Scientists have discovered a new species of lizard in the Peruvian Andes, the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University said Saturday.
The lizard measures between six and eight centimeters (2.4-3.2 inches) and has distinct coloration depending on ****** .
Females have square-shaped spots on their backs, while males have oblique spots and white scales that help them blend into their rocky surroundings.
The lizard feeds on plants and small arthropods, including spiders, beetles, true bugs and insect larvae.
The new species was found at an altitude of more than 4,800 meters (15,750 feet) in the southern Andean region of Arequipa and was given the name Liolaemus archipensis.

#species #peruvian #history

Roosevelt IV called Turner an unparalleled advocate for conservation and endangered species
Turner welcomed Mexican wolves, rare falcons and tortoises onto his western ranches
Turner was honored posthumously alongside the late Oscar de la Renta and Veronica Berti Bocelli at the 14th Annual Official First Ladies Luncheon during the United Nations General **** embly
One of Ted Turner's oldest friends is remembering the late media mogul and philanthropist's passion for environmental conservation.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the 14th Annual Official First Ladies Luncheon in New York City, organized by Fashion 4 Development during the United Nations General **** embly, Roosevelt IV remembered: "Ted was the most thoughtful and kind person I ever knew in my life."

#official #luncheon #nations #general

Queen guitarist Brian May repurposed 157 acres of former farmland in Dorset, England, in 2013 with the intention of transforming it into a "safe haven for wildlife"
In the years since its foundation, the reserve — known as May's Wood — has become home to more than 101,000 trees and shrubs plus new species of insects, birds and mammals
"We have a wonderful possibility to make an environment which our children and grandchildren will grow up and enjoy in harmony with the animals around them," he said when the project started
In 2013, Queen guitarist Brian May joined locals in Bere Regis, Dorset, England, to plant the first tree on what was once 157 acres of farmland. His goal was to transform the property into a "safe haven for wildlife." Over a decade later, the project has come a long way.
Approximately 600 trees and shrubs were planted during the ceremonial first day in September 2013, according to a press release at the time. That number has since grown to more than 100,000, and new species of insects, birds and small mammals have started inhabiting the land, according to a update on May's website marking the 10-year anniversary.

#guitarist

Markel mirrors Berkshire's three-engine model of insurance, equities, and operating businesses, with $18.84 billion in float and $429.5 million in 2025 buybacks, but its $22 billion market cap makes it a fundamentally different species.
Markel's combined ratio improved to 94.6% in 2025, yet shares are down 17% year to date while trailing Berkshire's 10-year return by 155 percentage points.
Three signals determine the Markel thesis: whether the combined ratio holds in the low 90s, buybacks sustain pace, and Markel Ventures remains inside the group.
Just released. Our **** ysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and Berkshire Hathaway didn't make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat BRK-B. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
Warren Buffett has stepped down as board chair of Berkshire Hathaway, with Greg Abel now running the company. The handoff has revived a question value investors have batted around for a decade: with the Oracle off the field, is Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) the closest thing left to early Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B)?

#hathaway #group #market

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Killing endangered animals while logging a forest or building a dam would not be considered illegal unless the animals were specifically targeted, under a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act by President Donald Trump's administration that marks a sea change in how the landmark environmental law is enforced.
A directive sent to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees this week says imperiled animals or plants must be intentionally targeted for their killing to be considered illegal.
That's a sharp turnaround from past practice at the wildlife service, which historically held people liable even for accidentally harming protected species such as grizzly bears, manatees and spotted owls.
Experts said the change would allow timber companies to log forests in the Pacific Northwest even if they knew that doing so could kill imperiled birds nesting in the trees, or for developers to build a dam knowing it would kill salmon.
"This cuts against the entire history of the Endangered Species Act," said Dan Ashe, who led the Fish and Wildlife Service under former President Barack Obama.

