The coyote, one of North America's most adaptable predators, continues to surprise scientists with its resilience and counterintuitive survival strategies. 



Recent findings indicate that coyote populations are flourishing even in regions with active hunting efforts, raising questions about traditional wildlife management practices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coyotes-thrive-in-hazard-prone-areas">Coyotes thrive in hazard-prone areas</h2>



A recent study reveals that coyote populations thrive in regions with active hunting programs, challenging assumptions about the effectiveness of such interventions in controlling their numbers.



Conducted by a wildlife biologist from the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Utah</a> in collaboration with colleagues across the country, the research highlights how coyotes have adapted to human interventions that typically decimate other species.



As U.S. landscapes have been increasingly altered by urbanization and habitat fragmentation over the past two centuries, many species have declined. 



Yet coyotes have expanded their range, filling ecological niches left vacant by the loss of larger predators such as bears, wolves, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-cougar-day-the-crucial-ecological-role-of-cougars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cougars</a>. 



Study co-author Austin Green is a researcher at the University of Utah. "Coyotes are bold generalists, eating anything from seeds, trash, roadkill, rodents, deer fawn, even pets," noted Green. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-study-rooted-in-observation-and-data">A study rooted in observation and data</h2>



The study leveraged data from Snapshot USA, a nationwide initiative using motion-triggered trap cameras to monitor <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-mammals-live-depends-more-on-climate-than-human-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mammal</a> populations. 



Over a three-year period, researchers deployed nearly 4,600 cameras across 254 transects in the contiguous United States, including six in Utah. 



These sites included City Creek and Red Butte canyons near Salt Lake City, as well as areas near St. George.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comprehensive-picture-of-coyote-distribution">Comprehensive picture of coyote distribution </h2>



Study lead author Remington Moll is an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire.



“The impressive Snapshot USA project provides a yearly glimpse into our nation’s wildlife thanks to hundreds of researchers and the coordination by the Smithsonian and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences,” said Moll.



Each transect covered 10 to 15 kilometers, with cameras spaced every 500 meters and mounted about 20 inches off the ground. 



The researchers analyzed factors such as urban development, biome type, food sources, competing species, and hunting pressure.



Over 3,100 coyote detections were statistically modeled against 22 covariates, providing a comprehensive picture of their distribution and abundance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coyote-abundance-and-hunting-pressure">Coyote abundance and hunting pressure </h2>



One of the study’s most striking findings is the positive association between coyote abundance and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunting-can-help-stabilize-wildlife-populations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hunting</a> pressure. 



At a 100-meter scale, regions with active coyote hunting showed a 97% positive correlation with population growth. This counterintuitive result can be explained by the species’ territorial behavior.



“Because they’re such territorial animals, if you remove the most territorial one, two or three take their place, start breeding, and you lead to actual increases in coyote population,” explained Green.



Unlike other carnivores such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/clash-of-the-top-predators-wolves-are-eating-sea-otters/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wolves</a> and cougars, which have been eradicated from much of their historical range due to hunting, coyotes appear to benefit from the same pressures. 



Loose regulations - including lack of seasonal restrictions, bag limits, or licensing requirements - may contribute to this phenomenon.



In Utah, a state program even pays $50 for every set of coyote ears submitted, resulting in thousands of animals being killed annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-wildlife-management">Implications for wildlife management</h2>



The study’s findings challenge traditional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loss-of-wildlife-happens-five-times-slower-in-protected-lands/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife</a> management strategies. 



While hunting has historically reduced populations of other species, it seems to have the opposite effect on coyotes, making it an ineffective tool for controlling their numbers.



Furthermore, the adaptability of coyotes - their ability to exploit diverse food sources and colonize new territories - ensures that their populations rebound even in areas where they have been eradicated.



This paradox highlights the need for innovative approaches to coexistence and population management that account for the unique resilience of this species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-north-america-s-most-adaptable-predator">North America’s most adaptable predator</h2>



As researchers continue to analyze data from Snapshot USA, which has compiled photographic wildlife records for seven years, new insights into coyote behavior and broader wildlife trends are likely to emerge. 



