High up in the mountains of Venezuela, a “dwarf”-like creature tucked itself in for the night. The small animal was blanketed by the darkness and hidden in the leaves — but not well enough.
When scientists spotted the lurking creature, they discovered a new species.
Researchers ventured into the Andes Mountains in northwestern Venezuela on two wildlife surveys in 2015 and 2016, according to a study published March 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. Day and night, they searched for frogs, toads, snakes and lizards.
During their searches, researchers found seven tiny geckos hiding in the leaves, the study said. They took a closer look at the “secretive” lizards and realized they’d discovered a new species: Pseudogonatodes quihuai, or Quihua’s dwarf gecko. READ MORE...
Yahoo plans to lay off more than 20% of its total 8,600 workforce as part of a major restructuring. The veteran tech company is reorganising its advertising unit, which will lose more than half of the department by the end of the year. Nearly 1,000 employees will be affected by the cuts by the end of the week.
Yahoo is the latest tech firm to announce job losses as firms struggle with a downturn in demand, high inflation and rising interest rates. "These decisions are never easy, but we believe these changes will simplify and strengthen our advertising business for the long run, while enabling Yahoo to deliver better value to our customers and partners," a spokesperson told the BBC.
Yahoo, which has been owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management since a $5bn buyout in 2021, added that the move would enable the company to narrow its focus and investment on its flagship ad business called DSP, or demand-side platform.
Advertising changes
The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the company to streamline operations in Yahoo's advertising unit. It comes as many advertisers have pared back their marketing budgets in response to record-high inflation rates and continued uncertainty about a recession. The re-focus signals an intention by the firm to stop competing directly against the likes of Google and Facebook's Meta for digital advertising dominance.
The Yahoo spokesperson added: "The new division will be called - simply - Yahoo Advertising. "In redoubling our efforts on the DSP on an omni-channel basis, we will prioritise support for our top global customers and re-launch dedicated ad sales teams towards Yahoo's owned and operated properties - including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports and more." READ MORE...
