News in Brief
Giant squid grabs London audience
One of the biggest and most complete giant squids ever found is on display at London's Natural History Museum. Measuring a monstrous 8.62m (28ft), the animal was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands by a trawler. Researchers at the museum undertook a painstaking process to preserve the giant creature, which is now on show in a 9m- (30ft-) long glass tank. Giant squid, once thought to be sea serpents, are very rarely seen and live at depths of 2001,000m (650-3,300ft). bbcNews
`Jurassic beaver' found in China
The discovery of a beaverlike fossil that lived when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth could challenge some currently accepted ideas on mammal evolution. Castorocauda lutrasimilis, which was unearthed in China, is a species previously unknown to science. It dates back to 164 million years ago, a time when mammals were thought to be primitive creatures confined to land. But this animal was adapted to life in water, meaning scientists may have to rethink their theories. The fossil was found in a deposit rich in the remains of dinosaurs, early insects and other organisms. The creature had fur, a broad scaly tail, and webbed feet for swimming. It was about the size of a small female platypus and had seal-like teeth for eating fish. bbcNews
