rhamphotheca:

Amazing Neptune’s Cup Sponge Redicovered in Singapore

by John R. Platt

More than 100 years after it was last seen, the giant Neptune’s cup sponge (Cliona patera) has been rediscovered off the coast of southern Singapore.

First discovered in 1822, the sponges grew so large—a meter or more in both height and diameter—that their cup-like structures were sometimes used as tubs for babies. But their size made them valuable to collectors around the world and they were overharvested until they disappeared from Singapore in the 1870s. The last time living sponges were seen was 1908, when collectors found some in West Java, Indonesia. The species was then thought to be extinct.

But in the 1990s, a few dead Neptune’s cup sponges turned near Australia, giving researchers hope that they might find these massive Porifera again in the oceans around Singapore…

(read more: Scientific American)   (photo: DHI Water and Environment)

A rare species of ladybird has been rediscovered breeding in the UK for the first time in nearly 60 years.

The breeding population of 13-spot ladybirds were found in the Axe Estuary Wetlands in Devon by a student. Sporadic sightings have been recorded since 1952, but not of the species breeding.

“As soon as I saw the larva I was fairly sure it was a 13-spot – it’s something I’ve dreamt of finding,” said Richard Comont, the PhD student who made the discovery. The insect was found during a “Bioblitz” event,where the public works with scientists to record all the insect species in an area.

James Chubb, education ranger for East Devon district council, said: “With the experts we had on the day I knew that we would find loads of really interesting and unusual creatures, but never for a second did I think we’d make a discovery of this magnitude.”

The 13-spot ladybird lives in wetlands and is believed to have re-colonised Britain from the Channel Islands or France.

“It is a rare bit of good news for British ladybirds,” said Comont. A census published in June showed one fifth of native British species of ladybird were declining due to competition from invasive species such as the Asian harlequin ladybird, which is larger and breeds faster.

Hundreds of extinct species rediscovered

Above: A Javan Elephant once thought to be extinct was rediscovered in 2008.

An amazing piece of research has just been published by the University of Singapore. Together with their colleagues at the University of Adelaide and Princeton University they discovered that over the last 122 years at least 351 species which had been declared extinct have reappeared.

Scheffers BR, Yong DL, Harris JBC, Giam X, Sodhi NS (2011) The World’s Rediscovered Species: Back from the Brink? PLoS ONE 6(7): e22531. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022531