Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 December 11

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From today's featured article

Pallid sturgeon specimen

The pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi River basins of the United States. Named for its pale coloration, it is related to the much smaller shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorhynchus). When mature at 15 years, individuals average 85 pounds (39 kg) and 30 to 60 inches long (76 to 152 cm). The fish spawns infrequently over its lifespan of up to a century. This sturgeon species has remained virtually unchanged since it coexisted with the Cretaceous dinosaurs 70 million years ago. In 1990, the pallid sturgeon became the first Missouri River basin fish on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species list, after sightings had greatly diminished. Loss of habitat is thought to be responsible for its decline; much of the Missouri River drainage system has been channeled and dammed, reducing the gravel deposits and slow-moving side channels that are its favored spawning areas. In an effort to save the species from extinction, pallid sturgeon are being raised in a dozen hatcheries and released back into the wild. (Full article...)

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Recruiting poster for the Cadet Nurse Corps
Recruiting poster for the Cadet Nurse Corps

In the news

Launch of Akatsuki in 2010
Launch of Akatsuki in 2010

On this day...

December 11: Republic Day in Burkina Faso (1958); Fête de l'Escalade begins in Switzerland (2015)

From today's featured list

Beech Hill Lake in Monken Hadley Common
Beech Hill Lake in Monken Hadley Common

There are more than 60 nature reserves in the London Borough of Barnet. The borough, which is on the northern outskirts of London, is mainly residential, but it has large areas of green space and farmland. The spread of suburban development into the countryside was halted by the designation of a statutory Green Belt around London after the Second World War, and almost one third of Barnet's area of 8,663 hectares (21,410 acres) is Green Belt. Barnet has large areas with designations intended to protect them from "inappropriate development", and to "provide the strongest protection for the preservation of Barnet's green and natural open spaces". As well as 2,466 hectares (6,090 acres) hectares of Green Belt, Barnet has another 690 hectares (1,700 acres) of Metropolitan Open Land, which receive a similar level of protection. Most of Barnet lies over London Clay, which is poor for agriculture, and open land is mainly used for horse grazing, playing fields, parks and golf courses. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Fez (video game)

Fez is an indie puzzle platform game developed by Polytron Corporation and released in 2012. The player-character Gomez receives a fez that reveals his two-dimensional world to be one of four sides of a three-dimensional world; the player rotates between these four views to realign platforms, solve the game's puzzles, and collect cubes and cube fragments to restore order to the universe. Though criticized for technical issues, and in-game navigation and backtracking, Fez was commended for its emphasis on discovery and freedom, and became a keystone example of independent video game development.

Illustration: Bryan Lee O'Malley

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