Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws.



Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young.



This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-twist-in-fish-jaw-evolution">Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution</h2>



Roughly 400 million years ago, fish ruled the seas. Two big groups stood out: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coelacanth-ngamugawi-wirngarri-new-species-living-fossil-fish-survived-over-400-million-years/">lobe-finned fishes</a> and ray-finned fishes. 



Lobe-finned fishes had fleshy, muscular fins that helped them move in different ways. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/319-million-year-old-fish-holds-clues-about-brain-evolution/">Ray-finned fishes</a> had lighter, more flexible fins supported by thin spines.



Today, ray-finned fishes dominate the oceans, rivers, and lakes. They include about 33,000 species - from goldfish to tuna. 



Lobe-finned fishes, on the other hand, are nearly extinct. Only eight species are known to exist today, including the coelacanth and the lungfish. But a new study from the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a> flips the story.



The research shows that between 359 and 423 million years ago, lobe-finned fishes were the ones leading the evolutionary race. 



Their jaws were changing fast, adapting in all sorts of new ways. Meanwhile, the ray-finned fishes were evolving far more slowly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-answers-in-ancient-jaw-bones">Finding answers in ancient jaw bones</h2>



The researchers used CT scans to create 3D models of 86 fossilized fish jaws from the Silurian and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/at-least-two-of-earths-mass-extinctions-caused-by-massive-supernova-explosions/">Devonian Periods</a> - dating back to around 443 million years ago. That’s older than the first forests.



The team digitally mapped these jaws to study both their shape and how they worked. To measure the strength of a fish's bite, they calculated something called mechanical advantage.



Emily Troyer is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study. She explained that essentially, the higher the mechanical advantage of the jaw, the stronger the bite force.



The results showed something no one expected. "This is a really striking result, primarily because <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lungfish-genome-discovery-explains-how-fish-first-walked-onto-land/">lungfish</a> and coelacanths today are represented by only eight living species, with not much jaw diversity going on," Troyer said. 



"However, if we look back in time 400 or so million years, we see this striking inversion. During the Devonian, we have a lot more species and a lot more innovation within their jaws." 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1s.webp" alt="Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan" class="wp-image-1984595"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Click image to enlarge. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lungfish-jaws-lead-the-way">Lungfish jaws lead the way</h2>



Lungfish jaws, in particular, went through a major shift during the Devonian Period. Their jaws became larger, thicker, and packed with powerful muscles. This likely helped them crush hard-shelled prey, like early clams and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-crustaceans-have-what-it-takes-to-survive-climate-change/">crustaceans</a>.



"With their really hefty jaws, they were able to eat really hard food," Troyer said. "We think these new feeding strategies might be causing jaws to need to be shaped like this, and that some of these major innovations are associated with their ecosystems during this time."



Rafael Rivero-Vega, co-first author of the study and a recent doctoral graduate, scanned nearly every complete lobe-finned fish jaw fossil available. 



He mapped out their key features to study something called adaptive radiation. That’s when animals quickly evolve into many different forms because their environment pushes them to adapt.



Rivero-Vega saw clear patterns. "Some fishes were diversifying their jaws rapidly in shape and size, only later to stay essentially unchanged once they filled a specialized niche," he said. 



"Others had similar characteristics but a wider variety of shapes and sizes, and yet others had similar form but wouldn't change until after they had already transitioned onto land."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-jaw-innovation-changed-the-future">Fish jaw innovation changed the future</h2>



This research shows that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-can-be-predicted-pangenome-genetic-history/">evolution</a> doesn’t follow a straight line. Just because a group is successful now doesn’t mean it always was. 



Lobe-finned fishes once led the way in jaw innovation, helping set the stage for major changes in vertebrate life - including the eventual rise of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.



"When you're looking at evolution, you can learn so much from looking at the past," Troyer said. "Without the fossil record, we would have no idea of this inverted role reversal."



The study also highlights the importance of old bones. Even though only a few lobe-finned fishes are still around, their ancient fossils tell a story that would otherwise have been be lost.



"It's a great example of how innovations in shape, form, and function can be explored by different fish groups at their own pace, as long as they experience the appropriate evolutionary pressures," said Rivero-Vega. 



"All of this happened hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs. Fishes are awesome."



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225010395" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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How ancient fish jaws built the path to modern land animals

Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws. Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young. This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way. Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution Roughly 400 million...

A single fossil of a giant Appalachian salamander has been discovered by scientists at East Tennessee State University. 



Millions of years ago, this 16-inch salamander with a powerful bite threaded its way through the soft earth of what is now northeastern Tennessee.



The salamander tunnels criss-crossed ancient forests, and its appetite likely shaped the mix of smaller <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saving-amphibians-wildlife-tunnels-prevent-road-deaths/">amphibians</a> in the surrounding ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-may-explain-salamander-diversity">Fossil may explain salamander diversity </h2>



Today, the fossil of this new species may help explain how the region's salamanders became so diverse. The specimen surfaced at the Gray Fossil Site &amp; Museum, a dig next door to <a href="https://www.etsu.edu/ehome/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">East Tennessee State University</a> (ETSU).



After careful study, researchers described the animal - Dynamognathus robertsoni - in a publication in the journal Historical Biology.



The work comes from a team that includes assistant collections manager Davis Gunnin, professor of geosciences Dr. Blaine Schubert, head curator Dr. Joshua Samuels, museum specialist Keila Bredehoeft, and assistant collections manager Shay Maden.



“Our researchers are not only uncovering ancient life, they are modeling the kind of collaboration and curiosity that define ETSU,” said Dr. Joe Bidwell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. 



“This exciting find underscores the vital role our university plays in preserving and exploring Appalachia’s deep natural history.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-named-for-its-powerful-jaw">Species named for its powerful jaw</h2>



Dynamognathus robertsoni ranks among the largest of the lungless salamanders from the family Plethodontidae. It exchanged gases through its skin and the lining of its mouth, rather than by means of lungs. 



The jaw anatomy of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salamanders-can-adapt-better-to-climate-change-than-previously-thought/">ancient salamander</a> suggests a striking bite force, which would have made it a formidable predator.



“This group of salamanders has unusual cranial anatomy that gives them a strong bite force, so the genus name, Dynamognathus – Greek for ‘powerful jaw,’ is given to highlight the great size and power of the salamander compared to its living relatives,” explained Maden.



The species name honors Wayne Robertson, a longtime volunteer who spotted the first bone and has sifted through more than 50 tons of sediment since 2000.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-appalachia-s-surprising-salamander-legacy">Appalachia’s surprising salamander legacy</h2>



Today, the Southern Appalachian forests host more than 50 salamander species - about one-eighth of all known salamanders on Earth. 



Many of them are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/plethodontidae" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plethodonts</a> like the new fossil species. Scientists have long wondered how so many species could have arisen in this small corner of the world.



“Finding something that looks like a Red Hills salamander here in East Tennessee was a bit of a surprise,” Gunnin said. 



“Today they’re only found in a few counties in southern Alabama, and researchers thought of them as a highly specialized dead-end lineage, not particularly relevant to the evolution of the dusky salamanders."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-of-salamander-communities">Evolution of salamander communities </h2>



The discovery of Dynamognathus robertsoni in Southern Appalachia indicates that this type of relatively large, burrowing salamander was once more widespread in eastern North America, explained Gunnin.



He noted that this may have had a profound impact on the evolution of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/three-new-black-bellied-salamanders-were-hidden-in-plain-sight/">Appalachian</a> salamander communities.



Modern dusky salamanders max out at about seven inches (18 centimeters) - less than half the length of the fossil giant. The research team suspects that predators like D. robertsoni drove smaller stream-dwellers to diversify rapidly, setting the stage for today’s variety.



“The warmer climate in Tennessee 5 million years ago, followed by cooling during the Pleistocene <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disastrous-climate-changes-of-the-last-ice-age-could-happen-again/">Ice Ages</a>, may have restricted large, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/red-backed-salamanders-will-struggle-to-adapt-to-climate-warming/">burrowing salamanders</a> to lower latitudes, like southern Alabama, where the Red Hills salamander lives today,” said Samuels.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-the-salamander-fossil">Significance of the salamander fossil</h2>



“The latest salamander publication is a testament to this teamwork and search for answers,” said Schubert. 



“When Davis Gunnin, the lead author, began volunteering at the museum as a teenager with an interest in fossil salamanders, I was thrilled because this region is known for its salamander diversity today, and we know so little about their fossil record."



From high-school volunteers to seasoned faculty, the Gray Fossil Site team keeps uncovering stories buried beneath Appalachian soil.



The stories explain why a walk through a modern Tennessee stream still reveals more salamander shapes and colors than almost anywhere else on Earth.



This shared effort blends curiosity, dedication, and local pride in a way that brings science to life. With each new find, the team adds another piece to the puzzle of Appalachia’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/triassic-fossils-shed-new-light-on-ancient-ecosystems/">ancient ecosystems</a>.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2501332" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Historical Biology</a>.



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Giant salamander fossil reveals deep roots of Appalachian diversity

A single fossil of a giant Appalachian salamander has been...

For countless generations, every spring night in Australia has carried the faint whisper of wings. Billions of Bogong moths rise from the dry inland plains. Their destination is a handful of icy caves high in the Snowy Mountains, up to 600 miles away.



