New species of reptile living 230mn years ago discovered in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Feb 13: Argentine paleontologists have discovered in the country’s northwestern province of La Rioja a new species of reptile that lived 230 million years ago, according to the National University of La Matanza’s CTYS scientific agency.
According to the scientific agency, the new species of Rhynchosaurs – four-legged herbivores about three meters (9.8 feet) long that lived at the times of the first dinosaurs – was discovered in the Talampaya National Park.
The scientists found fragments of the skull, jaw, part of the sacrum, tail vertebrae and part of the thigh, which belong to different animals and have been collected over the past 10 years. Research has shown that they belong to a new species. (UNI)
Congo’s Virunga Park announces year’s 1st gorilla birth
Dakar (Senegal), Feb 13: Congo’s Virunga National Park has announced the birth of a male gorilla, the first baby this year for the park that says its mountain gorilla families have been instrumental in raising the threatened species’ global population.
The park said that this is the first baby born to 10 year-old Bazirushaka and is the 12th member of the Lulengo family.
The newborn was discovered by rangers on Thursday during a routine check in the park. The Virunga National Park is home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas whose population now stands at more than 1,000. There were 17 gorilla births in the park last year, it said.
The announcement comes about a month after the park said that gunmen shot and killed at least six rangers in the park in Nyamitwitwi, located in the Rutshuru area.
More than 200 rangers have been killed since Virunga became a national park in 1925, officials say. (AP)
Tennessee man leaves $5 million to pet border collie
Nashville (US), Feb 13: It won’t be a dog’s life for a Tennessee canine whose owner recently died.
Lulu, an 8-year-old border collie, will be living the good life in Nashville after inheriting USD 5 million in her owner’s will, WTVF-TV reported. Martha Burton, Lulu’s caretaker, told the station Lulu’s owner, Bill Dorris, was a successful businessman who wasn’t married and died late last year. His will states the money should be put into a trust for Lulu’s care.
It allows for Burton to be reimbursed for reasonable monthly expenses in the care of Lulu.
“He just really loved the dog,” said Burton, who was friends with Dorris and would take care of the dog when he traveled. She says she doesn’t know if she could ever spend USD 5 million on Lulu.
“Well, I’d like to try,” she said with a smile. Dorris owned land along Interstate 65 where a controversial statue of Confederate Gen.
Nathan Bedford Forrest is located. The fate of the statue and the rest of the estate may be determined in probate court, the news outlet reported. (AP)