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Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Paleontology: Fossils

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Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossils of a saber-toothed top predator reveal a scramble for dominance leading up to 'the Great Dying'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A tiger-sized saber-toothed creature called Inostrancevia has previously only been found in Russia. But scientists have discovered its fossils in South Africa, suggesting that it migrated 7,000 miles across the supercontinent Pangaea during the world's worst mass extinction 252 million years ago. Heading to South Africa allowed it to fill a gap in a faraway ecosystem that had lost its top predators.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ancient climate change solves mystery of vanished South African lakes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New evidence for the presence of ancient lakes in some of the most arid regions of South Africa suggests that Stone Age humans may have been more widespread across the continent than previously thought.

Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: General
Published

Out of the frying pan: Coyotes, bobcats move into human-inhabited areas to avoid apex predators -- only to be killed by people      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Conservationists have argued that the presence of wolves and other apex predators, so named because they have no known predators aside from people, can help keep smaller predator species in check. New research shows that in Washington state, the presence of two apex predators -- wolves and cougars -- does indeed help keep populations of two smaller predators in check. But by and large the apex predators were not killing and eating the smaller predators, known as mesopredators. Instead, they drove the two mesopredator species -- bobcats and coyotes -- into areas with higher levels of human activity. And people were finishing the job.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Humanity's earliest recorded kiss occurred in Mesopotamia 4,500 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Written sources from Mesopotamia suggest that kissing in relation to sex was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil of mosasaur with bizarre 'screwdriver teeth' found in Morocco      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a sea-dwelling lizard from the age of the dinosaurs, with strange, ridged teeth unlike those of any known reptile. Along with other recent finds from Africa, it suggests that mosasaurs and other marine reptiles were evolving rapidly up until 66 million years ago, when they were wiped out by an asteroid along with the dinosaurs and around 90% of all species on Earth.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Homo sapiens likely arose from multiple closely related populations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution -- overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all humans.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

A jumping conclusion: Fossil insect ID'd as new genus, species of prodigious leaper, the froghopper      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A fossil arthropod entombed in 100-million-year-old Burmese amber has been identified as a new genus and species of froghopper, known today as an insect with prodigious leaping ability in adulthood following a nymphal stage spent covered in a frothy fluid.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Earth's first animals had particular taste in real estate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Even without body parts that allowed for movement, new research shows -- for the first time -- that some of Earth's earliest animals managed to be picky about where they lived.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Geoscience: Geography
Published

Smallest shifting fastest: Bird species body size predicts rate of change in a warming world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Birds across the Americas are getting smaller and longer-winged as the world warms, and the smallest-bodied species are changing the fastest.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography
Published

How seaweed has been misleading scientists about reef health      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For decades, scientists have used the amount of seaweed at the ocean's surface as a proxy for the health of coral reefs below. However, a new global study of more than 1,200 marine locations over a 16-year period reveals that this approach has been misleading -- and may even have hidden signs of reef stress.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Scientists recover an ancient woman's DNA from a 20,000-year-old pendant      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artefact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artefact, they developed a new, nondestructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

New tusk-analysis techniques reveal surging testosterone in male woolly mammoths      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Traces of sex hormones extracted from a woolly mammoth's tusk provide the first direct evidence that adult males experienced musth, a testosterone-driven episode of heightened aggression against rival males, according to a new study.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Indo-Pacific corals more resilient to climate change than Atlantic corals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the face of global warming and other environmental changes, corals in the Atlantic Ocean have declined precipitously in recent years, while corals in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are faring better. By describing several species of symbiotic algae that these corals need to grow, an international team has found that these mutualistic relationships from the Indo-Pacific may be more flexible and ultimately resilient to higher ocean temperatures than those in the Atlantic.

Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

'Golden' fossils reveal origins of exceptional preservation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study found that many of the fossils from Germany's Posidonia shale do not get their gleam from pyrite, commonly known as fool's gold, which was long thought to be the source of the shine. Instead, the golden hue is from a mix of minerals that hints at the conditions in which the fossils formed. The discovery is important for understanding how the fossils -- which are among the world's best-preserved specimens of sea life from the Early Jurassic -- came to form in the first place, and the role that oxygen in the environment had in their formation.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil find in California shakes up the natural history of cycad plants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to researchers, a new analysis of an 80-million-year-old permineralized pollen cone found in the Campanian Holz Shale formation located in Silverado Canyon, California, offers a more accurate cycad natural history -- one where the plants diversified during the Cretaceous.

Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature
Published

'Zero plant extinction' is possible, says plant ecologist      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Like animals, many plant species are struggling to adapt to a human-dominated planet. However, plants are often overlooked in conservation efforts, even though they are cheaper and easier to protect than animals and play a pivotal role in bolstering our food, fuel, and medical systems. A plant ecologist suggests an approach for preventing all future land plant extinctions across the globe which includes training more plant experts, building an online 'metaherbarium,' and creating 'microreserves.'