How these brief-lived insects - each one making the journey only once - find their way across such vast, feature-poor landscapes has long been one of biology’s quiet mysteries.



Now, an international research team has discovered the key: Bogong moths navigate by reading the constellations and the Milky Way, switching to Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-magnetic-field-has-a-dent-and-nasa-is-watching-closely/">magnetic field</a> when clouds blot out the stars.



The findings make the species the first known invertebrate to use a stellar compass for long-distance migration.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unseen-nightly-moth-migration">An unseen nightly moth migration</h2>



Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) hatch on parched farmland and grasslands across southeastern Australia. Triggered by spring warmth, each insect embarks on a marathon flight toward cool alpine refuges.



When they arrive - sometimes only weeks after leaving birth sites - they wedge themselves into narrow rock cracks. There, they lower their body temperature and remain torpid through the scorching summer months.



Come autumn, they reverse course, return to the lowlands, breed once and die, leaving offspring to repeat the cycle.



Although the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/migratory-behaviors-are-shaped-by-experience/">migrat</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/migratory-behaviors-are-shaped-by-experience/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">i</a><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/migratory-behaviors-are-shaped-by-experience/">on</a> is centuries old, its navigational underpinning has been elusive. Earlier work hinted that moths might sense Earth’s magnetic field. But that alone seemed too crude to guide them to specific caves occupying only a few square miles in the vast Australian Alps.



The new study shows the insects wield a two-part navigation toolkit every bit as sophisticated as that of migratory birds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moths-use-celestial-landmarks">Moths use celestial landmarks </h2>



Led by Professor Eric Warrant of <a href="https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a>, the research team built a custom flight simulator: a circular arena whose inner surface could project a perfectly realistic night sky, complete with Zodiac constellations and the luminous smear of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/milky-way-like-galaxies-were-present-in-the-early-universe/">Milky Way</a>.



By rotating or scrambling the projection, the team could test what cues the moths use. They also enclosed the device in coils that canceled Earth’s magnetic field, allowing independent manipulation of magnetic and visual information.



When moths collected during spring migrations were placed in the simulator under a natural star map, they reliably flew south-southeast - the direction to the Snowy Mountains from their capture location.



Autumn migrants, tested months later, flew north-northwest toward their breeding grounds. Rotating the star map 180 degrees caused the insects instantly to flip their direction of flight. 



Scrambling the star pattern left them disoriented, proving they were not just chasing the brightest point but reading specific celestial landmarks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moths-have-a-backup-migration-plan">Moths have a backup migration plan</h2>



Night skies are not always clear. The researchers next obscured the stars while reintroducing a controlled magnetic field.



Deprived of visual cues, the moths still flew along the correct migratory bearing, guided only by magnetism. When both stars and magnetic information were eliminated, the moths lost orientation entirely.



The results reveal a dual-compass strategy: starlight when available, magnetism when not. Such redundancy ensures reliability amid Australia’s famously changeable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollen-alters-cloud-formation-and-changes-weather-patterns/">spring weather</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brains-tuned-to-stars">Brains tuned to stars</h2>



The team also ventured inside the moth’s brain. Using microelectrodes thinner than a human hair, they recorded from neurons in the central complex - an insect brain hub for spatial processing.



Certain neurons fired maximally when the simulated starry sky aligned with the migratory heading. Rotating the sky shifted each cell’s peak activity by an equivalent angle, confirming that these neurons encode celestial direction.



That sophisticated computation, packed into a brain weighing a fraction of a gram, rivals the navigational circuitry found in far larger animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-moths-to-machines">From moths to machines</h2>



The discovery joins earlier breakthroughs revealing that South African <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dung-beetles-share-their-workload-with-their-mates/">dung beetles</a> use the Milky Way to roll dung balls in straight lines.



Study co-author Javaan Chahl, a remote-sensing engineer at the University of South Australia, has already translated beetle astronomy into an AI sensor that allows robots to orient in low light.



He believes Bogong moths could inspire next-generation <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drones-reveal-hidden-biodiversity-in-rainforest-canopies/">drones</a> capable of navigating long distances at night without GPS.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moth-migration-needs-dark-skies">Moth migration needs dark skies</h2>



Bogong moth numbers have crashed due to drought, pesticides, land use changes, and climate-driven shifts in vegetation. The species is now listed as vulnerable.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/light-pollution-skyglow-fuels-toxic-algae-and-alters-carbon-cycle-in-lakes/">Light pollution</a> compounds the threat by washing out the night-sky cues the moths rely on. Losing dark skies could push the migratory system past a point of no return. 



This would trigger ripple effects across alpine ecosystems that rely on the moths as a seasonal food bonanza for birds and mammals.



“This is not just about a moth,” said Warrant, who also holds appointments at the <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a> and the <a href="https://online.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a>.



The findings help recognize that the night sky is a public commons, critical for countless species - humans included - that have used it to orient, to tell time, to wonder.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-navigation-by-starlight">Navigation by starlight</h2>



For millennia, Polynesian navigators steered canoes by starlight, and mariners followed the Southern Cross across oceans. 



Now we know that a creature no larger than a paper clip can do the same, threading a path across an entire continent by reading the celestial vault.



Safeguarding the Bogong moth’s migration means protecting the dark, starlit corridors overhead - an essential step if we are to keep both the insect’s ancient journey and our shared cosmic heritage alive.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09135-3">Nature</a>.



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Moths read the stars to complete an epic migration

For countless generations, every spring night in Australia has carried...

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky stretches for more than 420 miles (675 kilometers) below the surface of the ground and is often described as the world’s largest cave system. Recent explorations there uncovered two new fossil sharks that once roamed shallow coastal waters more than 325 million years ago.



Ancient shark specialist John-Paul (JP) Hodnett of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (<a href="https://www.mncppc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MNCPPC</a>) worked with the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/index.htm">National Park Service Paleontology Program</a> to identify the fossils. 



These finds have everyone buzzing because they offer a glimpse into marine habitats that thrived when parts of what is now eastern North America were covered by a warm sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prehistoric-shark-fossil-puzzle">Prehistoric shark fossil puzzle</h2>



The newly documented sharks are Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum, and they are from a group known as <a href="https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-month-cten.php">ctenacanth</a> sharks. 



They both measured about 10–12 feet (3–3.6 meters) long, which is similar in size to an oceanic whitetip shark.



The shark fossils were collected from various limestone formations, which were deposited during the Middle to Late <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/mississippian-period.htm">Mississippian Period</a>. 



The bigger picture is that these habitats were once submerged under shallow seas and supported a wide range of fish life. Researchers have now identified more than 70 ancient fish species in the cave system.



A partial set of jaws belonging to a young <a href="https://shark-references.com/species/view/Glikmanius-careforum">Glikmanius careforum</a> revealed fresh details about cartilage, which rarely fossilizes well. 



Cartilaginous remains of sharks are often fragile and easily destroyed by erosion, so finding them preserved in a protected space is especially rewarding.



Experts note that this newly identified material adds depth to ongoing discussions of how shark groups diversified while the supercontinent <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-was-pangea">Pangea</a> was taking shape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-collaborations-and-fieldwork">Collaborations and fieldwork</h2>



“Every new discovery at Mammoth Cave is possible due to collaborations,” said park superintendent <a href="https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/management/index.htm">Barclay Trimble</a> of Mammoth Cave National Park. 



Researchers and volunteers have explored hidden passages, river channels, and even narrow crawlways in search of key fossils.



Members of the <a href="https://www.cave-research.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cave Research Foundation</a> also took part in these efforts. The name Glikmanius careforum was chosen to honor that organization’s valuable support in the field.



The partial cartilage from this genus points to a short head with a strong bite, possibly used to feed on smaller fish and <a href="https://www.geo.mtu.edu/KeweenawGeoheritage/HoughtonEC/Orthocones.html">orthocones</a>, which are squid-like creatures with elongated shells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-help-trace-evolutionary-change">Fossils help trace evolutionary change </h2>



Troglocladodus trimblei stands out for its branching tooth design that helped it secure prey in the Mississippian seas. 



This prehistoric hunter probably shared a coastal environment with G. careforum, in waters that covered modern-day Kentucky and Alabama.



Researchers say these sharks likely thrived in nearshore habitats that teemed with bony fish, shelled organisms, and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cocaine-sharks-brazilian-waters-sharpnose-sharks-rhizoprionodon-lalandii-ocean-pollution/">marine creatures</a>.



Tracing these fossils across multiple rock layers provides insights into how the environment changed over time. 



Coastal waters rose and fell as landmasses drifted toward each other, gradually merging into a single continent. 



These broader patterns helped shape the distribution and evolutionary paths of ancient sharks like T. trimblei and G. careforum.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-preserve-shark-fossils">How to preserve shark fossils</h2>



Field teams spent long hours underground carefully mapping and collecting small fragments of teeth. A single <a href="https://www.npca.org/articles/7703-the-unveiling-of-mammoth-cave-s-history">tooth</a> from T. trimblei sparked initial interest when Superintendent Trimble first discovered it on a 2019 trip. 



