Is Gold Bar Bob Angling for a Pardon?

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), arguably the most famous extinct animal, is comparatively poorly understood. Endemic to the island of Mauritius, the doomed flightless bird is the subject of myriad myths and misconceptions, not least of all its scientific name and the number of species that make it up. In the most comprehensive review of the taxonomy of the Dodo and its closest relative, the also-extinct Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), researchers have finally shed some light on the mysterious bird – which, as it happens, was just one species after all.Dodo nomenclature is something of a mess, as the researchers discovered when they pored through 400 years of scientific literature on the ill-fated avians. The birds were named after they went extinct, but before proper naming conventions had been established, and thanks to their rapid decline, there was very little evidence of them in natural history collections, and crucially no type specimens (reference point) existed – as a result, some naturalists believed them to be mythological.All of this made classifying them incredibly difficult, and as such the Dodo has had its fair share of names over the years, from Didus ineptus to Didus cucullatus via Struthio cucullatus – before finally settling on Raphus cucullatus.“This was a time before the scientific principles and systems we rely on to label and classify a species were in place. Both the Dodo and the Solitaire were gone before we had a chance to understand what we were looking at,” Dr Neil Gostling, supervising author of the paper, said in a statement.The confusion led to a number of misidentifications in the centuries after the Dodo’s extinction. Species such as the Nazarene Dodo, the White Dodo, and the White Solitaire were suggested, although none of these creatures actually existed, the new study confirms.“Unfortunately, no one could agree how many species there had been,” added Dr Mark Young, lead author of the paper. “Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, researchers thought there were three different species, although some people thought there had been four or even five different species.”To clear up the mess, the team picked through all the literature on the Dodo and Solitaire, dating back to 1598, and visited specimens around the UK, including the only surviving Dodo soft tissue in the Oxford Museum. Fun fact: all taxidermy Dodos are fakes – those feathered models you see in museums are all replicas, as no complete specimens exist.“More has been written about the Dodo than any other bird, yet virtually nothing is known about it in life,” said Dr Julian Hume, coauthor of the paper.“Based on centuries of nomenclatural confusion, and some 400 years after its extinction, the Dodo and Solitaire, continue to prompt heated debate. We’ve gone from where the first statements were made, seen how these have developed, and identified various rabbit holes to correct the record, as best we can.”By doing so, they were able to confirm that both birds were members of the columbid (pigeon and dove) family and also form a subclade within that. This clade uniting the Dodo (Raphus) and Solitaire (Pezophaps) has even been given a new name (Raphina), in the interest of avoiding further nomenclatural confusion. The naming issue may seem trivial, the study authors admit, but it has a profound impact on how the natural world is perceived by the public and policy-makers. Given the current rate of species extinctions, writing the wrongs we made with the Dodo – including its bungled taxonomy – is imperative."It's like solving a 300-year-old puzzle, and the solution might just help us prevent more birds from going the way of the Dodo," concluded coauthor Dr Markus Heller.The study is published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The story of our species begins in Africa, although our ability to tell that story is based on patchy evidence that has been steadily vanishing for the past 2 million years. Much of what’s left comes from the famous East African Rift System (EARS) – often referred to as the Cradle of Humankind – although the reality is that we don’t really know what early humans were up to outside of the Rift Valley.Because vertebrate fossils only tend to survive if they are preserved in sedimentary rocks, ancient hominid remains are typically found in sedimentary basins. As a result, the early human fossil record is concentrated in a few hotspots where the geological conditions have allowed for the long-term preservation of these remains.This, in turn, means that our understanding of human evolution is based entirely on what we have found in these hotspots. Within the eastern branch of the EARS, for instance, researchers have discovered a wealth of sites containing traces of the earliest known hominids to walk the Earth.Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, for example, has yielded the remains of a 2-million-year-old ape-like hominid species called Paranthropus boisei, as well as the more human-like Homo habilis. Yet the eastern branch of the rift system covers less than one percent of the African continent, and early humans are likely to have occupied a much broader range than this narrow strip.              Seeking to estimate the size of the gaps in the archaeological record, the authors of a new study point out that while an abundance of fossils have been found in the EARS, most of those from elsewhere in Africa are likely to have long-since disappeared. “Because the evidence of early human evolution comes from a small range of sites, it’s important to acknowledge that we don’t have a complete picture of what happened across the entire continent,” explained study author W. Andrew Barr in a statement.To underline this point, the researchers examined the ranges occupied by modern mammals within the Rift Valley, finding that for medium and large-bodied animals, the EARS typically made up just 1.6 percent of their habitat. It’s therefore pretty reasonable to assume that early humans didn’t restrict themselves to this small area, but covered a considerably larger geographic range.Summarizing this observation, the authors say that “modern rift specialists are exceedingly rare, and early hominins certainly lived outside the rift.”                 IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.The researchers also analyzed the variability in skull and body sizes among modern-day African primates, finding that both baboons and guenons tend to be larger in central Africa than in east Africa. However, because the EARS runs from north to south, it would be impossible to detect this east-west pattern of morphological variation if looking only at specimens from within the Rift Valley.“If this east–west pattern of size-related clinal variation held true for hominin cranial morphology, then the rift would systematically miss out on this aspect of variation, leading researchers to systematically underestimate morphological variation in early hominin populations,” write the study authors. In other words, we have no idea how the hominids living within the Rift Valley might have compared to those from elsewhere in Africa, whose remains are no longer available for study.Commenting on these findings, co-author Bernard Wood said that “we must avoid falling into the trap of coming up with what looks like a comprehensive reconstruction of the human story, when we know we don’t have all of the relevant evidence.” “Imagine trying to capture the social and economic complexity of Washington D.C. if you only had access to information from one neighborhood,” Wood adds. “It helps if you can get a sense of how much information is missing.”The study is published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

