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The skeleton of a dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is displayed beside a reconstruction of the flightless bird which became extinct by the late 17th century. National Museum of Wales, 1938.

Fishers Caught A Bright Orange Shark Off Costa Rica That Had Albinism, Alongside The Species' First Scientifically Documented Case of An Extremely Rare Condition Called Xanthism.

— By Patrick Pester | Friday 05, 2025

Nurse Sharks are Normally Yellow to Gray-Brown, but this one was Bright Orange. Image credit: Garvin Watson and Parismina Domus Dei. Parismina Limón Bar, Costa Rica.

A first-of-its-kind bright orange shark with white eyes has been caught and released in the Caribbean, a new study reveals.

The nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) had a mysterious condition called xanthism, or xanthochroism, which increases yellow pigmentation in the skin. Researchers have recorded xanthism in several animals, but this is the first definitive case of a nurse shark with the trait. The shark also appears to have albinism, making it even more unusual.

Sports fishers discovered the shark by chance off the east coast of Costa Rica in 2024. Garvin Watson, owner of the Parismina Domus Dei hotel in the village of Parismina, reeled in the shark, which was around 6.6 feet (2 meters) long and swimming 120 feet (37 m) below the surface.

"We could not believe what we had in front of our eyes," Watson told Live Science in an email.

"That orange shark shining with the sunlight was something out of the ordinary," he said. "We did not know that it was going to be a discovery worldwide, recognized by all the biologists of the world."

The fishers photographed the shark, then removed the hook from its mouth and released it back into the Caribbean Sea. Researchers described the event and its significance in a new study published Aug. 1 in the journal Marine Biodiversity.

Scientists have documented xanthism in a variety of species, including frogs, birds and fish. While some animals are normally yellow and orange, these colors are more prominent in xanthic individuals of these species.

The shark had total xanthism, with the anomalous pigmentation covering its whole body. Image credit: Garvin Watson and Parismina Domus Dei. Parismina Limón Bar, Costa Rica.

Nurse sharks are typically yellow to gray-brown. There have been occasional reports of unusual coloring in this species, including albinism — characterized by a complete lack of melanin pigmentation in the skin and iris — and potential xanthism, but a xanthic nurse shark had never been scientifically documented before now, according to the study.

"We were very surprised and excited when we saw the [xanthism] in the photos," study lead author Marioxis Macías-Cuyare, a doctoral candidate in biological oceanography at the Federal University of Rio Grande in Brazil, told Live Science in an email.

The researchers spoke with Watson and studied photos of the shark. They noted that the shark lacked the black irises typically seen in shark eyes, and concluded that it was likely albino as well as xanthic. A 2018 study documented this combined condition, known as albino-xanthochromism, in a ray species (Raja montagui) found in the Irish Sea.

Researchers are still studying the causes of abnormal pigmentation in sharks. Such conditions are typically associated with genetics, but factors such as environmental stress, elevated temperatures and hormonal imbalances may also contribute to different colors, according to the study.

Fishers released the shark after it was photographed. Image credit: Garvin Watson and Parismina Domus Dei. Parismina Limón Bar, Costa Rica.

Macías-Cuyare said that xanthism is usually genetic, but more research was needed to understand the conditions influencing the shark's anomalous pigmentation.

The shark's survival is also curious. Animals evolve to be specific colors to better survive in their environments, so being bright orange when the species isn't meant to be would normally be a hindrance. In this case, the shark has made it to adulthood and doesn't appear to have been held back by its unusual color.

Y’know that thing we were saying about Australia, #TheEarthIsOnFire, yeah well it’s worse than we thought.

This Little Bear Carved Out of Amber Might Have Been An Amulet For A Stone Age Hunter.

— By Kristina Killgrove | Monday, April 14, 2025

The Stone Age Amber Bear Was Found Near Słupsk, Poland. (Image Credit: National Museum in Szczecin)

Name: Słupcio

What It Is: A Bear Figurine Carved Out of Amber

Where It Is From: Słupsk, Northern Poland

When It Was Made: Between 9600 and 4100 B.C.

This unique carved amber bear was discovered in northern Poland by workers digging for peat in 1887. An ancient hunter likely wore it as a protective charm, since the bear was the most powerful and dangerous animal that lived in the area during the Stone Age.