Seasoned cavers and geologists coordinated to ensure safe retrieval of each piece, knowing that one misstep could damage the delicate remains.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ctenacanth-sharks_cave-discovery_325-million-years-ago_1big.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ctenacanth-sharks_cave-discovery_325-million-years-ago_1s.webp" alt="A reconstruction of the new Middle to Late Mississippian ctenacanth sharks from Mammoth Cave National Park and northern Alabama. Glikmanius careforum is seen swimming in the foreground with two Troglocladodus trimblei swimming above. Artwork by Benji Paynose" class="wp-image-1973763"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A reconstruction of the new Middle to Late Mississippian ctenacanth sharks from Mammoth Cave National Park and northern Alabama. Glikmanius careforum is seen swimming in the foreground with two Troglocladodus trimblei swimming above. Click image to enlarge. Artwork by Benji Paynose</figcaption></figure>



Research at Mammoth Cave has led to conversations about how best to preserve fragile fossils within difficult-to-access passages. Experts say stable cave temperatures help keep these discoveries in good condition. 



Park managers have also integrated these new data into guidelines for future research so that more clues to marine life from 325 million years ago may be found.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-these-shark-fossils-matter">Why these shark fossils matter</h2>



Scientists use these finds to compare local fossil collections with specimens from similar periods in other parts of the world. 



Documenting body sizes, tooth arrangements, and skeletal details helps researchers build a clearer timeline of shark <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-skeletons-could-lead-to-technological-innovations/">evolution</a>.



These comprehensive studies uncover shifts in fish diversity that occurred as oceans changed and landmasses joined together. 



Experts also link fossil data with knowledge from bony fish records, coral structures, and other sea life. This combined approach paints a full picture of ancient marine habitats and shows how some species adapted while others vanished. 



The two new fossil sharks at Mammoth Cave highlight that even well-known geologic areas can hold <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopus-caught-riding-on-the-back-of-the-worlds-fastest-shark-in-the-open-ocean/">surprises</a> for many years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-cave-explorations">Future cave explorations</h2>



Mammoth Cave continues to yield glimpses into a vanished coastline that spanned what is now Kentucky, Europe, and northern Africa. 



T. trimblei and G. careforum are just two recent additions to an ever-expanding fossil catalog, reminding everyone that exploration still brings answers and new questions.



In many ways, these ancient sharks highlight how puzzle pieces of geologic history keep fitting together. Field teams are now eager to see what lies in deeper chambers or behind the narrow channels.



The next phase of study may involve more advanced imaging and careful excavation in lesser-known passages, guided by new mapping techniques. 



Findings like these spur a broader appreciation for the cave system’s scientific value, well beyond its length or visual features.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377873693_NEW_CTENACANTH_SHARKS_CHONDRICHTHYES_ELASMOBRANCHII_CTENACANTHIFORMES_FROM_THE_MIDDLE_TO_LATE_MISSISSIPPIAN_OF_KENTUCKY_AND_ALABAMA">Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology</a>.



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Two prehistoric sea monsters found after 325 million years in the world’s largest cave

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky stretches for more than 420 miles...

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, is often described as adaptable, and its European range has never stayed still for long. 



New research shows that the bear’s wanderings are tied less to temperature than to where its food grows or grazes - an important detail with big conservation consequences.



Pablo M. Lucas and colleagues at the <a href="https://ics-seville.org/university-of-seville/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Seville</a> analyzed more than three million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-brown-bears-have-a-genetic-weak-spot/">bear</a> locations and the energy yield of 276 food species to find the pattern.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bears-follow-food-with-most-energy">Bears follow food with most energy</h2>



“We detected 276 species in their diet. Bears occupy those places where the most energy from the species in their diet is available,” explained Lucas. 



Brown bears consume anything from acorns to red deer, shifting diet with local supply. Lucas’s team confirms that bears settle where the most calories are packed into the landscape, a principle ecologists call <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1928" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic energy optimization</a>.&nbsp;



Europe holds about 17,000 free‑ranging brown <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/untangling-the-history-of-polar-bears-and-brown-bears/">bears</a> spread over 22 countries, yet the population is fragmented into 14 sub‑populations, from the Cantabrian Mountains to Karelia. 



The <a href="http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/eurasian-brown-bear/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a> classifies the species as “Least Concern” globally, but several regional groups remain vulnerable. Fragmentation matters because food landscapes vary sharply across short distances.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-shifts-food-sources-for-bears">Climate shifts food sources for bears </h2>



Climate change is already nudging thousands of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-brown-bears-are-digging-up-japans-artificial-forests/">species</a> poleward and uphill, some three times faster than biologists once estimated. As fruiting plants, insects and ungulates relocate, bears face a moving target.&nbsp;



In warmer regions such as Greece and Türkiye, the study found bears behaving almost like herbivores, with nuts and berries dominating the diet. 



Farther north in Scandinavia and Finland, meat from wild boar or moose supplies over half of a bear’s annual calories.



American grizzlies offer a parallel: on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, warmer summers now ripen elderberries during salmon runs, and many bears abandon fish for fruit. 



The European analysis suggests similar switches are likely whenever plant and animal phenology collide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-the-energy-landscape">Mapping the energy landscape</h2>



To quantify edible energy, the team combined scat and stomach studies with remote‑sensing models of plant and prey habitat. 



A key variable was <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/691/ds691.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">isothermality</a>, the ratio of day‑to‑night temperature range to annual range, which influences plant productivity.



Areas rich in reproductive plants such as oak and beech mast scored high for bears in Spain, while regions with dense roe‑deer populations pulled bears east of the Carpathians.



The researchers then layered these food maps onto climate and land‑use projections for 2050. Where forests shrink or heat stress pushes oaks uphill, the calories disappear and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/">bear</a>’s probability of presence drops with them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bear-food-zones-may-shrink">Bear food zones may shrink</h2>



Under a mid‑range emissions pathway, suitable bear habitat could contract by one‑third if both abiotic (climate, land use) and biotic (food availability) changes unfold as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forecast</a>. 



Losses are steepest in the East Balkan and Türkiye groups, where warming outpaces plant adaptation. In contrast, the Scandinavian and Karelian sub‑populations may gain ground as forests march north, provided prey species keep pace.



A separate Swedish <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296319593_Seasonal_and_annual_variation_in_the_diet_of_brown_bears_Ursus_arctos_in_the_boreal_forest_of_southcentral_Sweden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> of 527 bear scats showed similar north-south dietary splits and underlines that bears quickly alter foraging tactics when new options arise. 



Such flexibility could buffer northern bears but offers little help to isolated southern populations hemmed in by farmland and roads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-people-and-policy">Implications for people and policy</h2>



Europe’s large carnivores have rebounded over the past two decades, sparking new debates about coexistence. Where wild prey declines, bears turn to orchards, beehives and livestock carcasses, raising conflict costs. 



Predicting hotspots of future food scarcity can guide compensation schemes and habitat corridors before tensions flare.



Forest managers also gain a roadmap: protecting seed‑producing trees in southern Europe may retain critical autumn fattening grounds, while maintaining continuous ungulate habitat in the north ensures carnivorous diets stay wild. 



The study argues that conservation targets should shift from static range maps to dynamic “energy maps” that track how calories, not just climate, flow across the continent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-species-adapt-like-bears">Not all species adapt like bears</h2>



Brown bears are generalists, able to switch food sources as the landscape changes. But many species aren’t so lucky. 



Animals with a <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/generalist-and-specialist-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">specialist diet</a>, such as the Iberian lynx or alpine butterflies, may not adapt as quickly if their primary food vanishes or migrates beyond reach.



Species with limited mobility or narrow climate tolerance face a double threat: they can’t chase food, and even if they could, suitable shelter might not be there. 



Conservation strategies that work for flexible foragers like bears won’t always translate to more fragile species caught in tight ecological niches.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-step-is-testing-other-predators">Next step is testing other predators</h2>



Lucas and co‑authors hope to expand the model to wolves and lynx, testing whether prey‑driven range forecasts improve planning for multiple predators at once. 



The researchers are also calling for finer‑scale monitoring of plant phenology so managers can spot mismatches early.



For now, the brown bear reminds us that protecting a species means protecting its pantry. Where acorns fall and deer graze today will shape where cubs are born tomorrow.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Brown bears move where their food grows

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, is often described as adaptable,...

Anthropomorphism, or seeing animals as human-like, has long helped shape conservation efforts. From cartoons to fundraising campaigns, giving animals human emotions and faces makes them more relatable. But this seemingly harmless trick has deeper consequences. 



A new study in the journal iScience&nbsp;explores how cultural, personal, and social factors shape our willingness to see animals like ourselves. This impacts which <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-and-possibly-even-insects-have-emotions/">species</a> we choose to protect.



“Unfortunately, anthropomorphism significantly influences conservation efforts... Species that appear more human-like or exhibit human-like behaviors usually tend to receive more attention, funding, and public support,” said Federica Amici of <a href="https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leipzig University</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-emotional-responses-to-animals">Emotional responses to animals</h2>



The research team surveyed 741 adults from Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain. Each participant rated how much they agreed with statements about animals’ emotions, minds, intentions, and even their ability to distinguish good from evil. 



Respondents also reported their religious beliefs, education level, social networks, and personal experiences with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-emotions-can-be-decoded-through-voice-recognition/">animals</a>.



Participants with less education tended to assign more human-like free will to animals. In contrast, those with more structured scientific learning were more cautious. 