#species #president #killing

A small, spotted tiger cat from Bolivia may just be
the beginning of a wave of new small cat species.
In 2016, Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a biologist and National Geographic Explorer working in Bolivia, received a call from a local wildlife sanctuary that had just been given what they described as “a weird cat.” It came from a local man who found it as a kitten on a road near a forest. The man took the animal home, believing it to be a domestic breed. But after about a year of living with the clearly wild animal, he realized it would be better off at a sanctuary.
As the lead scientist and founder of the Bolivian Felids Research Program (Programa de Investigación de Félidos Bolivia), Nogales-Ascarrunz was intrigued. The animal had a small, scrunched-up face, short and round ears, and long whiskers. It was, indeed, too small to be a housecat, and, most notably, it was covered in leopard-like spots. So she went to visit the creature at the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary on the subtropical flank of the Bolivian Andes.
“I took a hundred pictures of it,” remembers Nogales-Ascarrunz. “I was so fascinated.”
What she couldn’t know at the time was that this curious cat had a secret. It would become the first new species of felid (i.e. the cat family) discovered in over 100 years, according to a study published today in the journal Current Biology. What’s exciting is the discovery is not a validation of a species proposed in the distant past, nor a previously recognized subspecies raised to species status—which are both more commonly reported and important findings. No, this cat was something totally new to science.

#ascarrunz #bolivian

When scientists with the National Center for Wildlife in Saudi Arabia were surveying caves in search of wildlife in 2022 and 2023, they came across something unexpected: seven naturally mummified cheetahs in five caves near the northern city of Arar. The remains were largely intact with well-preserved soft tissue and skeletons.
Now, an ******* ysis of three of the mummies' DNA has revealed something that could help reintroduce cheetahs to the Arabian Peninsula wilderness, researchers say.
Cheetahs once inhabited much of Africa and parts of Asia, but now they are found in only 9% of their historic range. It was previously believed that the Asiatic cheetah, called Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, was the only subspecies ever present in Saudi Arabia. The species is now critically endangered, with a small wild population remaining in Iran. Across the peninsula, cheetahs were deemed locally extinct in the 1970s.
But when the researchers ******* yzed three of the mummies, they found that two of the oldest specimens were genetically closer to the subspecies Acinonyx jubatus hecki, known as the Northwest African cheetah.
The findings, published in January in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, reveal that at least two subspecies of cheetah once roamed the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery could help reintroduction efforts as scientists now know which cheetah lineages once lived in the peninsula and have evidence of their success in the area.

#cheetahs #cheetah #once #arabia

As if dating weren't already enough of a gamble, a new trend has some men skipping their usual hygiene routines before meeting a prospective partner.
So-called "pheromone-maxxing" is a viral TikTok trend primarily **** ociated with teen boys and young men that involves skipping showers and deodorant before a date.
Some proponents go so far as to wear unwashed shirts or drink their own urine in an effort to "sweat out toxins," Vice reported.
'Looksmaxxing' Trend Has Young Men Taking Hammers To Their Faces In Pursuit Of Sharper Features
Pheromones are chemical compounds that transmit signals between members of the same species. They are well documented in insects and other animals, and some pheromones do not have a discernible scent, Scientific American explained.

#trend #looksmaxxing #hammers

Two workers at Germany's Frankfurt airport who caught malaria from a mosquito thought to have arrived on a plane have died, the city's health authority said this week.
Airport officials had earlier said one employee had perished, with six workers infected.
The Robert Koch Institute said an imported Anopheles mosquito carried over by an aircraft was the likely cause.
The other four infected employees were hospitalized and receiving treatment, said an airport spokesman.
Traps have been installed at the airport and mosquitoes captured will be ******* yzed in a laboratory to determine their species and origin, BBC News reported.

#airport #mosquito #infected #robert

One of the most enduring principles of liberty is owning property. "America's Founders understood clearly that private property is the foundation not only of prosperity but of freedom itself," Roger Pilon, founder of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies, wrote in 2017.
And yet all too often, bureaucrats put unnecessary rules and regulations on how we can use our property. One couple is fighting with their town over the right to just let people go for a walk on their land.*
Charles Copley met his wife, Elizabeth, at Oxford University, while they were each pursuing a Ph.D. After living a few years in his native South Africa, they moved with their children to Connecticut to be closer to Elizabeth's family.
Wanting to make the area their permanent home, they purchased two plots of rural land in Roxbury totaling 50 acres in 2022. They hoped not only to live on the land but to really make it their own: farming, planting, and otherwise tailoring the property to their family while protecting and preserving its natural beauty.
They hired a forester to draw up a 10-year forest management plan, which the town approved, and then began removing invasive species and cutting miles of walking trails throughout all 50 acres.

