First Murder Hornet Nest Found In US Riddled With 200 Queens



WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


By Tom Hale 12 NOV 2020


After much searching, researchers have got their hands on the first “murder hornet” nest in the US and given a glimpse of what lies inside. During the dissection of the nest, the team found just under 500 hornets in various stages of development, including around 200 queens. That's particularly daunting as each of these queens could have potentially gone on to spawn new nests.

Officially known as Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia), so-called murder hornets are an invasive pest and not native to the US. This year, however, has seen a number of reports of the aggressive species in Washington State, raising fears the invaders could decimate honeybees and other native bee populations.

To better understand the problem, researchers at Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) have closely studied a hive they managed to track down on October 29. Inside, they discovered around 495 live specimens, including 6 unhatched eggs, 190 larvae, 112 workers, 9 drones, and 76 live queens. They also found over 100 closed capped cells, which contain the pupae of more queens, bringing the total number of queens in the hive to just under 200.

Washington State Department of Agriculture

Rather worryingly, it’s likely that all but one of these queens would be new virgin queens, which would leave the nest, mate, hibernate and reproduce in the following spring.

“It really seems like we get there just in the nick of time," Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist leading the fight to kill the hornets for the WSDA, said at a press conference.

"A small percentage of these queens will go on to form colonies next year had they been given the chance to escape,” he added.

“Even a relatively small nest, such as this, is able to pump out 200 queens. It does give one a bit of pause. Potentially each of those queens could make a nest next year,” explained Spichiger.

Washington State Department of Agriculture

The species is native to the forests and low mountains of eastern and southeast Asia. Measuring in at around 5 centimeters (2 inches) long, Asian giant hornets are the largest species of hornet in the world, with a distinctive orange-colored head and a chunky striped abdomen. They are a significant predator of honeybees and have been known to decimate entire hives.

“The hornets enter a ‘slaughter phase’ where they kill bees by decapitating them. They then defend the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young,” according to the WSDA.

They can also pose a risk to humans. The venom of the species is laced with a potent neurotoxin that can pack a mean punch, often resulting in a large, throbbing, and painful sting. Even if you're not allergic, multiple stings can kill a human. The hornet is thought to kill around 30 to 50 people each year in Japan alone, with most victims dying from anaphylaxis, a sudden heart attack, or multiple organ failure.

Wolves To Be Reintroduced To Colorado After Historic Public Vote



GRAY WOLVES ONCE ROAMED THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS STATES, BUT AFTER DECLINING IN THE 1930S, THEY HAD DISAPPEARED FROM COLORADO BY 1940.

 AB PHOTOGRAPHIE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

By Tom Hale 10 NOV 2020, 

The people of Colorado have spoken: gray wolves are returning to the state. Last week, Colorado voted to approve Proposition 114, a ballot measure that will see the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission reintroduce and manage gray wolves on designated lands west of the continental divide by the end of 2023. It's the first time in the US the public has ever been asked to make the call over the reintroduction of a wildlife species through a ballot box as the decision is usually left up to state wildlife authorities.

However, it was an extremely tight race, with 1,543,102 (50.64 percent) voting in favor of the initiative and 1,504,228 (49.36 percent) voting to oppose. While many are welcoming the reintroduction of this iconic species, others fear the challenges it might bring.

Wolves were once common across much of North America, not least in Colorado, before the arrival of European colonizers. Overhunting and persecution by farmers reached boiling point by the 1930s when the species started to disappear from many of the Rocky Mountains states, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. It’s thought that no wolves remained in the state of Colorado by 1940.

Many conservationists are happy to see the reintroduction of wolves in the state because they play a crucial role in the ecosystem’s food webs. As case studies have shown, bringing wolves back to their natural environments can have a positive knock-on effect on the distribution, abundance, and interactions of a wide range of different species, from insects and vegetation to birds and other mammals. Reintroducing wolves back to Colorado would also establish a critical link in the geographical wolf range of North America.

“Re-establishing wolves in western Colorado could connect the entire North American wolf population from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan through Canada and Alaska, down the Rocky Mountains into Mexico. It would be difficult to overestimate the biological and conservation value of this achievement,” L David Mech, renowned wolf expert and senior research scientist for the Biological Resources Division, US Geological Survey, has previously said.