These findings not only enhance our understanding of North America’s most adaptable predator but also highlight the complexity of managing wildlife in an era of rapid environmental change. 



Such knowledge could inform future conservation strategies, ensuring a balanced coexistence between humans and wildlife in shared environments.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.07390" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecography</a>.



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Hunting coyotes may be fueling their population growth

The coyote, one of North America's most adaptable predators, continues to surprise scientists with its resilience and counterintuitive survival strategies. Recent findings indicate that coyote populations are flourishing even in regions with active hunting efforts, raising questions about traditional wildlife management practices. Coyotes thrive in hazard-prone areas A recent study reveals that coyote populations thrive in regions with active hunting programs, challenging assumptions about the effectiveness of such interventions in controlling their numbers. Conducted by a wildlife biologist from the University of Utah in collaboration with colleagues...

Humans are to blame for the extinction of many hundreds of bird species over the last 20,000 to 50,000 years, according to a new study from <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a>.

In collaboration with researchers at the Weizmann Institute, the team has investigated a major extinction event that ultimately led to the disappearance of about 10 to 20 percent of all avian species.

The experts report that the vast majority of the extinct bird species shared several features: they were large, lived on islands, and many of them were flightless.

Study lead author Shai Meiri is a professor in the School of Zoology at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University.

"We conducted a comprehensive review of scientific literature, and for the first time collected quantitative data on the numbers and traits of extinct species of birds worldwide. Those that became extinct in the last 300 years or so are relatively well known, while earlier species are known to science from remains found in archaeological and paleontological sites worldwide," explained Professor Meiri.

"Altogether we were able to list 469 avian species that became extinct over the last 50,000 years, but we believe that the real number is much higher."

The researchers believe the widespread extinction of birds was primarily driven by humans, who hunted the birds for food. Humans also introduced new animals to islands - such as pigs, rats, monkeys, and cats - that preyed on the birds and their eggs. 

The experts' theory is based on two main facts - the majority of the bird remains were found on human sites, and most of the extinctions occurred a short time after the arrival of humans.

Furthermore, the extinctions were not random, as most of the victims had three major features in common. Approximately 90 percent of the extinct birds lived on islands where they were hunted. 

In addition, most of the lost bird species were large, making them an ideal target for hunters. According to the researchers, the body mass of extinct birds was up to 10 times larger than that of surviving birds.  

Furthermore, a large portion of the extinct bird species were flightless, which means they would have struggled to evade hunters. The experts found that the number of flightless bird species that became extinct is double the number of flightless species still existing today. 

Overall, 68 percent of all known flightless bird species became extinct. The moa bird in New Zealand is one of the best known examples. Within 300 years, 11 moa species fell victim to hunting by humans. 

"Our study indicates that before the major extinction event of the past millennia, many more large, even giant, as well as flightless avian lived on our globe, and the diversity of birds living on islands was much greater than today," said Professor Meiri.

"We hope that our findings can serve as warning signals regarding bird species currently threatened with extinction, and it is therefore important to check whether they have similar features. It must be noted, however, that conditions have changed considerably, and today the main cause for extinction of species by humans is not hunting but rather the destruction of natural habitats."

The study is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652699">Journal of Biogeography</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans have wiped out hundreds of bird species

Humans are to blame for the extinction of many hundreds...

Hermit crabs may become sexually “excited” by an additive that is released from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-sea-turtles-are-swallowing-plastic-trash/">plastics</a> in the ocean, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/">University of Hull</a>.

The plastic additive oleamide is known to act as a pheromone that affects the behavior of certain marine animals, such as shrimp. 

The researchers, including PhD candidate Paula Schirrmacher, have been studying the compounding effects of marine plastic pollution and climate change on hermit crabs.

The experts found that oleamide increases the respiration rate of hermit crabs, signifying attraction and excitement. The substance can easily be mistaken for food. This means that hermit crabs may travel over a long distance in pursuit of a meal, only for the energy to be wasted on plastic. 

