For many years, scientists believed that prehistoric kangaroos in Australia had specialized diets, relying specifically on certain types of plants or vegetation for their survival. This idea suggested that they were unable to adapt to changes in their environment, such as shifts in climate or vegetation patterns. 



When the kangaroos' preferred food sources became scarce, it was assumed that their dietary inflexibility contributed to their extinction. This theory placed dietary specialization as a key reason for the disappearance of some kangaroo species during the Pleistocene epoch.



However, recent research challenges these assumptions, suggesting that these marsupials were more resilient than we initially realized.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diverse-diets-of-prehistoric-kangaroos"> Diverse diets of prehistoric kangaroos</h2>



The study was carried out by experts from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flinders University</a> and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (<a href="https://www.magnt.net.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MAGNT</a>). 



The researchers used cutting-edge techniques to analyze the microscopic patterns of wear on fossilized kangaroo teeth. These patterns revealed the types of food the kangaroos ate.



The results showed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-kangaroos-of-the-past-didnt-hop-they-walked-on-all-fours/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prehistoric kangaroos</a> were not limited to specific types of food. Instead, they were generalists, capable of eating a wide variety of plants. This flexibility in diet helped them survive environmental changes over time.



Focusing on fossils from the Victoria Fossil Cave at the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area in South Australia, the experts analyzed kangaroo diets across 12 extinct species and compared them with 17 modern species.



The Naracoorte region contains the richest and most diverse fossil deposits of kangaroos from the Pleistocene epoch, making it an ideal location for this research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flexible-diets-helped-kangaroos-survive">Flexible diets helped kangaroos survive</h2>



“Our study shows that most prehistoric kangaroos at Naracoorte had broad diets. This dietary flexibility likely played a key role in their resilience during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protemnodon-kangaroo-fossils-may-explain-their-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">past changes</a> in climate,” explained lead researcher Dr. Sam Arman.



Contrary to previous assumptions, the study revealed that most species were mixed feeders, capable of consuming both shrubs and grasses.



“The distinctive short-faced kangaroo anatomy led to a widespread view that sthenurines were unable to adapt their diets when climate change altered vegetation patterns, leading to their extinction,” said study co-author Professor Gavin Prideaux.



However, the findings suggest that their ability to consume a wide range of foods provided a survival advantage during periods of scarcity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-extinction-dynamics">Complex extinction dynamics </h2>



While the ability to adapt their diets likely helped prehistoric kangaroos survive for a time, it wasn’t the only factor influencing their fate. 



The extinction of these megafaunal kangaroos also involved other challenges, such as their large body size, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/not-all-kangaroo-ancestors-hopped-as-a-means-of-locomotion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how they moved</a> (locomotion), and their interactions with early humans, who may have hunted them or altered their habitats. 



To better understand these complex extinction dynamics, the researchers plan to study fossils from other Pleistocene sites. They will focus on the critical period between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago - a time when many large animal species disappeared.



This broader investigation could reveal how different factors worked together to drive kangaroo extinctions.



"Identifying what drove the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions on the continents remains one of the most contested topics in historical science," noted the study authors. 



"This is especially so in Australia, which lost 90% of its large species by 40,000 years ago, more than half of them kangaroos."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insights-into-ecosystem-vulnerabilities">Insights into ecosystem vulnerabilities</h2>



The study highlights the ecological roles of prehistoric marsupials, offering valuable insights into the evolution of Australia’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ecosystem-attack-predicting-the-success-of-species-invasions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystems</a>. 



“Understanding the resilience of ancient species helps contextualize why Australia has been so vulnerable to introduced large mammals like pigs, camels, and deer,” noted Professor Prideaux.



Dr. Arman uses a relatable analogy to describe dietary flexibility: “Most of the time, I don’t need to engage four-wheel drive, but this capability becomes crucial when I do need it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extinction-of-australia-s-megafauna">Extinction of Australia’s megafauna </h2>



The research, funded by the <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Australian Research Council</a>, reflects a long-standing partnership between Flinders University and MAGNT.



The research also honors the traditional custodians of the Naracoorte region, the Meintangk, Marditjali, and Potaruwutj peoples, and acknowledges the contributions of volunteers and students in collecting and preparing specimens.