"Słupcio" — Or "Little Guy From Słupsk" in Polish — is the name given to the amber bear in 2013, when a Polish kindergartner won a contest to name the artifact. (The lucky winner also snagged a teddy bear.)

The carved bear is on display at the National Museum in Szczecin, around 136 miles (220 kilometers) southwest of his original find spot, and he has become something of a local symbol, where copies of him are widely available as souvenirs.

The figurine is 4 inches (10.2 centimeters) long and 1.65 inches (4.2 cm) tall and may date to Europe's Mesolithic period (12,000 to 5,000 years ago). At this time, people were mostly hunter-gatherers, so archaeological evidence of their settlements is rare. But in the area of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, archaeologists have found Stone Age sites with artifacts, such as pottery, tools and weapons, along with objects made from amber that washed ashore. This type of amber comes from marine sediments.

Słupcio's legs are essentially just bulges, and he cannot stand on his own, but the bear's head is clearly carved to show his ears, mouth, nostrils and eyes. In the middle of the figurine's torso, there is a hole that goes all the way through the amber, likely used by the ancient hunter to thread a strap for hanging or carrying the little guy.

At the end of World War II, Słupcio was taken out of Poland by the Germans along with numerous other ancient artifacts, and the amber bear ended up in the Stralsund Museum until he was returned to Szczecin in 2009. While in Germany, Słupcio was studied by experts who called him a "Bernsteinbär" (amber bear) and determined that all of the carving was ancient.

But since Słupcio was a stray find from more than a century ago, experts remain divided on when he was actually made.

In a 2023 study of several amber bear figurines from the Baltic Sea area, researchers concluded that the objects are more likely to be Upper Paleolithic in date, a period from 50,000 to 12,000 years ago. The amber bears may be further evidence of the Paleolithic tradition of representing animals in cave paintings and portable objects, and they also show that people shifted their hunting from reindeer on the open tundra to elk and bear in the forest.

Carving bears in amber — a natural material that looks like stone, floats in seawater, is translucent when polished, and smells fragrant when burned — may have been perceived as imbuing the material with magic, making Słupcio a powerful Stone Age amulet.

First published 10 September 2015 (scroll down to see the UPDATE)

A newly discovered extinct human species may be the most primitive unearthed yet, with a brain about the size of an orange. But despite its small brain size, the early human performed ritual burials of its dead, researchers say.

This newfound species from South Africa, named Homo naledi, possessed an unusual mix of features, such as feet adapted for a life on the ground but hands suited for a life in the trees, that may force scientists to rewrite their models about the dawn of humanity. 

Although modern humans are the only human lineage alive today, other human species once walked the Earth. These extinct lineages were members of the genus Homo just as modern humans are. The earliest human specimens found yet are about 2.8 million years old.

Though the researchers aren't sure how far back this human relative dates, it is the newest addition to the genus Homo. "It's a very exciting finding," said paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall at the American Museum of Natural History, who did not participate in this research.

However, Tattersall suggested these new hominins might not belong to genus Homo. "I'm a great advocate for the notion that the genus Homo has been made overinclusive," he said. "I don't like to stuff new things in old pigeonholes. I don't think we have the vocabulary needed to describe the diversity we're seeing in early hominins."

Underground astronauts

Two cavers, Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker, discovered the new fossila in 2013 in a cave known as Rising Star, locatedin the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of Johannesburg in South Africa. The species is named after the cave; "naledi" means "star" in Sesotho, a South African language.

The fossils were recovered in two missions in 2013 and 2014 dubbed the Rising Star Expeditions. The bones lay in a chamber now named Dinaledi, meaning "many stars," located about 300 feet (90 meters) from the entrance of Rising Star.

Getting into Dinaledi required a steep climb up a sharp limestone block called "the Dragon's Back" and then down a narrow crack only 7 inches (18 centimeters) wide. A global call for researchers who could fit through this chute resulted in six women chosen to serve as what the researchers called "underground astronauts."

"They risked their lives on a daily basis to recover these extraordinary fossils," study lead author Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, told Live Science.

The scientists recovered more than 1,550 bones and bone fragments, a small fraction of the fossils believed to remain in the chamber. These represent at least 15 different individuals, including infant, child, adult and elderly specimens. This is the single largest fossil hominin find made yet in Africa. (Hominins include the human lineage and its relatives dating from after the split from the chimpanzee lineage.)

"With almost every bone in the body represented multiple times, Homo naledi is already practically the best-known fossil member of our lineage," Berger said.

