A research group rediscovered a plant called Gasteranthus extinctus, at Centinela Ridge in Western Ecuador, named to anticipate its extinction Two University of Miami researchers were part of a team that rediscovered a tropical plant species believed to be extinct for almost 40 years. At the encouragement of his advisor, biology associate professor Kenneth Feeley, graduate student Riley Fortier joined a small expedition in November to the Centinela Ridge in western Ecuador, a place well known to biologists for its many rare species. The team was searching for a low-lying South American wildflower named Gasteranthus extinctus, which was discovered in the 1980s. The species was given its unique moniker in 2000 because scientists expected the plant to be extinct, since many of the Ecua...
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travel articles and news about countries and destinations in South America or Latin America
Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda's museum houses are at risk of shutting down for good after forced closures and a sharp drop in tourism caused by the coronavirus pandemic dried up funds, the foundation in charge of managing them said. "The pandemic devastated all visitors. We are in a critical situation," said Fernando Saez, executive director of the Neruda Foundation, in a meeting with foreign correspondents at the poet's house in Santiago. A woman visits La Sebastiana, the museum house of Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, in Valparaiso, Chile, April 6, 2022 REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido The three museum houses, located in central Chile, were closed for 17 months due to the pandemic and reopened last September after health measures loosened around the Andean ...
Read MoreMachu Picchu is among the most recognized archaeological sites in the world. A lasting symbol of the Inca Empire, it’s one of the most visited attractions in Latin America and at the heart of the Peruvian tourist industry. However, when Hiram Bingham first visited the ruins in 1911 and then brought them to the world’s attention, they were little known — even among those who lived in Peru’s Cusco region. More than 110 years after Bingham’s first visit to the site, historian Donato Amado Gonzales from the Ministry of Culture of Peru (Cusco) and archeologist Brian S. Bauer from the University of Illinois Chicago reviewed Bingham’s original field notes, early 20th century maps of the region, and centuries-old land documents from different archives. Their findings suggest that ...
Read MoreScientists have discovered that a type of giant tortoise present on one of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands is not from the species it was previously thought to be, Galapagos National Park said. A study concluded that the giant tortoises living on San Cristobal island, previously identified as Chelonoidis chathamensis, correspond genetically to a different species, the park has said in a statement. FILE PHOTO: A tortoise is pictured on the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador January 16, 2019. Galapagos National Park/Handout via REUTERS "The scientists concluded that nearly 8,000 tortoises which exist today on San Cristobal are not Chelonoidis chathamensis but correspond to a completely new lineage that has not yet been described," the park said. The discovery was ma...
Read MoreSeismic study reveals how newly unburdened earth rebounds and rises The icefields that stretch for hundreds of miles atop the Andes mountain range in Chile and Argentina are melting at some of the fastest rates on the planet. The ground that was beneath this ice is also shifting and rising as these glaciers disappear. Geologists have discovered a link between recent ice mass loss, rapid rock uplift and a gap between tectonic plates that underlie Patagonia. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, led by seismologist Douglas Wiens, the Robert S. Brookings Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, recently completed one of the first seismic studies of the Patagonian Andes. In a new publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, they describe and map out local...
Read MoreAs Rio de Janeiro's world-famous carnival holiday rolls around this year without official events due to Brazil's ongoing Omicron coronavirus wave, a slew of private parties are ensuring glitter-dusted revelers will have plenty of ways to celebrate. Rio's carnival was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic. The public holiday will this year not coincide with the colorful samba school parade, held in the "sambodromo," or Sambadrome, which has been postponed to April. The city's free and wildly hedonistic street parties, known as blocos, have been scrapped. "Bate-bola" (slam the ball) revellers perform during the traditional carnival festivity in a suburb in Rio de Janeiro despite Carnival celebrations being postponed to April due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Rio de...
Read MoreWildfires in Argentina's north are forcing local species of wildlife including capybaras, marsh deer and anteaters to attempt to flee ahead of the flames, with many animals killed or injured while trying to escape as the fires spread. The blazes in Corrientes province, which borders Paraguay, have burned through nearly 900,000 hectares of forest and pasture land, some 12% of the region, including destroying habitats in the biodiverse Iberá Park wetlands. A capybara injured during a wildfire receives treatment by a veterinary at the Aguara Conservation Center in Paso de la Patria, province of Corrientes, Argentina February 23, 2022. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto "There are sectors of the Iberá where animals have been trapped," said Sofía Heinonen, executive director of Rewilding Argent...
Read MoreA huge "Moai" statue, one of the iconic stone monuments from Easter Island, began its journey back home on Monday following a years-long campaign to get it returned to its original setting since it was housed in a museum in Santiago in the 19th century. The 715 kilogram (0.72 tonne) sculpture will be transported by truck to the Chilean port city of Valparaíso, from where it will set sail on a naval ship on a journey of about five days to reach remote Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui natives play music to a Moai statue from Easter Island while it is displayed at the Natural History Museum before returning to the island, in Santiago, Chile, February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado The initiative is part of a repatriation program seeking to return to the Pacific Oc...
Read MoreWildfires in Argentina's north have continued to spread through the province of Corrientes, burning more than 600,000 hectares, scarring farmlands and killing protected animals and plants in the major Ibera National Park, an important wetland area. Local authorities have sent firefighters, police and volunteers to fight some 15 blazes that have ripped through the region near the border with Paraguay, burning over 6% of the entire province, which has been hit by drought and high temperatures since late last year. Local residents and firefighters battle a wildfire that has spread to cover more than 500,000 hectares underscoring the impact of dry weather due to the Nina weather pattern, in Corrientes, Argentina, February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Toba "More than 600,000 hectares h...
Read MoreBrazil recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon rainforest for the month of January, according to government data on Friday, as destruction continues to worsen despite the government's recent pledges to bring it under control. Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon totalled 430 square kilometers (166 square miles) last month, five times higher than January 2021, according to preliminary satellite data from government space research agency Inpe. That's the highest for January since the current data series began in 2015/2016, equal to an area more than seven times the size of Manhattan. FILE PHOTO: aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Environmental researchers said the...
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