The study marks an essential step in understanding the resilience of prehistoric kangaroos, their adaptable diet and the complex interplay of factors that led to the extinction of Australia’s megafauna.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq4340" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Prehistoric kangaroos changed their diets to survive climate change

For many years, scientists believed that prehistoric kangaroos in Australia had specialized diets, relying specifically on certain types of plants or vegetation for their survival. This idea suggested that they were unable to adapt to changes in their environment, such as shifts in climate or vegetation patterns. When the kangaroos' preferred food sources became scarce, it was assumed that their dietary inflexibility contributed to their extinction. This theory placed dietary specialization as a key reason for the disappearance of some kangaroo species during the Pleistocene epoch. However,...

Speciation reversal occurs when two distinct lineages hybridize and ultimately become one. A new study that was focused on Common Ravens has provided some of the strongest evidence to date of this phenomenon.

Kevin Omland is a professor of Biological Sciences at <a href="https://www.umbc.edu/">University of Maryland, Baltimore County</a> (UMBC) and a co-author of the study.

“The bottom line is speciation reversal is a natural evolutionary process, and it's probably happened in hundreds or almost certainly thousands of lineages all over the planet,” said Professor Omland. 

“One of our biggest goals is to just have people aware of this process, so when they see interesting patterns in their data, they won't say, ‘That must be a mistake,’ or, ‘That's too complicated to be correct.’"

For the investigation, the researchers used genomic data from hundreds of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ravens-crows-corvid-intelligence/">ravens</a> across the continent of North America.

“Integrating all of the results across so many individuals, and from such diverse datasets, has been one of the most challenging aspects of this study,” explained study first author Anna Kearns. “Next-generation genomic techniques are revealing more and more examples of species with hybrid genomes.”

Professor Omland first began this research in 1999, when Common Ravens were considered to be a single species. The following year, he identified two Common Raven lineages - one concentrated in the southwestern United States called “California” and another lineage found everywhere else called “Holarctic.”

Further research conducted in 2012 revealed that, even though the California and Holarctic ravens split up around two million years ago, they mixed back together at some point within the last tens of thousands of years.

“The extensive genetic data reveals one of the best supported examples of speciation reversal of deeply diverged lineages to date,” said co-author Arild Johnsen. “The biggest thing is the degree to which we've caught them in the act."

Professor Omland explained that humans also have a history of speciation reversal, which is seen in the genetic material we inherited from early humans such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

“Because speciation reversal is a big part of our own history, getting a better understanding of how that happens should give us a better sense of who we are and where we came from. These are existential questions, but they are also medically relevant as well.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: Bjørn Aksel Bjerke/<a href="http://www.uio.no/english/">University of Oslo</a>

Two types of common ravens hybridize into one species

Speciation reversal occurs when two distinct lineages hybridize and ultimately...

Researchers at <a href="http://carleton.ca/">Carleton University</a> have been studying caterpillars that make shrieking sounds when they are attacked. During their investigation, the experts found that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-turn-caterpillars-cannibals/">caterpillars</a> force out air to produce the noises in a process similar to how tea kettles whistle.

The study was focused on the Nessus sphinx hawk moth caterpillar, which lets out a high-pitched cry that sounds like static when approached by a predator. The research team captured female moths and hatched their eggs in a lab.

When the caterpillars were grown, the researchers mimicked an attack by pinching the creatures with forceps and recorded the noises produced by the moths in response.

The caterpillars kept their mouths open the whole time as they emitted the crying sounds, which the researchers discovered were coming from inside of their bodies. 

Study co-author Jayne Yack explained that analyzing the insides of the caterpillars was not an easy task.

“Maybe one day it will be possible to observe what's happening inside a live insect, which is quite small, when something fast is happening,” Professor Yack told <a href="https://www.livescience.com/">Live Science</a>. “Right now, we don't have the equipment to do that kind of thing.”

When the scientists dissected the caterpillars’ throats, they did not find any structures capable of producing the sounds. 

Study co-author Craig Merrett decided to analyze the noises recorded by the team. He ultimately found that the sounds are produced when the caterpillar forces air through a constricted area between its two foregut chambers, creating a turbulent air stream.

According to Professor Yack, it remains a mystery how the caterpillars get air in the upper portions of their guts.

