Students react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast UniversityMissing and endangered boy found in Lehigh Acres
Students react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast University Students at Florida Gulf Coast University said they don’t know the specifics of a threat made last week, but they do know it was taken care of.
Missing and endangered boy found in Lehigh Acres Authorities have found a missing and endangered boy in Lehigh Acres. Police asked for the public’s help in locating Zachariah McKelvin.
School District denies bus service to student despite mother’s measurements When we think of the bus stop, we typically think of it as a safe place for our children, but one mother says the Lee County School District told her they live too close to the school to get a bus route.
MATLACHA 2 stranded dolphins rescued from mangroves near Matlacha Two stranded dolphins were pulled from mangroves near Matlacha.
CAPE CORAL NAACP honors Cape Coral Police Chief after acknowledging hate crime NAACP President, James Muwakkil, was so impressed with Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore that he wanted the entire city to know.
NAPLES Jingled Elves trolley tour underway Breaking out your best dance moves and spreading Christmas cheer. These ‘jingled elves’ are breaking it down with a purpose.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs Elementary School’s demolition plans There’s a new lesson plan at Bonita Springs Elementary School: Demolition 101. The school is set to be knocked down, and there’s good reason.
MARCO ISLAND Marco Island Councilmember’s dogs allegedly attack 13-year-old girl Councilor Tamara Goehler is coming under fire after her dogs allegedly attacked a 13-year-old girl and the girl’s five-month-old puppy.
PUNTA GORDA Gilchrist Park’s future brightens as boat cleanup commences The boats blocking Gilchrist Park are ready to be moved two years after Hurricane Ian.
Lee County Department of Health issues red tide alert for Bowman’s Beach The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued a health alert for the presence of red tide near Bowman’s Beach.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral working on project to address canal safety An older Cape Coral couple drove into a canal last year. Neighbors are now saying something needs to be done about canal safety.
NAPLES Collier County mental health center receives $4 million donation A giant donation is dedicated to providing people with better mental health care in southwest Florida.
LABELLE City of LaBelle under precautionary boil water notice A water main break has the City of Labelle under a precautionary boil water notice.
ESTERO FGCU student wins ice dancing national championship FGCU sophomore Lucas Appel wins his second US Senior Solo Dance National Championship in three years.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office: Parent brings weapon to Lehigh Acres school According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office report, there is probable cause to believe a woman unintentionally brought a firearm to school.
Students react to threat made at Florida Gulf Coast University Students at Florida Gulf Coast University said they don’t know the specifics of a threat made last week, but they do know it was taken care of.
Missing and endangered boy found in Lehigh Acres Authorities have found a missing and endangered boy in Lehigh Acres. Police asked for the public’s help in locating Zachariah McKelvin.
School District denies bus service to student despite mother’s measurements When we think of the bus stop, we typically think of it as a safe place for our children, but one mother says the Lee County School District told her they live too close to the school to get a bus route.
MATLACHA 2 stranded dolphins rescued from mangroves near Matlacha Two stranded dolphins were pulled from mangroves near Matlacha.
CAPE CORAL NAACP honors Cape Coral Police Chief after acknowledging hate crime NAACP President, James Muwakkil, was so impressed with Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore that he wanted the entire city to know.
NAPLES Jingled Elves trolley tour underway Breaking out your best dance moves and spreading Christmas cheer. These ‘jingled elves’ are breaking it down with a purpose.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs Elementary School’s demolition plans There’s a new lesson plan at Bonita Springs Elementary School: Demolition 101. The school is set to be knocked down, and there’s good reason.
MARCO ISLAND Marco Island Councilmember’s dogs allegedly attack 13-year-old girl Councilor Tamara Goehler is coming under fire after her dogs allegedly attacked a 13-year-old girl and the girl’s five-month-old puppy.
PUNTA GORDA Gilchrist Park’s future brightens as boat cleanup commences The boats blocking Gilchrist Park are ready to be moved two years after Hurricane Ian.