Interestingly, urban experiences like owning pets or seeing animals in media predicted more emotional connections. These people were more likely to believe <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chick-emotions-shed-new-light-on-animal-welfare/">animals</a> had minds, emotions, and intent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lonely-humans-humanize-animals">Lonely humans humanize animals</h2>



Social isolation played a powerful role. People with weaker social ties were more likely to see animals as emotionally complex and similar to humans. 



This tendency was even more pronounced in allocentric individuals, who see themselves as part of a group rather than independent. 



These individuals often attributed more free will and emotions to animals, perhaps to meet their own need for companionship



“People who feel lonely or aren’t well connected to others often try to meet their need for social <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-emotions-evoke-different-responses-in-dogs-and-pigs/">connection</a> by seeing human-like qualities in animals or other non-human things,” noted Amici. 



This helps explain why pet owners or animal lovers may assign deeper personalities to their pets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-anthropomorphism">Understanding anthropomorphism</h2>



The attribution of human characteristics, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities, including animals, objects, deities, or abstract concepts, is known as anthropomorphism. 



This tendency is deeply ingrained in human cognition and language, often used to make the unfamiliar more relatable or comprehensible. 



From ancient myths where gods possess <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/facial-expressions-arent-enough-to-understand-human-emotions/">human emotions</a> to modern cartoons where animals talk and act like people, anthropomorphism plays a key role in storytelling, religious belief, and even scientific interpretation. 



It serves as a cognitive shortcut, allowing individuals to empathize with and interpret the actions of non-human entities through a human lens.



In scientific and philosophical contexts, anthropomorphism can be both a useful heuristic and a source of bias. For instance, in animal behavior studies, attributing intentions or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lost-in-translation-how-we-misread-our-dogs-emotions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions to animals</a> can aid observational insight, but it also risks oversimplifying or misrepresenting their true nature. 



Similarly, in technology and artificial intelligence, people often perceive machines as having intentions or feelings, a phenomenon that shapes user experience and ethical concerns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-religion-shapes-human-view-of-animals">Religion shapes human view of animals</h2>



Religious belief had a noticeable effect. Participants from monotheistic traditions like Islam and Christianity were less likely to attribute free will, emotions, and pain to animals. 



In contrast, those from non-monotheistic faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism were more open to the idea that animals could feel, think, and even deceive.



“Non-monotheistic religions appear to contribute more strongly to envisioning a space of coexistence between humans and other species,” said Amici. This supports the idea that religions emphasizing interconnection nurture deeper empathy toward non-human life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seeing-monkeys-as-moral-agents">Seeing monkeys as moral agents</h2>



The study included special focus on monkeys. People with greater exposure to monkeys were more likely to believe monkeys could deceive, plan, or act with intent but paradoxically, less likely to think monkeys felt pain.



Why the contradiction? The researchers suggest a possible reason. When animals are seen as threats, such as crop raiding monkeys, humans may still judge their behavior but downplay their suffering. 



This type of moral distancing may help humans justify their actions when conflicts arise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeling-and-understanding-emotions">Feeling and understanding emotions</h2>



The survey measured traits like the ability to feel primary emotions such as anger or fear, secondary emotions like guilt or shame, and understand others’ intentions. 



Most people saw monkeys as capable of feeling basic emotions and having minds of their own.



However, beliefs about more complex traits like distinguishing good from evil were more variable. These attributions often reflected a blend of religion, social closeness, and urban experience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-assigning-human-traits-to-animals">Assigning human traits to animals</h2>



Assigning human traits to animals can help conservation efforts. It can boost empathy, raise funds, and build support. 



But it can also skew public concern toward cute or familiar species. That may leave less attractive yet ecologically vital creatures out of focus.



“I think anthropomorphizing species can be an effective approach, but it should be used with caution,” said Amici.



This study shows that conservationists must consider social context. Campaigns that resonate in one culture may fall flat in another. 



Customizing messaging based on local beliefs, education, and exposure to animals can make programs more effective.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-sympathy-to-strategy">From sympathy to strategy</h2>



This research uncovers how deeply our personal lives shape what we see in animals. By recognizing those patterns, conservation can become more inclusive and impactful. 



Instead of relying only on emotion or charisma, strategies can balance human connection with ecological urgency. When we see animals clearly, through both empathy and science, we might finally protect them wisely.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)00954-X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Why we see some animals as more human than others

Anthropomorphism, or seeing animals as human-like, has long helped shape...

Echidna,In,The,Zoo

Tiny, spiny echidnas and the duck‑billed platypus already look like misfits, but the bigger oddity hides in their DNA. For most mammals, a gene on the Y chromosome called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22246/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SRY</a> flips the switch for testis formation and sets sex development in motion.



Researchers have now shown that these <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/monotreme.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">monotremes</a> wield a completely different master key: a Y‑linked copy of anti-Müllerian hormone (<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4654491/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMHY</a>). 



<a href="https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/linda.shearwin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Linda Shearwin</a> of the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences led the international team that cracked the case.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-sex-gene-in-monotremes">Different sex gene in monotremes</h2>



Platypuses carry five X and five Y <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2413164/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chromosomes</a> that line up in an alternating chain during male meiosis, a structure unlike anything in other mammals. 



Females hold five paired X chromosomes, yet the species thrives, proof that complicated does not always mean fragile.



Genomic clocks place the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/obl4he/vertebratediversity/monotremes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">monotreme split</a> from other mammals at roughly <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8081666/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">187 million years ago</a>, long before SRY arose in placental and marsupial lineages. 



Their last common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-mammals-have-evolved-over-66-million-years/">ancestor</a> with us never carried SRY, so a different mechanism had to evolve.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-monotremes-have-10-sex-chromosomes">Monotremes have 10 sex chromosomes</h2>



Monotreme males don’t just have an X and a Y. They juggle a system with up to 10 sex chromosomes, five Xs and five Ys in platypuses, and a slightly smaller set in echidnas. 



These chromosomes form a chain during sperm production, a configuration that looks more like a daisy chain than the standard X–Y pair mammals typically carry.



This odd setup baffled scientists for decades. Unlike <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-ground-dwellers-survived-the-asteroid-impact-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/">therian mammals</a>, monotreme sex chromosomes share homology with bird Z chromosomes, not with the mammalian Y. 



That raised suspicions early on that monotremes must use a completely different trigger to determine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammal-evolution-kicked-off-with-daring-experiments/">sex</a>, but proving it required access to rare developmental stages.



Anti‑Müllerian hormone normally turns off female tract development in male embryos and later guides <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2024.1468364/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ovarian follicle growth</a>. In people, doctors measure AMH to gauge fertility or predict menopause timing.



Most mammals keep AMH on an ordinary chromosome, far downstream of SRY and <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/sox9/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SOX9</a>. In echidnas and platypuses, evolution duplicated the gene, parked the copy on a Y chromosome, and rewired its control panel to switch on early in male gonads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sex-starts-outside-the-cell-s-nucleus">Sex starts outside the cell’s nucleus</h2>



“This new understanding fills a significant knowledge gap and ultimately can be used to support conservation of these iconic Australian mammals. AMHY would be the first known example of a growth factor playing a sex‑determining role in mammals,” said Dr. Shearwin. 



Her team tracked AMHY activity in developing echidna testes well before visible sex differences appeared. 



The protein works outside the nucleus, binding a surface receptor and relaying signals rather than directly steering DNA. 



That makes monotremes the only known mammals where a secreted factor, not a transcription factor, calls the first shot in sex development.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-makes-amhy-different-from-amhx">What makes AMHY different from AMHX</h2>



Although a X‑linked copy of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMHX) and AMHY both belong to the <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4325469/">TGF-β protein family</a> and share key structural features, they diverged significantly after an ancient gene inversion. 



The two proteins are only 52% identical, with differences concentrated in regions that affect hormone cleavage and signaling.



Their promoter regions also diverge. AMHY lacks the usual <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/sox9/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SOX9</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/2626" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GATA4</a>, and <a href="https://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=SF1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SF-1</a> binding sites seen in AMHX and other mammalian AMH genes. 



Instead, AMHY uses unique transcription factor sites, like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2820524/%5C" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DMRT1</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC548021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GATA1</a>, which are active only in male gonads, suggesting a custom regulatory setup designed for sex determination.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wider-view-of-sex-genes">Wider view of sex genes</h2>



AMH duplications have taken over sex determination more than once. A male‑specific <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5555456/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMHY</a> copy steers testis formation in <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11907690/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Patagonian pejerrey fish</a> and old‑world silversides. 



Some amphibians use the same trick, showing that hormones can win the evolutionary race against classic DNA‑binding proteins.



The discovery also underlines how fragile Y chromosomes can be. SRY itself did not appear until about 160 million years ago and was identified in humans only in <a href="https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/sex-determining-region-y-mammals" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1990</a>. 



If SRY could pop up late, there is no reason other genes cannot step in when needed, as monotremes demonstrate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-monotreme-sex-matters">Why monotreme sex matters</h2>



Platypus populations face habitat loss and climate change, and captive breeding programs struggle because eggs are delicate and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-animals-balance-their-sex-chromosomes/">reproductive cycles</a> poorly understood. 



Knowing that AMHY, not SRY, dictates sex gives biologists a tool for early‑stage sexing of embryos in conservation labs.



The work also helps physicians dissect AMH’s many roles in humans. Because monotreme AMHY triggers an entire sex pathway on its own, comparing its sequence to human AMH may spotlight sites essential for receptor binding or signal strength. That insight could refine AMH‑based fertility tests or therapies.