“Our study shows that oleamide attracts hermit crabs. Respiration rate increases significantly in response to low concentrations of oleamide, and hermit crabs show a behavioural attraction comparable to their response to a feeding stimulant," said Schirrmacher.

“Oleamide also has a striking resemblance to oleic acid, a chemical released by arthropods during decomposition. As scavengers, hermit crabs may misidentify oleamide as a food source, creating a trap."

“This research demonstrates that additive leaching may play a significant role in the attraction of marine life to plastic.”

Study co-author Luana Fiorella Mincarelli said that it is important to understand how plastic additives work on molecular levels, especially on reproductive success. “We have found that their toxic effect can be amplified in a climate change scenario.”

The research shows that male blue mussels were the most adversely affected by increased temperature, but females were more sensitive to DEHP, a toxic chemical found in many plastics.

The study authors concluded that rising ocean temperatures, combined with rising levels of plastic pollution, disrupt the breeding cycles of blue mussels and has a negative impact on their reproduction rates.

In another experiment, the team found evidence which confirms the theory that ocean acidification impairs the sense of smell of hermit crabs and other creatures, limiting their ability to communicate.

“Whether or not marine animals can smell plastics is a topic that previously attracted a lot of scientific controversy, but there was not much actual data," said study co-author Dr. Jorg Hardege.

But now, Schirrmacher's study on hermit crabs in Robin Hood’s Bay has revealed that the creatures are actually attracted to a chemical cue known as PEA (2-phenylethylamine). PEA is known to warn sea creatures of predators.

“To receive smell-related information correctly, the odor molecule needs to properly fit and bind to the receptor," said Dr. Christina Roggatz.

“Our results show how lower environmental pH causes small changes in the chemical properties of the odour molecules, which in turn facilitate this crucial binding step. In short: pH can make or break successful communication in the ocean.”

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hermit crabs are actually attracted to plastic additives

Hermit crabs may become sexually “excited” by an additive that...

By uncovering the secrets of how fish swim so efficiently at various speeds, scientists are getting ideas for the next generation of underwater drones. 

Typically, underwater vehicles are designed for one cruising speed - and fall short at other speeds. The technology is very limited compared to the impressive skills of fish, which swim well at various speeds by adjusting their tail stiffness. It would be very useful for underwater drones to move both quickly and slowly. 

Professor Dan Quinn at the <a href="https://engineering.virginia.edu/">University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science</a>, in collaboration with postdoctoral researcher Qiang Zhong, developed a key strategy for enabling multi speed missions in underwater vehicles. The experts have demonstrated a simple way to implement their strategy in robots.

When scientists design swimming robots, it is challenging to determine the ideal stiffness of the piece that propels the robots through the water. This difficult because different levels of stiffness are needed for various conditions. 

“Having one tail stiffness is like having one gear ratio on a bike,” said Professor Quinn. “You’d only be efficient at one speed. It would be like biking through San Francisco with a fixed-gear bike; you’d be exhausted after just a few blocks.”

Most likely, fish solve this problem by adjusting their tail stiffness in real-time, tuning into different levels of stiffness depending on the situation.

While there is no known way to measure the stiffness of a swimming fish, Quinn have combined fluid dynamics and biomechanics to create a model for how and why tail stiffness should be tuned.

“Surprisingly, a simple result came out of all the math: Stiffness should increase with swimming speed squared," said Professor Quinn.

“To test our theory, we built a fishlike robot that uses a programmable artificial tendon to tune its own tail stiffness while swimming in a water channel. What happened is that suddenly our robot could swim over a wider range of speeds while using almost half as much energy as the same robot with a fixed-stiffness tail. The improvement was really quite remarkable.”

“Our work is the first that combines biomechanics, fluid dynamics, and robotics to comprehensively study tail stiffness, which helps to uncover the long-existing mystery about how tail stiffness affects swimming performance,” said Zhong. 

“What is even more fantastic is that we are not just focused on theory analysis, but also on proposing a practical guide for tunable stiffness. Our proposed tunable stiffness strategy has proved effective in realistic swimming missions, where a robot fish achieved high speed and high efficiency swimming simultaneously.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://robotics.sciencemag.org/">Science Robotics</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Secrets of fish tails will help design underwater drones

By uncovering the secrets of how fish swim so efficiently...

