Apr 01, 06
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New...Thing discovered
Quote:
NEW FORM OF PLANT/ANIMAL DISCOVERED
Australian National Press: April 01, 2006
Scientists baffled by the discovery of the “Plantnimal”
- By Trea Palai
Researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia, camped near the dry swells of the Australian Outback on a routine research trip, have discovered a new type of plant living in the desert climate which further blurs the line between the Plant and Animal world.
Dubbed the “Plantnimal” by team director and senior researcher Dr. Tony Sinclair, he says it was by accident that he stumbled upon the discovery nearly a month ago.
“I was walking near my tent, when I slipped and fell near a pile of rocks. In picking myself up, I pushed aside a rock, and there I saw what looked like an odd leaf formation, except that it seemed to be moving”.
Sinclair says that after he and his team had been observing it for half an hour, they deemed it safe to be picked up. Upon doing so however, one of his junior researchers was sprayed by a chemical emitted from that plant.
“It burned” says Sarai Phyne, who was the researcher who first picked up the plant. “It came from the leaves, which I think are used as legs”.
Despite the attack, Phyne managed to put the specimen into a container for transport to the University for further study. She and the rest of the team were unable to find another specimen within the area.
The Plantnimal looks like a cross between a “Plant and an animal” adds Phyne, who says that it bears a resemblance to the common Leaf Bug. “But it doesn’t have the mandibular fibrillae that are present within the Leaf Bug’s thorarchal cavity”, and she says that it appears to nourish itself by a combination of sunlight and plant material.
The plant has been studied extensively by many top researchers both in the plant and animal world, and by many animal enthusiasts as well like Steve Irwin, most famous for his role as “The Crocodile Hunter” in the television show of the same name which featured trips around the world searching for and documenting animals.
“It was an amazing thing really, I’ve never seen anything like it” says Irwin, who claims to have seen one of every animal on earth in person.
Dr. David Zaklos, head of the Zoology faculty at the University, says that new species of plants and animals are discovered everyday.
“There are hundreds of discoveries every week” says Zaklos, “but they mostly happen deep within the jungles of South America, and other such secluded places. It’s unlikely that something unique such as this would be found in a high-traffic area such as the Outback”.
Because of the recent discovery, many teams from universities to private research firms are embarking on sophisticated expeditions to the area of the outback where the Plantnimal was found, hoping to find more.
However, the Australian government has stepped in and outlawed the capture of any more of the species.
Doctor Moira McTaggert, head of the National Council for Protection of Endangered Animals, says that because there is only the one known specimen, it is technically classified as “endangered”.
“Endangered animals have a right to be protected, and anyone caught taking one of these specimens is subject to criminal penalties.”
McTaggert adds that talks are underway with the Australian Board of Governors, as well as the world-wide animal activist group P.E.T.A., to come up with an ethical way of searching and researching this animal.
“For now, we’ll just take it one step at a time”.
Reuters//Photo
Associated Press
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http://news.yahoo.com/AP44rkj0/R6/I/L.....
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