Nature Knows: Interesting

Pair of Uniquely Preserved Prehistoric Cave Lions Found in Siberian Permafrost

Two cave lion cubs that died up to 44,000 years ago were found perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. Scientists say it would be much easier to clone them than the woolly mammoth and that’s what they are about to do.

One of the cubs is a female the sicentists named Sparta. Credit: Alexey Mihaylov
According to the researchers involved in the discovery, one of the cubs starved to death while the other may have been crushed by falling rocks, both having possibly been abandoned by their mothers.

When the cubs were found in 2018, it was thought they were male siblings who had died around 44,000 years ago. But it turns out that the youngest cub was actually a female that died roughly 26,000 years ago, the Siberian Times revealed. She is thus some 18,000 years “younger” than the cub found next to her named Boris.

Sparta is believed to have died 26,000 years ago. Credit: The Siberian Times
The cave lion cub, which has been renamed from Spartak to Sparta after the truth about her origins was revealed, died of hunger, likely after being abandoned by her mother.

Scientist speculate that Sparta’s mother either left her in the cave and went hunting, or was killed herself, leaving the tiny cub without food.

Cave lion cub Sparta. Credit: The Siberian Times
Sparta was found in the Yakutia region of Russia in 2018. The discovery was made by the same mammoth bone hunter who unearthed a bigger cave lion cub called Boris a year earlier.

Since they were just ten metres apart, scientists first theorized that the cubs must have been from the same family – but now it is clear they are separated by 26,000 years.

Cave lion cub Boris. Credit: The Siberian Times
Boris died roughly 44,000 years ago, and was only about two or three weeks old when he died. Similarly to Sparta, he may have been left by his mother inside a cave, and was possibly killed by collapsing cave rock.

“We found visible traces of internal injuries, which we believe could have been caused by rock falling on him,” said Protopopov.

Cave lion cub Boris has a severed tail which led to some speculation that he might be of a different species. Credit: The Siberian Times
Boris has a severed tail. This led to some speculation among scientist that, instead of a cave lion, he was an ancient lynx. “We were all worried by the lack of a tail on Boris,” said Dr Protopopov. “But the man who found him explained that it got cut off when the cub was taken out of the permafrost. I know it raised suspicion that the lion cub was in fact a lynx, but we know from the very first tests that this was clearly a cave lion cub.”

Complete restoration works on the baby cave lions, uniquely preserved in the Siberian permafrost, reveals a sensational level of pelt and hair preservation.

“The most important task of this complex research on the cave lion cubs is to restore their appearance,” Protopopov noted. “It is still an enigma, in that on hundreds of published drawings of cave lions they are depicted without manes. Yet we notice spots and stripes of pigmentation in that area… which are not seen in modern day lions. So we are moving towards re-creating the way the cave lions looked.” “Their living conditions were very different to modern lions in that cave lions live in much colder climate and we believe therefore had to look different,” Protopopov added. “There was less prey in cold climate. If we understand this question about mane we might get an idea of their social hierarchy – for example, we don’t know if they created prides with alpha males and several females alike to modern lions.”

Scientists are continuing to perform tests on cave lions, which were the largest predators in the area after bears. However, lions were more common because the areas was savanna at the time – while bears preferred woods. The researchers now hope to bring similar creatures back to life using lion DNA and cloning techniques.

“Cave lion cubs are superbly preserved, you can even see their whiskers, and we are hoping to fetch a lot more information from them.”

Scientists hope to bring the cave lion back to life using lion DNA and cloning techniques. Credit: The Siberian Times
“There is a very realistic chance to recreate cave lions and it would be a lot easier than to clone a woolly mammoth,” the scientists involved predicted. “Cave and modern lions separated only 300,000 years ago, in other words they are different species of the same genus.

It means that we can take DNA of the modern African lion and use it to recreate cave lions. It would be a lot easier than the mammoths.” “But if we find methods to bring back woolly mammoths it would be a revolution and a pay back by humans who helped extinguishing of so many species.”

Scientists hope that they may be able to revive cave lions as a species using these cubs. Credit: The Siberian Times
Not everone agrees with that last statement though. Indeed, we could be very close to resurrecting long-extinct animals, but it’s not just a technical matter, it’s an ethical one too.