Apes use signals to start and finish their social interactions, much like people say hello and goodbye, according to a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>. This behavior has never been documented in any species other than humans. 

The researchers discovered that dynamics such as social status influence the communication efforts that apes use during their interactions - a pattern that is similar to human politeness.

“We were able to launch rockets and land on the moon because we have the ability to share our intentions, which allows us to achieve things so much bigger than a single individual can achieve alone. This ability has been suggested to be at the heart of human nature,” said Raphaela Heesen, a postdoctoral researcher at Durham University in the United Kingdom. 

Humans work together to achieve common goals, and this mutual sense of obligation is known as joint commitment. Through observations of great apes, Heesen and her team have uncovered evidence which suggests that joint commitment is not unique to humans.

In previous studies of joint commitment, children protested when an adult abruptly stopped playing with them. By offering toys and using vocalizations, the children tried to re-engage the adult in playtime. 

The researchers noticed a similar exchange between two bonobos. When the animals were interrupted during a grooming session, they used gestures to resume the grooming. 

The experts set out to investigate when joint commitment first appeared in the human lineage. They propose that joint commitment is not solely based on the feeling of obligation to fulfill a shared promise, but also involves the process of setting up the agreement and mutually deciding when the agreement has been fulfilled. 

This could be something as simple as initiating an interaction by saying “hello,” and wrapping it up with "goodbye." If great apes have a similar entry and exit process in their social interactions, this would demonstrate the process of joint commitment, according to the researchers.

The study was focused on 1,242 interactions within groups of bonobos and chimpanzees. The experts found that the apes did, in fact, frequently gaze at and communicate with each other to initiate and finalize social interactions. 

Bonobos exchanged entry signals and mutual gaze prior to playing 90 percent of the time, while chimps used these signals 69 percent of the time. 

Exit signals were found to be even more common - they were used during 92 percent of bonobo and 86 percent of chimpanzee interactions. The entry and exit signals included touching each other, holding hands or butting heads, or gazing at each other before and after grooming or playing. 

Interestingly, the observations revealed that the closer bonobos were to each other, the shorter the duration of their entry and exit phases, if they even used signals at all. This is similar to how we, as humans, communicate with others, explained the study authors.

“When you’re interacting with a good friend, you’re less likely to put in a lot of effort in communicating politely,” said Heesen. She noted that while this study is a step forward, further research is still needed to understand the origin and evolution of joint commitment.

“Behavior doesn’t fossilize. You can’t dig up bones to look at how behavior has evolved. But you can study our closest living relatives: great apes like chimpanzees and bonobos,” said Heesen. “Whether this type of communication is present in other species will also be interesting to study in the future.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/home">iScience</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Great apes politely end their social interactions

Apes use signals to start and finish their social interactions,...

The,Fangs,Of,A,Venomous,Bush,Viper,Snake

The secret of how snakes got their deadly fangs may be linked to microscopic features of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fibers-inspired-by-spider-silk-are-stronger-than-steel/">teeth</a>, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a>.

"It's always been a mystery why fangs have evolved so many times in snakes, but rarely in other reptiles. Our study answers this, showing how easy it is for normal snake teeth to turn into hypodermic needles," said lead author Dr. Alessandro Palci.

Among the nearly 4,000 species of snakes that are living today, about 600 are considered "medically significant," meaning that a bite would likely require treatment at the nearest hospital.

Snake fangs are modified teeth that are grooved and larger than other teeth, explained the researchers. These modifications can be located at the back or the front of the mouth.

"Snake fangs are an iconic exemplar of a complex adaptation, but despite striking developmental and morphological similarities, they probably evolved independently in several lineages of venomous snakes," wrote the study authors.

"How snakes could, uniquely among vertebrates, repeatedly evolve their complex venom delivery apparatus is an intriguing question."

For the investigation, the researchers used high-tech modeling, fossil evidence, and hours of microscope observations. They found that snakes possess tiny infoldings, or wrinkles, at the base of their teeth. Most likely, these infoldings help teeth attach more firmly to the jaw.

