European snow vole discovered in Portugal

A wildlife photographer discovered, by chance, the European snow vole (Chionomys nivalis) in the summer of 2014, in Montesinho, North of Portugal. This is the first record for this species in the country and was published in Italian Journal of Zoology on 2 November.

Gonçalo didn’t know what he was looking at. Two little “strange” mice passing by, on a summer night in 2014, in a gorse and heather meadow in Montesinho mountain region, at 1300 m. The infrared images recorded by a camera that he placed under a big rock confronted him with a different kind of mouse. “It was a species that I didn’t recognise. I couldn’t tell what it was. It was a very peculiar animal”, he told Wilder.

This wildlife photographer was in Montesinho looking for mammals for an awareness conservation project. But it turned out that his images helped science discover a new species to Portugal. “Everything happened by chance”, he said.

Gonçalo sent his images to a team of biologists in UTAD University (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro), in Bragança district. Soon enough they realized it was a new species of mammal no one had ever seen in the country. Could it be a snow vole? There were no historic records of it in Portugal. There was still a lot of work to do.

That same team of biologists travelled to Montesinho in October 2014, to a place called Lama Grande, to look for the mouse and to be sure. They set 27 traps, baited with fresh apples and carrots, and with hydrophobous cotton as bedding material.

“We were able to capture two snow voles, an adult male and a juvenile female”, said Hélia Vale-Gonçalves, a biologist working with small mammals at UTAD, and one of the paper authors. “The animals were weighed and sexed, and the reproductive status and standard biometric measurements were recorded. Also, tissue samples were collected”. Then, the mice were released at the trapping location.

Next to the traps “we found many traces of snow voles’ presence, such as little tunnels on the vegetation and lots of galleries”, she told Wilder.

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Why is sea ice so important?

After Norwegian scientists described profound changes in the Arctic as a "new era" for sea ice,BBC Weather's Tomasz Schafernaker reports for BBC Global on why it is so important.

New research from the British Antarctic Survey has revealed that both air temperature and warm ocean currents are contributing to the thinning of the Larsen C ice shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. The team behind the study predict that the ice shelf could collapse within a century, with major consequences for global sea levels.

From BBC News-Weather

Invasive army of mussels kill native species

They may look harmless - but these shrimps and mussels from abroad could be very dangerous for some native fish species in the UK.

Scientists are warning about the army of invasive shrimps and mussels that originally come from the Caspian and Black seas in Turkey and Ukraine.

Quagga mussels damage boat hulls and can block water pipes

They have been found in Britain's rivers and streams for the first time in the past few weeks .They have exotic names such as killer, demon and bloody-red shrimp.

Invasive shrimps take over UK native species
They breed quickly and overwhelm species already living here.

One particular small species, the Quagga mussel - that's only as big as your thumbnail, can produce one millions eggs each year.

Dr David Aldridge, Cambridge University said: "I think we are at a tipping point. Now the quagga mussel has just arrived, we are about to have a big meltdown."

A newly arrived quagga mussel hitchinga ride on a zebramussel

They quickly clog water pipes, damage boats and spoil the environment for other species including trout and salmon.

They are carried in, by accident, on boats, trains and lorries from abroad or even by international surfing competitions.

Researchers say keeping these cold blooded invaders out, could be almost impossible.

Heatmap showing the potential spread of species in UK waterways

Heatmap showing the potential spread of species in UK waterways

Weird jellyfish found on Australia beach

Scientists are getting excited about a huge new species of jellyfish that washed up on a beach in Australia.

It was discovered by a family last month and stretches 1.5m wide.

It's a type of lion's mane jellyfish, but scientists are trying to classify which species it is and give it a name.

In recent years there have been huge blooms of jellyfish in the waters near where this one was found, but no one knows why.

Dr Gershwin from Australia's national science agency said: "We're very keen to find out why jellyfish are blooming in such super-abundances in these southern waters," she said.

From CBBC newsround

New river dolphin species discovered in Brazil

Scientists in Brazil have discovered the first new river dolphin species in almost 100 years.

The Araguaia river dolphin

It's named the Araguaian Boto after the Araguaia river in South America where it was found.

These dolphins have long beaks which let them hunt for fish in the mud at the bottom of rivers.

The species is only the fifth known of its kind and river dolphins are among the world's rarest creatures.

