Latest news with #morphological
IOL News
23-05-2025
- Science
- IOL News
'Lost' Blyde River Flat Gecko rediscovered after 33 years
Two Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) researchers have rediscovered a gecko species that had not been seen for over 33 years - the Blyde River Flat Gecko. Image: Endangered Wildlife Trust A gecko species that had not been seen for over three decades has been rediscovered by two researchers from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), bringing renewed hope for the conservation of South Africa's lesser-known species. The Blyde River Flat Gecko (Afroedura rondavelica), first discovered in December 1991 by Dr Niels Jacobsen in the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga, was only known from two male specimens. Since then, no other sightings were recorded, sparking debate about its taxonomic validity and concerns about its possible extinction. In April 2025, EWT's Dr Darren Pietersen and John Davies accessed the remote site, a nearly inaccessible inselberg by helicopter after a two-year process to secure permits. Their successful expedition confirmed the gecko's continued existence and its taxonomic distinctness. 'This brings to four the number of 'lost species' that the EWT has rediscovered as a result of its increased focus on locating and conserving elusive, less charismatic, but critically important wildlife that is often overlooked and at risk of slipping into extinction unless urgent action is taken,' the EWT stated. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Flat geckos are known for their micro-endemism, occurring only at one or a few localities. The Blyde River Flat Gecko is perhaps the best example, with its known range restricted to a single rocky outcrop in the canyon. Its classification as a 'lost species' by re:Wild, along with its listing as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, reflected the lack of data and uncertainty surrounding its survival. With the rediscovery, the EWT confirmed that 'the morphological and therefore taxonomic distinctness of the species' was validated. Tissue samples were collected to conduct genetic analyses that will further confirm its classification and help guide conservation planning. 'The ecological and population data that they collected will allow this species' conservation status to be re-evaluated, moving it out of the Data Deficient category,' the EWT added. The EWT expressed gratitude to the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) for issuing the necessary permits and pilot Jana Meyer of Hope for Wildlife for navigating the challenging helicopter journey to the inselberg. Financial support from the Anglo American Foundation and Global Affairs Canada made the expedition possible, it said. THE MERCURY
Jordan Times
12-02-2025
- Science
- Jordan Times
'Bronze Age trade links Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, southern Europe'
A sacrificial altar at Tell Arad (Photo courtesy of ACOR) AMMAN — The Bronze Age was a period of intensive contacts in the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia and southern Europe. It rapidly developed interconnectedness between different parts of the region and Syria was one of the commercial hubs connecting Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt and Palestine. Some Early Bronze red burnished jugs found in northern Palestine present morphological features vaguely reminiscent of contemporary vessels from the Urukian colonies in northern Syria, noted French Professor Emeritus Pierre de Miroschedji from the National Centre for Scientific Research. Miroschedji added that a more significant group of EB IB vessels found in graves at Tarsus suggests the possibility of occasional contacts, probably maritime trade between Syria and Anatolia. "On the other hand, the relations with Egypt were intensive and widespread and they illustrate a completely diff rent situation since they took place in the framework of an Egyptian colonial enterprise affecting mainly the southwestern part of Palestine," the professor said. "The interaction between the two countries was a dynamic process. Following an initial phase of sporadic exchanges in the Late Chalcolithic, the relations developed during the EB I at the rhythm of the emergence of the Egyptian state," Miroschedji elaborated. Faynan in Wadi Araba was another centre of the copper production besides Cyprus, and the expansion of horticulture, the domestication of the donkey as a beast of burden, and the progress in navigation techniques created the fruitful conditions for the establishment of regular exchange relations. The EB IA saw the first evidence of Egyptian presence along the north coast of Sinai and in a small area at the south of the coastal plain in search of copper and other local products. The EB IB witnessed a considerable development of the Egyptian presence in many settlements of south-western Palestine which became a de facto Egyptian colonial territory, consequently, from where local products, mainly oil and wine, were exported to Egypt. "This interaction culminated during the Final EB IB, contemporary in Egypt with Dynasty 0 and the beginning of the First Dynasty. The Egyptian colonial domain was then administered by Egyptian officials probably residing in the Egyptian fortified settlement of Tell es-Sakan and in entrepôts like En Besor and trading outposts like Tel Erani," the professor said. The Kfar Monash hoard of copper tools and weapons is another testimony of the Egyptian presence in the coastal plain," Miroschedji underlined. Burials were often the major source of information on the EB I and several scores of tombs, isolated or grouped in cemeteries near settlements, have been excavated. In the Mediterranean zone, they consist of artificial caves accessed through a lateral shaft, Miroschedji said. He added that each tomb was used for collective burials during a long span of time, presumably by an extended family or clan, so that hundreds of skeletons were sometimes accumulated in disorder. "In most cases, especially at Jericho at the end of the period, it seems that primary burials were practised. In the semi-arid peripheries, secondary burials in tombs built above ground prevailed. They belong to several distinct traditions," Miroschedji said. Dolmenic burials exist in the Golan and its western periphery, on the Jordanian Plateau, and in the Jordan Valley while in some areas of the Negev and in southern Sinai are found built tombs in the shape of a circular (Sinai) or a square room; these nawamis and their variants are part of a funerary tradition typical of the southern deserts that can be traced to Oman through the Arabian Peninsula from the EB I onward, Miroschedji underlined. "Indirect evidence attesting to the importance of funerary rituals is provided by the appearance during the EB I of cultic vessels, sometimes found in tombs. The same vessels might have been used in public rituals. There is evidence of temples within a settlement at Hartuv, and especially at Megiddo." Presumably these temples were dedicated to a fertility goddess, as in the Chalcolithic and the EB II–III periods," the professor concluded.
