University of Queensland scientists have developed an ultraviolet television display designed to help researchers better understand how animals see the world.
Dec. 23 (UPI) Police and a bomb squad responded to a river on the outskirts of a British city after a magnet fisherman reeled in 19 World War II-era grenades from the body of water.
Che Williams said he was using his magnet to search for metal debris in the River Tame at a location just outside of Birmingham when he pulled the first grenade out of the water.
Williams said he remained in the same spot and pulled up a total 19 grenades, which appeared to date from World War II.
The magnet fisherman noticed two of the grenades still had their pins in place, leading him to contact police.
Swamp king prehistoric crocodile identified in Australia
CNN
23rd December, 2020 11:29:45
Scientists in Australia have identified a new species of prehistoric crocodile they have christened the swamp king.
The creature, officially named Paludirex vincenti, measured more than 16 feet (five meters) long and dominated waterways in southeastern Queensland, according to a press release from the University of Queensland (UQ) published Monday.
It lived between 5.33 and 2.58 million years ago, researcher Jorgo Ristevski, a PhD candidate at UQ s School of Biological Sciences, told PeerJ, the journal which published the research.
Researchers identified the giant crocodile from fossils dug up in the 1980s near a town named Chinchilla.
A massive prehistoric crocodile roamed around Queensland, Australia, a few million years ago. Since the skull measured about 65 centimeters long (2.1 feet), researchers were able to estimate that the entire length of its body was more than 5 meters (16.4 feet). Based on its giant size, it would have been a top predator during its time and could have easily preyed upon large marsupials.
The newly discovered species has been called
Paludirex vincenti – “
vincenti” in honor of Geoff Vincent who found the fossilized skull.
The fossil was unearthed close to the town of Chinchilla back in the 1980s and it was researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) who identified the new species of prehistoric crocodile. In fact, the skull was displayed at the Queensland Museum for numerous years prior to being donated to the Chinchilla Museum in 2011. (A picture of some of the skull bones can be seen here.)