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Record response to call for new astronauts
DAVIS, Calif., July 5 (UPI) -- California tiger salamanders face a threat from a hybrid relative as well as from over development and pollution, researchers said.
Very little development threatened the amphibians 60 years ago when commercial bait sellers in California imported barred tiger salamanders from Texas, a biologist from the University of California Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle. Maureen Ryan of the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis said the larvae of the new salamanders was popular bait, but the adults mated with native amphibians and their offspring flourished -- and now the hybrids imperil frogs and newts as well as the original tiger salamander.
Ryan and colleagues sampled habitats and studied genetics. One of the problems they noticed was that the hybrids have grown much larger than the original salamanders and have strong enough jaws to devour their native cousins.
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TACOMA, Wash., Feb. 9 (UPI) --
The mother of Josh Powell, who killed himself and his sons in a fire in Washington state, said in divorce papers he exhibited disturbing behavior as a teenager.
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MIAMI, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
Ronnie Smith, former trumpet player for the disco/funk group K.C. and the Sunshine Band, has died in a Florida hospital, his family said.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 9 (UPI) --
The earth's next supercontinent will form as North and South America fuse together and head for an eventual collision with Europe and Asia, U.S. scientists say.
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XINXIANG CITY, China, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
A set of parents in China said they expected a large baby, but they were shocked when their son came out weighing a potentially record-setting 15 1/2 pounds.
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