The study revealed that in venomous snakes, one of these folds gets deeper and extends all the way to the tip of the tooth - producing a venom groove and a fang.

"Our examination of venomous and non-venomous species reveals that most snakes have dentine infoldings at the bases of their teeth, known as plicidentine, and that in venomous species, one of these infoldings was repurposed to form a longitudinal groove for venom delivery," explained the researchers. 

According to study co-author Professor Michael Lee, the research highlights the opportunism and efficiency of evolution. "Wrinkles which helped attach teeth to the jaw were repurposed to help inject venom."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists discover the secrets of snake fangs

The secret of how snakes got their deadly fangs may...

At the end of the Cretaceous Period, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-were-already-in-trouble-before-extinction/">dinosaurs</a> (besides birds) and many large marine reptiles suffered a cataclysmic end. Everyone knows about this mass extinction event, yet few consider the survivors of it. A new study has analyzed shark diversity before and after the mass die off. 

Sharks are ancient creatures, and the oldest known form of vertebrate on the planet. Fossil records suggest that at one point in history, there were more than 3,000 types of sharks and their relatives. Sharks managed to survive during extinction events when the ocean lost its oxygen - including the die off during the Cretaceous period, when many other large species were wiped out. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a> led by Mohamad Bazzi looked closely at the easiest shark remains to find - teeth. Examining the diversity of 1,239 fossil shark teeth, the team found that shark diversity had been declining before the extinction event. 

The extinction, roughly 66 million years ago, happened at the boundary of the Cretaceous and Paleogene, the so-called K-Pg boundary. Even though shark diversity was diminished before the extinction, it stayed steady over the course of the event itself. 

There were some exceptions to the overall rule - apex predator sharks with large triangular shaped teeth, did suffer some loss of species during the extinction. Possibly these extinctions were related to the extinction of prey species. 

Other sharks, such as those from the family Odontaspididae, flourished after the K-Pg boundary and rapidly diversified. This family of sharks evolved narrow teeth for preying on fish.

The scientists speculate that the selective extinction in sharks may indicate an overall change in diet from more specialized predators to one of fish generalists. Ultimately, sharks proved to be more resilient in the face of extinction than most vertebrate groups.           

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/">PLOS Biology</a>.

Shark diversity survived the dinosaur extinction

At the end of the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs (besides birds)...

More than 350 cities in the United States are considered “legacy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cities-have-their-own-unique-collection-of-bacteria-and-viruses/">cities</a>” - industrial hubs whose heyday has long since passed, changing demographics and economic circumstances leaving much of the infrastructure to decay. Rather than let these buildings crumble on their own, many communities are instead choosing to make these communal green spaces to benefit the city at large. 

The race to make these abandoned urban spaces “green” are seen by many as a way to reintroduce biodiversity to areas that have been ecologically impoverished for too long. Now, new research shows just how these green spaces can help one of our most important pollinators - bees.

The research, conducted by conservation biologists at the <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>, looked at small plots of vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio over a period of three years. The plots varied in type, ranging from vacant lots to lightly maintained lawns to small flowering prairies. 

Unsurprisingly, the scientists found that more contiguous green spaces were home to the most productive bee colonies. They also found that areas with more native plants had a greater variety of bee and wasp species, making a bigger contribution to urban biodiversity compared to spaces that were heavily managed. 

“This work has shown that some proportion of the bees and wasp community will respond to larger patches of green space being reinstituted in the landscape, even if they are not the natural habitat that was there pre-development. And I think that’s really exciting," said study co-author Dr. Mary M. Gardiner.

Bees are not just important for ecological reasons - they also provide direct economic benefits to human citydwellers. Cleveland alone has over 200 community farms and gardens.

“Both urban and rural farms require pollinators for efficient crop productivity because bee visitations can enhance crop quality and quantity," explained study lead author Katherine J. Turo.

Hopefully, greening initiatives will offer refuge for bees and wasps in the midst of habitat loss and climate change. These are, in Turo’s words, huge issues that aren’t going away anytime soon. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.org/publications/conservation-biology/">Conservation Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Green spaces provide a refuge for urban pollinators

More than 350 cities in the United States are considered...

