Ecologists have long sought to understand the dietary habits of different animal species. In a recent study, researchers have explored the puzzling question of how competing herbivores in Yellowstone National Park, which feed on grasses, wildflowers, and trees, manage to find enough food to survive the winter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunting-strategies-of-yellowstone-s-herbivores-nbsp">Hunting strategies of Yellowstone’s herbivores&nbsp;</h2>



Over a two-year period, using advanced molecular biology tools and GPS tracking data, the research team was able to identify not only what herbivores in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-tourism-generates-over-1-megaton-carbon-annually/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yellowstone</a> consume, but also the strategies they use to find food throughout the year.



“In Yellowstone, we know vegetation changes across seasons, but until now, we didn’t know how these seasonal changes influenced what animals eat or how they sustained themselves when options were limited,” said lead author Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun, a postdoctoral research associate at <a href="https://www.brown.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brown University</a>.&nbsp;



“It turns out that while species eat similar categories of food, their diets differ from one another in cryptic and nuanced ways. And an animal’s body size plays an important role in how this is achieved.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fluctuating-food-supplies">Fluctuating food supplies</h2>



For years, ecologists have debated how wildlife should cope with fluctuations in their food supplies, explained co-author Tyler Kartzinel, an associate professor of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Brown.



Some experts propose that animals should diversify their diets to cater to their preferences when they have more choices in summer, Kartzinel said.&nbsp;



Others suggest that animals are more likely to diversify what they eat during challenging periods, like winter, when competition for food is fierce, and they might have to settle for less desirable options.



“These opposing predictions couldn’t both be true, so it wasn’t at all clear how Yellowstone's assemblage of herbivore species - with such a diversity of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-foraging-behavior-changing-climate-warming-waters/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">foraging behaviors</a> - could succeed in finding enough food throughout the year,” Kartzinel said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-the-behavior-of-competing-animals">Tracking the behavior of competing animals</h2>



To investigate, the researchers used two years of GPS tracking and dietary DNA data to explore how dietary variation changes during times of resource scarcity and abundance for five of Yellowstone’s most iconic species: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-influences-the-movement-of-plains-bison/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bison</a>, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope.



Staff at Yellowstone tracked the animals, while researchers at Brown, including many undergraduate students supervised by Littleford-Colquhoun, analyzed fecal samples using a sophisticated molecular technique called metabarcoding. This method helped determine what foods the animals had eaten.



The study revealed that all species took advantage of the seasonal abundance of wildflowers in summer. However, in winter, each species focused its foraging efforts on the specific plant types it was best suited to compete for.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeding-behaviors-are-linked-to-animal-size-nbsp">Feeding behaviors are linked to animal size&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers also found that feeding behaviors were linked to the animal's body size. Smaller species, like deer and sheep, spread out across summer meadows, significantly broadening their diets before gathering in sheltered valleys to survive the winter on leftover vegetation.&nbsp;



In contrast, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forest-biodiversity-benefits-from-large-herbivores-like-elephants-and-moose/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">larger animals</a>, such as bison, displayed the opposite behavior: in winter, their size allowed them to avoid competing for dwindling resources, so they ventured into deep snow to access food reserves that were out of reach for smaller species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-competing-animals-are-surprisingly-adaptable">Competing animals are surprisingly adaptable</h2>



“The study showed that these species can feed far more adaptably than anyone had previously assumed,” Littleford-Colquhoun said.&nbsp;



“All species switch the ways they search for food, but the opportunities an individual bison has to fuel its migration or survive a hard winter might only work for it because it’s big. Meanwhile, other species might need to group together for protection in winter because they’re small.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study">Broader implications of the study</h2>



So, should animals diversify their diets in summer or winter? According to Kartzinel, the answer depends on the species.



“Because of the variety of ways animals behaved in our study, we learned that both hypotheses about how animals fuel their migrations were right, but in different ways and at different times,” Kartzinel said.&nbsp;



“So the question that biologists should have been bickering about for the past generation shouldn't have been, ‘Which foraging strategy is right?’ but rather, ‘When does each strategy work best for a given group of animals?’”



Kartzinel hopes that these more refined insights into foraging behaviors will encourage scientists to adopt a more tailored approach to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildlife-conservation-can-help-stabilize-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife conservation</a>.