To test AMHY's function, researchers tried introducing platypus AMHX and AMHY into developing chicken embryos, a model known to respond clearly to sex-determining signals. 



Overexpressing chicken AMH in females causes visible masculinization, so scientists hoped platypus versions might do the same.



But nothing changed. The monotreme proteins didn’t cause male traits in chickens, even when highly expressed. 



Structural analysis showed that key binding sites between mammalian AMH and the bird receptor don’t line up well. 



This mismatch confirms that early mammalian changes in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34155118/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMH–AMHR2 interaction</a> likely limit cross-species functionality.



The full study is published in <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-025-03546-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Genome Biology</a>.



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Platypus and echidnas break mammal rules with weird sex system

Tiny, spiny echidnas and the duck‑billed platypus already look like...

Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still leaving space for wildlife? A new proposal says they can.



By setting aside one-fifth of farmland for nature, and tweaking everyday practices on the rest, we can help wildlife recover without sacrificing the food on our tables.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farming-with-wildlife-in-mind">Farming with wildlife in mind</h2>



The plan comes from ecologists at the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> and the University of Alcalá in Spain. Study co-author Professor James Bullock elaborated on the importance of the research.



“Reversing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-calls-for-global-change-to-stop-biodiversity-loss/">biodiversity loss</a> and degradation of ecosystems is essential both for nature as well as long-term global food security. But there is no single silver bullet for nature recovery and so far it has been unclear how to integrate rewilding into agricultural landscapes," said Professor Bullock. 



“Our proposed approach moves beyond land sparing versus land sharing. We believe rewilding can be interwoven into agricultural landscapes and could be key to maintaining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/increasing-plant-based-food-production-would-have-extremely-positive-impact/">food production</a> in a way that is sustainable in the long term for people and the planet.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dedicating-land-to-nature-recovery">Dedicating land to nature recovery</h2>



According to the study, fostering rewilding approaches alongside farming could create agroecological landscapes that accommodate biodiversity while remaining resilient and functionally connected. Certain incentives would encourage farmers to adopt this approach.



“While setting aside land for nature recovery could potentially be made a legal requirement for farmers and landowners, there is more likely to be acceptance and success of rewilding if there are incentives in the form of payments for ecosystem services and tax deductions,” noted Professor José María Rey Benayas, lead author on the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-farming-needs-wildlife">Why farming needs wildlife</h2>



Modern farming has greatly increased food production since the 1940s. But this has often come at the expense of nature. 



Clearing land, using heavy fertilizers and pesticides, and removing natural features like hedgerows have pushed many plant and animal species to the edge.



This loss doesn’t just affect wildlife - it disrupts vital services that farms depend on, such as healthy soil, natural pest control, and water retention. As these services decline, the long-term productivity and resilience of farming systems are put at risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cost-of-declining-wildlife">The cost of declining wildlife</h2>



Across Europe and beyond, once-common species are disappearing from farmland. For example, the U.K. has lost over 40 million birds since 1970, and wild bee populations have declined in more than half of European countries, according to multiple long-term surveys.



These animals aren’t just part of the scenery - they’re key to food production. Birds eat crop pests. Bees and other insects pollinate the flowers that develop into fruits and vegetables. Their loss means greater reliance on artificial fertilisers, pesticides, and expensive manual labour.



Bringing wildlife back isn’t just a conservation goal - it’s a practical step toward more affordable and reliable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-cover-crops-may-be-the-future-of-sustainable-farming/">farming</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-steps-to-farming-alongside-wildlife">Steps to farming alongside wildlife </h2>



The researchers suggest a four-part plan that links nature conservation with everyday farming. 



First, they recommend reserving at least 20% of farmland for nature. This space would include large patches of woodland, wetlands, and species-rich grassland to form strong core habitats. 



Second, these patches should be connected by green corridors - such as hedgerows, ponds, and strips of scrubland - that allow wildlife to move, feed, and reproduce.



Third, they propose protecting small hotspots within working fields. This would involve setting aside about 10% of cropped land for flower strips, beetle banks, and bird perches, bringing the total to the 30% global restoration goal. 



Finally, they call for small changes in daily farming practices, like reducing chemical use, planting flowers for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-face-extinction-risk-due-to-climate-change/">pollinators</a>, and letting livestock graze more freely to help spread seeds and support healthy soil.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewilding-has-benefits-for-farmers">Rewilding has benefits for farmers</h2>



Many European regions cannot host bears or bison. However, smaller species such as lynx, wildcat, or European hare can still boost ecosystem health. Choosing the right mix depends on local conditions.



Helping wildlife can pay off in more ways than one. When farms support natural habitats, they often see practical benefits in return. 



Better soil retains more water and nutrients, which supports stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farmers-can-help-make-crops-more-resilient/">crops</a>. Pollinators and natural predators of pests can help increase yields in nearby fields. 



Farmers may also spend less on fertilizers and pesticides, lowering overall input costs. In some places, governments might provide payments or tax breaks to reward efforts that support biodiversity and ecosystem services.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-room-for-wildlife">Making room for wildlife</h2>



Reaching the 20% target may be challenging for small farms, but collective action can make it achievable. At the same time, each region will need to adapt the plan to fit its local conditions. 



Areas with heavily degraded farmland have the most to gain, while places with traditional, low-impact farming may require fewer changes. 



The researchers emphasize that this is just a starting point - but the message is clear: making room for wildlife alongside farming can help secure both indigenous species and food for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2860">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.



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Farming for wildlife: How traditional practices can protect nature

Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still...

A new species of dragonfish has surfaced from the chilly waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula, and it has a story that spans nearly a million winters.



Researchers report that Akarotaxis gouldae (nicknamed the banded dragonfish) branched off from its nearest cousin some 780,000 years ago, surviving cycles of advancing and retreating ice in near‑total isolation, according to <a href="https://www.vims.edu/people/corso_ad/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Andrew Corso</a> of the <a href="https://www.vims.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-the-dragonfish-family-tree">Tracing the dragonfish family tree</h2>



Genetic work showed that A. gouldae separated from A. nudiceps after glaciers sealed much of the Southern Ocean, leaving a pocket of fish marooned in deep trenches.



“There are two distinct bands on the sides of adult A. gouldae that are not present on A. nudiceps,” said Corso, adding that the specimens had sat unrecognized in museum jars for decades.



Time‑calibrated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/phylogeny" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phylogeny</a>, a technique that treats <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-detailed-map-of-human-genetic-mutations-unveiled/">DNA mutations</a> as a molecular clock, supports the 780,000‑year split and hints that the ancestors of today’s banded dragonfish rode out the ice age beneath moving glaciers before re‑emerging when the ice pulled back.



The banded dragonfish joins the family Bathydraconidae, a group famed for its sparse sampling and for species that often turn up only as larval traces in plankton nets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-museum-collections">Importance of museum collections</h2>



Old jars, dusty shelves, and handwritten labels might not seem exciting, but they’ve become critical to discovering overlooked species like Akarotaxis gouldae. 



The adult fish had been sitting in museum <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/vertebrate-zoology/fishes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ichthyology</a> collections for years, misidentified as their more common relatives.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/dragonfish_new-species_Akarotaxis-gouldae_Akarotaxis-nudiceps_Andrew-Corso_1big.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/dragonfish_new-species_Akarotaxis-gouldae_Akarotaxis-nudiceps_Andrew-Corso_1s.webp" alt="Akarotaxis gouldae (left) compared to Akarotaxis nudiceps (right) show distinct morphological differences, including the presence of two bands on the bodies of Akarotaxis gouldae as well as a shorter snouts and jaws. Credit: Andrew Corso" class="wp-image-1974442"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Akarotaxis gouldae (left) compared to Akarotaxis nudiceps (right) show distinct morphological differences, including the presence of two bands on the bodies of Akarotaxis gouldae as well as a shorter snouts and jaws. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Andrew Corso</figcaption></figure>



By cross-checking DNA samples with these physical specimens, scientists were able to link the genetic evidence to real-world morphology. Without access to these archives, the banded dragonfish might still be hiding in plain sight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragonfish-species-in-isolation">Dragonfish species in isolation</h2>



Living cut off for hundreds of thousands of years forces species to adapt in unique ways. In the case of Akarotaxis gouldae, the isolation beneath glaciers may have shaped not only its body but also its behaviors and genetic resilience.



Studying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-deep-sea-squid-discovered-that-broods-giant-eggs/">species</a> like this helps scientists understand how evolution works over long timescales when environments are extreme and gene flow is limited. It also gives clues about how animals might respond to rapid environmental changes happening today.



To persist in water that hovers around 28 °F, notothenioid fishes such as A. gouldae make <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14515019/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">antifreeze glycoproteins</a>, tiny molecules that latch onto ice crystals and halt their growth.



Adults likely spend most of the year hundreds of feet down, yet come inshore to guard nests, a behavior documented in related dragonfishes, while their larvae drift near the surface, where food is richer but fishing gear lurks. 



Dissections reveal ovaries holding surprisingly few eggs, suggesting a slow‑growing population that cannot quickly rebound from losses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-peninsula-matters">Why the peninsula matters</h2>



All confirmed records of A. gouldae fall inside a roughly 250‑mile swath along the western Antarctic Peninsula, giving the fish one of the narrowest ranges of any Antarctic vertebrate. 