As the tight vote suggests, not everyone is happy with the plan. Rick Enstrom, 2012 Republican candidate for District 23 of Colorado, who served as Colorado State Wildlife Commissioner from 2000 to 2008, has argued that the reintroduction measure will increase the risk of predation on livestock and pets.

Others have dismissed this as scaremongering. Mike Phillips, a wildlife biologist and wolf expert who serves in the Montana Legislature wrote in a recent op-ed article: “It is the atypical wolf that kills livestock, and losses to wolves represent an insignificant percentage of livestock on public and private range. Consequently, nowhere do depredations represent a threat to livestock industries.”

The recent ballot vote is likely to be made more complicated by the Trump administration's recent decision to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list. NPR suggests this could mean the state won't be able to receive federal grants for the project, but it’s unclear how this twist in the story will pan out just yet.

Female Mongooses Wage War To Mate With Unrelated Males


THE MORTALITY COSTS IN MONGOOSE FIGHTS ARE COMPARABLE TO WARLIKE MAMMALS, INCLUDING LIONS, CHIMPANZEES, AND HUMANS. BANDED MONGOOSE RESEARCH PROJECT

VIDEO https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/female-mongooses-wage-war-to-mate-with-unrelated-males/

By Rachael Funnell 09 NOV 2020


A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed that, for female mongooses, the cost of deadly war is worth it so long as it helps you find a mate. The research found that female banded mongooses will purposefully lead their groups into frays so that they can mate with enemy males while the chaos rages on. The anarchic mating strategy is thought to preserve genetic diversity as female mongooses will rarely leave the family group into which they’re born, meaning they need to get inventive if they want to avoid inbreeding.

The researchers from the University of Exeter and the University of Cambridge, both in the UK, were studying banded mongooses in Uganda and wanted to investigate the motivations behind fighting between groups. Mongooses are known for their violent fights and it's often the males that bear the brunt of the trauma, being the most likely to sustain injuries or even die in a fight.

There are different models of leadership within social groups, and when it comes to waging war these can be heroic or exploitative. Heroic models see the initiators of fights contributing the most to the battle, while exploitative models see initiators sending others into harm’s way while they do little themselves to help.

The researchers used long-term data from wild banded mongooses to test which model was being employed by these animals and found that cross-group fights were mostly being started by females. They found these individuals were starting conflicts as a means of increasing reproduction opportunities, as warring with enemy groups gave them access to unrelated males. The exploitative strategy meant the related males were busy fighting while the frisky females scoped out the competition for worthy suitors.

While it might sound a little savage to sacrifice the safety of your family in the pursuit of procreation, the behavioral adaptation is a necessary one. “Mongooses have family-based groups where older siblings, aunts and uncles all play a role within the group and the raising of offspring,” said ZSL London Zoo keeper Tara Humphrey in an email to IFLScience. “Their groups are more female populated, with only related males who are forced out when they reach sexual maturity.” As such, if females are to avoid inbreeding, they need to find a strong healthy male outside of the family, and where better to judge the survival skills of a partner than in the throes of battle.

"We've known for some time that banded mongoose groups often engage in violent battles and now we know why," said Professor Michael Cant, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, in an email statement. "Females start fights between groups to gain genetic benefits from mating with outsiders, while the males within their group, and the group as a whole pay the costs.

"A classic explanation for warfare in human societies is leadership by exploitative individuals who reap the benefits of conflict while avoiding the costs. In this study, we show that leadership of this kind can also explain the evolution of severe collective violence in certain animal societies."

Otters Learn From Their Friends When Solving Puzzles

WHEN IT COMES TO MEATBALLS, IT PAYS TO HAVE FRIENDS. 

GEORGINA HUME






By Rachael Funnell 11 NOV 2020

A new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science has revealed that when it comes to puzzles short-clawed otters get by with a little help from their friends. Led by researchers from the University of Exeter, UK, the study challenged otters to a task that when completed would reward them with food. They found otters could remember the solution when tasked with the same challenge months later, and that they were able to learn from successful friends. The findings reveal new insights regarding long-term memory and social learning in these animals, as well as providing some perennially pleasing footage of otters grabbing things with their adorable hand-paws.