Could it be that scientists are so preoccupied with whether or not they could do it, that they don’t stop to think if they should?
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Armless Swimmer Gracefully Glides His Way To A New World Record At Para Swim Worlds.

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Here’s How One Man Repopulated A Rare Butterfly Species In His Backyard

Before the 20th century in San Francisco, beautiful iridescent blue California pipevine swallowtail butterflies were found flying around all over the place.

Unfortunately, as development grew the butterflies began to fade away.

Nowadays, you rarely see them. But thankfully, a 28-year-old aquatic biologist at the California Academy of Sciences, Tim Wong, is single-handedly taking action to repopulate this beautiful creature, and he’s doing it all in his own backyard.

Various stage of pipevine swallowtail growth (from bottom: eggs, different growth stages of the caterpillar, chrysalis, full butterfly). Credit: Tim Wong
Butterfly collectors consider the wings from the California pipevine swallowtail — or, Battus philenor hirsuta, to be the most magnificent in North America.

These beauties start their life-cycle as tiny red eggs that hatch into a very large orange-speckled caterpillar; then it has a gestation period of up to two years, finally, it emerges as a beautiful blue butterfly glimmering with oceanic tones.

On a normal day, Wong works in the science museum taking care of 38,000 animals, including albino alligators, Japanese stingrays, and octopuses. In his free time, he is devoted to raising butterflies and taking care of the garden from where they eat.

Since he was a child, he became very intrigued and passionate about these creatures. He would spend his days in an open meadow near his home, catching, studying, and raising any butterflies that he could find.

Wong said: I first was inspired to raise butterflies when I was in elementary school. We raised painted lady butterflies in the classroom, and I was amazed at the complete metamorphosis from caterpillar to adult.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that once he learned about how increasingly rare the pipevine swallowtail had become in San Francisco he made it his personal mission to bring the butterfly back. Wong started by researching the butterfly extensively.

He discovered that when the butterfly is in caterpillar form, it only feeds on one plant – the California pipevine (Aristolochia californica). This plant is exceptionally rare to spot in the city, so it wasn’t easy to find when he went on a search for it.

“Finally, I was able to find this plant in the San Francisco Botanical Garden [in Golden Gate Park] and they allowed me to take a few clippings of the plant,” Wong said. Once he had his plant clippings, using self-taught techniques, he managed to create the most incredible butterfly paradise in his backyard.

Wong explains how he built this paradise: [I built] a large screen enclosure to protect the butterflies and to allow them to mate under outdoor environmental conditions — natural sun, airflow, temp fluctuations.

The specialized enclosure protects the butterflies from some predators, increases mating opportunities, and serves as a study environment to better understand the criteria female butterflies are looking for in their ideal host plant.

Caterpillars pupate into chrysalises, remaining in this state for up to several years before emerging as butterflies. While inside, their bodies liquefy and reform as completely new creatures. Credit: Tim Wong
Once his paradise was complete the next step was for him to find some caterpillars. Wong managed to find a group of 20 caterpillars outside the city from private residences that had lots of vegetation.

He brought them back to his backyard and released them onto the plants to feed. “They feed as a little army. They roam around the pipevine plant from leaf to leaf, munching on it as a group,” he said. About 3-4 weeks later, the caterpillar pupates and forms an outer shell known as a chrysalis.

Inside that shell, the insect liquefies itself and either develops into a butterfly in around two weeks or stays dormant for up to two years. When the butterfly is in this delayed development stage, it’s called diapause.

The adult pipevine butterfly usually hatches from its chrysalis in spring, but sometimes can be spotted flying around from February to October.

The creatures usually live for only two to five weeks, depending on temperature, predation, and food availability. During its short life, the females spend it laying their eggs on the pipevine plants.

According to Wong, they typically lay their eggs in clusters of five to 30, which he carefully collects and incubates them indoors, away from predators like spiders and earwigs.

“From there, the cycle continues,” he said. Once the eggs hatch, Wong raises the caterpillars at home, then brings them to the San Francisco Botanical Garden’s “California Native” exhibit. He has been doing this same routine for years already and has successfully introduced thousands of caterpillars to the garden.

While other conservationists have succeeded in repopulating the pipevine butterfly in Santa Cruz and Sonoma, none have been successful in San Francisco.

