Interesting Bits and Pieces
From recent happenings or stories around Australia and the world.
Australia's first complete plesiosaur fossil discovered in outback Queensland.
The complete head and body of an ancient marine reptile with "flippers like a turtle and long neck like a giraffe" has been uncovered in Queensland in what scientists say is a rare discovery. Museum of Tropical Queensland senior curator of palaeontology Espen Knutsen said he had been trying to find "such a fossil" for many years.
Dr Knutsen said the discovery, believed to be around 100 million years old, would enhance understanding about the evolution and diversity of the species.
Palaeontologists unearthed the complete fossil of the plesiosaur near the remote western Queensland town of McKinlay after a property owner sent images to researchers.
Wild at Art 2022 winners.
Nearly 5,000 primary school students took part in the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Wild at Art competition, which invites children to create an artwork depicting one of the country’s threatened native animals or plants.
My favourite is Hanging On by Scarlett Pawson, 11 ... who won ... First place, regional artist.
‘The mountain pygmy possum clung to the flimsy twig, gazing hopefully at the speckled moth rustling on the leaf. Finding a real bogong moth was special. There used to be an abundance but now they were scarce. The possum reached out, wanting to try a real moth, but her foot caught on a bump in the twig. She slipped, just managing to hold on to the dew-covered branch. This possum was not only hanging on for its life, but its whole existence’.
I love children's art and these entries are just so lovely and insightful IMO.
See the winners here... they are all wonderful to me.
Mountain mist frog declared extinct.
The mountain mist frog, a species once found across two-thirds of Australia’s wet tropics, has been declared extinct in the latest update to an international “red list” of threatened species.
The frog has not been seen for more than 20 years.
It is believed to have been affected by chytrid fungus, a disease that attacks the skin and has wiped out amphibian populations. Rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions have also reduced its mountain habitat. It is still listed as critically endangered by the Australian government.
It is one of 26 Australian species on the red list, which is compiled annually by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Most of the Australian species with a declining status are types of orchid.
The never-ending floods ... under blue skies.
Up to 180 gigalitres a day is already flowing into the River Murray with people in South Australia's Riverland being told to expect between 190 and 220 gigalitres a day by the end of the year. By comparison, Sydney Harbour holds 500 gigalitres.
Authorities had initially warned of a peak in Renmark about December 14, and another peak later in the month because of flows coming from the Victorian catchments and Hume releases, but they've effectively merged together.
Damien Hunt's property at Martin's Bend near Berri has been cut off and is now an island because of rising River Murray flows. Photo: Lincoln Rothall, ABC News.
More than 1,000 properties have already experienced some level of inundation and more than 2,000 customers have had their power disconnected. And there's concern about blackwater events and fish kills as River Murray levels rise with some Murray cod deaths and blackwater detected near the border this week.
More.
NASA's Orion splashes down in the Pacific Ocean after three-week $US4 billion test flight.
Its return on Monday morning wound up the inaugural mission of the US agency's Artemis lunar program, 50 years to the day after Apollo's final moon landing.
Orion captured this image of Earth as it neared the end of its three-week test flight to the moon. Photo: NASA.
The splashdown capped a 25-day mission less than a week after passing about 127 kilometres above the moon in a lunar flyby and came about two weeks after reaching its farthest point in space, nearly 434,500 kilometres from Earth.
The incoming capsule hit the atmosphere for its 20-minute plunge at 39,400 kph, or Mach 32 — or 32 times the speed of sound — and endured peak temperatures of nearly 2,760 degrees Celsius.
A Navy ship quickly moved in to recover the spacecraft and its silent occupants — three test dummies rigged with vibration sensors and radiation monitors.
Researchers discover 'true giant wombat' megafauna species fossil in central Queensland.
A team led by Griffith University's Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution excavated and studied the extinct megafauna species after a skull was found at Johannsen’s Cave north of Rockhampton in the early 2000s.
Scientists have concluded a seven-year study into 130-kilogram giant wombats — comparable in size to "really large sheep" — that lived in central Queensland about 80,000 years ago. Ramsayia magna are closely related to modern wombats but were much larger, weighing up to 130 kilograms.
Pet macaw Bruce Lee rescued by firefighters after flying up tree and getting stuck in Maldon, Victoria.
Bruce flew up a tree near his owner's property after escaping his cage. The macaw spent 12 hours up a tree before firefighters could rescue him.
Bruce's owners have committed to teaching him how to fly down from trees, as well as up them. Because he is a pet he has limited flying experience and will start lessons in descent flying in a controlled environment soon.
River Murray floods causing havoc — but there's a silver lining for the environment.
The River Murray floodwaters are flowing to areas that have not received a good soak since the 1970s. The floodwater is seeping into plains, wetlands and lakes that have been parched for half a century, prompting birdlife and vegetation to rebound in this long drought-stricken area.
Wildflowers bloom, the health of trees rebounds and the Australian Ibis are nesting in Lake Woolpolool for the first time in many years.
Ecologist Caitlin Polack has excitedly been monitoring the changes to the ecosystem daily from the land and ground at Calperum Station, just north of Renmark.
Ecologists on the ground are keeping close watch as the landscape is revitalised but they are also concerned about the levels of rubbish and debris flowing downstream.
Woolworths and Aldi also recall products amid contamination concerns after the Costco spinach scare.
Woolworths is recalling two salads with use by dates of December 20.
Aldi is recalling packets of Fresh Salad Co Fresh and Fast Stir Fry with a use-by date of December 24.
Costco's one kilogram and 350-gram packets of Riviera Farms branded baby spinach with use-by dates between December 16 and 28 are being recalled because of potential contamination with unsafe plant materials. The toxic spinach causes fever and hallucinations with 17 people treated for poisoning to date and nearly 50 people now reporting symptoms.
Colourful Christmas spiders are on the hunt for mates as summer heats up in WA's south-west.
The Christmas spider, or jewel spider, is endemic to Australia but in "prolific numbers" during the summer festive season in WA's south west.
The tiny creatures, known as Austracantha minax, are less than a centimetre in length. Despite their tiny size, they are popular with spider spotters and the public for their striking colours and quirky shapes.
So colourful.
Wildlife rescue volunteers in boats saving animals stranded by rising SA floodwaters.
Some of the animals at risk of drowning in South Australian flood waters are being rescued and moved to higher ground by volunteers.
The rescues are being led by Kerry Machado, who runs the Facebook group Wildlife Rescues SA. The team has saved a variety of animals including lizards, echidnas, kangaroos and wombats.
The thylacine died in captivity at Hobart Zoo in 1936 and its body was given to a local museum. But what happened to its skeleton and skin afterwards had been an enduring mystery.
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery lost track of the remains, and they were believed to have been thrown out. New research has discovered they were at the museum all along - preserved but not properly catalogued.
More.