That strip is also among the fastest‑warming places south of the equator; Esperanza Station <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-023-00529-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">logged</a> an air temperature of 64.9 °F in 2020, part of a trend of record heat events that are increasing in frequency.



As the water warms and sea ice shrinks, prey dynamics shift. A 25‑year survey shows that larvae of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03042-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Antarctic silverfish</a>, an important forage species for penguins and seals, drop sharply when sea ice duration falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-krill-nets-and-collateral-damage">Krill nets and collateral damage</h2>



Commercial vessels net <a href="https://www.ccamlr.org/en/fisheries/krill-fisheries" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">krill</a> throughout the Peninsula in mid‑water trawls that work from the surface to about 820 ft, directly overlapping the depths where larval dragonfish ride the currents.



“This limited range combined with their low reproductive capacity and the presence of early life stages in shallower waters suggests that this is a vulnerable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-tiger-swallowtail-butterfly-discovered-in-the-u-s-had-gone-unnoticed-by-scientists/">species</a> that could be impacted by the krill fishery,” said Corso. 



Observers note that juvenile finfish bycatch is poorly documented; a few hundred missed larvae could erase a year‑class of banded dragonfish before scientists even know it existed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honoring-a-ship-s-legacy">Honoring a ship's legacy</h2>



The species honors the research vessel <a href="https://www.usap.gov/vesselscienceandoperations/1626/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Laurence M. Gould</a>, retired in 2024 after decades ferrying scientists through treacherous seas. Its departure leaves only one U.S. supply ship to cover a coastline the size of the continental United States.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/penguin-poop-helps-form-clouds-that-could-slow-antarctic-warming/">Penguin colonies</a> already illustrate what slips through gaps in monitoring: satellite and drone surveys reveal that many chinstrap penguin rookeries around the Peninsula have fallen by more than 50 % since the 1980s.



Corso and colleagues hope the banded dragonfish will become a flagship for hidden Antarctic biodiversity, spurring tighter catch limits and fresh investment in field campaigns before climate and commerce push the deep‑sea relic past a tipping point.



The full study is published in <a href="https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/52879" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zootaxa</a>.



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New dragonfish species discovered in Antarctica has survived in isolation for 780,000 years

A new species of dragonfish has surfaced from the chilly...

Reefs are usually pictured as underwater rainforests crammed with species, yet the planet’s first large animal‑built reefs tell a quieter story. New work on fossils from Nevada shows that early Cambrian seas looked nothing like the bustling coral gardens we know today.



Graduate researcher Casey Bennett of the <a href="https://missouri.edu/">University of Missouri</a> and colleagues spent weeks among dusty outcrops, chipping out blocks packed with shells no bigger than grains of sand.



The analysis reveals surprising patterns of life around those ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-reef-awareness-day-2025-bringing-corals-back-to-life/">structures</a>, offering a fresh window onto evolution half a billion years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animal-reefs-spanned-ancient-nevada">Animal reefs spanned ancient Nevada</h2>



More than 514 million years ago, sponge‑like <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/porifera/archaeo.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">archaeocyathids</a> built the planet's earliest animal <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3514525.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reefs</a> in shallow seas stretching from Siberia to what is now Nevada.



The Harkless Formation near modern Death Valley hosts dozens of these patch reefs, some only a few yards across yet stacked through hundreds of feet of limestone.



Packed between the stone cups of the sponges are fragments of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342184591_Small_shelly_fossils_and_carbon_isotopes_from_the_early_Cambrian_Stages_3-4_Mural_Formation_of_western_Laurentia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">small shelly fauna</a>, the quirky menagerie of early mineralized animals that heralded the Cambrian explosion. These fossils, most under a tenth of an inch long, include baby <a href="https://home.wgnhs.wisc.edu/wisconsin-geology/fossils/brachiopods/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brachiopods</a>, snail‑like mollusks, and bristly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699524000214" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chancelloriids</a>.



Bennett’s team measured fossil assemblages in multiple vertical sections and compared them to the distance from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-cant-survive-rising-sea-urchin-numbers/">reef</a> walls.



The researchers logged grain size and chemistry of nearby layers to study how sediment influenced fossil preservation. The approach marries classic field mapping with CT scanning that can spot skeletal bits hidden in uncut rock.



That toolbox let the team count tiny creatures that earlier surveys missed, pushing sample sizes into the thousands.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiny-fossils-trace-ancient-reefs">Tiny fossils trace ancient reefs</h2>



Small shelly fauna crop up worldwide in rocks dating to the first 25 million years after animals evolved skeletons, making them key markers for global correlation. 



Because many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-temperature-swings-boost-coral-reef-resilience/">species</a> lived fast and died young, their remains provide fine‑scale time stamps that help synchronize distant stratigraphic sections.



The specimens also capture evolutionary experiments that never made it into the later fossil record, such as slug‑like <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.1995.0029" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">halkieriids</a> that wore chain‑mail armor of overlapping plates. Linking these animals to specific habitats can explain why some lineages thrived while others fizzled.



Modern coral reefs often harbor dense banks of filter feeders and crustaceans whose larvae settle preferentially on hard walls. If early reefs played a similar ecological role, small shelly species should cluster close to archaeocyathid mounds. 



That prediction has floated in textbooks for decades but rested on scant quantitative data. Bennett’s dataset provided the first rigorous test at meter‑scale resolution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-reefs-didn-t-increase-nearby-species">Ancient reefs didn’t increase nearby species</h2>



“With modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-coral-collapse-may-help-save-the-great-barrier-reef/">reefs</a>, biodiversity is expected to decrease as you move away from the reef structure due to reduced shelter and food access,” said Bennett. Yet her counts showed no clear pattern - some distant fossil layers were as species-poor as those near the mounds.



Instead, a few hardy taxa dominate whole <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336585971_Palaeoecology_of_the_archaeocyathan_reefs_from_the_lower_Cambrian_Harkless_Formation_southern_Nevada_western_United_States_and_carbon_isotopic_evidence_for_their_demise" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">layers</a>, suggesting that early oceans sorted communities by environmental filters rather than by proximity to the reef.



That pattern echoes observations from later Cambrian sections in Mongolia and Labrador, where reefs also failed to boost local diversity.



“Potentially, this happened by preferentially removing or keeping certain faunas, rather than the reef serving as a major food source for surrounding organisms,” added Assistant Professor Sarah Jacquet.



The remark points fingers at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/hydrodynamics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hydrodynamics</a> - the way water flow scours or blankets parts of the seafloor. Models show gentle currents around low-relief reefs can form eddies that trap shells or carry them away. Those physics could produce patchy fossil carpets without invoking biological competition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sediment-dictated-fossil-survival">Sediment dictated fossil survival</h2>



The team noticed that changes in <a href="https://nautiluslive.org/blog/2023/08/18/science-lithology-dating-seafloors-movements-over-time" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lithology</a>, whether the rock was a grainy packstone or a micritic mud-governed which shells survived. Coarse beds preserved robust hyoliths, while fine muds favored delicate sponge spicules.



Taphonomic quirks can therefore mask true ecological signals, a warning for paleontologists who chase diversity curves through deep time. By pairing sedimentology with fossil tallies, Bennett shows how to tease apart the preservational filter.



The study also strengthens a growing view that archaeocyath reefs were short‑lived “experiments” rather than foundational keystones. 



Similar conclusions emerged from carbon‑isotope <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390526423_Small_shelly_fauna_biodiversity_from_reef-adjacent_facies_of_the_lower_Cambrian_Harkless_formation_Nevada" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> that tracked the rise and crash of reef communities through Cambrian Stage 4.



Those geochemical shifts hint that global changes in seawater chemistry, perhaps tied to oxygen pulses, played a bigger role than local reef architecture. If true, the early oceans were less a patchwork of hotspots and more a landscape ruled by large‑scale physical drivers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-reefs-warn-us-about-today">Ancient reefs warn us about today</h2>



Coral ecologists <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225405507_Rapid_phase-shift_reversal_on_a_Jamaican_coral_reef">note</a> that today’s reefs often act as biodiversity magnets, with fish and invertebrate richness peaking on the reef and falling away into open sand. But those gradients may depend on the vertical relief and nutrient flow that Cambrian reefs lacked.



Understanding that difference matters because climate change is flattening many living reefs, slicing away the very architecture that supports complex food webs. 



Ancient analogues show that low-relief carbonate banks can persist without the riot of life we associate with reefs. This hints at future ocean floors that remain structurally intact but are ecologically simplified.



“Just because we know how the world works today doesn’t mean it worked the same way back then,” noted Professor Jacquet. Recognizing that flex in nature’s playbook can help scientists design conservation targets that account for multiple evolutionary baselines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-show-reef-loss-risk">Fossils show reef loss risk</h2>



Bennett plans to sample neighboring formations to see whether diversity patterns change in deeper water or in reefs built by different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-sponges-play-a-critical-role-in-the-ocean-and-they-are-rapidly-vanishing/">sponge</a> species. 



Coupling those data with fluid‑dynamic models could finally pin down how current speed and direction sculpted early animal neighborhoods.