“If we want to help wildlife populations thrive, we should be maintaining a diversity of habitats and plant resources across their migratory corridors so that many animals, each with their own preferences, personalities and needs, can find what's best to fuel their journey,” Kartzinel concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240136" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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How do competing animals manage to find enough food?

Ecologists have long sought to understand the dietary habits of different animal species. In a recent study, researchers have explored the puzzling question of how competing herbivores in Yellowstone National Park, which feed on grasses, wildflowers, and trees, manage to find enough food to survive the winter. Hunting strategies of Yellowstone’s herbivores&nbsp; Over a two-year period, using advanced molecular biology tools and GPS tracking data, the research team was able to identify not only what herbivores in Yellowstone consume, but also the strategies they use to find...

The discovery of a new sea creature in southeastern Japan is probably a lot cuter than its name would lead you to believe. The newly discovered “Japan pig” is a pygmy seahorse that measures just about 15 millimeters in length, and lives inside soft coral, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seaweed-new-sustainable-superconductor/">seaweed</a>, and algae reefs. It’s aptly described by researchers as a normal seahorse dressed up in paisley.

This new species (Hippocampus japapigue) is one of only seven known species of pygmy seahorse – the first of which was discovered in 1970. The Japan pig was discovered almost 180 miles south of Tokyo around the Hachijo-jima Island by researchers at the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/">California Academy of Sciences</a>. 

Although the species is not especially rare, it can be very hard to spot due to its size. In fact, it wasn’t until scientists began studying the Japan pig that they realized it had never been described before. 

Most pygmy seahorse species have two wing-like structure on their back, but the Japan pig has only one. They live off a diet of plankton, and are described by researchers to be active and playful.

Pygmy seahorses are still largely unstudied as a whole. Most species have very few specimens available, and only three species have been analyzed genetically. But luckily for pygmy seahorses, their lives in obscurity also mean that they have not been a victim of trade in traditional Chinese medicine or aquariums like larger seahorse species. Despite their cute and colorful appearance, let’s hope it stays that way.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Hiroyuki Motomura/ZooKeys

New “paisley” pygmy seahorse discovered in Japan

The discovery of a new sea creature in southeastern Japan...

“In the land of the pale blue snow

Where it’s ninety-nine below,

And the polar bears are dancing on the plain,

In the shadow of the pole

Oh, my Heart, my Life, my Soul,

I will meet thee when the ice-worms nest again.”

-Robert Service, 1910

Glaciers initially seem barren of any sort of life.  I remember taking a bush plane off the glacial fields of Mount Denali, and the first small patches of green forest attack the senses with elation after weeks of icy monotones.  White, grey, blue and hues of the same are the dominant colors on glaciers. There is beauty in glacial scenery, no question about it, but it is a stark beauty stripped down to a limited pallet.  

Looking closer at ice though, changes perspective.  As hard as it is to believe, some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pine-island-glacier-shrink/">glaciers</a> actually contain worms living inside chunks of ice, relatives of the more common earthworm.  When exposed to any sort of heat, the glacial ice worms (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) will die and melt around 40° F.  The worms are tiny, only about ¼ of an inch in length but common on glaciers of the North Cascade range of Washington.  The <a href="https://glaciers.nichols.edu/iceworm/">North Cascade Glacier Climate Project</a> estimated as many as 7 billion ice worms on one glacier on Glacier Peak in Washington.  The ice worms are in the same family as earthworms but obviously have some extremely unique adaptations.  

Ice worms were first discovered in Alaska, where <a href="http://www.robertwservice.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=306">Robert Service</a> enlarged their legend with exaggerations in his poetry.  So far ice worms have been found in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and parts of Canada but nowhere else in the world.  It’s easy to understand that an animal which melts at 40°F would have a hard time crawling down from the mountains and spreading across the planet, even if there are glaciers elsewhere. 

Ice worms hide in glaciers during the heat of the day, coming to the surface of ice and snow during mornings and evenings.  Scientists aren’t sure whether the ice worms release a chemical antifreeze to create tunnels in ice or if they simply use cracks already there.  Interestingly the chemistry of ice worm proteins is different allowing (even obligating) them to live in cold environments. 

