An extended period of turmoil in the prehistoric Maya city of Mayapan, in the Yucatan region of Mexico, was marked by population declines, political rivalries and civil conflict. Between 1441 and 1461 CE the strife reached an unfortunate crescendo — the complete institutional collapse and abandonment of the city. This all occurred during a protracted…
Some copepods, diminutive crustaceans with an outsized place in the aquatic food web, can evolve fast enough to survive in the face of rapid climate change, according to new research that addresses a longstanding question in the field of genetics. Several species of copepods and one ostracod are shown here [Credit: NOAA] Barely more than…
A new study of the ancient world of Anatolia—now Turkey—shows how they adapted to climate change but offers a warning for today’s climate emergency. Maps of the study region: These were created in QGIS using the ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model v3 as a basemap [13]: (a) All TIB 8 settlements, with elevation data displayed using…
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Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. Researchers from the University of Basel have reported these findings in the journal Stalagmite from the Hoti Cave. Holes are created by sampling for radioactive dating, and scratch marks by sampling for isotope analysis [Credit: Timon Kipfer, University of Basel] On…
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To reach the only place in the world where cave paintings of prehistoric marine life have been found, archaeologists have to dive to the bottom of the Mediterranean off southern France. Cosquer Cave lies under the sea in a landscape of limestone near Marseilles [Credit: © Luc Vanrell] Then they have to negotiate a 137-meter…
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While calcifying organisms like oysters and corals have difficulty forming their shells and skeletons in more acidic seawater, diatoms have been considered less susceptible to the effects of ocean acidification — a chemical change triggered by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2). The globally widespread tiny diatoms use silica, a compound of silicon, oxygen and…
An international team of scientists from UCL (University College London), the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum (London) and the University of Florence have found a remarkable type of fossilisation that has remained almost entirely overlooked until now. The images show the impressions of a collapsed cell-wall covering (a coccosphere) on the surface…
Read More “Discovery of ‘ghost’ fossils reveals plankton resilience to past global warming events” »
One day more than 3000 years ago, someone lost a shoe at the place we today call Langfonne in the Jotunheimen mountains. The shoe is 28 cm long, which roughly corresponds to a modern size 36 or 37. The owner probably considered the shoe to be lost for good, but on 17 September 2007 it…
Read More “Climate change reveals unique artifacts in melting ice patches” »
Leicester researchers searching for a ‘golden spike’ to formally define humanity’s current geological period — and acknowledge human impact on our planet — have announced a major step in their analysis at an international conference on Wednesday. Amur River clams recovered from San Francisco Bay [Credit: Stephen Himson] University of Leicester Professors Jens Zinke, Mark…
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Organisms adjust their cell walls according to environmental conditions such as temperature. Some adaptations involve changes in lipids which may still be preserved long after the rest of the organisms has been degraded. Researchers at the University of Gottingen studied a specific group of lipids called long chain diols which are found in sea sediments…
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