The puzzles at hand (or paw, as it were) were made up of transparent containers baited with delicious meatballs inside. They could be opened by twisting and pulling lids and handles to free the snack, child's play for these tool-wielding jugglers. The otters were tested using the same puzzles several months apart to see how or if their performance differed the second time around. The researchers found that on their second go with the puzzle, the otters solved them 69 percent faster compared to their first try. This finding demonstrates their capacity for long-term memory in remembering the most effective way to extract the meatball.

The otters’ performance also showed evidence of "social learning". When an otter cracked the puzzle, its closest buddies quickly figured it out too. The researchers tested this by first establishing the relationships between the otters (sadly no orangutan friends featured in the study) and finding out which of them spent most of their time together. This meant they could observe how problem-solving techniques passed through the otter groups by seeing whose buddies picked up on their problem-solving techniques.

Otters were able to recall their meatball retrieving tekkers months after their first exposure to the puzzle. Georgina Hume

VIDEO https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/otters-learn-from-their-friends-when-solving-puzzles/

"Asian short-clawed otters are declining in the wild, partly due to overfishing and pollution affecting the crustaceans and small fish they feed on," said lead author Alex Saliveros, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, in a statement. “Being able to catch new prey in new ways, and to pass on that knowledge, could be important in terms of conservation.

"Our study is the first to show evidence of social learning and long-term memory in Asian short-clawed otters — which may be good news in terms of their adaptability and future survival."

New Scans Of Ancient Egyptian Mummies Reveal Brain And Other Organs Inside


By Rachael Funnell11 NOV 2020

Researchers have taken a peek inside three wrapped mummies first discovered over 400 years ago. Of Egyptian origin, the remains date from the late third to the middle fourth century CE, slotting within the late Roman Period. After their excavation in the early 17th and late 19th centuries, two of them went on an adventure as part of the collection of the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland August II eventually landing in Dresden, Germany, in 1728. The third was from an Egyptian museum’s collection, which eventually joined the other two in Dresden. As a trio, they represent the only known surviving stucco-shrouded portrait mummies from the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara.

Stucco-shrouded mummies are unique in the way in which they were buried. The process is an elaborate one, placing the bodies on wooden boards before wrapping them in textiles, plaster, gold, and adorning the end product with a whole-body portrait. Reporting in PLOS ONE, investigations using computed tomography (CT) scans of the portrait mummies revealed an adult male (~25-30 years old), a middle-aged female (~30-40 years old), and a young female (~17-19 years old) were concealed beneath the shrouds. The two females were buried sporting beautiful necklaces and hairpins, while all three contained artifacts that were likely intended as payment to Charon, a Roman and Greek deity said to ferry souls across the River Styx en route to the Underworld.

The shrouded mummies were painted with a full-body portrait. © Zesch S, et al. PLOS One (2020); CC BY 4.0; 

WHAT LAY BENEATH THE PORTRAITS HAD BEEN A MYSTERY FOR OVER 400 YEARS. © ZESCH S, ET AL. PLOS ONE (2020); CC BY 4.0 © SCULPTURE COLLECTION, DRESDEN STATE ART COLLECTIONS, PHOTOS: H.-P. KLUT/E. ESTEL

While all three mummies were kitted out with the same shroud, the two adults were poorly preserved compared to the corpse of the younger female, which the researchers say could have happened before or after they were found and opened back in 1615. However, CT scans revealed the younger female still contained the remains of her brain and several other internal organs, which evidently weren't removed as part of the mummification process.

The brain had shriveled but was complete with brainstem at the base of the skull, as seen in the scan below. There was no evidence of a brain left in the adult male, but curiously there were no signs that it had been drained out via the nose either, or that embalming fluid had been used. The researchers suspect the mummies were only preserved using a desiccation mixture called natron that would dehydrate a water-filled human nicely.

