A novel rickettsia was detected in Ixodes tasmani ticks collected from Tasmanian devils. A total of 55% were positive for the citrate synthase gene by quantitative PCR. According to current criteria for rickettsia speciation, this new rickettsia qualifies as Candidatus Rickettsia tasmanensis, named after the location of its detection.

Please cite this article as: Balme, M.R., Pathare, A., Metzger, S.M., Towner, M.C., Lewis, S.R., Spiga, A., Fenton, L., Renno, N.O., Elliott, H.M., Saca, F.A., Michaels, T., Russell, P., Verdasca, J., Field measurements of horizontal forward motion velocities of terrestrial dust devils: Towards a proxy for ambient winds on Mars and Earth, Icarus (2012), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2...

The devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is a contagious cancer that has recently emerged among Tasmanian devils, rapidly decimating the population. We have recently discovered that DFTD cells lose the expression MHC molecules on the cell surface, explaining how this tumor avoids recognition by host CD8+ T cells.

We present catalogues of stellar masses, star formation rates, and ancillary population parameters for galaxies spanning $0<z<9$ from the Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS). DEVILS is a deep spectroscopic redshift survey with very high completeness, covering several premier fields including COSMOS (D10). Our mass rate estimates are self-consistently derived using spectral energy ...

Convective vortices that are dust laden (dust devils), believed to be an efficient mechanism for particle entrainment in the Martian atmosphere. Such can identified in-situ by landers or rovers reduced surface pressure when they pass instrument. We analyse data from Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on-board Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity during mission sols 1019 1686...

Background: Retention of genetic diversity and demographic sustainability are the cornerstones of conservation breeding success. In theory, monogamous breeding with equal reproductive output will retain genetic diversity in insurance populations more effectively than group housing which allows mate choice or intrasexual competition. However, the ecological relevance of group housing to a specie...