight massages to laser tag, students are getting help navigating those last days before turning in final papers and taking finals.

"I hope these puppies make me happy and give me a nice break between studying ... just cut the studying a little bit," 19-year-old Tufts freshman Chloe Wong said Tuesday, petting an Australian shepherd brought in by her resident director.

She called her first semester "challenging." But on Tuesday, the community health major got to relax and play with a set of dogs that resident director Michael Bliss brought in for her and other Tufts students he serves.

Dogs are Santa's favorites, poll shows

They set down their books, laptops and e-readers for a chance to pet, feed and even chase the therapy animals as media camera bulbs flashed.

"Every college student has stress around finals," said Bliss, who came up with the idea of dog visits after participating in a similar program as an undergraduate at New York University. "And taking a break out from that with something as easy and simple and loving as petting dogs is really helpful."

Therapy dogs have long been used to cheer up the sick and elderly. But more colleges are embracing the idea as a stress reliever and a way to engage students, said Brian Van Brunt, president of the American College Counseling Association.

Schools have been developing more flashy methods over the past 10 years or so by sponsoring stress-busting events ranging from late-night yoga and oxygen bars to some school leaders dressing up as the "pizza fairy" and delivering free food.

"College students are very stressed at this point of the year, and some are playing catch-up," said Van Brunt, also director of counseling and testing at Western Kentucky University. "Going to events like these allows students to clear the brain and press the reset button."

Hell hath no fury like a woman with a frying pan

 

Hutchinson police say a 71-year-old woman knocked a man who attacked her comatose with her frying pan.

Police Sgt. John Moore said 25-year-old Kevin Funderburk talked his way into the woman's home on Saturday, claiming he was homeless and had nowhere to go.

Moore said that when he tried to attack the woman, she fought back and "beat him down with a frying pan."
"When we arrived, he was unconscious and lying in his own vomit in the back of the house," Moore told The Hutchinson News. "He was in the hospital in Wichita over the weekend and they stapled his scalp."

Funderburk was jailed on $55,200 bond on suspicion of attempted rape, provoked battery, criminal restraint and criminal damage to property. He was wearing a neck brace when he made his first look Tuesday in court.
The Hutchinson News reported that the woman was injured, but Moore did not release how serious her injuries were.

Octopus builds mobile home

It sounds like a spin-off from "The Little Mermaid" or "Spongebob Squarepants": An octopus builds a mobile home under the sea by heaping up coconut shells. It moves in ... and then it carries the whole heap across the seafloor. "It was an extremely comical sight," said marine biologist Julian Finn, who spotted the behavior off the Indonesian coast. "I never laughed so hard underwater." Let's just hope those clever cephalopods don't develop opposable thumbs. That won't be such a laughing matter.

Galileo's fingers and tooth found

Was that any way to treat a genius? Back in 1737, Galileo Galilei's admirers removed three fingers, a vertebra and a tooth from the astronomer's body when his corpse was being moved to a new crypt.

The vertebra and one of the fingers were recovered soon afterward, but the whereabouts of the tooth and the other two fingers were secrecy. Recently, however, the relics turned up in a container that was auctioned off to a private collector. Now the Galilean body parts, including the finger shown at right, will be put on display at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence.

Storm in Israel reveals ancient statue

A huge storm that misshapen part of a cliff on Israel's central coast led to the discovery of a statue dating back to the Roman period, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Tuesday.

The white marble statue of a woman wearing a toga and sandals is estimated to be 2,000 years old. It stands 1.2 meters tall, weighs about 200 kilograms and was found with no head or arms, according to news let go by the authority.

A person on foot on the shore at Ashkelon on the coast west of Jerusalem made the discovery, the authority said.

"The statue fell into the sea when the ancient maritime precipice collapsed as a result of the storm," said Yigal Israel, the Ashkelon district archaeologist. "The collapse also bankrupt a bath house and mosaics that had been in the cliff for many hundreds of years."

The storm, one of the strongest Israel has experienced in recent years, brought winds of more than 100 kph that sent 10-meter waves deafening into Israel's coast.

Frog Bladders clutch Surprises

Australia's desert frogs are famously able to store up large amounts of water in their bladder to last them through the lack. But now researchers from Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory have found that frog bladders can hold another, even more strange surprise.

Chris Tracy and colleagues report in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters that frogs have a sole way of dealing with foreign objects that become lodged in their bodies: They store and even expel them from the bladder. After finding that frogs implanted with radio transmitters in the field became strangely separated from the devices, the researchers implanted small beads into the body cavities of tree frogs and cane toads to see what would happen.

Within nine days, all the tree frogs had expelled the beads totally from the body via their bladder, while the beads in the cane toads had migrated to the bladder and stayed there. "The bladder of frogs appears to be a sole pathway of expulsion of foreign objects from the body," says Tracy.

Animals such as fish and snakes -- and even humans -- are known to expel objects out of the body through the skin or the intestine. But, says Tracy, they were surprised to find that a two-centimeter-long (0.8-inch-long) transmitter implanted in the body cavity of eight-centimeter-long (three-inch-long) frogs could migrate to the bladder.

"When we first started finding transmitters in bladders, we thought wow that's really bad surgery we did. But when we started seeing them over and over again, we realized, 'Hey, this really is something different.'" Storing from harm's way.

The researchers wanted to know how the bead came to be in the bladder, so they dissected implanted cane toads over a number of days to see where it went. Tracy says tissue grows out from the bladder and wraps around the bead, eventually enveloping it and drawing the bead into the bladder.

"It's pretty remarkable that these amphibians can safely and relatively quickly get rid of potentially dangerous things in the body cavity," he says. So why would frogs have such a special adaptation? Tracy speculates that because frogs eat live insects, some of the sharp insect body parts could break off and become lodged in their body.

"The other thing about frogs is their jumping. They aren't very coordinated and they tend to crash land. They have relatively thin skins, so it's easy to imagine a frog landing on something spiny that could poke into their body that way," he says. "If you have something roaming around inside the body, it's usually a bad thing. It could poke through a vital organ, so it's a good idea to get rid of them."

Tracy says his findings are a cautionary note for other researchers implanting transmitters into animals. "Finding that your study animal has become separated from your transmitter may not mean it has been eaten by a predator. It might have just expelled the object."