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="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Caterpillars sound like tea kettles when they’re attacked

Researchers at Carleton University have been studying caterpillars that make...

The European Union is calling for a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides after it was confirmed that the chemicals are severely harmful to bees. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybee-hives-weakened-pesticides/">As we've reported</a>, previous studies have shown that neonicotinoids, the most common pesticides in the world, cause more bee deaths and can disrupt a bee’s natural foraging and pollinating abilities. 

Concerns over the pesticides led the EU to ban the use of neonicotinoids on oil seed rape and other important crops. But now that the negative impact to wild bees and honey bees has been confirmed, the EU is pushing for a total ban on all crops excluding those grown in a greenhouse.

The <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/">European Food and Safety Agency</a> (EFSA), following up on a report released in 2013, conducted a complete assessment of the risks three major neonicotinoid pesticides posed to bees, the results of which were released on February 28th. 

Philip Donkersley, a senior research associate at <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/">Lancaster University</a>, reviewed the report and found that bees have a high risk of exposure because they feed on nectar from plants that have been treated with the pesticides. 

“This exposure affects solitary bee reproduction, colony viability and learning ability in bumblebees,” Donkersley told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5445033/Call-pesticides-ban-risks-bees-confirmed.html">Daily Mail. </a>

The EFSA’s Pesticides Unit examined all scientific evidence on the harmful risks neonicotinoids posed to bees that had been published since 2013, when the last assessment was made. But this time, the assessment included wild bees such as bumblebees and solitary honey bees. 

After analyzing all the data, the EFSA team in charge of the review reported that neonicotinoid pesticides are harmful to all the types of the bees included in their research. 

“There is variability in the conclusions, due to factors such as the bee species, the intended use of the pesticide and the route of exposure,” said Jose Tarazona, the head of <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/180228">EFSA’s Pesticides Unit</a>. “Some low risks have been identified, but overall the risk to the three types of bees we have assessed is confirmed.” 

The UK government is in support of the ban and will ensure that all restrictions on the harmful neonicotinoids are kept in place even after Brexit, when the UK officially leaves the European Union. 

Researchers hope the EFSA’s assessment will motivate other countries in the EU to follow in the UK’s footsteps, and the complete outdoor ban on the three neonicotinoids will soon be a reality. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

European union pushes for ban on bee-killing pesticides

The European Union is calling for a ban on neonicotinoid...

Scientists at the <a href="https://www.salford.ac.uk/">University of Salford</a> in England have discovered that the world's smallest monkeys are members of two separate species rather than just one. According to the researchers, pygmy marmosets in northwest South America and south of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-amazon-fish-yields/">Amazon River</a> split between two and three million years ago.

The tiny monkeys, which only weigh about four ounces on average, were first documented by German naturalist Johann Spix in 1823.

“There has long been confusion over the taxonomy of these wonderful creatures mostly because Spix did not record in his travel diaries the exact location where he collected the type of Cebuella pygmaea in the early 1800s,” said study lead author Jean Boubli.

“That creates confusion as to which of the two recently uncovered species should keep the original name: that of the north or of the south of the Amazon.”

When the research team sequenced the genomes of pygmy marmosets living in the Brazilian Amazon to gain insight into their evolutionary history, they found two distinct lineages. The study authors explained that further research will likely lead to the discovery of additional pygmy marmoset species in different regions.

“The team is now collecting more data, including feces, from different localities to clarify the taxonomy of pygmy marmosets and the geographic ranges of the two species already identified - and possibly even that of new ones,” said the researchers.

Conservationists believe that pygmy marmosets are in a vulnerable state that warrants protection. Efforts to protect the tiny monkeys will now be altered, considering that “population numbers essentially are halved when a species is suddenly split in two in the light of new scientific evidence.”


“Luckily for the pygmy marmosets, the forests where they are found are amongst the best-preserved patches of the Amazon,” wrote the study authors.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/molecular-phylogenetics-and-evolution">Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The world’s smallest monkeys are no longer a single species

Scientists at the University of Salford in England have discovered...

A recent study found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dolphins-gifts-potential-mates/">dolphins</a> use echolocation to track and monitor prey within their diving ranges and use this information to plan their dives accordingly. 

