‘Tis the season of dancing animals - but why do humans love them?

Forget Strictly, this is the season of dancing animals. All things furry and animated - from panto horses to balletic hippos and pirouetting mice - come out at Christmas time. Children are captivated – and we are, too. This is down to more than cultural tradition. It’s also biological. We identify with animal movement because the wiring that connects our limbs to our spines is so similar. Even though we walk on two legs and animals on four, our basic movements are controlled by very similar circuits.

We use our body control systems to help us see and understand theirs. For example, the areas of our brain that respond to seeing a human biting something are also sensitive to watching a monkey or a dog biting. And this resonance is part of the way we appreciate the emotions of other species. It helps us to anthropomorphise, whether we want to or not. We automatically identify and empathise with a frightened rabbit whether it’s on a country walk or a theatre stage. So it’s no wonder we are fascinated by animal motion, and so drawn to festive performances like Peter and the Wolf. Even if we pretend it’s the kids that make us go.

Oldest fossil of bird's voicebox gives new hint at soundscape of the Cretaceous

The oldest evidence of a bird’s voice box has been found among the fossilised remains of a duck-like creature that lived more than 66 million years ago.

The discovery suggests that the animal was able to make a variety of sounds similar to those of current day ducks, including quacks.

The human voice box, or larynx, sits near the top of the windpipe. However, the vocal organ of birds - known as a syrinx - lies deep within the chest near the heart, where the windpipe branches to the lungs. Composed of cartilage rings and soft tissue, it allows birds to make a wide variety of calls, from songs to honks.

But little is known about the origin of the organ.

Now scientists says they have found the remains of a syrinx within the fossilised, partial skeleton of a bird, known as Vegavis iaai, that lived in the age of the dinosaurs.

“What was really striking is that it is basically all of the informative parts of the voice box; it is the business part of the syrinx,” said Julia Clarke, first author of the new research from the University of Texas at Austin.

The findings, she added, offer important clues as to the evolution of the vocal organ of birds, and potentially of the communication strategies and social interactions the syrinx underpins.

Stephen Brusatte, a palaeontologist at Edinburgh University, described the new find as a stunning discovery.

“The bones themselves are a really important fossil – they are one of the oldest good skeletons of a modern-style bird, and confirm that some of the bird groups that around today, like ducks and geese, were also living with the dinosaurs,” he said.

But the discovery also offers a new perspective on soundscape that would have existed more than 66 million years ago.

“It tells us that these early birds living alongside the dinosaurs may have sounded like some of the birds around today,” Brusatte said. “If [we] were standing back in the late Cretaceous, during that calm before the asteroid hit and wiped out the dinosaurs, the air may have been filled with the songs, chirps, and honks of birds!”

Discovered within the rocks of Vega Island in the Antarctic in 1992, Vegavis iaai was classified by a team including Clarke as an early relative of ducks and geese in 2005, making it the only species of modern bird known to have lived at the time of the dinosaurs.

Writing in the journal Nature, Clarke and colleagues from the US, China and Argentina describe how they discovered the syrinx among its fossilised remains using high resolution x-ray techniques. From the resulting three-dimensional digital model, the team were able to analyse the organ and determine that it had a diameter of around 1cm.

The team then compared the syrinx to vocal organs from 12 bird species alive today, as well as the larynx of an American alligator. The team also analysed for the first time a syrinx previously found in the fossilised remains of a species of long-legged waterfowl that lived around 50 million years ago.

The results enabled the researchers to explore the evolution of the syrinx and make predictions about what early forms of the organ would have looked like.

That a syrinx has not been found in any other dinosaur, avian or non-avian, from before the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous suggests that the development of the the organ was a relatively late step in the evolution of birds, the authors say.

“The team of us have spent the last two years trying to find even earlier syrinxes and we haven’t [found one],” said Clarke. “We suggest [the syrinx] might be a late- arriving phenomenon, after the origin of flight and respiratory innovation like continuous breathing.”

Non-avian dinosaurs, such as the Tyrannosaurus rex, she added, would probably have had a larynx and most likely made loud booming sounds.

