The mayor of a municipality in Chiapas has apologized after stating that feminism and homosexuality are not normal In a press conference held Monday in advance of a music and cultural festival in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa this week Mayor Javier Maza Cruz commented on feminism and homosexuality by saying Local media picked up on the comments and broadcast the portion of his speech in which he also recommended that young people should engage in reading painting and creating with their hands so “they will be more involved in artistic activities than in trivial things — things that are not going to fill the spirit.”  “Read so that homosexuality or feminism are removed,” he was quoted as saying “Moral values ​​are being lost with feminism and factors of sexuality.”  Maza apologized and assured that his administration will always be inclusive of the LGBTTTIQ+ community (lesbian video of the press conference had been removed from official channels is a town and municipality of 97,000 about 15 miles west of the Chiapas capital city of Tuxla-Gutiérrez The Festival Emergente (Emerging Festival) is set for June 9 and 10 in a large park near the zoo It includes musical acts of many different styles (including ska Maza lauded festival organizers for an event that focuses on young audiences interested in urban culture and emerging expressions He also said that many young people are engaged in nonproductive activities “We are very concerned about these generations that are coming now,” he said adding that society’s “moral values are being lost” because of the media and misinformation “The truth is that we have a post-pandemic generation that was already [addicted] to smartphones,” he said arts and education we will be able to have a better society.” In regard to the mayor’s comments about homosexuality and feminism which came during the month in which gay pride is celebrated groups such as the feminist collective 50+1 Chiapas issued condemnations on their social networks “[We] express our outrage and strongly condemn the statements … [that] feminists and people of sexual diversity are not normal,” 50+1 Chiapas posted in a four-paragraph statement on its Facebook page “We all have the right to be treated with the same dignity discrimination and gender-based violence are reprehensible “My most sincere apologies to the entire LGBT community and feminist groups for my comment issued today,” he said in a 52-second video message posted to his Facebook account both this public servant and the government that I represent are respectful of all citizens without any distinction.” In an additional Facebook post the next day he said in a video that Ocozocoautla would implement a program addressing gender and gender diversity “in order for us to be a fully inclusive government.” In a written statement accompanying that video he said Coita “would be one of the first municipalities to have a director in charge of defending plurality and the issues of the LGBTTTIQ+ community … It’s important that they know that our intentions are the best in terms of respecting human rights.” With reports from El Universal and La Jornada ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Paleontologists have discovered a new species of fish that lived 95 million years ago Scientists from the Institute of Geology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico found the fossil in a quarry in the municipality of Ocozocoautla de Espinosa in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas in 2018 Despite the discovery being three years old it only recently came to light after the species was described in the British research publication Papers in Palaeontology The fish’s most salient characteristic is the presence of numerous spines on its dorsal and anal fins differentiating it from other acanthomorphic fish Experts concluded it lived approximately 95 million years ago Kleyton Magno Cantalice Severiano and Eduardo Villalobos Segura of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and Bruno Andres of the University of Science and Arts of Chiapas named the new species Choichix alvaradoi They chose the name in honor of Mexican academic Jesus Alvarado Ortega who dedicated his professional life to studying fish fossils found in Mexico but it is also a new genus — the taxonomic rank above species which contains about one third of the world’s modern species of vertebrates The town where the fish was discovered is a known fossil site in Mexico mollusk and ammonite fossils in the area dating back to the Cenomanian Age — roughly between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago Magno said that several specimens collected in other fossil locations far from Mexico are similar to those found in the El Chango quarry it is thought that Choichix alvaradoi is the most primitive species within the phylogenetic analysis Scientists believe the group was in this region prior to the appearance of the Atlantic and Indian oceans and over time dispersed and diversified toward the Tethys Sea an ocean of the Mesozoic Era set between the ancient continents Gondwana and Laurasia “It was previously believed that the fish had migrated to this part of the Americas,” Magno said in a press statement most primitive fish were in this region and later diversified across the Tethys Sea.” Magno said the fish is now located in the National Fish Collection of the National Autonomous University of Mexico it is protected and available to anyone who wishes to study it (Edited by Ali McCadden and Kristen Butler) The National Autonomous University (UNAM) has announced the discovery in Chiapas of a fossil of a previously unknown fish species that lived at a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth Paleontologists from the university’s Institute of Geology discovered the approximately 95-million-year-old fossil in 2018 in a quarry in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa located about 30 kilometers from the state capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez UNAM’s social communication department said the main characteristic of the fish is its “numerous spines on its dorsal and anal fins.” UNAM paleontologist Kleyton Magno Cantalice Severiano published a description of the previously unknown fish in the British journal Papers in Palaeontology He and other experts named it Choichix alvaradoi which is derived from two Tzotzil Mayan words and the name of a widely-respected Institute of Geology academic Choichix is a portmanteau of the words choy Tzotzil Mayan is spoken in the area where the fossil was found a fish fossil expert who has helped train many other paleontologists Cantalice said the Choichix alvaradoi belongs to a large group of spiny-finned fish known as the Acanthopterygii superorder which includes species commonly eaten today such as bream “… Ours is one of the oldest [of that group] We discovered that it’s from a new [sub]group of fish because of the number of spines on its dorsal fin – 13,” he said the Choichix alvaradoi didn’t have ventral That’s because it was a primitive fish noting that that particular evolutionary trait emerged later The paleontologist said that other fossils of ancient fish as well as others of plants mollusks and crustaceans from the Cretaceous period have been found in the same area “We could say that this [fish] species lived alongside dinosaurs although that doesn’t mean there are … [dinosaur] fossils in the quarry but the age in which they lived is the same It’s a quarry where there are regular collections [of fossils] the specimens are very well preserved and what has been collected the most there are fish fossils,” he said Cantalice said similar fossils have been found in other countries none match that of the Choichix alvaradoi found in Chiapas which is now part of UNAM’s national collection of fish fossils The species is believed to be the most primitive of the the spiny-finned fishes which would mean that the Acanthopterygii superorder might have originated in the land now known as Mexico It has previously been thought such fish originated in the Tethys Ocean which existed during much of the Mesozoic Era a period lasting from about 252 million to 66 million years ago that is also known as the Age of Reptiles “It was previously believed that the fish originated there and migrated to this part of America most primitive fish were in this region and subsequently diversified toward the Tethys Sea,” Cantalice said