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Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Paleontology: Fossils

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With 350 million years of evolution culminating in almost two centuries of scientific discourse, a new hypothesis emerges. Researchers propose a new explanation for why ammonoids evolved a highly elaborate, fractal-like geometry within their shells. Their analysis shows that the increasing complexity of shell structures provided a distinct advantage by offering improved protection against predators.

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Fossilized feces preserve evidence of ancient parasites that infected an aquatic predator over 200 million years ago, according to a new study.

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New research links chemical changes in seawater to volcanic activity and changes.

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New research indicates that mitigating both local land and sea-based human impacts, especially in terms of pollutants and over-fishing, provides coral reef ecosystems with the best opportunity to persist under climate change. Along some highly populated areas on the shorelines of Hawai'i, wastewater pollution and urban runoff combine with fishing pressures to put immense stress on coral reefs.

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In-water monitoring shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions. AIMS' Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2022/23 found that while some reefs continued to recover, their increased hard coral cover was offset by coral loss on other reefs. Most reefs underwent little change in coral cover.

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Using ancient DNA, researchers have determined cattle were imported from Africa to the Americas much earlier in the process of European colonization than documented. The first records of African cattle in the Americas date back to the 1800s, leading some historians to conclude that early colonists relied entirely on a small stock of European cattle initially shipped to the Caribbean Islands. DNA from archaeological specimens pushes the introduction of African cattle back by more than 100 years.

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Current efforts to protect and restore native biodiversity is being threatened by difficulties in identifying wild and domestic cats, and categorization is likely to remain fraught for the foreseeable future, experts have warned.

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A remarkable new fossil from China reveals for the first time that a group of reptiles were already using whale-like filter feeding 250 million years ago.

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Scientists have worked out how one unusual species of trilobite -- an ancient, sea-dwelling relative of spiders and lobsters -- was able to defend itself against predators and survive a bumpy ride as Earth's oxygen levels fluctuated.

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Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon's Bénoué National Park without intervention.

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Tropical forests can harbor hundreds of species of trees in one square mile. Researchers reveal key factors in the spatial distribution of adult trees.

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Royal Ontario Museum announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. This 505-million-year-old swimming jellyfish from the Burgess Shale highlights diversity in the Cambrian ecosystem.

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Earth's oldest craters could give scientists critical information about the structure of the early Earth and the composition of bodies in the solar system as well as help to interpret crater records on other planets. But geologists can't find them, and they might never be able to, according to a new study.

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A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

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Researchers looked at the effects of declawing on larger cat species and found that declawing disproportionately impacts their muscular capabilities as compared to their smaller brethren.

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The origin of bees is tens of millions of years older than most previous estimates, a new study shows. A team led by Washington State University researchers traced the bee genealogy back more than 120 million years to an ancient supercontinent, Gondwana, which included today's continents of Africa and South America.

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Resilient corals, often referred to as 'super corals', have recently been seen as potential saviours in the face of climate change and its detrimental effects on coral reefs. Now, a team of scientists is working to better understand these corals in order to develop strategies to protect fragile ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.

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An international team of linguists and geneticists has achieved a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the origins of Indo-European, a family of languages spoken by nearly half of the world's population.

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All plants and lichens listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act are sensitive to climate change but there are few plans in place to address this threat directly, according to new research.

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Some of the world's most distinct and ancient animal species, which play crucial roles in our planet's ecosystems, are exploited for the wildlife trade across large parts of the world, according to new research.