Tim Wong’s backyard butterfly enclosure includes the California pipevine plant, along with other native flora, to make the butterflies feel at home. Credit: Tim Wong
Wong said: Each year since 2012, we’ve seen more butterflies surviving in the garden, flying around, laying eggs, successfully pupating, and emerge the following year. That’s a good sign that our efforts are working!

Wong’s actions can teach us all a lesson about how we too can help species such as this butterfly to repopulate all on our very own. While he does caution that raising butterflies takes a lot of work and special understanding of each species’ natural history, there are still much simpler ways that we can contribute.

It’s as simple as restoring native habitats to flourish and boost endemic butterfly populations and other local species. For example, by planting native flora host plants, weeding (to allow easier access to food sources) and avoiding pesticides.
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Amazing Closeup Photo of Gorilla With Vitiligo Reveals Pink Fingers

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28,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Cells Brought Back To Life By Scientists

Cells from a woolly mammoth that died around 28,000 years ago have begun showing “signs of life” during a groundbreaking scientific experiment.

Image credit: Kindai University
The young woolly mammoth was dug out of Siberian permafrost in 2011. With the species being extinct for about 4,000 years, finding such a relatively intact specimen was big news – particularly since this one was 28,000 years old.

Scientists have since been eager to find out how viable the biological materials of the uncovered mammoth still are, all those millennia later.

Now researchers at Kindai University in Japan have found that its DNA is partially intact – and apparently they are well in the game to restore this huge prehistoric mammal back among the living.

If they succeed, it could look something like this (at first).

Model depicting mammoth calf, Stuttgart. Image credit: Apotea
Anyway, it all comes down to the fact that the scientists at the university have managed to extract nuclei from the mammoth’s cells and transplant them into mouse oocytes – cells found in ovaries that are capable of forming an egg cell after genetic division.

After that, the cells from the 28,000-year-old specimen started to show “signs of biological activities.”

A time-lapse of mouse oocyte cells injected with mammoth nuclei. Kindai University/Scientific Reports “This suggests that, despite the years that have passed, cell activity can still happen and parts of it can be recreated,” said study author Kei Miyamoto from the Department of Genetic Engineering at Kindai University.

Five of the cells even showed highly unexpected and very promising results, namely signs of activity that usually only occur immediately preceding cell division.

Frozen mammoth calf “Lyuba” – it still had food in its stomach, Royal BC Museum. Image credit: Ruth Hartnup
Establishing whether the mammoth DNA could still function wasn’t an easy task. Researchers began by taking bone marrow and muscle tissue samples from the animal’s leg.

These were then analyzed for the presence of undamaged nucleus-like structures, which, once found, were extracted. Once these nuclei cells were combined with mouse oocytes, mouse proteins were added, revealing some of the mammoth cells to be perfectly capable of nuclear reconstitution.

This, finally, suggested that even 28,000-year-old mammoth remains could harbor active nuclei. Meaning, something like, that resurrecting a specimen like this one would be quite possible.

Royal Victoria Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2018
While Miyamoto admits that “we are very far from recreating a mammoth,” plenty of researchers attempting to use gene editing to do so are confident that that achievement is around the corner.

Recent efforts, using the controversial CRISPR gene editing tool, are arguably the most promising, of late. But do we really need to resurrect a species that went extint a long time ago?
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Heroic dog helps save lives in Ukraine by detecting explosives

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Service dog got his owner through grad school, so the university gave him his own degree

Service dogs can be invaluable companions to people who need them. Not only can they provide medical and emotional help, they also just make great, loyal pets, by your side when you need them most.

So after one loyal service dog stayed by his human’s side throughout grad school, the university decided he was worthy of a major honor.

Brittany Hawley, from Wilson, North Carolina, uses a wheelchair and suffers from a condition called complex regional pain syndrome. She was the perfect candidate for a service dog, and a few years ago received one through the paws4prisons program.

When she met a dog named Griffin, she knew he was the one: “Some dogs were scared of the wheelchair,” Brittany told AP. “Griffin jumped right into my lap and licked me across the face.”

Griffin came into her life just as she was about to embark on an exciting new journey: attending Clarkson University to get her master’s degree in occupational therapy.

The dog proved his worth: he was able to go to all of Brittany’s classes, and helped her by doing things like opening doors and fetching supplies.

He also proved to be a comforting friends during periods of anxiety and depression. “I felt more independent, I was more social, I felt more outgoing with him,” Brittany told CBS News.

