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Ancient sharks reared young in prehistoric river-delta nursery

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2014Nature, Scienceadult bandringa, ancient, ancient sharks, bandringa fossils, bandringa sharks, electroreceptors, fossilized egg, freshwater, hawaii, illinois state museum, journal, lauren sallan, long snouted, marine, mazon creek, mechanoreceptors, michael coates, ohio, paddlefish, paleontologist, Pennsylvania, prehistoric, river delta nursery, river delta system, saltwater shark migration, sawfish, sensory organs, shark migration, shark nurseries, tiger sharks, university of chicago, university of michigan, upper midwest, vertebrate paleontology

ANN ARBOR — Like salmon in reverse, long-snouted Bandringa sharks migrated downstream from freshwater swamps to a tropical coastline to spawn 310 million years ago, leaving behind fossil evidence of one of the earliest known shark nurseries.

That’s the surprising conclusion of University of Michigan paleontologist Lauren Sallan and a University of Chicago colleague, who reanalyzed all known specimens of Bandringa, a bottom-feeding predator that lived in an ancient river delta system that spanned what is today the Upper Midwest. (more…)

Ecologist: Up-and-Coming Forests Will Remain Important Carbon Sinks

By Guest PostAugust 13, 2011Environmentaging forests, aspen canopy, carbohydrates, carbon storage, christopher gough, climate change analysts, ecological theories, ecosystem, effective carbon sink, Environment, faset, forest accelerated succession experiment, greenhouse gas emissions, kyoto protocol, lucas nave, national carbon sink, nitrogen cycling, ohio, ohio state university, oxygen, peter curtis, photosynthesis, policymakers and ecologists, upper great lakes, upper midwest

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The aging forests of the Upper Great Lakes could be considered the baby boomers of the region’s ecosystem.

The decline of trees in this area is a cause for concern among policymakers and ecologists who wonder whether the end of the forests’ most productive years means they will no longer offer the benefits they are known for: cleansed air, fertile soil, filtered water and, most important to climate change analysts, carbon storage that offsets greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

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Ancient sharks reared young in prehistoric river-delta nursery

Ecologist: Up-and-Coming Forests Will Remain Important Carbon Sinks