Lee County Department of Health issues red tide alert for Bowman’s Beach The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued a health alert for the presence of red tide near Bowman’s Beach.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral working on project to address canal safety An older Cape Coral couple drove into a canal last year. Neighbors are now saying something needs to be done about canal safety.
NAPLES Collier County mental health center receives $4 million donation A giant donation is dedicated to providing people with better mental health care in southwest Florida.
LABELLE City of LaBelle under precautionary boil water notice A water main break has the City of Labelle under a precautionary boil water notice.
ESTERO FGCU student wins ice dancing national championship FGCU sophomore Lucas Appel wins his second US Senior Solo Dance National Championship in three years.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office: Parent brings weapon to Lehigh Acres school According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office report, there is probable cause to believe a woman unintentionally brought a firearm to school.
Body configurations of the predator (Ichthyosaur) and prey (thalattosaur). Paleontologists in southwestern China recently discovered a nearly complete skeleton of a prehistoric marine reptile known as an ichthyosaur. But they also found something completely unexpected — a well-preserved, extremely long reptile inside that creature’s belly. Ichthyosaurs were giant, dolphin-like carnivores that lived during the time of the dinosaurs, thriving during the Mesozoic era. In a study published Thursday in the journal iScience, researchers documented finding one with a fossil in its stomach belonging to a four-meter-long, lizard-like aquatic reptile called a thalattosaur. It’s one of the longest fossils ever found in the stomach of a prehistoric marine reptile. Researchers said the predator likely died soon after ingesting its prey, which could be why it is so well preserved. This last meal back took place back in the Middle Triassic period, roughly 237 million to 247 million years ago. It’s quite rare to find fossils within the stomach of other fossils, so researchers typically rely on tooth and jaw shapes to deduce the diets of prehistoric species. While apex predators tend to have large, sharp teeth, those of ichthyosaurs were blunter, leading researchers to believe they mostly fed on small prey like cephalopods. “If you look across all the similar marine reptiles that lived in the age of dinosaurs, we’ve actually never found something articulated like this in the stomach,” study co-author Ryosuke Motani, a professor of paleobiology at the University of California, Davis, said in a press release. “At first, we just didn’t believe it, but after spending several years visiting the dig site and looking at the same specimens, we finally were able to swallow what we were seeing.” Body configurations of the predator (Ichthyosaur) and prey (thalattosaur). This image shows a closeup of the ichthyosaur’s stomach area. This image shows the ichthyosaur’s teeth. The new discovery could reclassify the species as “apex megapredators” — predators at the top of the food chain. “Now, we can seriously consider that they were eating big animals, even when they had grasping teeth,” Motani said. “It’s been suggested before that maybe a cutting edge was not crucial, and our discovery really supports that. It’s pretty clear that this animal could process this large food item using blunt teeth.” It’s still unclear, however, whether the ichthyosaur killed the thalattosaur or simply scavenged it. “Nobody was there filming it,” Motani joked. But researchers doubt that this was a case of scavenging, given how intact they found the fossil of the thalattosaur. If it was a case of scavenging, they said, its limbs would have decayed; however, its limbs were at least partially attacked and it appears its tail was ripped off. Researchers said that, regardless of how exactly the ichthyosaur consumed its final meal, the discovery marks the oldest direct evidence that the species ate animals larger than modern humans. “We now have a really solid articulated fossil in the stomach of a marine reptile for the first time,” Motani said. “Before, we guessed that they must have eaten these big things, but now, we can say for sure that they did eat large animals. This also suggests that megapredation was probably more common than we previously thought.” Researchers have been studying the quarry where the pair of fossils was found for more than a decade. It has been opened as a museum, but the excavation projects are still ongoing. “Still, new things are coming out,” Motani said. “At this point, it’s beyond our initial expectations, and we’ll just have to see what we’ll discover next.”