African Wolf aka Egyptian Jackal

This is not really fish related but cool enough to warrant a post here anyway. Scientists have discovered a new species of Wolf in Egypt. A team a researchers from Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), the University of Oslo, and Addis Ababa University, with funding from the University of Oslo, shows that Gray wolves reached Africa around 3 million years ago before spreading throughout the northern hemisphere. The new wolf is a relative of the Holarctic grey wolf, the Indian wolf and the Himalayan wolf.

The Egyptian jackal (Canis aureus lupaster) is an importan part of the Egyptian mythology and has until now been considered a subspecies of the Golden jackal (Canis aureus) but this new research show that the egyptian jackal is infact a species of wolf. This new species is not closely related to the rare Ethiopian wolves. Ethiopian wolves are a relatively recent of spring from the gray wolf complex while this new species, ”African wolf” (suggested name by Professor Sillero), likely arrived in Africa much earlier.

Professor David Macdonald says: “A wolf in Africa is not only important conservation news, but raises fascinating biological questions about how the new African wolf evolved and lived alongside not only the real golden jackals but also the vanishingly rare Ethiopian wolf, which is a very different species with which the new discovery should not be confused.”

The jackal is important in Egyptian Mythology

The team also found genetically very similar specimens to this new wolf in the highlands of Ethiopia, 2,500 km from Egypt, suggesting that the new species might have a large distrobution and that it is not just found in Egypt.

The conservational status of this new species is not known.

Professor Sillero says: “It seems as if the Egyptian jackal is urgently set for a name-change, and its unique status as the only member of the grey wolf complex in Africa suggests that it should be re-named ‘the African wolf’.”

WildCRU is part of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology.

If you want to read the entire paper (direct link) you can do so at PlosOne:

Tidal movements involve immense amounts of energy and are as reliable as, well, the tide. If we could find an efficient way of harnessing these mammoth forces, tidal action might become an important source of renewable energy for populations world wide. With this in mind, a team of engineers from Oxford University have worked together to develop a new and more robust turbine design that will make it both easier and more cost-effective to take advantage of this natural resource.

The turbines developed by the research team have been labelled “second generation” tidal turbines since they are less expensive to build and maintain compared to traditional tidal turbines, and capable of harnessing more energy. Unlike today’s underwater turbines – which are built like underwater windmills with blades that turn at right angles to the flow of water – these second generation tidal turbines are centred on a cylindrical rotor which rolls around its long axis as the water ebbs and flows. The Oxford team calls their new creation Thawt, short for Transverse Horizontal Axis Water Turbine.

Producing enough energy for 12,000 average UK family homes using traditional turbine design would today require 10 generators and five foundations. With the new Thawt, only one generator and three foundations would be enough, according to estimates done by the Oxford team.

Steph Merry, head of marine renewable energy at the Renewable Energy Association welcomed the new design but also cautioned against the costs of environmental monitoring to safeguard the ecology of tidal areas. “We have to get it in proportion, you can’t have an unlimited budget for environmental monitoring when every engineering company has to work to a budget for any project. At the moment, there is no limit to the monitoring that can be imposed.”