#founders

It's really something to see a true one-of-one. The first time it really stuck, it really happened to me, was Usain Bolt in 2008 in Beijing. With all due respect to what Michael Phelps did in those Olympics, there's something primal about the 100m dash, something we've been doing as a species since Urk bragged to Gru he could get to that rock over there first. It was quite something for 14-year-old Joshua to see the seven fastest men in the world three steps behind this freak — and I say that with the utmost admiration.
Of course Bolt did that two more times in those Games, then broke his own record at the World Championships in Berlin a year later—still the fastest time ever recorded—and then in London, and just for good measure took home the gold in the 100m and 200m in Rio in 2016. The greatest sprinter of all time and a 100th-percentile outcome for what the human body can be. Bolt went out with a whimper though, pulling up lame in the 4x100m relay final at the 2017 World Championships. A hamstring injury mid-race spelled the end of one of sports' great, fiery comets.
You almost never get to go out on your own terms, especially in athletics. Eventually, your body—the thing that earned you a living, the thing that elevated you over pretty much the entire global population—lets you down. Giancarlo Stanton is also a true one-of-one. You could make a compelling argument that ****** ody in the history of baseball has boasted his raw power. Perhaps ****** ody in the sport has ever had so many home runs where the defenders simply didn't move upon contact:
View Link
And of course, like A-Rod in 2009, there's a very good chance the Yankees don't even make the World Series in '24 if Stanton doesn't hammer the ball like he can. Cleveland in particular had no answer whatsoever to the ALCS MVP, who showered Guardians pitching with four clutch homers. He had a 1.048 OPS that postseason and likely walks away with 18 career playoff homers and a .926 OPS in 202 plate appearances.

#time #championships #stanton #true

TUCSON, Ariz. — Here in the office of Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege, you will hear the story of a college football species that has practically gone extinct.
Doege, who played quarterback at Texas Tech a decade and a half ago, points to the sofa up against the wall. That's where Noah Fifita was sitting seven months ago after Arizona completed its surprising 9-4 season, when Doege asked a question that would determine both of their futures.
"There's no doubt he's the best quarterback in the league, so people are hitting this guy up to tamper, to say, 'Hey, we'll pay you $3.5 million to come play for a year," Doege told Yahoo Sports. "And you know how it is. When you go 9-4 on a team that was picked dead last in the Big 12, now all the coaches are getting hit up [for new jobs].
"So I sat him down and said, 'Dude, what is your plan? Man to man, brother to brother, you know there's real love here. What are you gonna do? Because if you're leaving, I need to think about what I need to do. But if you're staying, I'm with you. And then he said the exact same thing, and that was that."
At Arizona, which looks like a dark-horse contender for the Big 12 ******* le, most everything revolves around Fifita and his unconventional decision to not merely spend all five years at the same school but at a program with a somewhat tortured football history and a relatively low national profile.

#doege

Worlds collided last month when the Tennessee ******* ans sideline mascot T-Rac hit it off with a real-life raccoon while on set photographing his new look.
Nashville's National Football League team first unveiled its new logo, uniform, and official colors in spring 2026, and a few months later, T-Rac's rebrand came. Instead of brown fur and bright blue eyes, he now has more realistic gray fur and a friendlier gaze. As part of the promo photoshoot that took place in July, the ******* ans extended an invite to Gizzard, one of the raccoons at Nashville-based wildlife rescue Vermin Sanctuary.
"Obviously she took the ******* ignment very seriously," Vermin Sanctuary founder Kara Kirkland said in a social media post. "Raccoons are Tennessee's state wild animal, and getting to pair Gizzard with a character that so many Tennesseans already know and love is such a special opportunity to get people excited about our native wildlife. We want people to learn how to peacefully coexist with their wild neighbors, what to do if they find a critter that might need help, and why the wild should remain in the wild."
Kirkland started the nonprofit rescue during the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of taking in injured or orphaned animals, rehabilitating them, and releasing them back into nature in the proper manner. She specializes in raccoons, opossums, and other "misunderstood species," and since the start, she's saved dozens of animals across Tennessee.
Gizzard, T-Rac's newest friend, is working as an educational ambassador for the nonprofit, raising awareness about what to do if you encounter a wild animal that may need help.