Dolphins and other marine mammals must use their dive time wisely in order to acquire prey before their oxygen runs out. 

Previous studies have discovered that these animals are able to store the location of their prey and memorize it. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">University of St. Andrews</a> in the UK, <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">the University of California, Santa Cruz,</a> and<a href="https://www.mbari.org/"> the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute</a> wanted to find out if Risso’s dolphins plan their dives and can adapt their actions based on information received before, during, and after a dive. 

The results were published in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/221/4/jeb165209">Journal of Experimental Biology. </a>

Tracking dives of dolphins and other marine mammals with similar hunting strategies is no easy feat. 

“It is really difficult to approach them and attach something to their backs; you need to be very patient!” said Patricia Arranz, a member of the research team. 

The researchers carefully attached data loggers to several Risso’s dolphins with a long pole. The data trackers monitored and recorded the dolphins’ depths, movements, and calls while diving for squid. 

Underwater robots equipped with echosounders were also used to track the squid in the water. 

The researchers then conducted several experiments, monitoring the dives and recording the sounds emitted by the dolphins as they foraged for food. 

“In one of the experiments, we were extremely lucky as the group that the tagged animal was in stayed in the same area, allowing us to track the dolphin every time it was at the surface and observe the prey with the echosounder right where and when the dolphin was foraging,” said Arranz.

Arranz and the rest of the rest of the research team analyzed the recordings from 37 dolphin dives during the experiments. 

The researchers found that dolphins started echolocation almost immediately after diving, and that the animals matched their echolocation range to the previous depths that had the most squid. 

The fact that the dolphins began echolocation immediately after they dived and continued echolocation as they were surfacing led the researchers to believe that Risso’s dolphins plan their dives ahead of time and use their echolocation as a way to preemptively prepare for any changes they might encounter while foraging. 

The results prove that Risso’s dolphins can strategically plan their dives in order to maximize their time underwater. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

These dolphins strategically plan their dives

A recent study found that dolphins use echolocation to track...

Barren-ground caribou are found in Northwestern Canada, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-alaskan-hunters-advanced/">Alaska</a>, and Greenland. These animals are an important food source for many indigenous people in those regions, and their hide is often used to make clothing. 

Population declines over the past two decades have caused Alaskan and Northern Canadian governments to place restrictions on indigenous caribou hunting or harvesting in an effort to preserve the critical species. 

But a new study has revealed that subsistence harvesting, which is done to provide for the direct needs of a group of people, is not the problem. 

Instead, researchers from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> (AAAS) suggest the true problem lies in habitat degradation from economic and resource development. 

The study, led by Brenda L. Parlee, found that there is a gap in the scientific studies and the government policies being implemented. 

Parlee and her colleagues collected data from thirteen years of caribou harvesting in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The researchers also examined past studies and literature about caribou populations and human disturbances in subarctic and arctic ecosystems. 

The resulting analysis showed that subsistence harvesting actually had a positive association with population numbers and that when populations declined, so did hunting. 

The researchers found no evidence that indigenous people had a negative impact on caribou populations, which means that policies limiting subsistence hunting should be reconsidered. 

Addressing the “science-policy gap,” as the study calls it, is necessary in order to preserve and sustain both caribou populations and the indigenous people who rely on them. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Caribou hunting restrictions are the result of science-policy gap

Barren-ground caribou are found in Northwestern Canada, Alaska, and Greenland....

Biologists at the <a href="https://www.fit.edu/">Florida Institute of Technology</a> have identified a unique new species of shark. The Atlantic sixgill actually dates back before the dinosaurs, but has only just now been discovered.

After the analysis of more than a thousand DNA sequences, the research team ultimately found notable differences to distinguish the sharks from their relatives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans - bigeye sixgill sharks. 

“We showed that the sixgills in the Atlantic are actually very different from the ones in the Indian and Pacific Oceans on a molecular level, to the point where it is obvious that they're a different species even though they look very similar to the naked eye,” said lead author Toby Daly-Engel.

The new sharks, which are located in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-snakes-atlantic-ocean/">Atlantic Ocean</a>, can be identified by their six gill slits and saw-like teeth. Measuring up to six feet in length, the animals are much smaller than their Indo-Pacific counterparts, which can grow in excess of 15 feet.