"We will be trying to extract DNA from these fossils," Berger added.

A weird mix

On average, Homo naledi stood about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall and weighed about 100 lbs. (45 kilograms). It had a tiny brain, only about 30.5 cubic inches (500 cubic centimeters) in size, making the organ about as large as the average orange. That's smaller than the modern human brain, which is about 73 to 97 cubic inches (1,200 to 1,600 cubic cm), but comparable in size to the brain of Austrolopithecus sediba. Australopithecines are likely the ancestors of the human lineage.

Homo naledi was a surprising blend of primitive and modern hominin. For example, "the hands suggest tool-using capabilities," study co-author Tracy Kivell of the University of Kent in England said in a statement. Many scientists have long believed that tool use accompanied a boost in brain size, but Homo naledi's brain was rather small.

In addition, its feet are virtually indistinguishable from those of modern humans. This, together with its long legs, suggest the species was adapted for a life on the ground involving long-distance walking. However,;  its fingers were extremely curved, more curved than those of nearly any other species of early hominin, which hints at a life suited for climbing trees.

"Modern humans are really unusual in that walking on two legs is pretty much all we do," study co-author Will Harcourt-Smith, a paleoanthropologist at Lehman College in the Bronx and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, told Live Science. "Homo naledi probably spent most of its time walking on two legs, but also spent some proportion of its time up in trees — whether to escape predators or nest at night, we don't know."

Furthermore, Homo naledi's small teeth, slender jaws and many skull features are similar to those of the earliest known members of Homo, but its shoulders are more similar to those of apes.

"The combination of anatomical features we see in this creature is not like any we've ever seen before," study co-author John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told Live Science.

Death rituals

Intriguingly, this primitive human species may have disposed of its dead repeatedly, a ritualized behavior previously confirmed only in modern humans.

"Homo naledi is a primitive member of our genus, perhaps the most primitive we've ever seen, but it had the capacity both mentally and behaviorally to dispose of remains in a ritual fashion," Berger said.

Dinaledi is an isolated part of the Rising Star cave system that was never open directly to the surface and attracted only a few accidental visitors. Of the more than 1,550 bones and bone fragments recovered from Dinaledi so far, only about a dozen are not hominin. These include the remains of small animals such as birds and mice.

There is no evidence that flowing water or mud washed these bones into Dinaledi, nor are there bite marks suggesting that predators or scavengers carried the remains into the chamber, nor cut marks suggesting cannibalism. Instead, the researchers suggest, these remains were brought into this remote spot intentionally over time.

Prior research had uncovered another possible instance of an extince human species disposing of its dead, in Atapuerca in Spain. This site also contained remains thrown to the bottom of a cave. "Those hominins were much larger-brained, much closer to modern humans in brain size," Harcourt-Smith said. "There's debate as to which species was at Atapuerca — probably Homo heidelbergensis, a close relative of Neanderthals."

However, this is the first time such behavior with the dead has been seen with such a primitive hominin— that is, one dating back so early in the human family tree. "It's just an extraordinary discovery, a game-changer to see this very advanced behavior used back then," Harcourt-Smith said.

It remains unknown why Homo naledi disposed of its dead in this way. "We can spin a lot of yarns," Harcourt-Smith said. Maybe it buried the dead out of reverence, he said, or "maybe to get rid of things that were smelling. Maybe another species was throwing them down."

Uncertain place in the family tree

The age of the fossils remains uncertain, since the chamber lacks many of the features that scientists normally rely on to date fossils. As such, scientists can't yet say where Homo naledi fits on the human family tree. Depending on its age, it could be a direct ancestor to Homo sapiens, or the ancestor of the species that gave rise to Homo sapiens. "At this stage, all we know is that it's reasonably primitive," Harcourt-Smith said.

The researchers did note that both Homo naledi and the "hobbit" Homon floresiensis had similarly tiny brains. Although the scientists said they could not as yet speculate on any evolutionary links between those two species, the researchers new findings revealed that small-brained, primitive-looking human species with fairly modern features did exist in the past. This suggests that the hobbit is no longer an anomaly, the researchers said.

The scientists detailed their findings online 10 Sept in two papers published in the journal of eLife, and reported their work in the cover story of the October issue of National Geographic magazine, as well as the NOVA/National Geopgraphic Special "Dawn of Humanity" premiering 16 Sept.

UPDATE