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From today's featured article

Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as the paddle crab, swimming crab, or pāpaka in Māori, is a species of crab found in shallow, sandy-bottomed waters around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and uncommonly in southern Australia. This species is an opportunistic, aggressive, and versatile feeder active mostly at night, preying predominantly on molluscs and crustaceans. It is also highly prone to cannibalism, which accounts for over a quarter of its diet in some locations. The crab's paddle-shaped rear legs and streamlined carapace allow it to capture prey by swimming rapidly and to escape predation by burrowing in the sand. Its mating season is in winter and spring, after which the female likely moves into deeper waters to incubate and disperse her larvae. Commercial fisheries have harvested paddle crabs since the 1970s, and O. catharus is present in Māori culture as both an artistic motif and as a traditional source of food. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Marie Goldsmith

... that Nestor Makhno described the evolutionary biologist Marie Goldsmith (pictured) as one of the "titans of anarchism"?
... that a house that was once called "almost the opposite of a landmark" later became a U.S. National Historic Landmark?
... that two successive Hanthawaddy commanders who held the title of Smin Maw-Khwin surrendered to Ava forces in 1414?
... that The Patient's Playbook warns against overly hasty medical treatment, citing a case in which a man received heart stents before learning that the issue was in his lungs?
... that Renato Candida, not the assassinated general Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, inspired the character of Captain Bellodi in The Day of the Owl?
... that Geordie Greep announced his debut solo album just ten days after revealing that his band was on an indefinite hiatus?
... that Chris Jackson left the Cancer Society of New Zealand after his wife was elected to parliament?
... that Water World Lloret has been described as "a favourite of foreign tourists", with 60 per cent of its visitors coming from outside Spain?
... that the first Mass for Saint Cyprian Church, a Black Catholic congregation, had only one Black Catholic in attendance?

In the news

Sébastien Ogier

In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier (pictured) and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
Flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah leave at least 469 people dead across Sri Lanka and India.
An apartment complex fire in Hong Kong leaves at least 159 people dead.
In Guinea-Bissau, armed forces seize power in a military coup, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and proclaiming Horta Inta-A Na Man as head of a transitional government.

On this day

December 3

Coat of arms of Singapore

1800 – War of the Second Coalition: French forces defeated Austrian and Bavarian troops at the Battle of Hohenlinden, eventually resulting in the Austrians signing the Treaty of Lunéville.
1910 – Freda Du Faur became the first woman to climb Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand.
1959 – The current flag and coat of arms of Singapore (pictured) were adopted, six months after the island became self-governing within the British Empire.
1979 – Eleven people were crushed in a human stampede at a concert by British rock band The Who in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
2009 – A suicide bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, killed 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government.

Gilbert Stuart (b. 1755)
Mary Baker Eddy (d. 1910)
Paul J. Crutzen (b. 1933)
Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway (b. 2005)

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Today's featured picture

The golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius) is a rare species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae found in the southern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is a small bird, with a length of 25 to 27 centimetres (9.8 to 10.6 in) and a mass of 54 to 56 grams (1.9 to 2.0 oz), and is closely related to the more common hooded parrot and the extinct paradise parrot. Adult males are mainly blue, with a characteristic yellow area over the shoulder and black cap, while adult females are mainly dull greenish-yellow, and have a broad cream bar on the underside of the wings. This pair of golden-shouldered parrots – a female (left) and a male (right) – were photographed near the Peninsula Developmental Road south of Yarraden, Queensland.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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