The younger female's brain, while shrunken, was definitely still inside her skull. S Zesch et al. PLOS One 2020, CC BY 4.0

You might be wondering why those in charge of mummifying these people didn't mash up and remove their brains using the nasal scoop technique for which the Ancient Egyptians are famous, but the exact process of mummification, like all fashions, was actually changing all the time.

"It was a common practice to remove the brain and internal organs especially during the 18th and 20th Dynasty (New Kingdom)," lead researcher Stephanie Zesch, a physical anthropologist and Egyptologist at the German Mummy Project at Reiss Engelhorn Museum told IFLScience. "During the later periods of ancient Egypt, the applied techniques of body treatment however showed a greater variety. Previous radiological investigations of Roman Periods mummies already revealed that some showed no evidence of removal of the brain and intestines. The identification of the preserved brain in the case of the young female, thus, supports this idea of changing mummification techniques in the late phase of the mummification tradition in Egypt.

"

The scan also revealed the females had been buried with necklaces (left) and even a hairpin on the younger female (right). S Zesch et al. PLOS One 2020, CC BY 4.0

Cause of death for the three individuals couldn’t be diagnosed using CT, but there were signs of benign conditions such as tooth cavities, arthritis, and growths on their scans. While the lives of these three ancient humans remain a mystery, the research reveals fascinating insights into the burial practices of affluent Egyptians in the late Roman Period.

A LORAX

New Primate Discovered In Myanmar Following Analysis Of 100-Year-Old Specimen

ANOTHER AMAZING FIND IN THE MUSEUM STORAGE ROOM 



THE SPOOKY PRIMATE HANGS OUT IN ONE OF MYANMAR'S MOST SACRED PILGRIMAGE SITES. ©THAUNG WIN


By Rachael Funnell 11 NOV 2020

A new study published in the journal Zoological Research has uncovered a new species of primate in Myanmar after analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of the Asian colobine genus Trachypithecus. The discovery of the ghostly species, named the Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa) hinged on a 100-year-old specimen from the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, UK. Now that the species has been defined, researchers on the study hope it will reinvigorate conservation efforts for the estimated 200 to 250 remaining individuals that are spread across four isolated groups in Myanmar.

The Popa langur is named after the sacred Mount Popa, an extinct volcano and sacred pilgrimage site that is home to around 100 langurs, making it the largest of the four populations. Throughout Myanmar, these langurs are at risk from habitat loss and hunting to the extent that the researchers have suggested the species be classified as critically endangered.

The defining specimen had been kicking about in London's Natural History Museum for decades. Popa-langur specimen © Trustees of The Natural History Museum

As a genus, Trachypithecus is the most species-rich and widely distributed of the Asian colobine monkeys. Much research has been done regarding the 20 known species but despite this their evolutionary history is something of a mystery. This new research wanted to combine data on the genus to paint a clearer picture of their past, and so collected samples and complete mitochondrial DNA from all 20 known species.

It was during the pursuit of a better understanding of the evolutionary history of this iconic group of primates that the new species was discovered. The differences between Trachypithecus species are subtle, mostly pertaining to fur coloration, tail length, the size of their molars, and skull shape, but genetic analyses of the NHM’s antique specimen alongside samples from other museums and extant animals established the existence of the new species

.

There are only subtle differences between some members of the Trachypithecus genus. Popa-langur specimen © Trustees of The Natural History Museum

“We analyzed 72 sequences of primates and 53 of those were from genus Trachypithecus where this new species belongs,” said Roberto Portela Miguez, senior curator in Charge of Mammals at the NHM, in an email to IFLScience. “It was after combining the results of sequencing from museum samples, fecal samples from populations collected in the wild, and a review of museum specimens that we were able to draw the conclusion that we were working with a new species.”

The study demonstrates how specimens in natural history collections can serve as valuable sources for genetic and taxonomic research as new sequencing techniques emerge that can analyze even 100-year-old DNA. The telltale T. popa specimen was collected in 1913 by Guy C. Shortridge, a British zoologist who collected thousands of specimens during the early 20th century. It's quite remarkable, then, to think that this Popa langur has enabled modern scientists to discover its taxonomic existence over 100 years later.

