#zoological journal

[oupacademic]

There has been uncertainty surrounding the taxonomy of manta rays for some time, but not anymore: scientists recently discovered that manta rays are in fact a type of Mobula ray, or “devilray”. By examining and comparing the DNA sequence of a number of manta and devilrays, members of the genus Manta were found to nest within the Mobula species. As a result, the scientists have reclassified all types of manta ray as devilrays, the genus Manta thus being removed from existence. Despite their reclassification, the creatures formerly known as Manta will remain pancakes of the sea.

Image: Manta Ray by bphelan. CC0 public domain via Pixabay.

[oupacademic]

On 29 July, it’s International Tiger Day, a day on which to celebrate tigers and raise awareness about their endangerment. The number of tigers in the wild has declined over the years, and although recent conservation efforts to increase the wild population are proving successful, tigers are still in need of help.

We have chosen to celebrate our furry friends on this day by sharing ten facts you didn’t know about tigers:

Tigers first evolved around two million years ago from the Panthera stock.

It is thought that the South China Tiger is the original ‘stem’ tiger, from which all other subspecies evolved.

All white tigers in zoos come from one single male Bengal tiger which was captured by the Maharaja of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, India, but they are very rare in the wild.

Tigers (and other big cats) bred in captivity have smaller brains than those born in the wild, meaning that their living conditions and life history may have an effect on brain size.

The four main drivers of decreasing tiger populations in the wild are poaching, prey depletion, human-wildlife conflict, and habitat destruction.

The Russian Far East is the most northern habitat of the tiger, where they eat a unique diet that includes seal, elk, wild boar, and sea eagle. Here they can survive in deep snow amongst temperatures that fall to -40⁰F.

While zebra stripes cause the animal to stand out, tiger stripes allow the cat to blend in with its habitat, the distribution of colour on a tiger resembling that of its natural environment.

Tigers were unfamiliar to the ancient Greeks, with only one recorded mention of a tiger in the Greek histories. However, due to Rome’s expansive empire, tigers appeared in most Roman epics and became the animal most often associated with maternal instincts in Roman stories.

In Han-period Chinese art, literature, and folk religion, the tiger was often paired with a dragon to represent the cardinal directions. The paired “Blue Dragon of the East” and “White Tiger of the West” was one of the most widespread motifs from this time.

Tigers have the strongest teeth and most powerful bite force of all big cats.

Image: tiger-tiger-cub-cat-baby-young by skeeze. CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay.

[ibexearth]

New cicada species discovered

Researchers at the University of Basel have discovered a new singing cicada species in Italy and southern Switzerland. The insect with a wingspan of four centimeters and a high pitch song has been named "Italian Mountain Cicada" (Cicadetta sibillae). The paper was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 

The researchers estimate that the new cicada species evolved at least one million years ago during the glacial period and has its origin in mild Italian refugia. All examinations show that the species differs from a closely related species in the Pyrenees from which it lives more than 450 kilometers away.

Currently, there are more than 2,500 recognised species of cicada, and many remain to be described.