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an overabundance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strong-ocean-currents-push-red-crabs-far-out-of-their-range/">crabs</a>. A long-term study by researchers at <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UC Santa Cruz</a> in California's Elkhorn Slough revealed that an excessive number of crabs causes tidal creek banks to become more vulnerable to erosion.

The experts report that coastal salt marshes are threatened by erosion that is associated with rising seas, pounding waves, and tidal flows. These vulnerabilities are made worse by superabundant crabs, which are found at their highest densities along the estuary’s tidal creeks.

The striped shore crab can be found all along the West Coast of North America. The study highlights the dual role of these crabs as both consumers of salt marsh vegetation and as ecosystem engineers.

“Their burrowing weakens the creekbank edges, so that whole chunks of marsh will sometimes calve off, and by lowering biomass they are reducing the ability of marsh plants to prevent erosion,” said study lead author Kathryn Beheshti.

The researchers analyzed the effects of crabs on the vegetation and sediments along eroding creekbank edges over the course of five years. They found that reducing crab abundance led to increased growth of salt marsh vegetation and enhanced sediment density.

“Field experiments that span multiple seasons and years are rare,” said study co-author Kerstin Wasson. “This work demonstrates the value of long-term studies by showing that burrows, which weaken the stability of tidal creek banks, persist despite the near absence of the crabs that build them.”

According to study co-author Professor Brent Hughes, the crabs were most abundant in spring and summer, when the pickleweed marshes are at peak production. “This synchrony suggests that the effect of crabs as consumers is more punctuated than their more chronic effect as engineers."

Elkhorn Slough is one of the largest estuaries in California. It has been substantially altered by human activities, and erosion is steadily eating away at the marsh. “It’s a big issue, because when the marsh erodes away along the tidal creeks it’s a permanent loss,” explained Beheshti.

Study co-author Professor Christine Angelini of the University of Florida said that salt marshes in the southeastern United States appear to be a harbinger of what’s to come for marshes along the Pacific coast, with sea-level rise amplifying the effects of what would otherwise be considered an innocuous crab.

The researchers are calling for similar long-term studies to be conducted in other West Coast marsh systems to investigate whether the impacts of crabs are widespread. “It’d be great for contextualizing our findings,” said Beheshti. 

“We’d like to know if Elkhorn Slough is the canary in the coal mine, signaling yet another pathway for accelerated marsh edge loss for one of California's rarest coastal habitats.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21508925">Ecosphere</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Superabundant crabs threaten the resilience of salt marshes

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a>, experts report that mountain lions moved less and downsized their territory during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-antibodies-persist-for-at-least-nine-months/">COVID-19</a> pandemic. The research contradicts the idea that carnivores roam wild in the absence of people. 

“We saw a potential silver lining with COVID, which obviously has been generally a negative thing for everyone,” said study lead author Professor John Benson. “We saw an opportunity to get a better sense of how human disturbance and human activities influence animal behavior.”

During 43 days of lockdowns from late March to early May 2020, mountain lions around the Los Angeles area were monitored with GPS trackers. At this time, most of the parks were closed to the public - including those favored by mountain lions. 

The researchers found that the reclusive animals moved around less and occupied smaller territories compared to before the pandemic.

“There was this popular perception that animals were going to start running free, expanding their home ranges, moving greater distances, colonizing cities, coming into areas where they didn’t used to be,” said Professor Benson. “But that goes against theory - the theory that animals should move as efficiently as possible."

“It actually makes sense that when you don’t have to dodge around as many humans, you could use the landscape more efficiently. Without humans, you don’t have to take a circuitous route to get from one place to another.”

The study was focused on 12 mountain lions that had previously been collared with GPS trackers by Jeff Sikich and Seth Riley of the National Park Service. The team found that the mountain lions were generally traveling shorter distances by up to one third compared to their pre-pandemic activity. 

That matters, said Professor Benson, because it helps quantify just how much energy mountain lions in Greater Los Angeles are expanding to avoid people - energy they need to hunt for prey and search for mates. 

