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From today's featured article

Macrotarsomys petteri, Petter's big-footed mouse, is a Malagasy rodent. It is the largest in its genus, with a head and body length of 150 mm (5.9 in) and body mass of 105 g (3.7 oz). The upperparts are brown, darkest in the middle of the back, and the underparts are white to yellowish. The animal has long whiskers, short forelimbs, and long hindfeet. The tail ends in a prominent tuft of long, light hairs. The skull is robust and the molars are low-crowned and cuspidate. The species most resembles, and may be most closely related to, the greater big-footed mouse. The specific name, petteri, honors French zoologist François Petter for his contributions to the study of Malagasy rodents. M. petteri is now found only in southwestern Madagascar's Mikea Forest, which is threatened by human development. Subfossil records indicate that it used to be more widely distributed in southern Madagascar; climatic changes and competition with introduced species may have led to the shift in its distribution. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Raising of Lazarus, detail

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... that the leader of the Chechen-led Jihadist group Ajnad al-Kavkaz believes there will eventually be a world war against Russia?
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... that professional wrestler Jerry London worked in the main event of both the first and second EMLL 33rd anniversary show, three weeks apart?
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In the news

Theresa May

In the UK general election, the ruling Conservative Party, led by Theresa May (pictured), loses its majority but remains the largest party.
A study of fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, suggests that Homo sapiens may have evolved at least 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Simultaneous terrorist attacks at the Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini kill at least 17 people and injure 43 others.
A Myanmar Air Force aircraft crashes into the Andaman Sea, killing all 122 people on board.

On this day...

June 13

USS Jeannette

313 – The Edict of Milan, an agreement between Constantine the Great and Licinius to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire, was posted in Nicomedia.
1881 – An Arctic Ocean ice pack crushed the USS Jeannette (pictured) during its expedition to the North Pole.
1944 – Second World War: During the Battle of Villers-Bocage, German tank commander Michael Wittmann personally destroyed dozens of Allied vehicles in less than 15 minutes.
1981 – English teenager Marcus Sarjeant fired six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II as she rode down The Mall to the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
2007 – Former Iraqi government official Haitham al-Badri orchestrated a second bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.

Veronica Gambara (d. 1550) · W. B. Yeats (b. 1865) · Carolyn Eisele (b. 1902)

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Today's featured picture

The common clam worm (Alitta succinea) is a widely distributed species of marine polychaete worm. The photograph shows an epitoke specimen, the worm having turned into a form capable of reproduction. After releasing its sperm or eggs, the animal will die.

Photograph: Hans Hillewaert

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