Dozens dead following pipeline explosion in Hidalgo State, Mexico.

Sixty six people have now been confirmed dead and another seventy six are known to have been injured, following an explosion on an oil pipeline in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in Hidalgo State, Mexico on Friday 18 January 2018. The incident was reportedly caused after thieves drilled into the pipeline in a poor neighbourhood of the city with the intention of stealing oil. This resulted in a rupture on the pipeline, which causes oil to jet into the air. Many people then rushed to the scene hoping to fill containers with some of the oil. An attempt to hold back the crowds was made by military personnel, but it soon became clear that they were badly outnumbered, and they were forced to withdraw. Some time after this the oil was somehow ignited and the area engulfed in a fireball.

The aftermath of a pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, on Friday 18 January 2019. New York Times.

Thefts of oil from pipelines in Mexico have risen almost ninefold in the last decade, driven by growing economic inequality and rising fuel prices. Incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was elected in December, has promised to clamp down on these thefts, deploying military personnel to guard pipelines and shutting down some of the more vulnerable routes completely. However this policy has drawn widespread criticism as it has led to fuel shortages, which appear to have further fed demand for black-market fuel.

Relatives of missing people watching as forensic search teams sift through the aftermath of a pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, on Friday 18 January 2019. Reuters.

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Quercus meavei: A new species of Red Oak from the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico.

Oaks, Quercus spp., are one of the largest groups of trees today, forming an important part of the temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, but reaching their most diverse in the tropical dry forests of Southeast Asia and Central America. Red Oaks of the Section Lobatae are endemic to the Americas. They are evergreens, with bristles or prickles on their leaves, and acorns born in scaly cups.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 3 August 2016, Susana Valencia-A of the Herbario de la Facultad de Ciencias at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Jose Luciano Sabas Rosales and Oscar Javier Soto Arellano of the Herbario of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía describe a new species of Red Oak from the  Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico.

The new species is named Quercus meavei in honour of Jorge Arturo Meave del Castillo, for his work on the botany of the cloud forests and other tropical zones of Mexico. It grows as a tree 20-30 m in height. The trees are found in temperate forests and Oak forests in areas of high humidity and along river banks in the Sierra Madre Oriental in Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí and Veracruz states, at altitudes of 1630–2250 m. The trees flower in March, with acorns maturing in September to November.

Quercus meavei, branchlet with leaves and fruits. Valencia-A et al. (2016).

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Prunus kunmingensis: Peaches from the Late Pliocene of Yunnan Province.                 Peaches, Prunus persica, are widely grown and consumed fruit around the world today, with a total annual production of about 20 million tons. They have a long historical association with humans, particularly in East Asia, with the oldest known...

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A Trematode Flatworm from the intestines of freshwater Fish in Hidalgo State, Mexico.

Trematode Flatworm infections are very common in freshwater Fish, but tend not to be well studied except in instances where they also cause infections in Humans or domestic animals. However in recent years it has been shown that these parasites can be very useful in understanding the evolution of freshwater ecosystems, as they have a much shorter generation time, and therefore evolve more rapidly, with different populations becoming reproductively isolated much more quickly than their hosts, which can provide insight into the movements of ancient waterways.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 16 February 2015, Christian Bautista-Hernández, Scott Monks and Griselda Pulido-Flores of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo and Rafael Miranda of the Department of Zoology and Ecology at the University of Navarra describe a new species of Trematode Flatworm from two species of Poeciliid Fish (Tooth Carp) from the Río Malila a tributary of the Río Conzintla in Hidalgo State, Mexico.

The new species is placed in the genus Paracreptotrema and given the specific name rosenthali, in honour of Gil Rosenthal of the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University. It was found in the intestines of two species of Fish, Xiphophorus malinche (Highland Swordtail) and Pseudoxiphophorus jonesii (Barred Killifish).

Ventral view of Paracreptotrema rosenthali; arrows indicate fragments of

eyespot pigment. Bautista-Hernández et al. (2015).

Members of the genus Paracreptotrema have previously been found in Poeciliid and Profundulid Fish in river basins in Central America, as far north as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southeastern Mexico. The Río Malila forms part of the Río Pánuco Basin, which is separated from these Fish populations be the Mexican Plateau, suggesting the historic presence of a previously unknown connection between these waterways.

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A new species of Liver Fluke from Clapper Rails in Texas.

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Fossil Tapeworm eggs from the Permian.

Tapeworms (Cestoda) are parasitic Flatworms that live in the digestive tracts of Vertebrate hosts, attaching themselves to the intestine wall and absorbing nutrients through their skins. Adult Tapeworms engage in sexual reproduction, producing eggs which are passed out of the host in its feces. Juvenile Tapeworms often...

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Seven people killed in Mexican landslide.

Seven people have been killed when a part of a hill collapsed onto the Mexico City-Queretaro road in Tepeji del Rio municipality in Hildago State, covering cars with mud, rocks and trees on Sunday 26 May 2013. At least five cars were buried by the slide, though all those killed were in two vehicles; five people in a taxi and two in a van, another four passengers in the van received hospital treatment. The incident comes during a severe hail and rain storm that caused flooding in the area. People in the area had apparently raised concerns about the hill above the road, but highway officials had not found any problems.

Rescuers at work on the Mexico City-Queretaro road on 27 May 2013. Xinhua/Susana Martinez.

Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure overcomes the sediments cohesion and allows it to flow downhill. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

See also Seven people killed by Landslide in Shaanxi Province, China, One child dead and another missing following Minnesota landslide, Three people killed by landslide in Sichuan Province, China, Railworker killed in North Carolina mudslide and Three children killed by landslip in Kenya.

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