Current Events: November 6, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10obwolf.html?_r=1&ref=science

The Falklands wolf has puzzled evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin first encountered it during the voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s. It was the only native land mammal on the Falkland Islands, which are 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. No one knew how it got there or what mainland animals it was descended from — and it did not help that the wolf was hunted to extinction by 1876...

It has been recently discovered that the mysterious Falklands Wolf, which was originally thought to be native to South America, was in fact native to North American lands. Genetic research has proven that the Falklands Wolf is a relative to an South American species, but the two split off in time. What this says to me is that there are still plenty of mysteries that need to be solved. And there are plenty of creatures that have yet to be classified. The Earth is a small place in comparison to the universe. We as humans are even smaller, which only means that secrets are still hidden. We aren't going to find out everything about this planet, but we can still find out as much as we can.