The diet of ice worms changes the common view of snow as pure and free from blemish.  Snowflakes are often formed when ice crystals bind to bacteria or other microbes living or dead.  <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-microbes-make-snow/">Scientific American</a> reports that microbiologist have found microbes at the center of snowflakes from places as far ranging as Canada, Montana, France and Antarctica.  Purified water without microbes has a harder time forming snowflakes. 

There’s also a lot more algae in snow than the casual observer is likely to guess.  Far from being pure or lifeless glacial ice and snow is full of microscopic or macroscopic but tiny life.  Some snow known as ‘watermelon snow’ can have a large density of a cold loving alga (Chlamydomonas nivalis) which colors it pink or reddish.  Even normal looking snow under closer examination reveals a thriving if simplified ecosystem which is sufficient to supply food for ice worms.  Ice worms have been observed with their tail end anchored in ice while their front (mouth) end moves through glacial melt-water, apparently searching for food.  Dissections of the worms have also revealed that their digestive content consists of single celled organisms, mainly algae but also bacteria and other microscopic creatures.

Given the number of ice worms found in some glaciers, their impact on local environments may be underestimated so far.  <a href="https://glaciers.nichols.edu/iceworm/">North Cascades Glacier Climate Project</a> estimated that with ice worms and other organisms living in glaciers, meltwater from glaciers could contribute over 500 million organisms to streams.

Sadly, the melting of glaciers may cause the end for the ice worm or at least some populations.  It’s impossible for ice worms to move from a melting glacier to a more stable one and although there are billions of the worms, they’re limited to a small part of the Earth.  

It isn’t just odd tiny worms making their lives out on the ice.  When I went to climb Mt. Denali I was a little bit surprised to learn that there were ravens willing to dig through feet of snow for buried food caches.  I was only a little surprised though; I’ve also seen corvids on Mt. Rainier’s glaciated slopes and in Rocky Mountain National Park in the winter. A few types of birds actually use glaciers as places to find food.  Smaller birds often eat worms and other invertebrates, while larger raptors sometimes eat other birds and small mammals on glaciers. 

Of course many penguins nest on ice sheets.  However, there is a less famous bird that nests on glaciers. The white-winged diuca-finch (Diuca speculifera) nests on glaciers through the Andes of Bolivia, Peru, northern Argentina and Chile.  A quick Google search yields images of typical round twig and grass type nests settled into the ghastly blue beauty of crevasses.  According to Wikipedia, the ‘glacier bird’ as the finch is sometimes called, lays two eggs in April or May, the young fledgling their nests in June or July.

According to <a href="https://www.audubon.org/">Audubon.org</a>, the white-winged diuca-finch is part of the Emberizidae family.  Distant relatives of the diuca-finch include Lapland longspur, American tree sparrow, and snow bunting.  All of these relatives breed in the Arctic but none of them actually nest on glaciers. Despite the dangers of nesting in a place as forbidding as an icy glacier, it certainly reduces the number of predators the white-winged diuca-finch must face.  At the moment, little is known about the glacier bird’s population but given its broad range, the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22723169/0">IUCN</a> considers it a species of least concern in terms of conservation.  

<a href="http://earthsky.org/earth/how-many-different-animals-live-on-glaciers">Earthsky.org</a> reported on the many mammals visit glaciers.  It’s possible that large mammals with a good deal of fur visit glaciers simply to cool off, like a large shaggy dog I once saw rolling in alpine snow on a Colorado summer day.  Caribou, musk ox, bison, elk, pica, big horn sheep and other herbivores have all been found on glaciers. 

Wolverines have been observed catching prey in glaciers.  Undoubtedly, meat left in the virtual icebox of a glacier would last longer and smell less, thus attracting fewer other animals to steal the kill.  

Glaciers are difficult places to do research and organisms like ice worms are hard to study.  There is still a lack of data and observations on glaciers, even as they continue to melt. 

