This issue is my Christmas gift full of good news from all over the world and recommendations to keep you entertained for the next weeks and maybe months to come. I'll be back on January 2, 2023. I hope to see you around next year, too.
Women's football got a huuuge push in Africa in 2022
The African Women's Champions League, a club tournament that is only two years old, did not offer any prize money in 2021. However, in a major development and huge surprise, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) back in October announced that it will provide prize money for the 2022 tournament. (CAF Online)
How much money are we talking about?
The winning team will receive $400,000, the runner-up will receive $250,000, and the third-placed team will receive $200,000. This is big money, even compared to the prize money offered in the European Women's Champions League, which was US$230,000 or £200,000 for 2022.
Who won in 2022?
Morocco (and Africa) did not only score big in the men's football World Cup 2022 by becoming the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final. The female Moroccan team AS FAR also emerged as the winners of the African Women's Champions League, beating Mamelodi Sundowns fromSouth Africa (who were the defending champions).
Why this matters:
The introduction of prize money shows Caf's commitment to promoting women's football in Africa, and it is likely to encourage more women to participate in the sport across the continent. This increased interest will also attract media attention, further raising the profile of women's football in Africa.
We discovered a lot of new species of animals and trees around the world
Biologists have made a number of exciting discoveries about unfamiliar species this year, from a millipede named after Taylor Swift (Nannaria swiftae in the United States) and a tree named after Leonardo DiCaprio (read more below) to a bamboo-dwelling tarantula (Taksinus bambus in Thailand) and a leafhopper with a metallic sheen (Phlogis kibalensis in Uganda).
Why this matters:
Over the past 250 years, biologists have found and described around 1.2 million different plant and animal species. However, there are likely many more species that have not been discovered yet. Some estimates say that about 86% of the planet's plants and animals have not been formally classified, including about 91% of species that live in the ocean. (PLOS Biology)
So, wait... We found entirely new species?!
Yes and no. Sometimes, scientists found completely new species that have never been studied before. Other times, they looked more closely at a species and its subspecies and decided that they should be considered separate species. Here's a more extensive list of the species found this year but I curated my favorite ones for you:
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Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, an extremely beautiful rainbow reef fish (look), was actually found in the 1990s, they usually hang around off the coast of theMaldives. Back then, scientists believed it to belong to an already acknowledged species. This March though, other scientists were like, 'hold on... It's a completely separate species!!' (ZooKeys)
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Synapturanus danta, a small frog with a big nose, was found in theAmazon rainforest back in February because it is so loud (listen). It looks like the Amazonian tapir, a species of the rhinocero family that has a fleshy trunk, but it is its very own species. (Rainforest Alliance) The researchers think that these hard-to-find frogs are a good sign for the health of the area and show that there is a lot of hidden biodiversity in the region. (Evolutionary Systematics)
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Lamarckdromia beagle, a veeeeery furry, fluffy sponge crab (look), was found inAustralia. It lives in shallow water or areas with a lot of sea sponges. They collect, clip, and wear sea sponges and other creatures on their shells to blend in and avoid being seen by predators. This new crab is covered in soft fur, which may help protect it from predators by making it...
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Below you'll find some of the sources used for this issue. Only sources that support "media embedding" are included.
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Author Summary Knowing the number of species on Earth is one of the most basic yet elusive questions in science. Unfortunately, obtaining an accurate number is constrained by the fact that most species remain to be described and because indirect attempts to answer this question have been highly controversial. Here, we document that the taxonomic classification of species into higher taxonomic groups (from genera to phyla) follows a consistent pattern from which the total number of species in any taxonomic group can be predicted. Assessment of this pattern for all kingdoms of life on Earth predicts ∼8.7 million (±1.3 million SE) species globally, of which ∼2.2 million (±0.18 million SE) are marine. Our results suggest that some 86% of the species on Earth, and 91% in the ocean, still await description. Closing this knowledge gap will require a renewed interest in exploration and taxonomy, and a continuing effort to catalogue existing biodiversity data in publicly available databases.
