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Scientists have discovered that four new species of deep-sea flatworm-like animals that appear like deflated whoopee cushions and don’t have complex organs have assisted them in solving a complex puzzle regarding the placement of their group on the tree of life.

The latest study involved 12 years of specimen collection and analysis. It has put the new species to a group earlier known by just a single species, and when scientists did so they obtained a clear picture of the evolutionary position held by these animals.

Scientists have found an insect that went extinct for over 120 million years. The insect has many of the traits linked to modern butterflies like markings on the wing known as eye spots.

They are called Kalligrammatid lacewings, and for the last 100 years paleobotanists were aware that they lived in Eurasia during the Mesozoic.

However, now after analyzing the recent discoveries of well-preserved fossils from two locations in northeastern China, paleobotanists have got to know about how alike they were to modern butterflies.

It is because of the extensive lakes that restricted oxygen exposure in these sites during mid-Jurassic through early Cretaceous time that paleontologists have got to recover exquisitely preserved fossils, preserving most of their real structure.

A team of scientists became eyewitness to a rare event: eruption of a volcano on a sub-Antarctic island while sailing in close proximity to the isolated region. The eruption took place on Heard Island, which is located only at a distance of 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the coast of Antarctica towards the northern side. The island is technically part of the Australian property and lies in the southwest direction from Australia at an approximate distance of 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers).

Scientists have discovered fossils of a creature called Rusingoryx, which is the cousin of a wildebeest, at the ancient streambed on the Rusinga Island in Kenya. The creature had an unusual nasal formation that seemed more similar to that of a dinosaur rather than a mammal. At the location, a minimum of 24 Rusingoryx individuals were discovered. The deaths might have been caused by humans, which are evident through the butchered bones and stone tools, according to Kirsten Jenkins, a paleoanthropologist from University of Minnesota.

Finding a new species isn’t a new thing, but uncovering 14 new animals is something to be proud of. A three-member team led by Chris Hamilton conducted a years-long survey and found 14 new species of US tarantula.

Hamilton of the Florida Museum of Natural History said the team spent over 10 years in travelling across the US to find new species of the spider. It wasn’t easy to travel thousands of miles and spend many hours in fieldwork on deserts and mountains, said Hamilton.

During the survey, the team found a tarantula which was later named after renowned singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. One of the discovered species, Aphonopelma johnnycashi, was also named for the country musician.

Santa Clara University initiated the process of vaccinating thousands of students to prevent them against bacteria that can cause meningitis, which has already affected two students belonging to the same group. The strain that has entered the Jesuit campus is unlike the ones that can be avoided through the usual meningitis vaccination, according to the health officials of Santa Clara County. The usual vaccination prevents the individual from four regular strains, except this one that has struck the two SCU fraternity pledges. The US Food and Drug Administration did not approve the vaccination for this strain until late 2014 and early 2015.