Global warming could lead to the extinction of up to 10% of frog and toad species endemic to Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest biome within about the next 50 years. The temperature and precipitation regimes predicted to occur between 2050 and 2070 will be lethal for species that are less well adapted to climate variation and inhabit...
Ancient bird bones redate human activity in Madagascar by 6,000 years
Analysis of bones, from what was once the world's largest bird, has revealed that humans arrived on the tropical island of Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than previously thought -- according to a study published today, 12 September 2018, in the journal Science Advances.
A team of scientists led by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological...
Wild animals were routinely captured and traded in ancient Mesoamerica
New evidence from the Maya city of Copan, in Honduras, reveals that ancient Mesoamericans routinely captured and traded wild animals for symbolic and ritual purposes, according to a study published September 12, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nawa Sugiyama from George Mason University, Virginia, USA, and colleagues.
Ancient Mesoamerican cultures used wild animals...
The world needs death and decomposition
What if roadkill piled beside the road and never decomposed? What if massive fish kills washed up on beaches and remained for eternity?
First off, it would be disgusting. Second, the Earth might run out of the key elements these organisms contain.
Thanks to a new study by Michigan State University, scientists now have a better way...
Carrier status matters in foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is believed to be one of the most contagious pathogens of animals in its acute form; however, there is still controversy over whether it is transmissible from asymptomatic, long-term carriers. Despite the lack of evidence for transmission by direct contact with FMDV carrier cattle, there is demonstrable contagion associated with these...
Turtle species in serious decline: Broad ecological impacts
Approximately 61 percent of the world's 356 turtle species are threatened or already extinct, and the decline could have ecological consequences.
These findings are according to a paper in the journal BioScience synthesizing the global status of turtles and their ecological roles by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, University of California,...