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We’re just over a month into 2023, and already there are plenty of newly described species. We share some of our favourites.
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Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa (Teleostei, Labridae), a new species of fairy wrasse from the Maldives, with comments on the taxonomic identity of C. rubrisquamis and C. wakandaCirrhilabrus rubrisquamis is redescribed on the basis of the juvenile holotype and compared to known species of Cirrhilabrus. Examination of material from the Maldives identified as C. rubrisquamis reveal differences from the holotype collected from the Chagos Archipelago. Consequently, the Maldivian specimens are herein described as Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa sp. nov., on the basis of the holotype and twelve paratypes. The new species differs from all congeners in having: males with anterior third to half of body bright magenta, peach to orange-pink posteriorly; lateral line with 22–26 pored scales (16–18 in the dorso-anterior series, 6–8 in the posterior peduncular series); tenth to eleventh dorsal-fin spine longest (14.0–15.5% SL); scales on the opercle, chest, isthmus, and anterior third of the body with a dark purple-red central region (purple in alcohol), the markings joining appearing crosshatched; dorsal, caudal, anal, and pelvic-fin rays purple in alcohol. Meristic details and coloration patterns of C. rubrisquamis are very similar to C. wakanda from Tanzania, Africa, although synonymy of both species cannot be determined without additional material from Chagos. This potential synonymy is briefly discussed; however, until such material becomes available, the taxonomic statuses of C. wakanda and C. rubrisquamis are here provisionally regarded as valid.
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A needle in a haystack: Integrative taxonomy reveals the existence of a new small species of fossorial frog (Anura, Microhylidae, Synapturanus) from the vast lower Putumayo basin, PeruWe describe a new species of microhylid frog of the genus Synapturanus from the lower Putumayo basin in Loreto, Perú. Specimens inhabited the soils of stunted pole forests growing on peat. The new species is distinguished from other species of Synapturanus through morphology, genetics, and acoustic characteristics. This species differs from most nominal congeners by having a head flat in lateral view (vs convex in the rest of species), a characteristic only shared by S. rabus and S. salseri. The new species can be distinguished from S. rabus and S. salseri by a combination of morphological characters and by having an advertisement call with a note length of 0.05–0.06 seconds (vs 0.03 seconds in S. rabus) and a dominant frequency ranging from 1.73 to 1.81 kHz (vs 1.10–1.47 kHz in S. salseri). Principal component analyses of 12 morphological characters and three acoustic variables further support differences between the new species and its described and undescribed congeners.
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A new species of scops-owl (Aves, Strigiformes, Strigidae, Otus) from Príncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea, Africa) and novel insights into the systematic affinities within OtusA new species of scops-owl (Aves, Strigiformes, Strigidae, Otus) is described from Príncipe Island, São Tomé and Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea, Africa). This species was discovered for science in 2016, although suspicions of its occurrence gained traction from 1998, and testimonies from local people suggesting its existence could be traced back to 1928. Morphometrics, plumage colour and pattern, vocalisations, and molecular evidence all support the species status of the scops-owl from Príncipe, which is described here as Otus bikegila sp. nov. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that this species descended from the first colonisation of the Gulf of Guinea islands, being sister to the clade including the mainland African Scops-Owl O. senegalensis, and the island endemics Sao Tome Scops-Owl O. hartlaubi and Pemba Scops-Owl O. pembaensis. The most diagnostic trait in the field is its unique call which, curiously, is most similar to a distantly related Otus species, the Sokoke Scops-Owl O. ireneae. The new species occurs at low elevations of the old-growth native forest of Príncipe, currently restricted to the south of the island but fully included within Príncipe Obô Natural Park. Otus bikegila sp. nov. takes the number of single-island endemic bird species of Príncipe to eight, further highlighting the unusually high level of bird endemism for an island of only 139 km2.
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At the beginning there was an unknown noise… Decades later, we discovered a new species of owl.