Other organisms like the overly fluffy Woolly Bear Caterpillar live in the remote Arctic but not on glaciers and have incredible adaptations to the harsh cold.  A handful of animals like musk ox, penguins and polar bears are commonly known from the coldest parts of our planet but many more like ice worms are largely ignored by the public.  Most people don’t know about the <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Wood-Frog">Wood Frog</a> (Lithobates sylvaticus), a species that freezes in the northern winter, it’s heart ceasing to beat, seemingly dead until being thawed and revived in warmer weather.  Few people would suspect that jellyfish live in boreal waters or that strange fish live below ice shelves in Antarctica. 

The greatest tragedy of loss would be not fully understanding the depth of it.  As glaciers melt and the planet warms, what strange creatures do we stand to lose?             

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

What exactly is living in those icy cold glaciers?

“In the land of the pale blue snow Where it’s...

Bird populations in the Mojave Desert region of California and Nevada have been declining and climate change is most likely the culprit. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> surveyed 61 locations in the Mojave Desert region on both sides of the Nevada border as well sites in Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Park.

The team examined the areas for three years and the results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers monitored areas that had been surveyed in the early 1900s through 1947 by Berkeley biologists and this helped show the major changes in bird species biodiversity in the area. 

Over the past century, the researchers discovered stark reductions in bird species diversity, as the number of species dropped by 43 percent. 

Recent research has shown that in some ecosystems, species decline can lead to<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-drought-winners-losers/"> a pattern of winners and losers</a>, where some species’ numbers drop but that leads to other species thriving. 

This was evidenced in the global hotspot of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in California, but in Mojave Desert, the Berkeley researchers have found very little evidence of any winners. 

“The Mojave Desert is now nearly half empty of birds,' said Steven Beissinger, an author of the study.

What’s driving these declines in populations and biodiversity? The researchers say that decreases in precipitation and increases in aridity and temperature are the main drivers of species decline in the Mojave Desert. 

The region is becoming less and less suitable for many species of birds as a result of climate change, which is why bird populations are collapsing. 

“California deserts have already experienced quite a bit of drying and warming because of climate change, and this might be enough to push birds over the edge,” said Kelly Iknayan, a fellow author of the study. “It seems like we are losing part of the desert ecosystem.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.tom">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: Chelsea Hofmeier photos

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Mojave bird populations see big declines due to climate change

Bird populations in the Mojave Desert region of California and...

Why are ants, bees, and other insects that depend on a well-defined hierarchical society so good at working together? 

Previous research has shown that even when given the option to act in a way that would better serve the needs of an individual, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/queen-bee-dies-successor/">bees always put the colony first.</a>

Now a new study conducted by researchers from<a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/"> Rockefeller University</a> shows that even when resources are scarce, ants prefer to work together rather than compete for food or status. 

“You would think, if you pair similar individuals from a single species, their function would be redundant, If anything, there should be competition between individuals,” said Daniel Kronauer, the leader of the research. 

But the researchers found that even genetically identical individuals are better working together. 

The results were published in the journal Nature and help shed insight on the development of civil societies. 

For the study, the researchers observed groups of clonal raider ants. Some of the groups were made up of as many as 16 ants whereas a few groups only had one ant. 

The researchers discovered that the larger groups were better at splitting up tasks despite genetic similarity among the group. 

The larger groups also had more ants performing specialized tasks which led to a more stable society. 

Although the larger groups did seem to fare better, the overall results show that more ants are better than one regardless of how many individuals there are in a single group. 

"It's easy to see how individuals work together in more complex societies, such as those with queens and workers, because they have distinct roles,” said Kronauer. “But that's not how insect societies started out. This research shows that very simple societies can have an evolutionary advantage over individuals living by themselves--which provides a stepping stone to understanding how complex societies evolved from solitary animals.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ants and bees prove how putting the community first pays off

Why are ants, bees, and other insects that depend on...

These images were acquired using the Scannx, Inc. Book ScanCenter.

Turtles are rather unique creatures, with their reptilian characteristics and their protective shell. Yet another distinguishing feature of the turtle is its toothless beak – and a newly-discovered fossil from 228 million years ago shines light on how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/red-tide-kills-sea-life/">turtles</a> developed their signature traits. 

The results were included in a report published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

“This creature was over six feet long, it had a strange disc-like body and a long tail, and the anterior part of its jaws developed into this strange beak,” says Olivier Rieppel, a paleontologist at Chicago's <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> and one of the report’s authors. “It probably lived in shallow water and dug in the mud for food.”