The Nevada hills still hold miles of limestone from ancient animal reefs, awaiting fresh eyes and new technology. Every chip of shale reminds us that even the smallest fossils can rewrite big chapters in Earth history.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S003101822500207X?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology</a>.



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Ancient reefs were surprisingly empty compared to today

Reefs are usually pictured as underwater rainforests crammed with species,...

Diseño sin título - 1

The fossil of Ferruaspis brocksi lay unnoticed inside a small slab of rust‑colored rock from a newly discovered exceptional fossil site in central New South Wales, Australia until a curious researcher split the stone in early March. 



“It was a complete fluke,” exclaimed <a href="https://earthsciences.anu.edu.au/people/professor-jochen-j-brocks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prof. Jochen Brocks</a> of the <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Australian National University</a> after realizing what he had found. 



That single break exposed a two‑inch fish so complete that even its stomach contents and color cells were still visible.



During the <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/tertiary/miocene.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miocene epoch</a>, central New South Wales was covered by temperate rainforest and freshwater oxbow lakes rather than today’s dusty paddocks. 



The new species belongs to the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49887-Osmeriformes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Osmeriformes order</a>, a group better known for modern graylings and smelts but never before recorded in Australia’s fossil record.



Researchers led by <a href="https://australian.museum/get-involved/staff-profiles/matthew-mccurry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Matthew McCurry</a> at the Australian Museum and <a href="https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/persons/michael-frese" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Michael Frese</a> at the University of Canberra compared dozens of specimens ranging from 2.1 to 3 inches long, confirming a healthy resident population rather than scattered migrants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rainforest-lake-that-turned-to-rust">Rainforest lake that turned to rust</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-like-rainbow-trout-suffer-extreme-pain-when-killed-by-air/">fish</a> and many plants and insects were entombed in <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Goethite" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">goethite</a>, an <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3866414/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iron‑oxide</a> mineral that precipitated rapidly in the stagnant lake water. 



Iron’s ability to lock soft tissue in place is now recognized as a key factor in deep‑time preservation of cells and proteins. 



Geochemists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825223000569" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">note</a> that goethite’s fine crystals can replicate sub‑micron features before decay destroys the originals, explaining why pigment cells survived here while bones often did not.



McGraths Flat is classed as a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/konservatlagerstatten-cause-and-classification/40A5D354B2DB79EFB6D654BC77421A33" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Konservat‑Lagerstätte</a>, a sedimentary deposit famous for extraordinary detail, and its ferric layers sit just three feet below the surface near Gulgong. 



The discovery encourages field crews to re‑examine iron‑rich outcrops worldwide that were once dismissed as fossil‑poor.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-fossil-was-a-two-inch-hunter">Fish fossil was a two‑inch hunter</h2>



Under a scanning electron microscope, the team identified packed groups of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1819" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">melanosomes</a> that once sat inside pigment cells called melanophores. 



Their distribution shows a dark back, pale belly, and two lateral racing stripes, classic countershading that helps living fish blend into sunlit water.



“It pushed the boundaries of what can be preserved,” noted Dr. Frese. Similar spherical and rod‑shaped melanosomes had been recorded earlier in an Eocene fish eye from Denmark, providing a useful comparison for the Australian material. 



The stripes also hint at schooling behavior, because bold horizontal bands are common in small modern smelts that rely on group camouflage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-a-final-snack-reveals">What a final snack reveals</h2>



Each fossil gut contained antennae from <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1990.35.7.1631" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chaoborus larvae</a>, better known as phantom midge young, along with fragments of insect wings and an occasional bivalve shell. 



Modern Chaoborus sink into mud by day and rise at night to avoid fish, a strategy documented in laboratory and field studies.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/fossilized-fish-15-million-years-ago-last-meal-intact-stomach_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/fossilized-fish-15-million-years-ago-last-meal-intact-stomach_1s.webp" alt="Chromatophores and melanosomes in F. brocksi. Light microscopy photographs (A–F, AM F.155048) and scanning electron micrographs (G–L, AM F.146748). A, overview image showing the distribution pattern of melanophores in the fish’s skin. B–F, melanophores in the flank and the anal fin showing variation in size, form, and color. G–I, melanosomes in melanophores in an area of skin near the pectoral fin; single melanophore (G); edge of a single melanophore (H); center of a single melanophore (I). J–L, melanosomes in retinal pigment epithelial cells of the eye. Dashed lines mark areas that are depicted at higher magnifications in other panels. Credit: Australian National University" class="wp-image-1974319"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chromatophores and melanosomes in F. brocksi. Light microscopy photographs (A–F, AM F.155048) and scanning electron micrographs (G–L, AM F.146748). A, overview image showing the distribution pattern of melanophores in the fish’s skin. B–F, melanophores in the flank and the anal fin showing variation in size, form, and color. G–I, melanosomes in melanophores in an area of skin near the pectoral fin; single melanophore (G); edge of a single melanophore (H); center of a single melanophore (I). J–L, melanosomes in retinal pigment epithelial cells of the eye. Dashed lines mark areas that are depicted at higher magnifications in other panels. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Australian National University</figcaption></figure>



The heavy reliance on pelagic prey suggests F. brocksi hunted in open water after dusk rather than picking along the bottom. 



Because several size classes died together, scientists infer the lake provided year‑round habitat, unlike many living smelts that migrate between rivers and the sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-parasite-hitchhiker">A parasite hitchhiker</h2>



One specimen shows a juvenile freshwater mussel, or glochidium, clamped to its tail fin. This is the oldest direct <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-some-animals-become-fossils-while-others-just-disappear/">fossil record</a> of such parasitism and implies the lake was periodically connected to a river where adult unionid mussels spawned.



Another <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-fish-provide-climate-resilient-nutrition-for-a-warming-world/">fish</a> swallowed a similar mussel, meaning it likely ventured near the river mouth shortly before dying. 



These clues help reconstruct seasonal flooding patterns in Miocene Australia without relying solely on sedimentology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-iron-fish-fossils-matter">Why iron fish fossils matter</h2>



Palaeontologist <a href="https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/kate-trinajstic-f0dcf6b1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kate Trinajstic</a>, Curtin University, observed that iron deposits “open up a new area for people to investigate.” 



Her point is underscored by experimental decay work showing that early iron infiltration can arrest bacterial breakdown within days.



Goethite <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-euarthropod-youti-yuanshi-lived-520-million-years-ago-insect-evolution/">fossils</a> therefore extend the window for studying fragile tissues like eyes, muscles, and even viral particles that normally vanish. 



They also capture ecological interactions, predation, parasitism, pigmentation, that skeletons alone cannot.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-australia-s-fossil-record">Rethinking Australia's fossil record</h2>



The discovery of Ferruaspis brocksi challenges the long-held notion that Australia’s freshwater fish fossil record is too sparse for meaningful evolutionary study. 



Until now, no complete body fossils of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/osmeriformes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Osmeriformes</a> had been found on the continent, leaving major gaps in understanding their arrival and development.



With dozens of specimens at a single site, paleontologists now have a rare opportunity to study not just anatomy, but behavior, ecology, and population structure. 



This level of detail is nearly unheard of in Miocene freshwater <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-are-quietly-battling-climate-change-on-the-seabed/">fish</a> fossils from the Southern Hemisphere.



The team’s phylogenetic analysis places F. brocksi near the base of the southern Osmeriformes radiation, pushing the group’s Australian arrival to at least 15 million years ago. 



That timeline aligns with molecular studies indicating a mid‑Miocene split between Australian and New Zealand graylings. Fieldwork will resume next dry season, targeting deeper layers that may hold older relatives or their predators.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2445684" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology</a>.



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Fossilized fish that lived 15 million years ago still has preserved food in its stomach

The fossil of Ferruaspis brocksi lay unnoticed inside a small...

Vultures cruising high above a savanna or hyenas crunching bones in the night are more than cinematic symbols of death - they are the planet’s front-line sanitation crew. By devouring carcasses quickly and completely, large scavengers deny dangerous microbes a foothold.



A wide-ranging study from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stanford University</a> shows that these underappreciated scavengers are declining at an alarming pace.



The work draws on population assessments for more than 1,300 vertebrate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scavengers-clean-up-wetlands-and-boost-their-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scavenger</a> species and reveals a worrisome pattern.



The steepest rates of scavenger decline were found among the biggest, most specialized carrion eaters, while adaptable opportunists such as rats and feral dogs surge in their absence.



“The evidence we found is very clear,” said senior author Rodolfo Dirzo, a professor of biology and environmental science at Stanford. "Scavengers are in decline, but it’s not homogeneous. It is particularly the large and specialized ones.”



“At the same time, this allows space for the smaller scavengers, which are problematic because they are themselves sources of zoonotic diseases.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-cleaners-to-contaminators">From cleaners to contaminators</h2>



The researchers cataloged everything from famous scavengers - Old World <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-vultures-may-threaten-public-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vultures</a>, spotted hyenas, condors - to less obvious diners such as pond turtles, catfish, even great white sharks.



Cross-referencing each species against the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List</a> and regional studies, they found that 36 percent of the world’s scavenger populations are threatened or already shrinking.



When those dominant consumers disappear, their ecological niche is rapidly filled by smaller generalists in a process ecologists label “ecological release.” In temperate suburbs, that might mean raccoons and crows; in tropical villages, perhaps <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rats-are-spreading-a-deadly-disease-across-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rats</a> and village dogs.