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Sir David Attenborough has over 40 animal and plant species named after him, including a native British flower only found in the Brecon Beacons.
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A bright portrait of modern Africa that pushes back against harmful stereotypes to tell a more comprehensive story. 'Warm, funny, biting and essential reading.' Adam Rutherford 'An exhilarating journey through the myths, misconceptions and stereotypes of modern Africa. This book is the history lesson that we all need.' Jeffrey Boakye, Guardian You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife. In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective. He examines each country's colonial heritage, and explores a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of stereotypes in popular culture. By turns intimate and political, Africa Is Not A Country brings the story of the continent towards reality, celebrating the energy and fabric of its different cultures and communities in a way that has never been done before. 'Hilarious, ferocious, generous and convincing. It made me reconsider almost everything I thought I knew about Africa.' Oliver Bullough 'This book should be on the curriculum.' Nikki May, author of Wahala
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Binyavanga Wainaina was a seminal author and creative force, remembered as one of the greatest chroniclers of contemporary African life. This ground-breaking collection brings together, for the first time, Binyavanga’s pioneering writing on the African continent including many of his most critically acclaimed pieces, such as the viral satirical sensation How to Write About Africa. Writing fearlessly across a range of topics - from politics to international aid, cultural heritage and redefining sexuality - this is a remarkable illustration of a writer at the height of his power.
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Selva Almada Translated by Annie McDermott Femicide is generally defined as the murder of women simply because they are women. In 2018, 139 women died in the UK as a result of male violence ( The Guardian). In Argentina this number is far higher, with 278 cases registered for that same year. Following the success of The Wind That Lays Waste, internationally acclaimed Argentinian author Selva Almada dives into the heart of this problem with this journalistic novel, comparable to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood or John Hersey’s Hiroshima, in response to the urgent need for attention to a serious problem of our times. Almada narrates the case of three small-town teenage girls murdered in the 1980’s; three unpunished deaths that occurred before the word ‘femicide’ was even coined. In this brutal but necessary novel, Almada brings to the fore these crimes committed in the interior of the country, while Argentina was celebrating the return of democracy. Three deaths without culprits: 19-year old Andrea Danne, stabbed in her own bed; 15-year old María Luisa Quevedo, raped, strangled, and dumped in wasteland; and 20-year old Sarita Mundín, whose disfigured body was found on a river bank. Selva Almada takes these and other tales of abused women to weave together a dry, straightforward portrait of gender violence that surpasses national borders and speaks to readers’ consciousness all over the world. This is not a police chronicle, although there is an investigation. This is not a thriller, although there is mystery and suspense. The real noir element of Dead Girls lies in the heart of the women described here and of the men that have abused them. With her unique style of prose that captures the invisible, and with lyrical brutality, Almada manages to blaze new trails in this kind of journalistic fiction.
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The New Yorker’s editors and critics choose this year’s essential reads in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
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In Customs, Solmaz Sharif examines what it means to exist in the nowhere of the arrivals terminal, a continual series of checkpoints, officers, searches, and questionings that become a relentless experience of America. With resignation and austerity, these poems trace a pointed indoctrination to the customs of the nation-state and the English language, and the realities they impose upon the imagination, the paces they put us through.
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Quick construction of computer-built schools can help alleviate a shortfall in classrooms in countries like Malawi
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Trials of the SharkGuard – which emits a pulse to repel sharks and rays from fishing gear – have produced eye-catching results
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GitHub - washingtonpost/data-congress-slaveowners: The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documentsThe Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents - washingtonpost/data-congress-slaveowners
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Hitze, Überschwemmungen, Wassermangel, Stürme: Der interaktive Globus zeigt, wo die Erde 2100 unbewohnbar wird.
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OK, so maybe having no alcohol isn't all bad. There were no arrests among fans of England or Wales at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Each week, What Happened Last Week curates news and perspectives from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The newsletter is written by Sham Jaff and focuses on stories that rarely receive sustained attention in Western media.
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