Brittany and Griffin continued to thrive at Clarkson, and in late 2018 Brittany was ready to graduate. But she knew she couldn’t have done it without her service dog… and knew she couldn’t celebrate without him.

“We moved to New York together, we started school together and we finished together,” Brittany said. She didn’t just want him by her side, however—she wanted him to have his own degree.

“I pushed from day one, when I graduate, I want Griffin to graduate with me.”

Remarkably, the university agreed—and Griffin got to walk across the stage and accept his own honorary degree for “extraordinary contributions to student success.”

“The Board of Trustees recognized that Griffin has demonstrated extraordinary effort, steadfast commitment, and diligent dedication to the wellbeing and student success of his owner Brittany,” Clarkson said in a statement.

“The two have pursued 100% together a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy attending all the same classes, lectures, faculty appointments … fully making Griffin an equal member of the Clarkson Golden Knights family.”

@dog_rates This is Griffin the Service Doggo. He received an honorary diploma this weekend for attending every single Occupational Therapy Class with his owner at @ClarksonUniv pic.twitter.com/VgK4ZbTt1E
— Clarkson University (@ClarksonUniv) December 17, 2018

After graduation, Brittany continued to pursue her dream of becoming an occupational therapist, hoping to work with veterans and military people.

And of course, she’ll keep her loyal service dog right by her side. “Whenever I get a job, he will be with me every single day,” Brittany said.

What a fitting honor for this loyal service dog! He definitely earned that degree!
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Couple find the largest ever intact Native American canoe dating back 1,000 years

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Stray dog leads biker into mountains to show him an abandoned human baby

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UK’s largest bird of prey returns to England for first time in 240 years

Britain’s largest bird of prey has returned to the English skies for the first time in 240 years.

White-tailed eagles, which have a wing span up to 2.5 metres, were once a common sight across southern England until the 18th century when they were wiped out by illegal killing. They were last recorded in England in 1780 at Culver Cliff on the Isle of Wight, before becoming extinct in the whole of the UK in 1918 when the final bird was shot on the Scottish Shetland Islands.

European populations of the sea eagle also suffered from heavy persecution, which led to significant declines and extinction in several countries, according to Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). But thanks to Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation this lost species is making a comeback.

Last summer, six young white-tailed eagles were released on the Isle of Wight as part of a five-year project to restore the species to southern England. The birds were collected from the wild in Scotland, where the species was reintroduced in the 1970s under a similar scheme, before they were brought to the island.

They have been fitted with GPS trackers and the team behind the programme have been tracking four of the young birds as they make their first trips. The satellite data has given the team fascinating insights into the behaviour of the birds, who were largely sedentary over winter but have begun to explore further afield, including Norfolk, Kent and Somerset, now spring has arrived.

Two of the eagles, G393, a male, and G318, a female, flew as far the North York Moors. The pair stayed in the national park for days, but also took a trip out to the coast where they spent four hours exploring a 12-mile stretch between Whitby and Saltburn-by-Sea.

Another male bird, G274, completed a 325-mile tour of southeast England for three day, and appears to have bonded with G324, a female, on the Isle of Wight over the winter months.

G324 has generally been the most sedentary of the four birds since release but was spotted soaring with paragliders over the west Wight along with G274. White-tailed eagles do not breed until they are about four or five years old, however it is hoped G274 and G324 might form a breeding pair if they survive until then.

Satellite data has given the team fascinating insights into the birds’ behaviour, showing they choose days with the best conditions to make their big moves, preferring a tailwind and clear skies.

The birds are known as “sit-and-wait" foragers, who prefer to wait and watch their prey rather than fly great distances for food, which saves valuable energy.

Roy Dennis, founder of The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation said: “I have spent much of my life working on the reintroduction of these amazing birds and so watching them take to the skies of the Isle of Wight has been a truly special moment. “Establishing a population of white-tailed eagles in the south of England will link and support emerging populations of these birds in the Netherlands, France and Ireland, with the aim of restoring the species to the southern half of Europe.”

Bruce Rothnie, from Forestry England, added: “We are immensely proud that the woodlands we manage on the Isle of Wight and surrounding South Coast are now home to these incredibly rare birds as they return to England’s coastline.”

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Wisconsin city unanimously approves ban on declawing cats

One of the most controversial issues for pet owners is the practice of declawing cats.