There are only thought to be 200 to 250 Popa langurs left in the wild. ©Thaung Win

“This is the most comprehensive study done in this group of primates to date, so our understanding of the evolutionary history of the group and the diversity of species within has been enhanced significantly,” Miguez continued. “This piece of work could not have been done without the extraordinary enthusiasm and expertise of collaborators from all over the world, from Myanmar, Germany, Australia, US, Singapore, Vietnam, Netherlands, and more. Thanks to this extraordinary effort, we might be in time to save a species that might otherwise have been overlooked.”

Skull Of 2-Million-Year-Old Human "Cousin" Discovered In South Africa


THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW PARANTHROPUS ROBUSTUS FOSSIL SUGGESTS RAPID EVOLUTION DURING A TURBULENT PERIOD OF LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE, RESULTING IN ANATOMICAL CHANGES THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE ATTRIBUTED TO SEX. LA TROBE UNIVERSITY


By Tom Hale10 NOV 2020

The 2-million-year-old skull of an extinct human species has been unearthed in the depths of a cave system in South Africa. The near-complete male skull belongs to an ancient human relative known as Paranthropus robustus that lived around the southern tip of Africa from approximately 2 million years ago.

It was first unearthed in 2018 by researchers from La Trobe University’s Archaeology Department in Australia during an excavation at the Drimolen Main Quarry north of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since it was discovered on South African Father’s Day, June 20, the researchers have nicknamed the species “the Father’s Day fossil.”

As reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the researchers who found the specimen say it’s the earliest known and best-preserved fossil of the species ever found. This could lead to some exciting insights into this mysterious ancient species and add some pages to the story of human ancestors.

The excavation in progress with Angeline Leece (left) and Stephanie Baker (right). La Trobe University

Interestingly, this newly discovered fossil suggests Paranthropus robustus emerged at roughly the same time as our direct ancestor Homo erectus, indicating the species both shared the same landscape at the same time some 2 million years ago.

"These two vastly different species, H. erectus with their relatively large brains and small teeth, and P. robustus with their relatively large teeth and small brains, represent divergent evolutionary experiments," Angeline Leece, first author from La Trobe University, said in a statement. "While we were the lineage that won out in the end, the fossil record suggests that P. robustus was much more common than H. erectus on the landscape two million years ago."

Previously, it was believed that the females of the species were notably smaller than the males. However, the new male skull is smaller than expected, much more akin to the female skulls of the same species found in the area.

The researchers say this observation could have some big implications. Instead of the different skull sizes showing differences in sex, the team argues they might represent anatomical changes between different groups, brought on by a sudden shakeup of the local climate change in the south of Africa at this time. As the area became increasingly dry, food became increasingly scarce, forcing the species to survive on tougher vegetation. So their theory goes, this may have driven a rare example of microevolution within a human lineage, causing Paranthropus robustus to evolve chewing adaptations in the skull in response to environmental change.

"P. robustus is remarkable in that it possesses a number of features in its cranium, jaws and teeth indicating that it was adapted to eat a diet consisting of either very hard or very tough foods," explained David Strait, a professor of biological anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. "We think that these adaptations allowed it to survive on foods that were mechanically difficult to eat as the environment changed to be cooler and drier, leading to changes in local vegetation."

Bacteria Can Extract Minerals From Rocks In MicroGravity, Making Space-Mining Easier




SPHINGOMONAS DESICCABILIS, STAINED TO GLOW GREEN, WAS THE STAR PERFORMER WHEN IT CAME TO USING BACTERIA TO EXTRACT MINERALS FROM BASALTS OF THE KIND FOUND ON THE MOON. DR ROSA SANTOMARTINO

By Stephen Luntz10 NOV 2020, 16:34

Tests performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) suggest bacteria can extract valuable minerals from rocks, opening a path to space-mining and human colonization of other worlds.

Getting heavy materials out of the Earth's gravity is exceptionally expensive. Advances in spaceflight may help somewhat, but the economics of large-scale colonies on other worlds are likely to depend on being able to find most of what we need locally, rather than shipping from home. Although asteroids and the Moon offer rich sources of many metals we will want, the question of how to extract them in such a different environment has weighed on the minds of those planning such projects.

