Triaenops menamena is a bat in the genus Triaenops found on Madagascar, mainly in the drier regions. It was known as Triaenops rufus until 2009, when it was discovered that that name had been incorrectly applied to the species. Triaenops rufus is a synonym of Triaenops persicus, a closely related Middle Eastern species. Triaenops menamena is mostly found in forests, but also occurs in other habitats. It often roosts in large colonies and eats insects such as butterflies and moths. Because of its wide range, common occurrence, and tolerance of habitat degradation, it is not considered to be threatened. With a forearm length of 50 to 56 mm (2.0 to 2.2 in) in males and 46 to 53 mm (1.8 to 2.1 in) in females, this is a medium-sized bat. Its fur color is variable, ranging from reddish-brown to gray, but it is generally darker than the species in the closely related genus Paratriaenops which also occur on Madagascar. The skull contains a pronounced swelling around the nose and the second upper premolar is displaced outside the toothrow. The maximum frequency of the echolocation call averages 94.2 kHz and the species can easily be recognized on the basis of its call. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

• ... that at age 41, snowboarder Trent Milton (pictured) was the oldest Australian competitor at the 2014 Winter Paralympics?
• ... that jockey Tom Goodisson won the Epsom Derby in 1813 on the black colt Smolensko, one of only two black horses to ever win the Derby?
• ... that Dragoljub Jeličić, who fought against the invading Austro-Hungarian Army at the age of 12, was mentioned in the WWI memoirs of criminology pioneer Archibald Reiss?
• ... that the star T Ursae Minoris is thought to have undergone a helium flash, seen from Earth in 1979?
• ... that invitations to the NBA Draft Combine are based on a vote of National Basketball Association teams?
• ... that "The Little Things Give You Away" berates George W. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina?
• ... that Indian reverend P. B. M. Basaiawmoit‎ led campaigns against uranium mining in Meghalaya?
• ... that the titular "dewdrop" in the Indonesian war film Embun is love?

• Winter Sleep, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (pictured), wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Mahafarid Amir Khosravi is executed as part of the largest fraud investigation in Iran since the 1979 Revolution.
• In rugby union, the Heineken Cup concludes with Toulon defeating Saracens in the final.
• At least three people are killed in a shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium.
• In association football, the UEFA Champions League concludes with Real Madrid defeating Atlético Madrid in the final.
• A spree killing in Santa Barbara County, California, leaves seven people dead.

Ongoing: Ukrainian unrest – Balkan flooding

May 26: National Sorry Day in Australia; Mother's Day in Poland; Independence Day in Georgia (1918); Memorial Day in the United States (2014)

• 946 – King Edmund I of England was murdered by a thief whom he personally attacked while celebrating St Augustine's Day mass.
• 1857 – American slave Dred Scott (pictured), who had previously unsuccessfully sued for his freedom, was emancipated by Henry Taylor Blow, his original owner.
• 1897 – Dracula, Irish author Bram Stoker's most famous novel, was first published.
• 1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in Moscow, concluding the first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
• 2008 – Severe flooding began in eastern and southern China that ultimately caused 148 deaths and forced the evacuation of 1.3 million people.

More anniversaries: May 25 – May 26 – May 27

In total, 43 individuals in the military of allies of Nazi Germany were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military of Nazi Germany during World War II. Eight of these men were also honoured with the next higher grade, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, and one senior naval officer, Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (pictured), was additionally awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Among the recipients were eighteen Romanians, nine Italians, eight Hungarians, two Slovaks, two Japanese people, two Spanish people, two Finns, and one Belgian. Léon Degrelle, the sole Belgian, received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross while subordinated to the Wehrmacht. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht kept an alphabetical list of recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, but foreign recipients were never integrated into this list. The Wehrmacht also refrained from assigning a numbering scheme to the different lists of foreign recipients. Colonel General Dezső László of Hungary became the last foreign recipient of the award on 3 March 1945. (Full list...)

Nemanthus annamensis is a species of sea anemone first described in 1943 from the Gulf of Tonkin and now known to inhabit central Indo-Pacific waters; this specimen was found off East Timor. The species is known to attach itself by its base and wrap itself around gorgonians; N. annamensis may also live in association with the crab Lauridromia intermedia. Photograph: Nick Hobgood Recently featured: Marpesia zerynthia – HMS Hood (51) – Short-tailed shearwater Archive – More featured pictures...