The Atlantic sixgill is one of the oldest animals on the planet, dating back 250 million years.

These creatures live up to thousands of feet below the ocean's surface, which explains how the sharks have not been previously recognized as a separate species. The new classification will help to protect their survival, according to the study authors.

“Because we now know there are two unique species, we have a sense of the overall variation in populations of sixgills,” said Dr. Daly-Engel. “We understand that if we overfish one of them, they will not replenish from elsewhere in the world.”

The study is published in the the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/12526">Marine Biodiversity</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Photo Credit: Ivy Baremore/MarAlliance

New species of shark identified in the Atlantic Ocean

Biologists at the Florida Institute of Technology have identified a...

One of the consequences of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-winter-sports/">climate change</a> that may not be as widely talked about is the forced migration that many species have to undergo. Animals are moving beyond their comfort zones, often to areas of higher latitudes or elevations, in order to increase their chances of long-term survival. This results in challenges for managing the land that has been set aside for habitat protection, as these lands may lose their original conservation value as the climate changes. 

Recent research published in the open-access journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a> shows that conservation partnerships between protected lands and their non-protected neighbors may greatly improve a region’s ability to accommodate species migration caused by changing climates. The researchers analyzed protected areas recognized by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, quantifying the potential value of conservation partnerships on a global scale. In total, the analysis covered over 150,000 areas – all larger than 6 hectares in size. 

The study’s authors examined landscape indicators of the suitability of each protected area to retain biodiversity in the face of climate change, either in potential partnership with nearby protected and non-protected lands or in isolation. These indicators of suitability included range in latitude and elevation, and increase in size needed for species to continue having access to suitable climates in 2070 as climates change. 

Results showed that – compared to isolated protected areas – partnerships with other protected and non-protected neighbors might increase the adaptation indicators as much as two orders of magnitude. This suggests significant potential for preserving the environmental conditions that are necessary for sustaining biodiversity. The researchers also highlighted specific regions and biomes that stand to benefit the most from partnerships between protected and non-protected areas. These ranged from montane grasslands and shrublands to the Andes and tropical coniferous forests.

“The partnership areas identified by our study are considerably larger than most protected areas, but a handful of established conservation partnerships - tried and tested over many years - have proven that success is possible,” says William Monahan of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/index.htm">U.S. National Park Service</a>. “By quantifying the conservation benefits of such partnerships, and providing a global blueprint of where they exist, we hope to stimulate the formation of new partnerships that help steward a future for biodiversity conservation.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Land partnerships can protect biodiversity amidst climate change

One of the consequences of climate change that may not...

A new species of extinct turtles dating back 5.5 million years was recently discovered by a paleontologist from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a>. 

The turtle is part of the genus Trachemys and was first found in the Gray Fossil Site in eastern Tennessee. The area is known for its fossils, and several ancient species have been described and characterized from specimens found on site. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/turtles-complex-brains/">Turtle</a> shells are particularly common among the fossils but are often broken up and difficult to categorize. However, Jasinski was able to identify differences between dozens of fossil turtle shell remnants he found and other known species. 

Jasinski worked with Shawn Haugrud who is the lab and field manager at the Gray Fossil Site. It was Haugrud who prepared and cleaned the fossils which then made identification and characterization possible. 

The new species was named Trachemys haugrudi in recognition of Haugrud and his team’s hard work on the fossil specimens. 

“Shawn has spent an incredible number of hours working on these specimens,” said Jasinski. “He cleaned and prepared the fossils and was able to essentially glue this turtle back to life, giving me numerous nearly complete turtle shells to use in this research.”

The new species of slider turtle was relatively small in size, growing only as large as ten inches in shell length. 

For his study, Jasinski performed a phylogenetic analysis in order to establish the evolutionary timeline of the Trachemys haugrudi and its relation to other similar species in its genus. A phylogenetic analysis compares shapes and features of species to find out how closely related they are. 

The results of the analysis showed that the new species was closely related to a group of fossils from both Florida and the Midwest. The research also revealed that one group of Trachemys evolved in Mexico into different species and another group evolved in the Caribbean. 

Jasinski's findings help shed insight on the evolution of turtles, and could be used to help control invasive species of Trachemys that are becoming a growing problem in various ecosystems.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Illustration by Mary P. Williams

Newly discovered fossil sheds light on how turtles evolved

A new species of extinct turtles dating back 5.5 million...