Indeed, if the challenges OSIRIS-REx experienced trying to grab a piece of the asteroid Bennu are anything to go by, getting rocks off asteroids may not be as easy as it sounds, and processing adds an extra complication. Scientists wondered if bacteria might help, and an international collaboration developed biomining reactors to explore the possibility.

Eighteen of these matchbox-sized reactors were carried to the ISS in 2019, where they were supplied with basalt and submerged in solutions of three bacterial species for three weeks.

Bacteria are already used to extract metals such as copper and gold from rocks on Earth in a process known as biomining, but no one knew how they would respond to microgravity. The ISS also used centrifuges to simulate Martian gravity (30 percent of Earth's) and Earth-like gravity. Each was compared to experiments run at home.

In Nature Communications, the makers report the success of the reactor with Sphingomonas desiccabilis at any gravity, extracting cerium and neodymium with 70 percent efficiency, up to four times as much as non-biological methods. For all 14 studied metals, extraction was higher in Martian than Earth gravity. The other bacteria were unsuccessful, but at least they got a ride into space.

"Microorganisms are very versatile and as we move into space, they can be used to accomplish a diversity of processes. Elemental mining is potentially one of them,” said Dr Rosa Santomartino, from the University of Edinburgh, in a statement.

Although some love to dream of mining asteroids for use on Earth – even touting the value of space rocks if all the metals could be extracted – Professor Charles Cockell is more realistic. “While it is not economically viable to mine these elements in space and bring them to Earth, space biomining could potentially support a self-sustaining human presence in space,” he said.

“Our results suggest that the construction of robotic and human-tended mines in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon, which has rocks with enriched concentrations of rare earth elements, could be one fruitful direction of human scientific and economic development beyond Earth,” Cockell added. Oceanus Procellarum is a long way from the lunar poles, where water is most abundant, but perhaps some site will be found that combines the best of both worlds.

Scientists May Have Discovered Viruses That Produce Their Own Energy

ILLUSTRATION OF A PANDORAVIRUS PARTICLE. GIOVANNI CANCEMI/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
ADVERTISMENT


By Jack Dunhill11 NOV 2020, 15:54


Are viruses alive? This is a question that arises time after time and debate continues to rage on between researchers to this day. The general consensus is no – viruses are only able to reproduce within host organisms and lack the essential machinery required to consider them living.

One such machinery is the viruses’ lack of ability to produce their own energy. To get the energy they need to complete replication, they hijack the host’s energy supply to reproduce within the host cell, before exploding out and embarking on their way to infect another cell – or so we thought.

In a pre-print study published to bioRxiv (meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed), researchers from the French National Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) have discovered that a species of giant virus is possibly capable of independent energy production, representing the first time a virus has been demonstrated to have energy production capabilities.

"In our work, we have shown experimentally that pandoravirus (a giant virus of amoebas) have electrical membrane potential, an essential component to the survival of all living cells. It allows cells to function as a battery to generate energy," Professor Bernard La Scola, corresponding author of the study, told IFLScience

The virus in question is quite the beast. With a virus particle diameter of 1 micrometer and a massive virus genome of 2.5 million base pairs, the Pandoravirus genus broke every size record possible after its discovery in 2013. Moreover, its massive size prompted scientists to rethink what exactly viruses are, as it blurred the lines between viruses being considered floating particles or single-celled organisms.

Since their discovery, scientists have found that many definitions of what a virus is do not apply to these giant viruses. They have some form of immune system, which helps fight off smaller viruses, and they have genes that allows them to process transcribe DNA into mRNA all on their own, which other viruses cannot do without a host.

Following discoveries of multiple proteins within these giant viruses that are not typically found in other viruses, the researchers decided to challenge Pandoravirus further to see whether it deviates from the norm in metabolism too.

Using technology that allows researchers to see whether there is an energy difference between the inside of a cell and outside, Sarah Aherfi and colleagues tested the virus Pandoravirus massiliensis for a voltage difference across the virus membrane (called membrane potential). They found that there was a difference in voltage, particularly with mature virus particles, suggesting a mechanism that may create energy within the virus itself.

