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Categories: Archaeology: General, Environmental: Biodiversity
Published Small but mighty -- study highlights the abundance and importance of the ocean's tiniest inhabitants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research sheds light on tiny plankton, which measure less than 0.02mm in diameter but can make up more than 70% of the plankton biomass found in the ocean.
Published Prehistoric mobility among Tibetan farmers, herders shaped highland settlement patterns, cultural interaction, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using advanced geospatial modeling to compare environmental and archaeological evidence, researchers found evidence that connects ancient mobility and subsistence strategies to cultural connections forged among Tibetan farmers and herders in the Bronze and Iron Ages -- adding to understanding of how and why ancient communities built social relationships and cultural identities across the extreme terrain in Tibet.
Published Climate change threatens older elephants most, jeopardizing African elephants' future
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A collaborative team of researchers has conducted first-of-its kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. The work shows that older elephants will have markedly decreased chances of survival, which will not only drastically reduce the species' overall ability to weather the changing climate but will send ripple effects throughout the surrounding landscape. The team has also modeled possible mitigation scenarios.
Published Did dementia exist in ancient Greek and Rome?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Did the ancient Greeks and Romans experience Alzheimer's? Medical texts from 2,500 years ago rarely mention severe memory loss, suggesting today's widespread dementia stems from modern environments and lifestyles, a new analysis shows.
Published Archaeological evidence of seasonal vitamin D deficiency discovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Rickets ran rife in children following the Industrial Revolution, but new research has found factory work and polluted cities aren't entirely to blame for the period's vitamin D deficiencies.
Published Neanderthals and humans lived side by side in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archaeologists have debated whether Neanderthals or modern humans made stone tools that are found at sites across northern Europe and date from about 40,000 years ago. A new excavation at one site in Germany turned up 45,000-year-old bone fragments that, when analyzed for mitochondrial DNA, proved to be from Homo sapiens. This is the earliest evidence that modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals in northwest Europe, thousands of years before Neanderthals went extinct.
Published How did humans learn to walk? New evolutionary study offers an earful
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study, which centers on evidence from skulls of a 6-million-year-old fossil ape, Lufengpithecus, offers important clues about the origins of bipedal locomotion courtesy of a novel method: analyzing its bony inner ear region using three-dimensional CT-scanning. The inner ear appears to provide a unique record of the evolutionary history of ape locomotion.
Published Scientists develop novel method to estimate biodiversity loss in Singapore over the past two centuries
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have employed novel statistical methods to reveal the extent of biodiversity loss in Singapore over the past two centuries. The study paints the most accurate picture to date of the ecological impact of deforestation and urban development in the tropical city-state. From a comprehensive dataset, the study estimated that Singapore has lost 37 per cent of its species.
Published Use it or lose it: How seagrasses conquered the sea
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Seagrasses provide the foundation of one of the most highly biodiverse, yet vulnerable, coastal marine ecosystems globally. They arose in three independent lineages from their freshwater ancestors some 100 million years ago and are the only fully submerged, marine flowering plants. Moving to such a radically different environment is a rare evolutionary event and definitely not easy. How did they do it? New reference quality genomes provide important clues with relevance to their conservation and biotechnological application.
Published Achieving sustainable urban growth on a global scale
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international group of leading scientists call for an urgent change in the governance of urban expansion as the world's cities continue to grow at unprecedented rates.
Published Unexpected biodiversity on the ocean floor
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hydrothermal vents and manganese nodule fields in the deep oceans contain more biodiversity than expected.
Published New research challenges hunter-gatherer narrative
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Analysis of the remains of 24 individuals from the Wilamaya Patjxa and Soro Mik'aya Patjxa burial sites in Peru shows that early human diets in the Andes Mountains were composed of 80 percent plant matter and 20 percent meat.
Published DNA from preserved feces reveals ancient Japanese gut environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source DNA from ancient feces can offer archaeologists new clues about the life and health of Japanese people who lived thousands of years ago, according to a new study.
Published Simple steps can cut snakebite deaths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have called for simple, effective steps to cut the number of people bitten by venomous snakes.
Published Ancient brown bear genomes sheds light on Ice Age losses and survival
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The brown bear is one of the largest living terrestrial carnivores, and is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. Unlike many other large carnivores that went extinct at the end of the last Ice Age (cave bear, sabretoothed cats, cave hyena), the brown bear is one of the lucky survivors that made it through to the present. The question has puzzled biologists for close to a century -- how was this so?
Published Study offers rare long-term analysis of techniques for creating standing dead trees for wildlife habitat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ecologists have long known that standing dead trees, commonly referred to as snags, are an important habitat element for forest dwellers and act as a driver of biodiversity. They're so important that in some managed forests, snag creation is part of the conservation tool kit -- i.e., crews sometimes convert a percentage of live trees into dead ones through techniques ranging from sawing off their tops to wounding their trunks to injecting them with disease-causing fungi.
Published A new perspective on the temperature inside tropical forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New worldwide maps of temperatures inside tropical forests show that global warming affect different way in different parts of the forests. Undergrowth level temperature of the tropical forests can be even 4 degrees less than average temperature of the area.
Published Complex green organisms emerged a billion years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Of all the organisms that photosynthesize, land plants have the most complex form. How did this morphology emerge? A team of scientists has taken a deep dive into the evolutionary history of morphological complexity in streptophytes, which include land plants and many green algae. Their research allowed them to go back in time to investigate lineages that emerged long before land plants existed.
Published Wolves and elk are (mostly) welcome back in Poland and Germany's Oder Delta region, survey shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An online survey conducted in Germany and Poland shows that large parts of the participants support the return of large carnivores and herbivores, such as wolves and elk, to the Oder Delta region. Presented with different rewilding scenarios, the majority of survey participants showed a preference for land management that leads to the comeback of nature to the most natural state possible. Locals, on the other hand, showed some reservations.
Published Scientists, farmers and managers work together to avoid the decline of the little bustard, an endangered steppe bird
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The collaboration between scientists, farmers and managers is crucial to improve the protection of the little bustard, an endangered steppe-land bird in Spain due to human activity. The reduction of natural habitats, the increase in irrigation and the urbanization of the land have led to having less surface areas that guarantee the survival of this vulnerable species.