Dog rescue fighting to survive will be turned into pig and turkey farm if last-ditch attempt to save it fails

THE owner of a rescue centre embroiled in a legal battle over its future has told council bosses they will be responsible for finding homes for 80 dogs if it closes.

AA Dog Rescue, in Burnham Road, Latchingdon, has lost its appeal against two enforcement notices served by Maldon District Council.

The centre, which has rescued over 1,500 dogs in the three years since it opened, was originally told it must cease operating as a rescue centre by October 8.

The notices said the dog rescue had changed the use of the land, without planning permission, from an equestrian site to equestrian, retail and dog rescue site.

But owners Charley Nathan and Karen James argued that there was no material difference between use for horses and use for dogs, and also denied the retail element of the notice.

However, planning inspector Diane Lewis upheld the council’s ruling.

AA Dog Rescue appealed to the High Court but this was also unsuccessful.

Now Ms Nathan has vowed to fight on and is submitting one final planning application to Maldon District Council.

The new plans, submitted last Tuesday, include new walls and ceilings to combat noise, double doors and also a new compound to house dogs in quarantine.

Ms Nathan, who is waiting for the latest application to be validated, said she felt let down.

She said: “I trusted the council before all of this.

"I told them I don’t any more. If they decide to enforce [the notice] they have got to find homes for 80 dogs.”

Ms Nathan said the current planning application was the last shot at getting permission and if it failed the dog rescue would be moved.

She added; “I told the council within two weeks [of it being refused] everything will be moved.

"The council will have no need to spend any public money to enforce it.

"If the plans don’t go through it will be turned into a pig, turkey and peacock farm.”

Ms Nathan said the centre would be rehoming the free roaming Mayland peacocks.

A COUNCIL says it is “disappointed” a dog rescue centre has continued to import dogs despite facing a trail over allegations barking dogs were causing a nuisance.

AA Dog Rescue owners Charley Nathan and Karen James appeared before Colchester Magistrates’ Court on October 11 accused of failing to comply with a noise abatement notice issued by the council in November.

The charges claim the centre, on Burnham Road, failed to comply with the notice on six occasions between February 13 and July 27. A trial will take place in January.

A spokesman for Maldon District Council said: “The case between Maldon District Council v Charley Nathan and Karen James of AA Dog Rescue, Oldfield Lodge, Burnham Road, Latchingdon was heard at Colchester Magistrates Court on 11 October 2016. The case has been put forward for trial in January 2017.

“It is disappointing that despite the ongoing matters, AA Dog Rescue has continued to import dogs from overseas having received a shipment of 18 dogs on Saturday, October 8.”

Why SeaWorld's Stock Could Stop Sinking

If the tide doesn’t turn, there’s always real estate.

Earlier this year, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment took the bold step of blowing up its business model. It announced on March 17 that it would soon end its iconic Shamu shows and the breeding of killer whales altogether. At the time, investors and the general public cheered the move; the stock  SEAS 0.00%  shot up 9.5% that day in mid-March.

SeaWorld management was heartened by the reaction. It appeared they had at last removed what CEO Joel Manby called their “blocking” issue: A virulent controversy over their treatment of orcas that had generated plenty of negative publicity and weighed on the company’s performance in recent years. (For the full story of SeaWorld’s battle to recover from the controversy, read Fortune’s feature, “The Love-Peddling Showman Saving SeaWorld From Itself.”)Finally, the path seemed clear for the turnaround strategy Manby had publicly mapped out at the company’s Investor Day in November 2015. His plan is to infuse the company’s parks with mom- and millennial-pleasing “purpose”; to make them more about animal conservation than animal entertainment; and to make them more educational (with more naturalistic animal displays and lessons about creatures in the wild), but also more fun (with more rides). Manby also has a broader vision for the company, which includes launching international locations, resorts, and a global animal rescue organization.

Manby has said it will take time to get the beleaguered theme park company back on track, but it’s unlikely he realized how briefly the post-announcement bump would last. The news since SeaWorld’s splashy March rebranding has been surprisingly bad. The stock has plunged 30%, and attendance numbers and revenues for the first half of the year were down from already-disappointing 2015 levels, largely due to weak attendance at its Orlando park. Given the revenue decline, analysts have flagged the risk of the company tripping its debt covenant, which would require SeaWorld to borrow more money in order to afford its fat dividend.

