Russian scientists discover rodent and waterfowl parasites in bats

A team of researchers led by Maria Orlova, a scientist at Tomsk and Tyumen Medical Universities in Western Siberia, found that bats carry rodent fleas and waterfowl parasites.

This was reported by the press service of Tomsk State University. A report issued by it stated that a group of researchers is studying bats as a source of biological danger. Scientists are finding more evidence that bats actively interact with humans and animals.

According to Orlova, there is currently no comprehensive scientific information even about the classification of bats, let alone parasites, and the spread of many infections over vast areas is still represented by fragmented and incomplete information.

At the same time, based on the results of their own research, biologists have found more evidence of numerous contacts between bats on the one hand and animals and humans on the other hand, which increases the chances of transmission of zoonotic diseases, such as rickettsius, which causes different types of fever. . Now scientists are closely studying infections among artificial bats, that is, those living in cities close to humans.

In general, there are many bats living in cities, but scientists did not previously give any importance to this. Nowadays, volunteer centers appear in almost every large city working to rehabilitate these animals, as a large number of them belong to species listed in the Red Book. However, there is an environmental law that a high density of any species leads to the presence of a large number of animals. Parasites that feed on this species, and thus, the number of infections increases.

The researcher pointed out that contacts between bats and other animals increase the possibility of various pathogens (bacteria, viruses, etc.) being transmitted to bats and then to humans, as happened recently during the new “Corona” virus pandemic.

Scientists believe that to ensure biological safety for humanity, it is necessary to expand research on animals carrying dangerous diseases, conduct long-term monitoring and exchange information with scientists from other regions and countries.

Canadian scientists have discovered in the stomachs of the remains of two small tyrannosaurs. This discovery is the first of its kind in history.

CBC TV indicates that the discovery occurred in Alberta. This discovery allowed scientists to gain new knowledge and information about dinosaur behavior and their role in the ecosystem.

In addition, according to one of the researchers, the peculiarity and importance of this discovery lies in the fact that the remains of small dinosaurs found inside the stomach of the tyrannosaur are complete skeletons of bird-like dinosaurs of the genus Citipes.