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Categories: Environmental: Wildfires, Paleontology: General

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Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Hidden cameras spot wildlife returning home after 2018 megafire      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers analyzed more than 500,000 motion-sensor camera trap images taken at a Northern California reserve in the years before and after the Mendocino Complex Fire to understand how the blaze impacted small- and medium-sized mammals. The study is one of the first to compare wildlife observations made before and after a megafire, and is also one of a limited number of studies to focus on the impacts of megafires on California's oak woodlands.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Landslides
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What causes mudslides and floods after wildfires? Hint: It's not what scientists thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground. The discovery provides valuable insights into where and when potential flooding and mudslides may occur and how landscapes recover after a wildfire.

Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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New fossil flying reptile 'Elvis' takes flight      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In an exciting scientific development, an international team of researchers have officially named a newly discovered 145-million-year-old pterosaur. The animal had enormous 2-meter wingspan and was nicknamed 'Elvis' when the fossil was first unearthed in Bavaria, Germany because of the giant pompadour-like bony crest on its skull. Now the animal has been given a formal scientific name of Petrodactyle wellnhoferi. The name translates as 'Wellnhofer's stone-finger' honouring legendary German palaeontologist Peter Wellnhofer who spent his career working on German pterosaurs. Petrodactyle is a very complete skeleton with nearly every bone preserved and in remarkable detail.

Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
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Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have shown it's possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves suffered from diseased joints      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves experienced a high incidence of bone disease in their joints, according to new research.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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Crawford Lake, Canada, chosen as the primary marker to identify the start of the Anthropocene epoch      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of researchers has chosen the location which best represents the beginnings of what could be a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Working Group have put forward Crawford Lake, in Canada, as a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene. A GSSP is an internationally agreed-upon reference point to show the start of a new geological period or epoch in layers of rock that have built up through the ages.

Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
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Tiny scales reveal megalodon was not as fast as believed, but it had a mega-appetite explaining its gigantism      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals the iconic extinct Megalodon, or 'megatooth shark', was a rather slow cruiser that used its warm-bloodedness to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Ecology: Invasive Species Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Marine fossils are a reliable benchmark for degrading and collapsing ecosystems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Humans began altering environments long before records were kept of the things that lived in them, making it difficult for scientists to determine what healthy ecosystems should look like. Researchers show the recent fossil record preserves a reliable snapshot of marine environments as they existed before humans.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Scientists discover 36-million-year geological cycle that drives biodiversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Movement in the Earth's tectonic plates indirectly triggers bursts of biodiversity in 36 million-year cycles by forcing sea levels to rise and fall, new research has shown.

Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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Global cooling caused diversity of species in orchids, confirms study      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research shows global cooling of the climate 10 million years ago led to an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Addressing justice in wildfire risk management      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The unequal distribution of wildfire risk in our society is influenced by various factors, such as social vulnerabilities and intersecting forms of inequality, including gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. A new article calls for more integrated and inclusive wildfire risk management approaches and proposes a novel framework mapping different justice aspects.

Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: General
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Madagascar hippos were forest dwellers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Extinct dwarf hippos that once roamed Madagascar lived in forests rather than open grasslands preferred by common hippos on mainland Africa. The findings suggest grasslands that now cover much of the enormous island off the eastern coast of southern Africa were a relatively recent change facilitated by people rather than a natural habitat sustained in part by these famously large vegetarians.

Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Discovery of 500-million-year-old fossil reveals astonishing secrets of tunicate origins      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers describe a 500 million-year-old tunicate fossil species. The study suggests that the modern tunicate body plan was already established soon after the Cambrian Explosion.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossils reveal how ancient birds molted their feathers -- which could help explain why ancestors of modern birds survived when all the other dinosaurs died      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Birds are the only group of dinosaurs that survived the asteroid-induced mass extinction 66 million years ago. But not all the birds alive at the time made it. Why the ancestors of modern birds lived while so many of their relatives died has been a mystery that paleontologists have been trying to solve for decades. Two new studies point to one possible factor: the differences between how modern birds and their ancient cousins molt their feathers.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: General
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Apex predator of the Cambrian likely sought soft over crunchy prey      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biomechanical studies on the arachnid-like front 'legs' of an extinct apex predator show that the 2-foot (60-centimeter) marine animal Anomalocaris canadensis was likely much weaker than once assumed. One of the largest animals to live during the Cambrian, it was probably agile and fast, darting after soft prey in the open water rather than pursuing hard-shelled creatures on the ocean floor.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Three things to know: Climate change's impact on extreme-weather events      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found that the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events, like wildfires, could lead to massive increases in all three.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: General
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Researchers unearth the mysteries of how Turkey's East Anatolian fault formed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team has, for the first time, accurately determined the age of the East Anatolian fault, allowing geologists to learn more about its seismic history and tendency to produce earthquakes.

Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
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A jaw-dropping conundrum: Why do mammals have a stiff lower jaw?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The lower jaws of lizards, birds, fish and even dinosaurs are comprised of multiple bones per side. Yet mammals diverged from all other vertebrates and settled on just one bone, repurposing the extra bones into a more elaborate inner ear, perhaps the better to hear. The single bone per side, fused in primates into one jawbone, makes the jaw more rigid. A paleontologist asks, Did the stiffer, rigid jaw make mammals more successful?

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Newly discovered Jurassic fossils in Texas      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have filled a major gap in the state's fossil record -- describing the first known Jurassic vertebrate fossils in Texas. The weathered bone fragments are from the limbs and backbone of a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile.

Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

New study sheds light on the evolution of animals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have been mystified as to why animals are missing in much of the fossil record. Researchers have now developed a new method to determine if animals really were absent during certain geological eras, or if they were present but too fragile to be preserved.