Not far from the location of one of the greatest anthropological hoaxes of all time, the Piltdown Man, lies Boxgrove quarry. This site in picturesque, rural West Sussex provides evidence of the earliest known residents of the United Kingdom, some of the very first Europeans. The gravel quarry reveals a chalk cliff and a bedding plane that represents an ancient beach. Around 500,000 years ago this location was the gathering place for a group of Homo heidelbergensis as they butchered and processed the big game that they had brought down after a successful hunt.
Studying Homo heidelbergensis
Boxgrove has been meticulously studied for over forty years with the University College London Institute of Archaeology taking a prominent role. Their work is detailed in a new book about the discoveries entitled “The Horse Butchery Site”, published by University College London Archaeology South-East’s “Spoilheap Publications”.
At Boxgrove a Number of Large Animals were Butchered including Prehistoric Horses
An artist’s impression of the social event of butchering the horse.
Picture credit: Lauren Gibson / University College London institute of Archaeology
Documenting the Activities of Very Ancient Britons
The book documents the activities and movements of a group of early Britons (H. heidelbergensis) as they knapped flints to make stone tools, modified bones to make implements and butchered a horse around 480,000 years ago or thereabouts.
Leader of the project, Dr Matthew Pope (Institute of Archaeology), commented:
“This was an exceptionally rare opportunity to examine a site pretty much as it had been left behind by an extinct population, after they had gathered to totally process the carcass of a dead horse on the edge of a coastal marshland”
Investigating a Site where Flint Knapping Took Place
Knapping site under excavation (1989).
Picture credit: University College London institute of Archaeology
For over a decade from the 1980s and into the 1990s, a dedicated team of volunteers and archaeologists led by Mark Roberts (Institute of Archaeology) uncovered a treasure trove of prehistoric remains, that permitted the researchers to document the activities of these ancient people. More than 2,000 sharp flint fragments were recovered from eight separate areas, known as knapping scatters. These are individual workstations where humans knelt to make tools and left behind a concentrations of flint fragments. In some places the impression made by the worker’s knees as they knelt on the sand can still be seen.
Boxgrove Knapping Site with Preserved Knee Impression
Examining a flint knapping site, note the preserved knee imprint (bottom right).
Picture credit: University College London institute of Archaeology
The “Flint Shadow” Trace Fossils Homo heidelbergensis
At one location, the “flint shadow” of a man has been preserved. The outline of his legs, as he sat, perhaps all day making tools and relentlessly flaking away at the flint, so that a shower of tiny fragments fell on him and around him, leaving a stencil impression of his limbs on the ground.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
” The communal activity recorded at Boxgrove, where a number of large animals were skilfully cut up, their bones broken and the marrow removed suggests a very high degree of co-ordination and co-operation. Everything in this behaviour indicates planning and a need to communicate, this suggests that Homo heidelbergensis was using a language to explain abstract concepts, organise work and to exchange ideas.”
Prehistoric animal model collectors will probably already know that CollectA is about to introduce a range of models of iconic invertebrates, animals such as a straight-shelled nautiloid, an ammonite, trilobite and an extant nautilus (Nautilus pompilius). These figures are due to be in stock at Everything Dinosaur very soon. As part of our preparations for the arrival of these replicas, our team members have been busy compiling fact sheets and data files on these key taxa.
Prehistoric Animal Model Fact Sheets
A Scale Drawing of the Nautilus
A scale drawing of an extant nautilus (Nautilus pompilius).Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We have compiled hundreds of fact sheets over the years. They are supplied to our customers, being sent out with model purchases. For example, purchasers of the CollectA nautilus model from Everything Dinosaur will also be sent a free fact sheet about this amazing cephalopod. We have also prepared fact sheets on the straight-shelled nautiloid and the horseshoe crab.”
The New for 2020 CollectA Nautilus Model (N. pompilius)
CollectA Nautilus pompilius sometimes referred to as the “Emperor nautilus” because of its large size.
A Horseshoe Crab Scale Drawing
Horseshoe Crab Scale Drawing
A scale drawing of an extant horseshoe crab. The silhouette of the hand helps to provide a scale for the illustration.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
These invertebrate figures are due to arrive at Everything Dinosaur’s warehouse shortly. However, due to issues arising from the COVID-19 global pandemic affecting global logistics, we are unable to provide an exact date as to when these models will arrive. Followers of Everything Dinosaur on social media such as our Facebook page and newsletter subscribers will be alerted very quickly when these figures are in stock and available to purchase.
National Dragonfly Week (Saturday 18th – