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Giant golden mole, type host of H. niekerki

Heptamegacanthus is a genus of acanthocephalans (thorny- or spiny-headed parasitic worms) containing a single species, Heptamegacanthus niekerki. This worm is a parasite of the endangered giant golden mole (example pictured) found only in isolated forests near East London and in the Transkei, both in South Africa. The worms are about 4 millimetres (0.2 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.08 in) wide with minimal sexual dimorphism. Their body consists of a short trunk and a proboscis with 40 to 45 hooks arranged in rings, which are used to pierce and hold the rectal wall of its host. The life cycle of H. niekerki remains unknown; however, like other acanthocephalans, it likely involves complex interactions with at least two hosts. Although the intermediate host for Heptamegacanthus is not definitively identified, it is presumed to be an arthropod, such as an insect, which is eaten by the giant golden mole. The worms then mature and reproduce sexually within the mole's lower gastrointestinal tract, creating eggs which are released in its feces. (Full article...)

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In the news (For today)

Yoav Gallant

Following parliamentary elections, Gintautas Paluckas is elected by the Seimas as the prime minister of Lithuania.
The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant (pictured), and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif in its investigation of war crimes in Palestine.
Opposition candidate Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi is elected President of Somaliland.
Forty-five pro-democracy activists are sentenced under the Hong Kong national security law for their participation in the 2020 pro-democracy primaries.

On the next day

November 26: Feast day of Saint Sylvester Gozzolini (Catholicism); Constitution Day in India (1949)

Main Building of the University of Notre Dame

43 BC – The Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic was formed by Mark Antony, Lepidus and Octavian.
1842 – The University of Notre Dame (building pictured) was founded by Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross as an all-male institution in the U.S. state of Indiana.
1942 – World War II: Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav Partisans convened the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
1977 – A speaker claiming to represent the "Intergalactic Association" interrupted a broadcast of Southern Television in South East England.
2014 – The European Space Agency's probe Philae landed on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Ralph Agas (d. 1621)
Rudolph Koenig (b. 1832)
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (b. 1931)
Tina Turner (b. 1939)

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Tomorrow's featured picture

Ice eggs, also known as ice balls, are a rare phenomenon caused by a process in which small pieces of sea ice in open water are rolled over by wind and currents in freezing conditions and grow into spheroid pieces of ice. They sometimes collect into heaps of balls on beaches where they pack together in striking patterns. The gentle churn of water, blown by a suitably stiff breeze, makes concentric layers of ice form on a seed particle that then grows into the floating ball as it rolls through the freezing currents. This formation of ice eggs was photographed in 2014 on Stroomi Beach in Tallinn, Estonia. The temperature was around −20 to −15 °C (−4 to 5 °F), and the diameter of each ball around 5 to 10 centimetres (2 to 4 in).

Photograph credit: Aleksandr Abrosimov

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