The researchers then delved into the genome of P. massiliensis to try and identify genes commonly associated with energy production in other organisms. Eight genes were discovered that are all activated during the end of the virus’s replication cycle and share similarities (albeit low similarities) with genes used by other organisms in a key stage of energy production. When isolated and inserted into bacteria, some of these genes could produce the essential enzymes required for energy production, and supplying the virus with a regulator of energy production increased the membrane potential.

If these results are verified, a virus will have been demonstrated to produce energy independently and it's possible scientists will need to rethink the definition of viruses. Pandoraviruses are certainly viruses, as they still require host cells for replication, but to what extent do they conform to other viruses?

"Classical viruses were taken out of the three domains of life because they do not fulfill certain criteria characterizing life: they can only reproduce inside living host cells by using its translation machinery and its energy," said Professor La Scola.

"With our finding in pandoravirus (membrane potential and candidate genes of tricarboxylic acid cycle, the central hub of energy metabolism), it is increasingly evident that these organisms are very different from classical [definitions of viruses] and they are more close to the domain of life. That's why we are convinced to look seriously into their classification."

Some virologists are not yet convinced. New Scientist reported David Wessner from Davidson College in North Carolina stated that the research was limited to just viruses that have been released from cells, and some did not show energy production at all. IFLScience reached out for third-party comments, but have not recieved a response at this time.

Being a preprint, the study will need to be peer-reviewed before the textbook is rewritten and caution must be taken when drawing conclusions from initial studies such as this. Hopefully, further study into these viruses will yield new insights.


[H/T: The New Scientist]

Rare Bigfin Squid in Australian waters

Scientists record some striking footage.

Australia is home to a host of weird and wonderful creatures, and now it can add the rare Bigfin Squid to its inventory.

Credit: Matthew Marrison (MNF)

Scientists aboard a deep-sea research voyage led by the national science agency CSIRO have recorded five individuals in the Great Australian Bight at depths of up to three kilometres.

It’s a first for Australian waters, and one of only a dozen confirmed sightings worldwide.

Alongside its large fins, the appropriately named Bigfin Squid (family Magnapinnidae) has striking long arm and tentacle filaments.

“Differences in their appearance meant we were able to confirm they were five separate individuals, rather than the same squid multiple times, and although the surveys covered a relatively large area, the squid were actually found clustered close together,” says marine scientist Deborah Osterhage.

From the recordings, the team was able to measure the length of one squid, finding its tentacle filaments were more than 11 times their body length.

They also observed their colours and behaviours, including filament coiling behaviour which has not previously been seen in squids.

The findings are reported in the journal PLOS ONE.

Five Enormous Rarely Seen Squid Have Been Spotted In Australian Waters


THIS FLOCK OF NOODLES HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN SEEN IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS. 

CSIRO, OSTERHAGE ET AL. PLOS ONE, 2020

By Rachael Funnell11 NOV 2020, 19:00


The ocean is home to some absolute whoppers and some of the largest creatures are also the most elusive. One such giant is the bigfin squid that belongs to the family Magnapinnidae, a group of deep-sea squid with large fins and long, noodly arms and tentacles. It has only been spotted in the flesh on a handful of occasions. Now, new research published in the journal PLOS One details the incredible discovery of five bigfin squid in the Great Australian Bight, the first time they’ve been seen in Australian waters.

Previous reports of these ocean giants have always been of a single individual, so to capture five of these on camera was a big deal for the team from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. Though they weren’t spotted all at once, the bigfins have small differences in their appearance, which made it easy for the team to recognize they were five different animals and not just one camera-hungry squid. All five were seen at depths of 2 to 3 kilometers (around 1.5 miles) over a 25-hour period but were within 300 meters (984 feet) of one another, constituting a veritable crowd for an animal that’s never been seen with a party of more than one.

