Bengal trumpet (Thunbergia grandiflora)

Bengal trumpet (Thunbergia grandiflora) is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae, herbaceous, climbing, up to 20 meters long, long root system with deep taproot.

The leaves are opposite, petiolate, rough surface and variable size. The leaves are triangular or oval or 7-cornered and the margins are serrated or wavy or plain. The length and width of the leaves are up to 20 cm.

The flowers are blue and mauve in color, up to 9 cm wide and the tube is 4 cm long. The pods contain seeds that scatter up to several meters when ripe.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Subfamily: Thunbergioideae
Tribe: Thunbergieae
Genus: Thunbergia
Species: Thunbergia grandiflora

Green vestment mantis (Phyllothelys qingjinum) from Malipo, Yunnan, with cross collar on pronotum

NEWS - Green vestment mantis ( Phyllothelys qingjinum ) from Malipo, Yunnan, China, is described based on geometric morphometric, genetic distance and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The discovery of this new species fills a significant distribution gap for the P. werneri group in southern Yunnan and highlights the need for further exploration in this region. Phyllothelys Wood-Mason, 1876 (Mantodea, Hymenopodidae) includes 22 species with China being the hotspot containing 15 species in four groups, especially P. werneri which includes 6 species. This suggests a wide distribution across the mountainous region south of the Yangtze River extending from Medog in the west to Taiwan Island in the east. P. qingjinum has dimensions (mm) with head to abdomen: 52.75-54.95, head to wing: 58.60-62.14, pronotum: 15.30-17.76, prozone: 3.46-3.95, metazone: 11.84-13.88, anterior coxa: 8.39-10.64, anterior femur: 9.36-11.46, anterior tibia: 5.55-7.02, posterior femur: 7.82-9.35, posterior tibia: 6....

Shovelbill shark (Sphyrna alleni), hammerhead shark (Sphyrnidae) from Caribbean and Southwest Atlantic

NEWS - Researchers have identified a new species of hammerhead shark as the shovelbill shark or Requin-marteau pelle or Tiburón Cabeza de Pala ( Sphyrna alleni ) collected at Robinson Point and Riversdale Village, Belize, and provided by local fishermen in 2016 and 2019. S. alleni is named after Paul G. Allen (1953-2018), a philanthropist who supported shark research and conservation. Shovelbill shark is max 150 cm long when mature with a flat, shovel-shaped head that lacks a notch on the anterior margin, a pointed (triangular) cephalofoil in both sexes and a distinct protrusion in males. The posterior margin is lobulated. The posterior teeth are enlarged, molar-like, the first dorsal tip is anterior to the pelvic origin and the posterior margin of the anus is shallowly concave. It differs from S. tiburo in that the anterior margin of the head is more rounded and the posterior margin lacks lobules. The number of precaudal vertebrae for S. alleni is between 80-83 (~10 more vertebrae ...

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