The paleontologists who discovered the fossil have named the new species Eorhynchochelys sinensis, which means “dawn beak turtle” – referring to it being the oldest turtle fossil to be found with a beak. Sinensis means “from China,” and is in reference to the place where the fossil was found by Li Chun, the lead author of the study and a researcher at China’s <a href="http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/">Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology</a>.

One of the more interesting aspects of this new species is that – while it’s body was wide and rib cage expansive – the species did not yet have a shell like the turtles we see today. But its discovery fits nicely into a missing piece in turtle lineage, as another early turtle species was discovered previously that had a partial shell, but no beak. “The origin of turtles has been an unsolved problem in paleontology for many decades,” says Rieppel. “Now with Eorhynchochelys, how turtles evolved has become a lot clearer.”

Mosaic evolution refers to the fact that traits can evolve independently of each other and at a different rate, and that not all ancestral species had the same combination of these traits. Eorhynchochelys developing a beak before other early turtles – while not having a shell – is evidence of mosaic evolution in this lineage. Some turtle relatives got partial shells, while others developed beaks, and over a long period of time, the genetic mutations that resulted in these traits occurred in the same animal.

Eorhynchochelys has even more to offer in the clarification of turtle ancestry. The skull of Eorhynchochelys helped solve the decades old debate as to whether turtle ancestors were part of the same reptile group as modern lizards and snakes – diapsids, which are known to have had two holes on the sides of their skulls early in their evolution – or if they were anapsids, which did not have these holes. The skull of the fossil Eorhynchochelys showed signs that it was a diapsid. “With Eorhynchochelys’s diapsid skull, we know that turtles are not related to the early anapsid reptiles, but are instead related to evolutionarily more advanced diapsid reptiles. This is cemented, the debate is over,” says Rieppel.

With all these observations, it’s clear that Eorhynchochelys was an important missing piece in the turtle family tree, and this discovery has changed the way that we think about the origin of the turtles we have today.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Adrienne Stroup, Field Museum

Fossil reveals how turtles developed a shell and toothless beak

Turtles are rather unique creatures, with their reptilian characteristics and...

Murre egg in Prof. Mark Hauber's laboratory.

A study from the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a> has found that natural selection is responsible for the shape of the pointy murre egg. The ledges where these eggs are laid by common and thick-billed murres are often high up on seaside cliffs and can be very narrow. The researchers determined that the shape of the eggs evolved to help keep them safe.

Study co-author Mark Hauber is a professor of Animal Biology at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a>. He explained that many experts have theorized that the unique shape of murre eggs makes them less likely to roll off the ledges of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-sea-levels-cliff-erosion/">cliffs</a>.

“Very little is known about how the murre egg shape affects its stability and viability in this setting,” said Professor Hauber. “But earlier studies failed to isolate specific features of the eggs - such as elongation, asymmetry and conicality - to robustly test this hypothesis.”


In order to investigate, the team used a 3D printer to create eggs of different shapes and sizes. By singling out certain shape variables and using an egg-roll test, the researchers were able to determine which factors were most capable of keeping the eggs from moving too far.

“We found that conicality - the degree to which the pointed end of the egg mimicked a cone - suppressed egg displacement on surfaces inclined more than 2 degrees,” said Professor Hauber. 

At lower inclines, conicality only mildly increased egg displacement. In addition, the team found that increasing the length of the egg relative to its girth increased its tendency to roll further from its original position.

“In general, an egg's conicality was the most reliable predictor of its likelihood of staying put on inclined surfaces,” said Professor Hauber. “This finding provides experimental support for natural selection shaping the unique form of murre eggs amongst all bird eggs.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: L. Brian Stauffer

Pointy bird eggs evolved to keep them from rolling off cliffs

A study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has...

The Imperial Woodpecker and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which were the once largest woodpeckers in North America, most likely became extinct at some point during the twentieth century. Researchers have now investigated the fate of their surviving cousin, the Pileated Woodpecker, in suburban areas of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seattle-bans-plastic-straws/">Seattle</a>.

The study revealed that the woodpeckers can coexist with developed land as long as the tree cover remains above a certain threshold.

