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Land Animals Proliferate Faster Than Aquatic Counterparts

New analyses of vertebrate groups performed by UA evolutionary biologist John Wiens suggest that habitat is a more important variable than climate or metabolic rate.

Of the nearly 1.5 million known animal species on Earth, those with backbones come in a stunning array of shapes and sizes. Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, and the number of species within these groups can vary wildly. For example, there are only six species of lungfish and only 25 crocodilians — but roughly 10,000 birds and 9,700 lizards and snakes. (more…)

A key to mass extinctions could boost food, biofuel production

By Guest PostMay 21, 2013Naturebiofuel production, concentration, extinction events, food crops, frederick dooley, genetic signaling, great dying, hydrogen sulfide, key, level, mass extinction, parts per million, permian period, peter ward, rate of germination, rotten egg smell, species on earth, suven nair, toxic effects, university of washington, water

Hydrogen sulfide, the pungent stuff often referred to as sewer gas, is a deadly substance implicated in several mass extinctions, including one at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago that wiped out more than three-quarters of all species on Earth.

But in low doses, hydrogen sulfide could greatly enhance plant growth, leading to a sharp increase in global food supplies and plentiful stock for biofuel production, new University of Washington research shows. (more…)

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Land Animals Proliferate Faster Than Aquatic Counterparts

A key to mass extinctions could boost food, biofuel production