Bigfins have modestly sized bodies compared to their incredible long tentacle filaments. Osterhage et al. (PLOS ONE, 2020) 

VIDEO https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/five-enormous-rarely-seen-squid-have-been-spotted-in-australian-waters/

The first-of-its-kind discovery offered a unique opportunity to shine some light on these creatures of the deep, and the team were able to get an accurate reading on their size for the first time. Previous in-situ attempts to measure them have involved using nearby objects of known length, such as the arm of a submersible, but this new research used lasers to get a more accurate picture of their size. The results? The largest individual was over 1.8 meters (almost 6 feet) long with a maximum tentacle length of almost 11 times its body size. The animal was mostly white at the tips of its arms and tentacles but was sporting a mix of brown, orange, and pink hues towards its upper limbs, mantle, and fins. The researchers also spotted a behavior never before observed in squid, as a bigfin adopted a raised arm posture known as the ‘elbow’ pose.


“We filmed the five bigfin squid in depths of 2 to 3 kilometers using a towed camera system and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs),” said marine scientist Deborah Osterhage from CSIRO in an email to IFLScience. “We were doing image-based surveys to find out more about the deep-sea environment in the Great Australian Bight. The first two were seen in the towed camera footage when it was watched back onshore in the video lab. We recognized them as bigfin squid and knew how rare it was to see them, so in the subsequent ROV survey we really kept an eye out for them. We were lucky enough to see three more and were able to watch in real-time on the ship while the ROV filmed them — pretty exciting!

“Little is known of bigfin squid, and many other deep-sea cephalopods, largely due to the inaccessibility of their vast yet little explored deep-sea environments and there is much more to learn about the deep-sea and the incredible animals that live there. So, for bigfin squid we need to wait for more sightings, or more ideally an adult specimen in good condition — which has never been collected before.”

Multiple sightings of mysterious bigfin squid documented in the Great Australian Bight

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Sighting 3: ROV images of a Magnapinna squid at a depth of 3060 m. (A) Close view of the Magnapinna squid encountered 5.3 m above the seafloor with proximal arms/tentacles seen slightly opened and fins undulating slowly. (B) Full extent of arms/tentacles, the longest being approximately 1680 mm. Credit: PLOS ONE (2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

A team of researchers from the CSIRO Energy, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Museums Victoria has documented multiple sightings of bigfin squid in the depths of the Great Australian Bight. In their paper published in PLOS ONE, the group describes their study of the unique creatures and what they learned about them.


Bigfin squid live deep in the ocean and are noteworthy for several reasons. The first is that they are rarely seen in the wild—researchers have documented just 12 sightings. They also have unique fins that jut out from the side of the head at an angle that resembles Dumbo's ears—and they serve the same purpose, though in the water instead of the air. They also have long tentacles that are multiple times longer than their bodies. And they live thousands of meters deep in the ocean.

Because of their remoteness, little is known about the bigfin squid other than their general physical attributes. This sighting is the first in the Great Australian Bight (the huge open bay on the country's southern coast). Additionally, this is the first time the squid has been observed in a group of sorts. Though hundreds of meters apart, they were apparently sharing parts of the ocean. Squid are typically loners.

Another first was taking laser measurements of one specimen: a bigfin squid with a body (mantle) that was 15 centimeters long. More impressive were its tentacles, which were measured at 1.8 meters. All previous measurements of bigfin squid had been estimates based on background information such as other fish in the vicinity.


PlaySighting 5 of Magnapinna sp. in the GAB. This video was taken by ROV on 25 March 2017 at a depth of approximately 3056 m. Blue boxes are present in the lower corners to mask embedded logos in accordance with publishing requirements. Credit: PLOS ONE (2020).

 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

The researchers found the squid while they were conducting underwater surveys in the Bight. When they came across the first specimen, they deployed further tools to get a better look. They used both remotely operated underwater vehicles and towed cameras. In all, they carried out over 40 hours of underwater observations at depths ranging from 950 to 2400 meters below the surface—and wound up getting footage of five of the rare squid.


Explore further  Did a shark clash with large squid and live to tell the tale?

More information: Deborah Osterhage et al. Multiple observations of Bigfin Squid (Magnapinna sp.) in the Great Australian Bight reveal distribution patterns, morphological characteristics, and rarely seen behavior, PLOS ONE (2020). 

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241066

Journal information: PLoS ONE