“Any additional stressor - like needing to modify your movement patterns, which could come with a cost of finding prey, getting enough to eat, mating, whatever it is - could be the stressor that tilts the balance toward the extinction process,” explained Professor Benson.

One of the mountain lions, surrounded by busy freeways on three sides, was found to occupy what may be the smallest home range ever recorded for an adult male of about eight square miles. This is a fraction of the roughly 150 square miles that most mountain lions call home. 

According to Professor Benson, the case study illustrates a paradox that makes sense in the light of theory: a carnivore, already confined to an artificially small range by human disturbance, choosing to occupy an even smaller range when that disturbance abates.

Avoiding people is necessary and good to some extent, said Benson, given that “bad things usually happen when we get annoyed by mountain lions.” Yet the energy they expend to do so might ironically increase human-wildlife conflict if high energy demands are leading them to seek additional food sources, he noted. 

“This idea of coexistence - that if they stay out of our way, everyone’s happy - maybe it’s not that rosy if it causes them to burn more energy and then potentially makes them more likely to actually attack livestock or pets. This is not something we documented or investigated with our current study, but it would be an interesting hypothesis to test with future research."

“Does it have unintended consequences that we can’t control? I think that may be a good thing to look at and re-evaluate.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26888319">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.

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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

Mountain lions downsized their territory during the pandemic

In a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, experts...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a>, experts are describing how venom has contributed to the species diversity of insects and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/depending-on-friends-makes-life-easier-for-reef-fish/">fish</a>. The researchers found that venomous animals diversify twice as fast as non-venomous animals. 

Insects and fish have a larger number of species than any other groups in the animal kingdom. Scientists have identified over one million species of insects, and 31,269 species of fish. 

Overall, 16 percent of all insect families and ten percent of fish families contain venomous species, such as wasps or stingrays. The new study has revealed that venom has evolved independently at least 19 times in fish and at least 28 times in insects throughout their evolutionary history.   

Venom helps animals to repel predators and catch prey. This may allow venomous animals to exploit more opportunities in their environment, potentially leading to the formation of new species as they diversify in their ecology, explained the researchers.

The study is one of the first to examine the role of venom in driving biodiversity. By finding that venom has evolved so many times, and that it is associated with faster diversification, the research indicates that venom has played an important role in promoting species diversity.

"Our results provide evidence that venom has played a part in generating the diversity of insects and fishes, which have the largest number of species amongst invertebrates and vertebrates respectively," said study lead author Dr. Kevin Arbuckle.

"Venom is not the only factor driving species richness in these animal groups, but we show that it has played an important but previously unrecognised role in generating the amazing diversity we see today amongst insects and fishes.”

Among insects, venom evolved fairly evenly over time. In fish, however, most venomous species can be traced back to the Late Cretaceous and Eocene periods.

“Mosasaurs - the aquatic behemoths made famous in the Jurassic World series - originated and peaked in diversity in the Late Cretaceous, at a time when other large marine predator groups were declining," explained Dr. Arbuckle.

"Similarly, whales originated and peaked in diversity in the Eocene, when most other large marine predators had gone extinct at the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which killed off the dinosaurs."

"Both early whales and mosasaurs are thought to have been active predators with similar styles of movement. As a result, we cautiously speculate that most origins of fish venom were linked to similar predation pressures imposed by mosasaurs in the Late Cretaceous and early whales in the Eocene.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Ecology and Evolution</a>.

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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

Venomous animals diversify at double the rate

In a new study from Swansea University, experts are describing...

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers from <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> report how squirrels make split-second decisions about when to leap from branches in order to secure a peanut reward. The scientists made videos of fox squirrels as they leaped and landed in the canopy of a eucalyptus grove on the university campus in order to reach their desired goals.

The squirrels were offered novel launching pads, such as flimsy, rigid or overly bendy branches. The researchers observed that squirrels quickly adjusted to the new launching conditions. They modified their body position in mid-flight if a leap did not go quite according to plan, and were supremely adept at sticking the landings.  