Researchers Jorge Tomasevic and John Marzluf monitored 16 Pileated Woodpeckers at 9 sites with varying degrees of urbanization across Seattle. After tracking each bird for about a year using radio tags, the experts found that Pileated Woodpeckers are very resourceful, using forested areas such as parks as well as moderately urbanized areas where some trees had been retained. They also took advantage of backyard bird feeders.

Desiree Narango is an expert on avian urban ecology at the <a href="https://www.udel.edu/">University of Delaware</a>.

“As suburban sprawl becomes more and more ubiquitous, it's imperative that we consider which specific yard features can be promoted to share our neighborhoods with wildlife,” said Narango. “This paper is a nice example showing that even a mature forest specialist can use and navigate the suburban landscape if we provide the resources they need: large trees and some retained wooded areas.”


According to the research, Pileated Woodpeckers and other species that are associated with them can be sustained by preserving at least 20 percent of the forest cover in large suburban areas. This includes dead trees that are still standing.

“You'd think that such large bird would be easy to find, especially when carrying a transmitter, but they did a very good job hiding,” explained Tomasevic. “It was also very challenging to work in populated areas. I have so many anecdotes, good and bad, about dealing with people and people dealing with me doing my work.” 

“Some people were very friendly, but some were a little nervous with me walking around the neighborhood. I tried to look as official as possible, with University of Washington logos on my jacket, and I created a website for the project and printed some business cards. It was a great opportunity to do outreach, and I'm still friends with some of the neighborhood residents.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.americanornithologypubs.org/loi/cond">The Condor: Ornithological Applications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: J. Tomasevic

Urban development and woodpeckers coexist in Seattle

The Imperial Woodpecker and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which were the...

The discovery of fossilized dinosaur prints on the coast of Scotland near Inverness provides the first evidence that dinosaurs lived on the Scottish mainland. 

Previously, the only Jurassic evidence of dinosaurs in Scotland was found on the Isle of Skye, nicknamed Jurassic Isle because of the wealth of dinosaur footprints found in the area. 

The discovery of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-dinosaur-footprints-jurassic/">50 footprints on the Scottish island this year</a> are thought to be the oldest dinosaur fossils ever found in Scotland, dating back 170 million years. The prints come from theropods and massive sauropods. 

However, a recent discovery by Neil Clark, the vice president of the <a href="https://www.geologyglasgow.org.uk/">Geological Society of Glasgow</a>, shows that sauropods also walked on the mainland of Scotland. 

Sauropods measured 60 feet tall and 80 feet long and their massive tales was one of their best defenses. According to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>, the herbivores could create a sonic boom with just one crack of their tale. 

Clark had long felt that there must be more evidence of dinosaurs in Scotland besides just on the Isle of Skye and during a conference at Inverness, Clark came upon just the evidence he was looking for. 

A massive footprint, perfectly preserved along the shoreline of Northeast Scotland and dating back 170 million years ago was discovered by Clark in March. The print most likely belongs to a member of the sauropod family.

[caption id="attachment_1217665" align="aligncenter" width="563"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-21-at-10.28.54-AM.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-1217665" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-21-at-10.28.54-AM.png" alt="" width="563" height="675" /></a> Image Credit: Dr. Neil Clark[/caption]

“I was excited - I knew the significance of the find straight away,” Clark told the Daily Mail. “They are from a completely new part of Scotland for dinosaurs and will add significantly to our understanding of dinosaurs of that age in Britain.”

Clark is working to raise funds to help further explore dinosaur footprints around Inverness and other parts of Scotland using drones that can record the location of dinosaur prints and measure how the prints weather the impacts of erosion. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Footprints reveal that dinosaurs roamed the Scottish mainland

The discovery of fossilized dinosaur prints on the coast of...

A fossil that was discovered over a half a century ago was long thought to belong to a fruit bat, but a new study suggests that the fossil is actually an early species of lemur. 

The new classification of Propotto leakeyi, a 20-million-year old fossil that until recently had been stored in a museum and not given any thought, sheds insight on the evolution of lemurs and when they first populated the island of Madagascar. 

Today, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lemur-diet-bizarre-behavior/">lemurs are only found on Madagascar</a> and had been believed to have initially arrived on the island in one big wave a little over 60 million years ago. Now researchers from the <a href="https://www.usc.edu/">University of Southern California</a> and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> have a different theory. 