While humans and other mammals can regrow skin, and birds can regrow feathers, lizards are able to regenerate entire structures – such as their tales. Furthermore, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changing-skin-patterns-lizards/">lizards</a> represent a wide variety of species, ranging in size from the Komodo dragon to lizards smaller than your finger.

Across the Americas, a group of lizards called “anoles” have evolved in a similar fashion to Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands. In total, there are over 400 species of anoles that have adapted to life on different islands and habitats on the mainland.

In order to further study the evolution of these animals, researchers at <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> constructed a family tree for three lizard species collected in Panama at the <a href="http://www.stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)</a> and a fourth from the southeastern U.S.. The scientists compared lizard genomes to those of other animals.

Their results showed that changes in genes involved in the interbrain – which is where the pineal gland and other endocrine glands are located – for color vision, hormones, and the colorful dewlap male anoles use to attract females, may be linked to the formation of boundaries between species. They also discovered that genes regulating limb development evolved especially quickly.

“While some reptiles such as tortoises changed remarkably little over millions of years, anole lizards evolved quickly, generating a diversity of shapes and behaviors,” explains Kenro Kusumi, professor at <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">ASU</a> School of Life Sciences and corresponding author on the study. “Now that sequencing entire genomes is cheaper and easier, we discovered molecular genetic evidence for rapid evolution that may account for striking differences between bodies of animals living in different environments.”

The researchers are particularly interested in how reptiles’ genomes determine their ability to regenerate and develop a wide number of body forms. “This is the first time the complete genetic code – the genome – of any vertebrate species from Panama has been sequenced and analyzed,” says Oris Sanjur, Associate Director for Science Administration at STRI and co-author of the study. “Information from these three species is an important contribution to our understanding of biodiversity and the evolution of new species.”

The first and only other anole lizard to be previously sequenced was the green anole (A. carolinensis), which is the only anole species that lives in the U.S. In contrast, there are 40 species of anolid lizards living in Panama alone. Thus, it was important to sequence the three Panamanian species, as the U.S. species might not be very representative of the diverse anole group. 

“For 15 years, an impressive amount of time and money poured into discovering the genomes of mammals, motivated by our drive to understand human evolution and to look for cures for disease. Even though the squamate reptiles include more than 10,000 species – almost double the number of mammal species – a single genome was not enough to understand the variability within this group,” says Marc Tollis, a post-doctoral fellow at <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">ASU</a> and first author of the report. “By comparing these four anole lizard genomes, we’re beginning to understand how one of the most diverse groups of vertebrates regenerate, develop and diversify.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Kenro Kusumi

Why there are so many different species of lizards

While humans and other mammals can regrow skin, and birds...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bonobos-early-human-evolution/">Bonobos</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-learn-tools/">chimpanzees</a> are two species of great ape that are closely related. The two deviated into separate species roughly 1-2 million years ago. But it has been known for a while now that both species use gestures to communicate in a number of different situations and for a variety of purposes. However, new research has revealed that many of these gestures actually share the same meaning. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">Universities of York</a>, <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">St. Andrews</a>, and <a href="http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en">Kyoto</a> first defined the meanings behind these gestures by analyzing the reaction a gesture elicits from the receiving individual. With bonobos, they would determine whether the bonobo who gestured was “satisfied” with the reaction.

One behavior that the researchers observed was a bonobo presenting its arm in front of a second bonobo, causing the second bonobo to respond by climbing on the first bonobo’s back. The first bonobo would then stop gesturing, which suggested that the response from the second bonobo was the correct one. The researchers were able to infer from this interaction that this gesture meant, “climb on me.”

Through many observations such as this one, the research team systematically defined the sets of meanings of 33 bonobo gesture types, and compared them to previously known gesture meanings from chimpanzees. They found that many gesture meanings are shared by both species, from which they postulate that they may also have been share by our last common ancestor.

“The overlap in gesture meanings between bonobos and chimpanzees is quite substantial and may indicate that the gestures are biologically inherited,” says Dr. Kirsty Graham, a research associate at the University of York’s Department of Psychology. “In future, we hope to learn more about how gestures develop through the apes’ lifetimes. We are also starting to examine whether humans share any of these great ape gestures and understand the gesture meanings.”