Many investors think Manby’s strategy is solid and see promise in an environmentally oriented theme park—one investor even speculated to me that such destinations will be more appealing to Millennial parents than princess-themed amusement parks in the not too distant future. However, there’s a real question whether he can work quickly enough to turn things around and compete in an industry that adds wildly popular attractions like Universal Orlando’s Harry Potter attraction or Disney World’s’s recently opened Frozen Ever After ride each year.

Ben Chaiken, a Credit Suisse analyst who has been bearish on SeaWorld’s prospects, argues the company will likely have to cut its dividend to keep up. In an August research note, he suggested the $1.4 billion company’s annual payout to investors would be better spent on new attractions; that sum, approximately $80 million, could fund two or three new roller coasters.

But, even if Manby struggles with his turnaround plan, analysts and investors point out there’s lots of value there. The company owns 11 parks, only three of which are branded SeaWorld (they account for roughly 60% of attendance, says FBR Capital analyst Barton Crockett). The others include Busch Gardens, Sesame Place, and an assortment of water parks. Those brands remain attractive, as does all the prime real estate that SeaWorld’s parks are situated on. Crockett, who is bullish on SeaWorld, notes that even if things get much worse, the company has a portfolio of properties that, in its IPO filings, was valued at $5 billion; that’s more than two times the current value of its market cap and debt.

Photographer Hopes to Save Animals by Taking Pictures of Them

American photographer Joel Sartore is taking pictures of animals in his effort to save them. He calls the effort, “Photo Ark.”

The National Geographic Society is providing financing for the project.

The term ark comes from the large boat in which Noah, his family and many creatures were saved from a great flood in ancient times. The flood is described in the writings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Joel Sartore hopes to photograph about 12,000 animals. They all are in danger of disappearing forever because of hunting, loss of habitat and climate change.

Sartore launched the project in 1995. He has taken pictures of about half the animals.

He told VOA by email that he began thinking about endangered creatures when he was a teenager. He remembered reading a book about the North American wild pigeon. The bird is extinct now because it was hunted and its habitat was destroyed. He said the story had a strong effect on him.

The last passenger pigeon died “in her cage at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio,” he said. “She died in 1914, and the species went from billions to none. I couldn’t get over that -- still can’t.”

As Sartore grew up, he often thought of that last passenger pigeon. He noted, “I never dreamed I’d be meeting face to face with other species like frogs, birds and even rhinos that are down to the last of their kind. But that’s exactly what’s happening now, and I feel like I’ve got to do something to turn things around, while there’s still time to save species.”

Some animal species he will never see again. One example is the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, which he photographed just before she died. It was the last of its kind.

Sartore said that when he takes pictures, “I hope the animal glances back at me and makes eye contact. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, that’s exactly the connection I’m hoping to make.”

The Photo Ark project began at a small zoo in Lincoln, Nebraska, Sartore’s home. He has now traveled to more than 40 countries for the photography project.

He said the animals most at risk are in Asia and Africa because of what he describes as “human overpopulation.” He recently visited the West African nations of Gabon and Cameroon. He said he saw major problems “with habitat destruction from logging, farming and poaching due to overpopulation.”

In Cameroon, he searched for the Cross River gorilla and the goliath frog. He said he never saw the frog. “They had all been caught and eaten by local people -- and we saw just one of the gorillas, in a rehab center,” he noted.

He said people are often so hungry that they eat animals they normally would not. Even small birds are killed for food. People are even eating bats, he noted.

Sartore hopes his photos will persuade people to take steps to save the animals. He told VOA half of them could become extinct by the year 2100.

“I hope the public will finally stop and pay attention to the fact that we’re all in this together,” he said. “There’s still time to save the majority of species on the planet, but we must care, and act now. As other species go extinct, so could we.”

Sartore is 54 years old. He hopes he will be able to finish the project. But he has a plan if he cannot. His oldest son is 22 years old and helps him from time to time. The young man has promised to continue the project if his father cannot.