The team says that the Propotto fossil shows that the lemur’s early ancestors actually split into two different lineages before arriving on Madagascar.

One lineage lead to today’s aye-aye, while the other going on to diversify into many different lemur species. 

The results were published in the journal Nature Communications.

“One implication is that lemurs have had a much less extensive evolutionary history on Madagascar than was previously thought,” said Erik Seiffert, a co-author of the study. 

The reason the Propotto fossil was misidentified as a bat for so long was that there is so little of the fossil to study, as only a few lower jaw bones and teeth remain.

It was the teeth that first tipped off researchers from Duke University, who realized they looked more similar to a primate than a bat. The teeth of the fossil matched more closely to today’s aye-aye, a kind of lemur with rodent-like teeth. 

The researchers analyzed the genes and anatomical features of 125 mammal species both living and extinct to find comparisons to the Propotto fossil that would better help classify the fossil as a primate and early aye-aye relative. 

As suspected, after analyzing molar scans of different mammals, the researchers found that the Propotto teeth had a good deal in common with a 34 million-year-old primate called Plesiopithecus, which is also an ancient relative to the aye-aye. 

This led the researchers to theorize that the aye-aye’s ancestors divulged from the lemur family tree 40 million years ago in Africa and only later on did the two groups of early lemur and aye-aye relatives make their way to Madagascar. 

The researchers say that contrary to previous theories, lemurs and aye-ayes were not the first mammals to reach Madagascar but instead arrived on the island with other mammalian species. 

“It's possible that lemurs weren't in Madagascar at all until maybe the Miocene,” said Doug Boyer, a member of the research team. 

Their later arrival could also help resolve questions of how exactly early lemurs got to the island in the first place since the animals can’t swim. If they arrived 23 million years ago rather than 60 million years ago, the sea levels would have been lower due to the large size of the Antarctic ice sheet at the time. 

Besides correctly identifying the Propotto fossil, the new study completely rewrites the evolutionary history of lemurs and their arrival to Madagascar. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

When did the famous lemurs first arrive in Madagascar?

A fossil that was discovered over a half a century...

While we may often think of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-comfort-owners-upset/">dogs</a> or dolphins when it comes to intelligent animals, the pig is a species that is usually overlooked. In fact, some scientists believe that pigs are actually more intelligent than dogs or cats, and they’ve been shown to have great long-term memories and an innate ability to learn tricks. 

In one of the most recent studies of swine intelligence, researchers at the <a href="https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/messerli/">Messerlie Research Institute</a> in Austria trained two groups of pigs to recognize whether they were looking at the front or back of a person’s head. The results of the study lead the authors to believe that pigs have a better visual-based memory and intelligence than previous studies suggest.

The pigs were shown the front and back of a human head through photos on a computer screen, and received a food reward if they chose either the front or the back view – depending on the group they were assigned. The two groups of pigs were then shown either 16 new faces or 16 new pictures of the back of people’s heads. They were then shown altered versions of the photos to ensure that they weren’t just remembering specific details of each image.

The researchers found that these animals mastered this task with no decrease in performance, which suggests that the pigs used a general concept of the view of either the front or back of heads. Because this visual concept was formed through training, it shows that the pigs did not simply store the pictures in their memory.

“In this test, comprising a total of 80 tasks, we reviewed the spontaneous discrimination of the pictures to provide clues as to the visual concepts formed during training,” says Dr. Ludwig Huber, a coauthor on the study. They found that “back group” pigs were able to make the correct first choice in over 80 percent of combinations shown, while the “front group” chose the correct photo only 50 percent of the time. The authors believe this may indicate that both groups base their decision on certain features. 

“Especially those animals that were trained to choose the back view might have memorized the eyes as a distinguishing feature and therefore chose the other picture,” says Huber.

Ultimately, this study shows that pigs do have visual discrimination abilities – contrary to what other studies have found – and Huber believes it shows that they also manage open-ended categorization. And because the pigs displayed noticeably different preferences to the discriminatory cues they used, this indicates a flexible, individual approach to solving these tasks. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pigs can recognize human faces using our mouths and noses

While we may often think of dogs or dolphins when...