These newcomers rarely match the efficiency of an eagle or a vulture, leaving more rotting flesh on the landscape. Worse, many thrive near humans, turning carcasses into pathways for diseases to jump from wildlife to people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-effects-of-scavenger-decline-in-india">Effects of scavenger decline in India</h2>



Few episodes capture the stakes so vividly as India’s vulture crisis in the 1990s. Veterinary use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac proved fatal to vultures that scavenged treated cattle. Populations plummeted, opening a niche for free-roaming dogs.



With vultures gone, feral dog populations surged, leading to an estimated 39 million extra dog bites and 48,000 human deaths from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rabies-is-spreading-among-marine-animals-for-the-first-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rabies</a> between 1992 and 2006.



Once India banned diclofenac in 2006, vulture numbers began to inch upward. This reminded scientists and policymakers that timely intervention can halt or even reverse a downward spiral.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scavengers-quietly-protect-health">Scavengers quietly protect health</h2>



The study emphasizes that these issues are not confined to the Global South. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the United States, eagles and ravens consume elk carcasses and even aborted fetuses.



By removing potential bacterial incubators within hours, scavengers help curb brucellosis, a livestock disease that can spill over to ranchers. A drop in scavengers there could raise veterinary costs and public-health risks despite the region’s strong infrastructure.



Lead author Chinmay Sonawane, a doctoral student in Dirzo’s lab, underscored humanity’s reliance on species most of us rarely notice: “We’re starting to understand exactly how we depend on each individual species.”



“As we become more aware of these connections, we're going to be more inclined to protect these species, because we are ultimately protecting our health.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-factors-driving-scavenger-decline">Factors driving scavenger decline</h2>



Three forces repeatedly surfaced in the team’s analysis. Expanding agriculture and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-is-a-threat-to-78-of-the-worlds-bird-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urbanization</a> fragment habitats, making it harder for wide-ranging birds and mammals to find carcasses or safe nesting sites.



Intensive livestock production brings direct conflict when ranchers poison or shoot scavengers they suspect of killing calves. At the same time, wildlife trade and trophy hunting remove lions, eagles, and other predators that double as high-capacity scavengers.



These pressures often overlap. Clearing forest for pasture, for instance, strips vultures of roosting trees while putting them nearer cattle treated with toxic veterinary drugs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ecosystem-function-and-human-well-being">Ecosystem function and human well-being </h2>



Public suspicion of scavengers compounds their plight. “There is this prejudice that these scavengers are nasty animals and that we should get rid of them, but they are important for the functioning of ecosystems, also for human well-being,” Dirzo said.



The authors call for multi-layered solutions. Conservationists must protect nesting cliffs and den sites and enforce tighter regulation of pharmaceuticals known to poison birds.



Outreach programs can dispel myths, showing local communities how vultures actually protect livestock by removing disease hotspots. Financial incentives or livestock-guarding measures could reduce retaliatory killings of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spotted-hyena-returns-to-egypt-after-5000-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hyenas</a> and jackals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scavengers-are-public-health-allies">Scavengers are public health allies</h2>



Rather than tracking a handful of charismatic species, the Stanford team focused on a functional group - animals bound by what they do rather than by taxonomic labels.



That lens, they argue, reveals how losing one slice of biodiversity can disrupt entire healthcare networks in nature. If carcasses linger, fly populations balloon, dog packs expand, and viruses gain new hosts.



Scavengers may lack the appeal of pandas or coral reefs, yet their economic and public-health value is immense. The world’s oldest waste-management system runs on wings, paws, and powerful stomach acids.



Letting it collapse means footing a growing medical bill - one paid in outbreaks, veterinary losses, and human lives. Protecting vultures in India reduced rabies deaths; hyenas curb anthrax in Africa; condors help keep Americas’ pastures cleaner.



Ultimately, the study offers a simple equation: conserve the big eaters of the dead, and you safeguard the living. Ignore them, and the costs arrive on hospital ledgers and in destabilized ecosystems. The choice is clear - and action is urgently needed to halt scavenger decline. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417328122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Scavenger decline is a threat to ecosystems  - and human health

Vultures cruising high above a savanna or hyenas crunching bones...

Early‑life environmental conditions can shape the adult traits of insects like dragonflies long before they take flight. 



A sweeping analysis of 87 <a href="https://dragonflies.online/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">European dragonfly</a> species now shows that the temperatures and seasonal rhythms a larva faces underwater matter more to adult trait variety than the climate the insect meets in the air, challenging long‑held conservation habits.



“This is really useful going forward, as the results will provide a new general rule to guide how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-are-still-disappearing-and-there-are-hundreds-of-reasons-why/">biodiversity</a> scientists forecast climate responses,” said Professor Lars L. Iversen of <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragonfly-larva-life-shapes-adult-function">Dragonfly larva life shapes adult function</h2>



Early stages often happen out of sight, yet they leave lasting biological fingerprints that show up in community‑wide patterns.



The new work argues that <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biodiversity</a> cannot be understood only by watching visible adults because carryover effects ripple from submerged childhoods into the adult population’s body sizes, wing shapes and flight ranges.



Functional biogeographers have long mapped where <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1415442111" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">traits cluster</a>, but they usually assume those traits respond directly to the present environment. Iversen’s team instead found that underwater experiences set constraints that later <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/very-little-is-known-about-99-of-all-insects-on-earth/">environments</a> can only tweak rather than erase.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pond-temperatures-shape-body-traits">Pond temperatures shape body traits</h2>



A dragonfly begins life as a bold little <a href="https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dragonfly-larvae" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nymph</a> clinging to stems or burrowing in mud for up to two years before it ever unfurls a wing. 



The study linked cooler waters, steep temperature swings and irregular water levels with narrower adult trait ranges, while warmer, more stable ponds produced adults with a broader toolkit for dispersal.



“This is a really important study, as many predictions for how climate might affect diversity are based on observations of adult stages,” noted Lesley T. Lancaster of the University of Aberdeen.&nbsp;



To capture nuance across thousands of 31‑mile‑wide grid cells, the researchers calculated each community’s trait space as a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Three-dimensional-hypervolume_fig3_4201499" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">three‑dimensional hypervolume</a>. This is a statistical shape that shows how body length, wing size and other measurements spread out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dragonfly-larva-shape-adult-traits">Dragonfly larva shape adult traits</h2>



Mean annual temperature emerged as the single strongest predictor of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geb.12525" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adult trait diversity</a>, and most of that link flowed indirectly through its impact on larvae rather than adults themselves.&nbsp;



Topography, forest cover and the ratio of permanent to seasonal water bodies nudged the numbers too, but their direct and indirect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-heat-shrinking-habitats-insects-face-hidden-threats/">effects</a> often pulled in opposite directions, dampening what surface observations alone would suggest.



Classic <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2307/1938285" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiments</a> show that overcrowded larvae shift strategies when food or space runs short, sharpening interference or exploitative tactics that later echo in adult sizes. 



By folding such legacy effects into structural‑equation models, the team could explain two‑thirds of the variation in adult functional diversity across the continent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carrying-larval-traits-into-adulthood">Carrying larval traits into adulthood</h2>



Similar carryover <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">patterns</a> crop up in mosquitoes, mayflies and even beetles whose larvae face drying pools, hinting that early‑stage filters may be a widespread driver of community change. 



Because many freshwater insects are hemimetabolous, meaning they do not enjoy a complete makeover during metamorphosis, the traits they build early cannot be fully rebuilt later.



In systems where water is warming fastest, lake <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0067-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> already record shifts in mixing regimes and ice cover that alter larval conditions, foreshadowing trait reshuffles in the flying stage. 



Understanding those lags may help explain why some species expand poleward quickly while others stall despite suitable adult habitats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advice-for-conservation-planners">Advice for conservation planners</h2>



Restoring riparian shade or managing water levels in breeding ponds can give juveniles the thermal and oxygen buffers they need, indirectly widening adult trait portfolios that support <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/modern-farming-is-causing-many-insect-species-to-collapse/">population</a> resilience. 



Policies that focus only on adult foraging grounds or migration corridors risk missing these upstream levers and may underestimate vulnerability under rapid warming.



By targeting nursery habitats, managers may also help a suite of terrestrial predators, birds, bats and spiders, that rely on the timing and size structure of dragonfly emergences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biodiversity-forecasting-tools">Biodiversity forecasting tools</h2>



Most current biodiversity models assume that traits are shaped in real time by adult habitat features, with little room for past influences. But these new findings show that such models may be incomplete.



To improve accuracy, researchers suggest future climate impact models should include developmental carryover effects as core parameters. 



Incorporating early-life trait-environment links could allow forecasts to anticipate shifts not just in where species live, but how they function once they arrive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biological-pathways-of-dragonfly-larva">Biological pathways of dragonfly larva </h2>



Researchers now want to see whether the same indirect pathways exist in tropical species, where seasonality is muted yet temperature ceilings are high.



Experts are also exploring genetic clues that might reveal how much of the carryover effect is plastic adjustment versus hard‑wired evolution. 



For now, the message is clear: if you want to protect an animal’s future, start where it begins, not where it ends.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/geb.70056" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Ecology and Biogeography</a>.



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Dragonfly larvae expose climate’s hidden influence on biology

Early‑life environmental conditions can shape the adult traits of insects...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

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Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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