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From obscurity to dominance: Tracking the rapid evolutionary rise of ray-finned fish

By Guest PostAugust 6, 2013Nature, Scienceadaptive radiation, age of fish, backboned animals, darwins comment, devonian era, end devonian extinction, evolutionary biologist, evolutionary rise, fossils from scotland, fouldenia, glaciers, hangenberg extinction, japanese amberjack, john megahan, lauren sallan, long extinct fish, mass extinctions, michael coates, misclassified fouldenia, oceans, post devonian tetrapods, predatory fish, ray finned fish, romers gap, sea levels, shell crushing, styracopterus, tropics, university of chicago, university of michigan, vertebrate species, yellowtail

ANN ARBOR — Mass extinctions, like lotteries, result in a multitude of losers and a few lucky winners. This is the story of one of the winners, a small, shell-crushing predatory fish called Fouldenia, which first appears in the fossil record a mere 11 million years after an extinction that wiped out more than 90 percent of the planet’s vertebrate species.

The extinction that ended the Devonian Era 359 million years ago created opportunities quickly exploited by a formerly rare and unremarkable group of fish that went on to become—in terms of the sheer number of species—the most successful vertebrates (backboned animals) on the planet today: the ray-finned fish. (more…)

Climate Change Could Increase Levels of Avian Influenza in Wild Birds

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2012Environment, Naturea h5n1, american black duck, Arctic, avian influenza, biogeographic population, bird flu, choreographed interaction, climate change, delaware bay, domestic poultry, heat waves, horseshoe crab, human health, human infection, increase, influenza infection, level, mallards, mathematical model, melting glaciers, michigan, migratory flight, migratory paths, migratory shorebird, north american, pejman rohani, planetary woes, population ecologist, rainstorms, risk, sea levels, species, type a virus, university, victoria brown, western hemisphere, wild birds

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, more intense rainstorms and more frequent heat waves are among the planetary woes that may come to mind when climate change is mentioned. Now, two University of Michigan researchers say an increased risk of avian influenza transmission in wild birds can be added to the list.

Population ecologists Pejman Rohani and Victoria Brown used a mathematical model to explore the consequences of altered interactions between an important species of migratory shorebird and horseshoe crabs at Delaware Bay as a result of climate change. (more…)

What Triggers Mass Extinctions? Study Shows How Invasive Species Stop New Life

By Guest PostJanuary 3, 2011Sciencealycia stigall, amphibians, archaeostraca, biodiversity loss, bivalve, brachiopods, collapse of earth marine life, crinoids, dunkleosteus, ecosystems, environmental crash, floweria, formation of a mountain range, history of life, invasive species, late devonian, late devonian oceans, leiopteria, leptodesma, lisa boush, mass extinction, new river channel, phylogenetic analysis, predatory crustacean, predatory fish, schizophoria, sea levels, sea lilies, trilobites, vicariance

*Collapse of Earth’s marine life 378 to 375 million years ago holds key*

An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to research results published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The study of the collapse of Earth’s marine life 378 to 375 million years ago suggests that the planet’s current ecosystems, which are struggling with biodiversity loss, could meet a similar fate. (more…)

Ice-Age Reptile Extinctions Provide a Glimpse of Likely Responses to Human-Caused Climate Change

By Guest PostDecember 13, 2010Environment, Natureaegean islands, anthony ives, chances of survival, climate, climate change, ecologist, environmental conditions, extinctions, global warming, greek, greek islands, ice age, johannes foufopoulos, lizards, mediterranean sea, moisture levels, reptile, reptile populations, reptile species, sea levels, snakes, southern hemisphere, turtles

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A wave of reptile extinctions on the Greek islands over the past 15,000 years may offer a preview of the way plants and animals will respond as the world rapidly warms due to human-caused climate change, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.

The Greek island extinctions also highlight the critical importance of preserving habitat corridors that will enable plants and animals to migrate in response to climate change, thereby maximizing their chances of survival. (more…)

‘Sea Levels Rising in Parts of Indian Ocean’

By Guest PostJuly 15, 20102 commentsEnvironmentafrica, Antarctica, arabian sea, atmospheric, balaji rajagopalan, Bangladesh, bay of bengal, global climate, greenhouse gases, India, indian ocean, indo-pacific, Java, mascarenhas archipelago, naval research laboratory in Mississippi, ncar, sea levels, seychelles Islands, sri lanka, sumatra, Tanzania, university of colorado at boulder, weiqing han, Zanzibar

*Greenhouse gases are playing a role in changes, say scientists*

Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean, including the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, appear to be at least partly a result of human-induced increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

(more…)

Tag Archives: sea levels

From obscurity to dominance: Tracking the rapid evolutionary rise of ray-finned fish

Climate Change Could Increase Levels of Avian Influenza in Wild Birds

What Triggers Mass Extinctions? Study Shows How Invasive Species Stop New Life

Ice-Age Reptile Extinctions Provide a Glimpse of Likely Responses to Human-Caused Climate Change

‘Sea Levels Rising in Parts of Indian Ocean’