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bonobos and chimps speak a similar language

Bonobos and chimpanzees are two species of great ape that...

Curled into a delicate grey hoop, a small snake lay on the concrete step of the nature lodge in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest.  Erin, my fiancé, and I were only volunteer managers of the place for three months, and the amazing biodiversity of the place often left us scratching our heads with many animal encounters.  It was nice to finally have an animal sit still while we were able to leaf through field guides and identify the snake.  

On a trip by myself from the local town into the nature reserve, I was walking along the road when I encountered another <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-snakes-atlantic-ocean/">snake</a>.  The snake on the road was gracefully spread to maximize exposure to the sun.  The snake was a dazzling array of three colors, banded in red, yellow and black.  The colors were the same bright warning pattern of coral snakes.  

In North America there’s a rule of thumb to distinguish between coral snakes and harmless mimics.  “Red on black, poison lack, red on yellow kills a fellow,” goes the rhyme I learned in Boy Scouts.  Red stripes on black stripes means non-venomous.  I’m still not certain the rule of thumb holds in South America like North America.  I first took a photo of the snake and pondered how to get the reptile safely off the road, where a car would almost certainly kill the snake.  I found a large branch and lifted the snake and moved it off into the vegetation on the shoulder.  The snake quickly slithered even faster away from me, with no show of violence at all.  

Later, while looking at my photo of the snake with a guide book in hand, I was able to see that the brightly colored snake on the road and the snake curled on our porch were both part of the same genus, Dipsas.  The name Dipsas has a strange origin in mythology, according to a story told by Sophocles about a snake that caused enormous thirst, a donkey giving into the thirst trades the antidote for old age for water.  It doesn’t explain any connection to thirst but Dipsas snakes are a group of snakes adapted to an odd niche. 

Dipsas snakes are also known as snail eaters, meaning they actually specialize in eating snails.  There are actually two groups of snail-eating snakes.  There is the old world sub-family Pareinae living in Southern Asia and the new world family Dipsadidae, which included the genus of the two snakes I saw in Ecuador and are found from Mexico to Brazil.  The two snake groups aren’t closely related, instead snail eating evolved separately in each subfamily.  There are over 700 known species in the family Dipsadidae. 

Those in the genus Dipsas are the main genus in family Dipsadidae, and there are only a little over 30 species in genus Dipsas.  Snakes in genus Dipsas are rear fanged.  Dipsas tend to be slender like the small snakes I found in the cloud forest.  Also similar to the species I witnessed, many Dipsas are colored with bands of color, often alternating with white bands.  

The drabber Andean Snail-Eater (Dipsas andiana) I found curled on the lodge porch also had a little horseshoe shape on its head which helped me identify the serpent to species.  The scarier brightly colored snake I saw spread across the road turned out to be a Graceful Snail-Eater (Dipsas gracilis), the bright colors undoubtedly frightened away predators but would’ve done nothing to an approaching car. 

What the family Dipsadidae shares in common shows an interesting way of making a living.  Mostly snail-eating snakes are active at night, often they are arboreal, hunting their prey in trees.  Snail-eaters will follow that delicate tracery we call a snail trail, actually a residue of mucus to find snails.  When the snake finds a snail, she bites the snail close to its shell.  As the snail tries to retract into the safety of its shell, it draws the snake’s upper jaw inside as well.  The snake’s lower jaw flexes around the outside of the shell, careful not to break it.  The snake then contracts its upper mandibles, pulling in one and then the other, slowly extracting the snail from its shell to become a serpentine meal. 

The weirdly specific life of the snail-eating snake, an animal that lives almost entirely on prey most humans don’t even consider tells us something.  It tells us about the evolutionary battle raging around us, how natural selection carves out sometimes tiny niches upon which a species or a family must reside.  There is also something of intricate beauty in the story of snail eating snakes, creatures living interesting, violent lives we know so very little about.  Many of the snake species are specialized not just in snails but a couple types of specific snails.  What is the world to one of these snakes or to their prey?             

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Snail-eating snakes of Ecuador

Curled into a delicate grey hoop, a small snake lay...

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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?

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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

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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



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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 



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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



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

[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...