#sanctuary

Drew Gilbert had never hit lead-off before. The vast majority of his plate appearances this season have come out of the 8th and 9th spots in the batting order. There's plenty of reasons why Gilbert wouldn't be seriously considered to bat first when constructing a Major League line-up. Mainly, he doesn't hit for average, he doesn't hit for power, nor does he inflate his on-base percentage with walks. Gilbert's barely the same species as a Kyle Schwarber or Shohei Ohtani, the 21st century take on the top spot. Considering he's swiped only 2 bases in 137 Major League games, Gilbert is pretty far from Vince Coleman and the more old-school, light-and-fast model too, aimed at wrecking havoc on the bases after beating out an infield single.
The lead-off man has been a revolving door for the Giants all season. It's been dependent on the opposing starter's arm, who's healthy, or the hot hand. No one has been particularly good at it. San Francisco's lead-off men have posted a .279 OBP — by far the lowest in the Majors. Their overall production, with a 89 wRC+, is well below league average.
The point of the offensive spear being not that pointy could explain some of the team's frustrating inconsistencies and overall struggles.
Game 123 of this doomed season, Tony Vitello is throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks. Dating back to July 30th, in which the Giants have gone 4-10 while dropping four straight series, seven different players have hit lead-off. Pencilling Gilbert's name into the top spot — because why not? — made him the 13th player to serve in the role this year, which is the most in any Giants season since 1901.
13 might be a lucky number because Gilbert transformed himself to fit into the role. The middle schooler hyped-up on Mountain Dew Baja Blast energy he typically emanates at the plate was completely gone. In its place, a stoic figure, a discerning eye. The new number-1 went 3-for-4, with a walk, 3 runs batted in, and 2 runs scored. He worked a lead-off walk, taking six straight pitches, and didn't lift his bat off his shoulder. The Number- 9 hitter Gilbert probably would've swung a dozen times. But that Gilbert is dead now; or at least, repressed, stuffed in the locker of his subconsciousness (for the day at least), because when he came up again in the 3rd, nothing had changed. Gilbert was just as calm and disciplined. He took a first pitch fastball in the dirt for ball one, and an elevated curveball at the letters for ball two. Being ahead in the count matters, and Gilbert specifically needs that breathing room. He's hitting .300 with a 1.014 OPS (70 AB) when he's swinging with count leverage. When he's backed into a corner: .224 with a .585 OPS (85 AB).

#gilbert #major #doesn 't

DAKAR, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo concerns a previously unseen ‌variant of the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus, ‌indicating it stemmed from a new transmission from animals to humans rather than from variants linked to earlier outbreaks, a new study said.
• Researchers from Congo, Uganda, Belgium and other countries ******* ysed the genetic make-up of virus samples from 22 patients in Congo ‌and Uganda and ⁠found the outbreak strain was genetically distinct from previous Bundibugyo Ebola viruses seen in outbreaks in ⁠2007 and 2012.
• The findings, published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, suggest the outbreak began with a fresh animal-to-human transmission event and was then spread between people.
• The study did ‌not identify the animal source of the outbreak, but Ebola viruses are known to spill over periodically from infected animals to humans.
• The genetic ******* ysis helped confirm that cases detected in Uganda were linked to the outbreak in Congo.