A new study from <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> has found that the most popular exotic pets are also the most likely to be released into the wild. The research sheds new light on how the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/concerns-reptiles-amphibians-pets/">exotic pet trade</a> has become a primary contributor to the introduction of reptiles and amphibians into non-native areas, where they can do a lot of damage.

The team identified 1,722 reptile and amphibians that were traded as pets in the United States from 1999 to 2016. This information was compared with data from a citizen science project that documents sightings of non-native species across the country. 

The study revealed that popular pets, which are imported in high numbers and sold at low prices, are the most likely to be dumped out into the wild later on.

Oliver Stringham is a Rutgers doctoral student and the study’s lead author.

“The owners may underestimate the space and costs needed to keep such animals as they grow into adults,” said Stringham. “Boa constrictors and reticulated pythons grow over 8 feet long. African clawed frogs and Russian tortoises live 30 years or more  Not wanting to euthanize, owners may resort to releasing them instead.”


Once exotic pets are released into the wild, they threaten wildlife through disease transmission, competition for food, and predation. For example, Burmese pythons invaded the Everglades National Park in the 1990s. These massive snakes, which grow up to 18 feet in length, have caused notable declines in native mammal and bird populations.

According to the study authors, providing prospective exotic pet owners with information about the potential growth and lifespan of the animals may help to prevent future releases. In addition, pet owners should be informed of the ecological damage that results from introducing non-native species, and should be given access to a list of safe places to surrender them.

Study co-author Julie Lockwood is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

“While it might not be possible to fully prevent the release of exotic pets, reducing the number can be an effective way to prevent new species from becoming established and potentially invasive,” said Lockwood.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652664">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Matthew Sileo

Most popular exotic pets are most likely to be dumped in the wild

A new study from Rutgers University has found that the...

It may sound counterintuitive at first, but species with lower metabolic rates may be better suited to surviving potential <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lost-extinctions-animals/">extinction</a>,according to a new study. 

The research was conducted by a team from the <a href="https://ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a> and suggests the phrase “survival of the fittest” should actually be changed to “survival of the sluggish.” 

“Maybe in the long term the best evolutionary strategy for animals is to be lassitudinous and sluggish -- the lower the metabolic rate, the more likely the species you belong to will survive,” said Bruce Lieberman, a co-author of the study. “Instead of 'survival of the fittest,' maybe a better metaphor for the history of life is 'survival of the laziest' or at least 'survival of the sluggish.’”

Published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study offers another method to predict the likelihood of extinction for species who will be impacted by climate change. 

“We wondered, 'Could you look at the probability of extinction of a species based on energy uptake by an organism?'" said Luke Strotz, the lead author of the paper. "We found a difference for mollusk species that have gone extinct over the past 5 million years and ones that are still around today. Those that have gone extinct tend to have higher metabolic rates than those that are still living.”

The researchers examined the metabolic rates of  299 extinct and living bivalve and gastropod species dating back five million years to the present. A species's metabolic rate refers to how much energy an individual needs to survive every day. 

After analyzing datasets of Atlantic Ocean bivalves, the researchers found that metabolic rate was an accurate predictor of extinction likelihood. 

This was especially true of the species that lived in smaller habitats rather than the mollusks and bivalves that were distributed across larger areas.  

“In a sense, we're looking at a potential predictor of extinction probability,” said Strotz. “At the species level, metabolic rate isn't the be-all, end-all of extinction -- there are a lot of factors at play. With a higher metabolic rate, a species is more likely to go extinct. This will increase our understanding of the mechanisms that drive extinction and help us to better determine the likelihood of a species going extinct.”

For some bivalves and gastropods, the researchers found that energy uptake remained stable over millions of years, lending further credence to the theory that metabolic rate determines a species' likelihood to thrive or go extinct. 

The results suggest that having a lower metabolic rate may advantageous to a species’ survival, but the researchers note that further studies are needed to see if this is true of other groups of species as well.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Neogene Atlas of Ancient Life / <a href="https://ku.edu/">University of Kansas</a>

Slow, sluggish species actually more likely to survive extinction

It may sound counterintuitive at first, but species with lower...

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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

[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"

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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



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

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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



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"

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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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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...