The new dolphins are very similar to the Amazon river species

Researchers say this species separated from other South American river dolphins more than two million years ago.

South America is also home to the Amazon river dolphin, which is thought to be the most intelligent of all the river dolphin species.

Endangered species

Scientists think that there are about 1,000 of the creatures living in the Araguaia river in South America.

Three of the river dolphin species are on a list of critically endangered animals.

One of the best known species, the Yangtze river dolphin or baiji, is thought to have become extinct in about 2006 and researchers are concerned about the future for the new dolphin.

FromCBBC Newsround

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Completely new mammal olinguito discovered in South America

Scientists in the US have discovered a new animal living in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador, South America.

It has been named olinguito and is the first new species of carnivore to be identified in the western hemisphere in 35 years.

Scientists say it's really rare to discover a new mammal these days.

At the museum

The trail began when zoologist Kristofer Helgen uncovered some bones and animal skins in storage at a museum in Chicago.

Guide: Three new species found in 2013

"It stopped me in my tracks," he said, "the skins were a rich red colour and when I looked at the skulls I didn't recognise the anatomy."

It was different to any similar animal I'd seen, and right away I thought it could be a species new to science," said Dr Helgen

Why the museum?

Museums all over the world keep animal specimens for future records, and not all of them have been closely studied.

Many were collected more than a century ago and were often mislabelled or not properly identified.

But recent advances in technology mean scientists can extract DNA from even the oldest remains.

By comparing DNA samples with the other five known species, Dr Helgen was able to confirm the olinguito had not yet been identified.

• Smallest member of the animal family that includes racoons
• Measures 35cm in length and weighs 900g
• Males and females are similar in size
• Eats fruit mainly, but also insects and nectar
• Solitary and nocturnal animals that spend their time in trees
• Female olinguitos raise a single baby at a time
• Found only in cloud forests of northern Andes in Ecuador and Colombia

Source: Smithsonian Institution

On the trail

But even after identifying the olinguito, a crucial question remained: could they be living in the wild?

"We used clues from the specimens about where they might have come from and to predict what kind of forest we might find them in - and we found it!"

The olinguito is now known to inhabit a number of protected areas from Central Colombia to western Ecuador.

Olinguito

The olinguito is a carnivore - the same as the group of mammals that includes cats, dogs and bears and their relatives.

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Although it is a carnivore, it eats mainly fruit, comes out at night and lives by itself, producing just one baby at a time.

"It's hard for me to explain how excited I am," says Dr Helgen.

Dr Helgen has used such mammal collections to identify many other new species, including the world's biggest bat and the world's smallest bandicoot.

But he says the olinguito is his most important discovery.

Its scientific name is Bassaricyon neblina.

The last carnivore to be identified in the Americas was the Colombian Weasel.

Age of discovery

Scientists have catalogued only a fraction of the planet's lifeforms.

New species of insects, parasitic worms, bacteria and viruses are discovered on a regular basis, but new mammals are rare.

"This reminds us that the world is not yet explored and the age of discovery is far from over," says Dr Helgen. "The olinguito makes us think - what else is out there?"

From CBBC Newsround

New spider as big as your face found in Sri Lanka

A new species of venomous tarantula has been discovered - and as spiders go it's pretty big!

While some species disappear or are endangered, others are discovered or evolve. Maybe this means that the balance in Nature is constantly being reset by Nature itself.

The tarantula, named Poecilotheria rajaei, has legs that span 20cm.

It was tracked down in northern Sri Lanka, and it's thought to be one of several new species of tarantula discovered there.

The species is said to be related to the Goliath bird-eater, one of the world's largest spiders.

Habitat under threat

Peter Kirk, Chairman of the British Tarantula Society, told Newsround there are worries about the spiders' habitat.

You may have seen Peter on CBBC's Pet School where he was one of the Extreme Animal Experts.

"The tarantulas of Sri Lanka have been studied in some detail in the past by myself and other arachnologists (spider experts!)" Peter said.

"But we have never been able to visit the north or east of the island because of the civil war that was going on there."

"Now Ranil Nanayakkara - a researcher from Sri Lanka - has done just that. Unfortunately, Ranil has noted that much of this tarantula's natural habitat has been destroyed."

It means the spiders have had to move closer to human homes and villages, he added.

From CBBC