November 2007 This is the conclusion to a review in Nature by Chris Thomas (York) of a new book by paleontologist Michael Novacek, Terra, about the possibility of a new, human-driven, mass extinction event: “The geological perspective of Terra is bizarrely reassuring. Humans will presumably be gone within a few million years, perhaps sooner. If [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Extinction’
21/04/2009
DID A METEOR DO FOR NORTH-AMERICAN MAMMALS?
May 2007 Geological evidence suggests that a 5km-diameter meteor may have exploded over North America around 13,000 years ago. This could explain the disappearance of several species of mammal around that time, including North American camels and the sabre-tooth tiger. Nature news item including impressive picture (subscription needed to get past abstract), BBC article.
20/04/2009
EXTINCTION AND SPECIATION
March 2007 Interesting article in Science looking at the role of latitude in extinction and speciation. The authors conclude: ” most efforts have aimed at identifying the geological, climatic, and ecological factors that might have elevated tropical speciation rates, our results suggest that both speciation and extinction vary with latitude and contributed importantly to the latitudinal diversity gradient.” You or [...]
20/04/2009
LIFE THROUGH TIME
January 2007 Stunning pictures illustrating the appearance and evolution of life on Earth, and the conditions involved, here.
14/04/2009
WHERE’S THE BAIJI?
December 2006 Sad article about attempts to find the baiji, the freshwater dolphin that lives/lived in the Yangtze in China, and which we may have just made extinct. Article here; slideshow here.
14/04/2009
CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS MOBILE SPECIES
November 2006 Future changes in the global climate could have a catastrophic effect on highly mobile or migratory species, warns a UN report here.
14/04/2009
DO DINGOS GOOD?
November 2006 A new study suggests that the decline in Australian marsupials may have been partly caused by the decline in the numbers of the top predator – the dingo. BBC summary article here; original article here (open access).
14/04/2009
DO THE STARS AFFECT MAMMAL EXTINCTION PATTERNS?
September 2006 The mean lifespan of a mammal species is around 2.5 million years, which is relatively brief. Study of a 22 million year rodent fossil record from Spain shows that their patterns of extinction are correlated with long astronomical cycles in the average distance of the Earth from the Sun, and in the angle of the Earth’s rotation. [...]