A former NFL player is accused of urinating on an elderly woman during a flight from Boston to Dublin, Ireland, as well as hitting another elderly passenger. A police report said 40-year-old Gosder Cherilus appeared intoxicated when he arrived at Logan Airport on Saturday evening for the Delta Airlines flight. 'I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew.' Cherilus allegedly argued with another passenger over seating arrangements, and about an hour into the flight, he allegedly walked over to an elderly female passenger and "emptied his entire bladder for 20 seconds" on her. He then got "unruly and aggressive" when flight attendants tried to subdue him, and he struck another elderly man with his hand on the way back to his seat, according to the report. Passengers and crew feared for their safety, according to court documents — indeed, Cherilus stands six feet, six inches tall and weighs 280 pounds. The incident forced the plane to turn around and head back to Logan Airport. Police escorted him off the plane and arrested him for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Cherilus pleaded not guilty at his Monday arraignment but declined to answer reporters' questions as he walked from the Boston courthouse; he was released on $2,500 bail.He later released a statement on social media blaming his actions on sleeping medicine and a flight delay. "The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours, and it did not take off until after 12:30 a.m.," he wrote. "In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight, I took a sleeping medication that I don't normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character, and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew." Cherilus is in court again Oct. 11. The former offensive lineman was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2008 and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as the Indianapolis Colts before he ended his career in 2016. A video report from WGZ-TV on YouTube includes a clip of Cherilus walking out of the courthouse. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

What are the best healing gourds, drinks, and soaks in Black Myth: Wukong? These crucial items act like flasks in Dark Souls, healing you in the heat of battle. Black Myth: Wukong healing gourds and soaks are scattered throughout the game, often found inside kettles or containers. Some can be found in Shen the Monkey's store in the Marsh of White Mist. The more you battle Black Myth: Wukong bosses, the more damage you are likely to take, and even with the best Black Myth: Wukong armor, you're still going to need the assistance of healing. But should you prioritize pure health refills or other coexisting abilities, and what are the best to find and equip? We've scoured Black Myth: Wukong to find the best healing items. Continue reading Best Black Myth Wukong healing gourds, drinks, and soaks MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Myth Wukong bosses, Black Myth Wukong abilities, Black Myth Wukong weapons

Escape From Tarkov has done it, and so has Soulmask, the big survival game that launched back in June. Now Delta Force Hawk Ops, the new tactical FPS that’s set to take on Battlefield while also reviving one of PC’s favorite shooter series, is following suit - if you get banned, a partial version of your account name will be published on the Steam page for everyone to see. Part deathmatch, part extraction shooter, and part remake of the Black Hawk Down game from 2003, Hawk Ops is already doing extremely well on Steam, and the dev team has shared new information about its banning policy. Continue reading Tactical FPS Delta Force Hawk Ops is publicly shaming banned players MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best upcoming PC games, Best multiplayer games

Dead by Daylight has certainly had some star-studded collabs. First there was Nicholas Cage, then the Slipknot and Iron Maiden cosmetics, followed of course by the addition of Lara Croft, played by Captain America's Hayley Atwell herself. But all of those have faded into the background in seconds, as Behavior has just revealed that it's collaborating with two of my favorite people ever. This is the only DBD crossover I ever needed - ask our site editor, Cameron who just saw me freak out live on a call, I'm sure he'll verify. Continue reading Dead by Daylight just got the only collab I’ll ever care about MORE FROM PCGAMESN: DBD killer tier list, Best horror games, DBD codes

How do you get Warframe Twitch drops? The open-world shooter still receives Twitch drops for a chance to win various rewards and there are a few channels and ways to claim them. Fortunately the devs keep an updated Twitch schedule for upcoming streams, so you can tune in for Twitch drops. The main source of Warframe Twitch drops are Prime Time streams or Dev Streams, all of which can be found on the official Twitch channel, alongside the schedule. It's also worth keeping an eye out for sponsored community streams, which include Twitch drops. As well as these regular drops, the devs announce drops for big updates or events, which we've included below. There could be items in these drops to help you craft the best Warframe builds, or just improve your aesthetic. Continue reading Warframe Twitch drops and how to claim MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Warframe on Steam Deck, Warframe builds, Warframe codes

Like any huckster working in a boiler room, Harris is hoping to find people credulous enough to believes what’s too good to be true.

BOOMAGE: Megyn Kelly Goes Scorched EARTH Fact-Checking AOC for Claiming Kamala Grew Up 'Middle Class'