"When they leap across a gap, they decide where to take off based on a trade-off between branch flexibility and the size of the gap they must leap," said Nathaniel Hunt, former UC Berkeley doctoral student and current assistant professor of Biomechanics at the University of Nebraska. 

"And when they encounter a branch with novel mechanical properties, they learn to adjust their launching mechanics in just a few jumps. This behavioral flexibility that adapts to the mechanics and geometry of leaping and landing structures is important to accurately leaping across a gap to land on a small target."

However, when deciding whether or not to jump, squirrels do not give equal attention to the bendiness of the branch and the distance of the gap. The flexibility of the branch is six times more critical than the gap distance when deciding whether to jump. The researchers felt that this was due to the fact that squirrels can rely on their sharp claws to help them cling on, even when the landing is not perfect. 

Despite being put through some tricky and unexpected manoeuvres in order to get to the peanuts, no squirrels fell during the entire study. Their ability to innovate and learn rapidly was evident in their locomotion solutions. 

The squirrels were even able to change orientation while in mid-air and then push off from a vertical surface in order to adjust their speed for a better landing. This is reminiscent of human parkour, where people jump, swing, somersault and vault through the urban environment as a form of sport.

An understanding of how squirrels learn to travel through a complex environment could be applied to develop robots that need to move through challenging landscapes, such as collapsed buildings where survivors might be found. 

"As a model organism to understand the biological limits of balance and agility, I would argue that squirrels are second to none," said Hunt. "If we try to understand how squirrels do this, then we may discover general principles of high-performance locomotion in the canopy and other complex terrains that apply to the movements of other animals and robots."

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By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Squirrels can adjust to new launching conditions mid-flight

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers...

Poisonous animals are fascinating. In vertebrates, the toxin is generally accumulated by eating toxic insects. This means a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-have-lost-their-teeth-more-than-any-vertebrate-during-evolution/">frog</a> or bird, for instance, must consume another toxic animal and somehow gain that toxicity for itself.   

Researchers have long wondered how poisonous animals, like poison dart frogs kept from falling prey to their own toxins. Many of the poisons, such as batrachotoxins, disrupt electrical impulses in the neurons, heart and muscles. This particular type of toxin is used by both the golden poison frog of Colombia and pitohui birds of New Guinea. 

The poison works by binding onto important proteins - voltage gated sodium channels. According to <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">UCSF</a> Professor Daniel L. Minor, Jr., it remains uncertain if poisonous animals have toxin adapted sodium gates, as has been hypothesized.

“However, there haven’t been any functional studies of poison frog or Pitohuisodium channels, so whether batrachotoxin-bearing animals rely on changes within their sodium channels or alternative resistance mechanisms remains unclear,” said Professor Minor. 

Previous research has shown that a mutation in sodium channels found in poison dart frogs, when expressed in rats, gives them a poison resistant sodium channel. 

When Professor Minor and colleagues introduced the mutation to golden poison frogs and pitohui birds, they found the change didn’t make the sodium channels resistant to toxin. Actually, with the mutation, the sodium channel doesn’t function well without batrachotoxin being present. Professor Minor suggests that this finding is telling.

“Taken together, our observations challenge the idea that sodium channel mutation is the batrachotoxin auto resistance strategy for poisonous birds and poison frogs such as P. terribilis.” 

Instead of autoimmunity from toxic resistant sodium channels, scientists suggest something else is at play. Bullfrogs synthesize a protein called saxiphilin that binds to the poison saxitoxin. The saxiphilin has been shown experimentally to neutralize saxitoxin when both are introduced to other frogs. 

So far, a “toxic sponge” protein like saxiphilin has yet to be discovered for batrachotoxin, yet scientists hypothesize such a protein exists, sequestering the toxins within the poisonous animals that use them.   

The research is published in the <a href="https://rupress.org/jgp">Journal of General Physiology</a>.

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By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

The secret that protects poisonous animals from themselves

Poisonous animals are fascinating. In vertebrates, the toxin is generally...

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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

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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;



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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.

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

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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;



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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.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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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"

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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

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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

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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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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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

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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



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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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video 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 history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&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 capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...