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From today's featured article

Illustration of a skull

Pseudoryzomys is a rodent from south-central South America in the family Cricetidae. Found in lowland palm savanna and thorn scrub habitats, it is a medium-sized rat, weighing about 50 grams (1.8 oz). It has gray-brown fur, long and narrow hindfeet with small membranes between the toes, and a tail that is about as long as the head and body. Its conservation status has been assessed as least concern, although almost nothing is known of its diet or reproduction. Its closest living relatives are the large semiaquatic rats Holochilus and Lundomys. These three genera form an assemblage within the oryzomyine tribe, a diverse group including over one hundred species, mainly in South America. This tribe is part of the subfamily Sigmodontinae and family Cricetidae, which include many more species, mainly from Eurasia and the Americas. The species Pseudoryzomys simplex was first described in 1888 on the basis of subfossil cave specimens from Brazil (as Hesperomys simplex). (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Les Choristes (1877)

... that Edgar Degas's Les Choristes (shown), stolen in 2009 from the Musée Cantini in Marseille, France, was found in the luggage compartment of a bus outside Paris a year ago today?
... that Megan Marie Hart has performed on stage in Detmold, Germany, as Puccini's Tosca and was soprano soloist in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony?
... that Rudyard Kipling may have coined the term "infantillery" to refer to the Royal Artillery Mounted Rifles?
... that Firhad Hakim is the first Muslim to become the Mayor of Kolkata since Indian independence?
... that an extract of peacock's tail is effective against the red cotton stainer?
... that Asim Chaudhry, who plays Chabuddy G in People Just Do Nothing, starred as an Asian Donald Trump in the 2016 short film Donald Mohammed Trump?
... that the capital of the Arizona Territory moved from Prescott to Tucson, back to Prescott, and then to Phoenix in its first 25 years?
... that the name of the Japanese idol group Crown Pop was not made public until their live debut?

In the news

Artist's concept of the Mars rover

At least 38 security personnel are killed in a suicide bombing attack near Pulwama in Kashmir.
NASA concludes the 15-year Opportunity Mars rover mission after being unable to wake the rover (artist's concept shown) from hibernation.
The Republic of Macedonia changes its name to the Republic of North Macedonia as the Prespa agreement takes effect, ending a 27-year naming dispute with Greece.
In an American trial, Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is found guilty of ten criminal charges, including one mandating life imprisonment.

On this day

February 16: Day of the Shining Star in North Korea

Tutankhamun's funerary mask

1249 – Louis IX of France dispatched André de Longjumeau as his ambassador to the Mongol Empire.
1862 – American Civil War: A Union victory in the Battle of Fort Donelson gave General Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
1923 – Howard Carter, the English Egyptologist and archaeologist, unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun (mask pictured).
1983 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires burned over half a million acres (over 2,000 km²) each in both South Australia and Victoria, killing 75 people and injuring 2,676 others.
1996 – Two trains collided in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S., killing 11 people and leading to the creation of comprehensive federal rules for passenger car design.

Jean du Bellay (d. 1560) · Henry Wilson (b. 1812) · Lanny McDonald (b. 1953)

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Today's featured picture

Tennis player Annika Beck (born 16 February 1994 in Giessen, Germany) playing a shot during the 2015 Wimbledon qualifying tournament. She turned professional in 2009 and retired in 2018. During her career she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, including the 2014 Luxembourg Open, as well as seven singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Photograph: David Iliff

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