DEEP SCRATCH

Category: new species

  • Biologists Name Newly Discovered Threadworm After Physicist Max Planck

    My favourite news item of today concerns Max Plank and a thread worm. It already has the sound of a Lovecraftian science fiction drama to me. x steve fly

    Biologists Name Newly Discovered Threadworm After Physicist Max Planck

    “When Japanese biologist Natsumi Kanzaki and his German colleague Matthias Herrmann collected a stag beetle from an oak forest in Fukushima province, they had no idea at the time about the surprise the impressive insect concealed: a microscopic threadworm, completely unknown to the zoologists until then, was hidden on the beetle’s body.

    The official name Pristionchus maxplancki was bestowed on the new discovery in honour of theoretical physicist Max Planck (1858 — 1947). The worm, only a millimetre long, becomes the first organism to carry the name of the Nobel laureate from Göttingen. — http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130709115148.htm

    Steven James Pratt

  • KNU Fungus Discovered!

    Who knows what we might discover next week? or what we overlooked last week?

    –Steve fly agaric 23

    “Other similar species
    Sarah added that the fungus’ true identity had been shielded because there were other similar varieties but with different colour patterns. The secret, she said, finally came out when scientists at Cardiff University isolated the fungus’ DNA and found it to be unique. —http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/new-forest-fungus.html#cr

    “ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2009) — Seven new glow-in-the-dark mushroom species have been discovered, increasing the number of known luminescent fungi species from 64 to 71. Reported in the journal Mycologia, the new finds include two new species named after movements in Mozart’s Requiem. The discoveries also shed light on the evolution of luminescence, adding to the number of known lineages in the fungi ‘family tree’ where luminescence has been reported. —http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005123045.htm

    “ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2009) — Giant rainforest trees, rare and beautiful orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant are among more than 250 new plant and fungi species discovered and described by botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in this, the botanical organisation’s 250th anniversary year. The new species come from a wide-range of fascinating locations including Brazil, Cameroon, East Africa, Madagascar, Borneo and New Guinea. Nearly a third are believed to be in danger of extinction. —http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091222104903.htm

    “A new species of rust fungus, Maravalia perae on Pera sp. (Euphorbiaceae), from Brazil is proposed. Spermogonia are type 5 and aeciospores and urediniospores are asymetrically obovoid to ellipsoid, with a concave side and 3(–4) equatorial germ pores. Teliospore walls are 2–5 µm thick at apex around the apical germ pore. This set of characters differentiates M. perae from other species of Maravalia. A revised key to all known Maravalia species, including the newly discribed species, is provided.
    Key words: Euphorbiaceae, pathogen, rust fungi, Uredinales —http://www.mycologia.org/cgi/content/abstract/101/2/239

    Steven James Pratt