#congo #virus #animals #humans

Two Florida business owners have been charged with third-degree felonies after allegedly spreading about 1,500 "toxic" mothballs across a beach in hopes of keeping an "imperiled" bird species from nesting there.
If convicted, they could each face up to five years in prison, fines of up to $5,000 and up to five years of probation.
The problem started in late April when beachgoers noticed mothballs on the white, sugary sand on St. Pete Beach in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and bird-loving volunteers from the Audubon Society mobilized. They plucked about 1,000 of the small, white orbs from the sand behind the Plaza Beach Hotel.
Massachusetts Homeowners Stunned After Town Warns July 4 Flags Threaten Endangered Birds

#white #april

Florida health officials confirmed on Thursday that a second person has died in the state from the flesh-eating bacterium Vibrio vulnificus. The second death was reported in Marion County, and the first was reported in Palm Beach County. It marks the second death in the U.S. this year.
There have been 14 other cases confirmed across Florida, according to the state's health department. Elsewhere, there have been a total of six confirmed cases in Alabama, while Connecticut detected a case in February, according to state public health departments.
They come as Stony Brook University announced new research in April, finding that some bays and waterways off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., have developed the right conditions for Vibrio vulnificus to thrive.
Vibrio vulnificus cases are considered rare, with between 100 and 200 infections reported in the U.S. each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. However, many people with an infection can become seriously ill, requiring intensive care or limb amputation. "About 1 in 5 people with this infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Infections caused by other Vibrio species are much more common, with about 80,000 cases of vibriosis per year.

#vibrio #cases #Florida

By Clement Bonnerot and Jessica Donati
DAKAR, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to surpass 4,000 cases this week and has been described as the fastest spreading on record since it was officially declared in May.
It is already the world's second-largest ‌epidemic after West Africa's 2014-16 outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, when the World Health Organization recorded more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.
Delayed detection, ‌overwhelmed surveillance, military conflict and a lack of vaccines and treatments for the species of the virus involved have allowed the disease to outrun containment efforts this time.
HOW FAST IS IT SPREADING?

#epidemic #clement #ebola

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Foundations funded and co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos have launched an initiative committing $200 million to revive 100 of Earth's most threatened species, including endangered lemurs, salamanders, pangolins, pigs and echidnas.
DiCaprio's Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund are leading the Phoenix Species Project, the groups announced Tuesday. They call it the largest single fund in history dedicated exclusively to recovering critically endangered species.
DiCaprio has for years been developing the idea of a major concerted effort to help species whose habitats and future existence are threatened by climate change.
In 2021, he and Re:wild co-founder Wes Sechrest, a biologist who serves as the organization's CEO, met with the Amazon-founding mega billionaire Bezos and his wife, former TV news reporter and host Lauren Sánchez Bezos. He serves as chair and she as vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.
The meeting led to a series of conversations with local governments, environmental groups and Indigenous people on how best to reverse the decline of their most vulnerable species. Those conversations eventually led to the Phoenix Species Project.

#bezos #project #threatened

Nate Rouette and his brother Nelson went shark fishing on Cape Cod hoping for an exciting catch, but were shocked by what they reeled in -- a tropical species of shark with a reputation for eating everything it can swallow.
The brothers, longtime sport fishermen who live in Massachusetts, released a juvenile tiger shark in late July after catching it from a beach. The five-foot shark is far more common in warmer, southern waters such as the Caribbean Sea, and scientists said its appearance off Falmouth, Massachusetts, is an indicator of warming seas caused by climate change.
Nate and Nelson said the late-night catch was a thrill after hours of seeking far more common brown sharks.
"And I saw those horizontal lines, indicating it was a tiger shark, which was super cool," said Nate, who is the social media manager for On The Water magazine. "Immediately I started yelling to my brother, 'It's a tiger, it's a tiger shark!' And he was in disbelief."
The Rouette brothers caught a young specimen of a shark that can grow to more than 15 feet (4.6 meters) and 1,400 pounds (635 kilograms). Tiger sharks eat a wide array of other ocean life, including fish, crustaceans and birds, and are famous for sometimes eating man-made items such as old license plates and shoes that are later found in their stomachs. The adults are also more dangerous to humans than most shark species, though unprovoked fatal bites are rare.

#nelson #massachusetts #catch #species

There's a concept in biology called adaptive radiation. It occurs when a species enters a new environment with unoccupied ecological niches and rapidly evolves into multiple distinct forms. We see a similar pattern in technology. When a breakthrough technology emerges, it often triggers a wave of innovation, with a growing number of companies developing competing approaches and quickly filling what was previously an empty market.
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Quantum computing appears to be following a similar path. The technology is still in its early stages, and a few companies are already racing to bring it into commercial reality, each pursuing different architectures and strategies. Unlike traditional computers, which process information as ones and zeros, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, that can represent multiple states simultaneously. That allows them to tackle certain highly complex calculations much faster than conventional computers.
The commercial potential is hard to ignore, with Grand View Research projecting the quantum computing market will expand from about $1.9 billion in 2026 to more than $8 billion by 2033.