The surgical removal of a cat’s claws was once commonly done as a way to prevent scratches and furniture damage, but it has been increasingly viewed as painful and inhumane to cats.

Thankfully, more and more legislatures throughout the US have been enacting bans on declawing cats, from major cities like Pittsburgh to whole states like New York.

Now, another city has joined the effort against declawing: Madison, Wisconsin recently passed a new law that will ban elective declawing surgery.

According to WMTV, the Madison Common Council voted on the new law on Tuesday night, and it passed with unanimous support.

The Madison Common Council approved a ban on elective cat declawing in its meeting Tuesday night, putting an end to the practice in the city. https://t.co/DpFhu96MkF
— NBC15 News (@nbc15_madison) December 8, 2021

The move was celebrated by supporters of the ban, including Madison Alder Lindsay Lemmer, who called declawing “cruel and outdated” and hoping their city will set a good example for others.

“Today, every cat in Madison lands on its feet as we set an example for the rest of the state and join the numerous cities throughout the country that have already banned this archaic practice,” Lemmer said, according to WMTV.

We are ecstatic,” added Colin Steinke, executive director of the Madison Cat Project. “This is a big step forward toward a better world for cats, and to see Madison take this step to join the other cities and states who have done so before us is really exciting.”

The practice of declawing cats has been one of the most controversial medical treatments for pet owners.

While there are occasional humane reasons to declaw a cat, such as removing cancerous nail beds, it is more often an elective procedure to prevent scratches and protect furniture.

It was once commonplace, and seen as relatively harmless — but activists and vets have warned that it is more like losing fingers than getting a nail trim.

“Declawing traditionally involves the amputation of the last bone of each toe,” the Humane Society writes.

“If performed on a human being, it would be like cutting off each finger at the last knuckle.” “It is an unnecessary surgery that provides no medical benefit to the cat. Educated pet parents can easily train their cats to use their claws in a manner that allows everyone in the household to live together happily.”

Due to this, it has been outright banned in many countries around the world, though the US has been slow to adapt: it’s estimated that 20 to 25 percent of American cats have been declawed, and it is still legal in the vast majority of the country.

It has been up to individual cities and states to ban declawing themselves, and Madison, Wisconsin is the latest to join the cause.

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New Law Allows Pets To Be Buried Alongside Their Humans At Cemeteries

Options used to be limited for people who wanted to be buried with their fur babies. Basically their only choice was to be buried in a pet cemetery if that’s what they wanted.

But if people can be buried at a pet cemetery, than why can’t pets be buried at a human cemetery? It’s a question that one state is answering with a new law.

New York is changing up the rules when it comes to pets and where they’re allowed to be buried. They passed a law that allows people to be buried alongside their pets if they so choose, in a human cemetery.

And the law isn’t just limited to dogs and cats. It allows for a range of different animals to be buried with their owners.

It’s a decision that many pet owners are applauding, as their fur babies are part of their family. There are some exemptions to the law, of course.

Religious cemeteries don’t have to comply with this new law, and individual cemeteries can still choose to refuse to bury any pets if they so please.

A pet cemetery in Westchester County stated that, every year, at least five people choose to be buried with their pets in their cemetary, rather than being apart from them in a human cemetery. It’s a way for them to stay close to their loved ones even after they’re gone.

New York is finally allowing pet owners to rest in peace next to the living creatures who provided so much comfort, companionship, and happiness during their time on earth. After all, it doesn’t quite make sense that humans could be buried in pet cemeteries, but not vice versa.

Sometimes family is who we choose, not who we’re blood-related to — and that applies to our pets too. Pets are family. Why make such a distinct separation between what constitutes as family?

With New York leading the way, hopefully other states will fall in line and create similar laws.

For some people who wish to be buried with their pets, they have to resort to somehow sneaking them into the cemetery. This can be dangerous for the friends or family members who are asked to do this after the pet owner has passed away.

But now, in New York at least, there doesn’t have to be any slinking around in a cemetery, performing secret burials for loved ones. You and your pet can be together forever, if you want to! Again, each cemetery must agree to let you be buried with your pet — it’s their right to opt out.

However, for people whose pets are family, it’s certainly a step forward. New laws seem to crop up all the time, and they can be confusing — but this is one law that many of us understand the importance of.

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