There's always a lot going on, even if most of it is lost in the coverage of riots and disasters.
I love paleontologists, but maybe they should get out more, given the exitement over the first fossil showing a dinosaur's butthole. Granted, this is important in understanding the physiology of dinosaurs, but.. (hah)
Meanwhile, birds of paradise are among the planet's most amazing-looking creatures,and they are not just stylin' but do intricate mating dances. The Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradies (yes, that's the name) makes 44 species in the family Paradisaeidae. It's black,an almost indescribable black, absorbing almost all the light hitting it, but males reveal a bright blue "chest plate" and do a unique dance which, we suppose, is irresitable.
From Guinea, from the caves of the Nimba Mountains, comes a spectacular orange bat. It's so spectacular it's not clear why it was missed right now, but scientists working in the area knew when they spotted it it was something new. The linked article gives a good description of the process the discoverers went through to distinguish it from known species (color alone is not enough).
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