#quantum #tipranks #computing

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (AP) — Trout need cool water to survive, but record heat this summer has driven water temperatures to lethal levels for fish.
Wildlife officials are banning fishing during certain hours on rivers and streams across the U.S. West, following an exceptionally dry winter and amid widespread drought. Lower water levels mean rivers can heat more rapidly.
The restrictions aim to reduce stress on species including highly-prized trout. Anglers travel from around the world to find the fish in Yellowstone National Park or Western Montana's Blackfoot River, featured in the movie "A River Runs Through It."
More record temperatures are forecast this weekend as a heat wave in the Southwest expands north into the Rocky Mountains and east across the High Plains.
On the Yellowstone River near Livingston, Montana, California resident Mike Wever waded into the swiftly-moving water Friday with a fly fishing rod in one hand. He dipped his free hand into the water.

#yellowstone #record #temperatures

There's a concept in biology called adaptive radiation. It occurs when a species enters a new environment with unoccupied ecological niches and rapidly evolves into multiple distinct forms. We see a similar pattern in technology. When a breakthrough technology emerges, it often triggers a wave of innovation, with a growing number of companies developing competing approaches and quickly filling what was previously an empty market.
Unlock powerful investing tools with TipRanks Premium to make smarter, more confident investment decisions
Subscribe to TipRanks Smart Investor Newsletter, and discover new investing opportunities with data-backed stock picks
Quantum computing appears to be following a similar path. The technology is still in its early stages, and a few companies are already racing to bring it into commercial reality, each pursuing different architectures and strategies. Unlike traditional computers, which process information as ones and zeros, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, that can represent multiple states simultaneously. That allows them to tackle certain highly complex calculations much faster than conventional computers.
The commercial potential is hard to ignore, with Grand View Research projecting the quantum computing market will expand from about $1.9 billion in 2026 to more than $8 billion by 2033.

#computers #market #investing

Conservationists defending a historic tree standing in the way of President Donald Trump's border wall in Arizona began staging a "tree sit" on July 29 to keep contractors from tearing down the towering cottonwood.
The cottonwood is the last of four hardwood trees from a species that's believed to have stood alongside the U.S.-Mexico border in Lochiel, Arizona, for between 100 and 200 years. Department of Homeland Security contractors tore down the first of the three trees on July 27.
Conservationists in the area have rallied around the remaining tree, slamming Homeland Security for not picking an alternative route that does not involve cutting down the trees.
The cottonwoods have provided people a shady gathering place for generations, conservationists say. And for local wildlife, the trees are essential for the area's diverse and rare species, including potentially the few jaguars that range into the United States.
"Destroying these ancient cottonwoods is a death sentence for an entire ecosystem," said Russ McSpadden, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit founded in 1989 focused on protecting endangered species. "These magnificent cottonwoods survived centuries, nourishing wildlife through floods and drought, only to be bulldozed for the Trump administration's disastrous border wall."

#down

By Jonathan Stempel
July 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration was sued on Tuesday by nine environmental groups that said its recent decision to rescind a more than 50-year-old definition of "harm" ‌imperiled wildlife.
In a complaint filed in Seattle federal court, the groups challenged determinations on July ‌10 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service that "maintaining a freestanding definition of 'harm' is unnecessary," and degrading a habitat does not qualify under the Endangered Species Act as an illegal "take" of endangered and threatened wildlife.
Rescinding the definition of harm violates that law's plain language, defies reason, is arbitrary and capricious, and should be overturned, the complaint said.
The Trump administration has scaled back a variety of environmental initiatives and standards, ‌including by reducing government support for clean ⁠energy and repealing an Obama administration-era scientific finding that climate change threatens public health.

