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Categories: Ecology: Research, Paleontology: Fossils
Published Geoscientists map changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide over past 66 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international consortium of geoscientists has reconstructed atmosphereric levels of carbon dioxide going back 66 million years using proxies in the geoloogical record. Today's concenteration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever been in 14 million years.
Published Feathered friends can become unlikely helpers for tropical coral reefs facing climate change threat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tropical coral reefs are among our most spectacular ecosystems, yet a rapidly warming planet threatens the future survival of many reefs. However, there may be hope for some tropical reefs in the form of feathered friends. A new study has found that the presence of seabirds on islands adjacent to tropical coral reefs can boost coral growth rates on those reefs by more than double.
Published Baboons in captivity in Ancient Egypt: insights from collection of mummies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Baboons were raised in captivity before being mummified in Ancient Egyptian sites, according to a new study.
Published Greenhouse gases in oceans are altered by climate change impact on microbes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ocean is a global life-support system, and climate change causes such as ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and nitrogen-deposition alter the delicate microbial population in oceans. The marine microbial community plays an important role in the production of greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and methane. Scientists have explored the climate change impact on marine microbes. Their research helps raise awareness about climate change severity and the importance of ocean resources.
Published Deep sea sensor reveals that corals produce reactive oxygen species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new sensor on the submersible Alvin discovered reactive oxygen species for the first time in deep-sea corals, broadening our understanding of fundamental coral physiology.
Published Earliest-known fossil mosquito suggests males were bloodsuckers too
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found the earliest-known fossil mosquito in Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon. What's more, the well-preserved insects are two males of the same species with piercing mouthparts, suggesting they likely sucked blood. That's noteworthy because, among modern-day mosquitoes, only females are hematophagous, meaning that they use piercing mouthparts to feed on the blood of people and other animals.
Published Crocodile family tree mapped: New light shed on croc evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Around 250 million years ago, 700 species of reptiles closely related to the modern-day crocodile roamed the earth, now new research reveals how a complex interplay between climate change, species competition and habitat can help explain why just 23 species of crocodile survive today.
Published Decoding flavonoid metabolism: A closer look at plant-based diets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of researchers has elucidated the process by which the major flavonoids naringenin, apigenin, and genistein are metabolized in the body. These findings are fundamental in elucidating the correlation between the metabolism of flavonoids in the body and their potential health benefits.
Published Snake skulls show how species adapt to prey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By studying the skull shapes of dipsadine snakes, researchers have found how these species of snakes in Central and South America have evolved and adapted to meet the demands of their habitats and food sources.
Published Rare ant species rediscovered in North Carolina trees
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source There's a species of ant that is so rare, only a handful of records exist from across the entire eastern United States. North Carolina State University researcher Michelle Kirchner not only found these ants in the Triangle region of North Carolina, she is the first to document an entire colony for scientists, taxonomists and ant-thusiasts everywhere. It is the first time males of the species have been collected or photographed.
Published how far can the wind can carry a plant's seeds? New model
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Playing an essential foundational role in an ecosystem, plants contribute to the well-being of human health by helping create resources like food and medicine. Therefore, to better understand how plants can maintain resiliency in the face of challenges like climate change, researchers recently developed an innovative mathematical model that can provide fast and reliable predictions of how far wind can carry a plant's seeds.
Published Dishing the dirt on human evolution: Why scientific techniques matter in archaeology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists should seek answers hidden in the dirt using proven and state-of-the-art archaeological science techniques to support new discoveries about human evolution following recent controversies at a cave site in Africa, says a group of international experts. Their recommendations follow claims published in June of this year that Homo naledi --a small-brained human species -- buried their dead in Rising Star Cave, South Africa, between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago, and may also have decorated the cave walls with engravings.
Published Unknown animals were leaving bird-like footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new study.
Published Landscape dynamics determine the evolution of biodiversity on Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A landmark study into the geological timescale distribution of sediment and nutrients over 500 million years shows that species biodiversity on Earth is driven by landscape dynamics.
Published Slash-and-burn agriculture can increase forest biodiversity, researchers find
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The slash-and-burn agriculture practiced by many Indigenous societies across the world can actually have a positive impact on forests, according to a new study done in Belize. Researchers found that in areas of the rainforest in which Indigenous farmers using slash-and-burn techniques created intermediate-sized farm patches -- neither too small nor too large -- there were increases in forest plant diversity.
Published Fish ecologist's research indicates need to conserve iconic migratory snook in Mexico
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Biologists investigated the snook’s almost 400-mile migration up into the rainforest habitat of the Usumacinta River. They have found that the snook, which connect aquatic food webs and support fisheries, spawn and start their lives in coastal nursery habitats before moving into river habitats that offer an array of food resources.
Published Deoxygenation levels similar to today's played a major role in marine extinctions during major past climate change event
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have made a surprising discovery that sheds new light on the role that oceanic deoxygenation (anoxia) played in one of the most devastating extinction events in Earth's history. Their finding has implications for current day ecosystems -- and serves as a warning that marine environments are likely more fragile than apparent. New research, published today in leading international journal Nature Geosciences, suggests that oceanic anoxia played an important role in ecosystem disruption and extinctions in marine environments during the Triassic--Jurassic mass extinction, a major extinction event that occurred around 200 million years ago. Surprisingly however, the study shows that the global extent of euxinia (an extreme form of de-oxygenated conditions) was similar to the present day.
Published How shipwrecks are providing a refuge for marine life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has highlighted how the estimated 50,000 wrecks around the UK coastline are protecting the seabed, and the species inhabiting it, in areas still open to bottom-towed fishing.
Published Earliest known European common hippopotamus fossil reveals their Middle Pleistocene dispersal
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, according to a new study.
Published Curators and cavers: How a tip from a citizen scientist led to deep discoveries in Utah's caves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists and colleagues from Utah's caving community have published the first research from their collaborative fieldwork effort deep in Utah's caves. The journal's feature article reveals why caves make such compelling research archives; what was uncovered in Boomerang Cave in northern Utah; why skeletal remains provide new access to hard-to-get data from the recent past; and offers a new zoological baseline for mammalian changes in an alpine community.