President Donald Trump on Monday sharply reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah, undoing protections established by his Democratic predecessors on public lands that are sacred among many Native Americans.
Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.
Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size by about 90% each. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation.
"They took the land from the people quite honestly," Trump said at a signing event at the White House Monday. "We're giving it back."

July 10 (Reuters) - Spanish biologist and soccer fan Jesus Ortea has named a newly discovered species ‌of sea snail in honour of Vozinha, the ‌Cape Verde goalkeeper who stunned fans by denying all goal attempts by Spain in his World Cup debut.
Ortea discovered the tiny, bright red mollusc, now named Aldisa vozinha, in the Caribbean and timed his announcement to coincide with the ‌World Cup.
"We have ⁠chosen the name vozinha in honour of Vozinha ... who played a prominent role in ⁠his country's World Cup debut against The Reds (Spain)," Ortea said in his paper.
"The colouration of the species is intended as a tribute to that achievement."
Vozinha, 40, became one of ‌the breakout stars of the tournament, helping his country reach the Round of 32, where he again distinguished himself in a dramatic extra-time loss to world champions Argentina.

When the city of Cincinnati was founded, the Passenger Pigeon was so numerous that a passing flock could blot out the sun. By 1907, the entire species was reduced to a single bird, residing at the Cincinnati Zoo. Tonight, offense faced a similar extinction, felled by merciless pitching.
Brady Singer, the Cincy starter, sent his foes down in order in the first on just 12 pitches; Jesús Luzardo, not to be outdone, did it in five. Singer allowed a hit (double, Bryson Stott) in the second, but incurred no further damage. Jesús Luzardo, again not to be outdone, allowed a less damaging hit (single, Tyler Stephenson), and incurred no further damage.
The pitchers’ duel remained in full effect through the fourth, neither team plating a runner. Those who like offense were briefly teased in the bottom of the fifth as a runner advanced as far as third via walk, groundout, and single— but it came to naught. Three hits, two from the Redlegs and one from the Phillies, were all that the game produced through five. And the Phillies had no more through six. The Phillies were getting sent back to the dugout faster than a Cincinnati chili parlor can dish up a bowl.
Speaking of dishing, Luzardo kept dishing out Ks. He had ten through six, and the Reds batters were left as bereft as a Bengals fan after any season in their recorded history.
Kyle Schwarber opened up the seventh with a hit, singling to center. The spirits of the Philadelphia faithful began to stir. Schwarber on base, Bryce Harper coming up next. Those names spell doom for pitchers as sure as the Ohio River flows to the southwest. But it was not so tonight; Harper grounded into a double play. The fans, perhaps getting a bit stir crazy, began to chant “take it off”, that “tarps off” thing in action. The fans must’ve decided to wear as many shirts as the two teams had runs. In a ***** le attempt to get some shirts back on, Brandon Marsh singled, and Alec Bohm got hit by a pitch, and the Phillies had something going with two away. But it soon ended with a fly out.

A new silverback has arrived at a zoo to take charge of its western lowland pack, following the death of the UK's oldest gorilla.
Nkoumou was brought to Bristol Zoo Project from Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve in Kent and is expected to lead the zoo's troop of six western lowland gorillas.
He succeeds Jock, who died earlier this year aged 42.
Brian Zimmerman, director of conservation and science at Bristol Zoological Society, said: "Nkoumou's arrival is significant not only for Bristol Zoo Project, but for the future of a species under threat in the wild."
Jock was the oldest male gorilla in the UK and led Bristol's gorilla troop for more than two decades.

Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus that preys on "zombie fungus" known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death.
The new species was found in the jungles on Malaysia's part of Borneo, a large island known for its biodiverse rainforests. Samples were collected during multiple field trips conducted by the University of Malaysia Sabah's Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, and the research was published in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.
It was dubbed a "hyperparasite" because it "effectively parasitizes the primary pathogen," the institute's Deputy Director Jaya Seelan Sathiya Seelan told AFP on Friday.
"The fungus belongs to the genus Pleurocordyceps and acts as a specialized hyperparasite," Seelan said.
The new species targets ants already infected by Ophiocordyceps, or "zombie fungus," which manipulates the infected insect's nervous system and makes it behave erratically before killing it and bursting from its carcass.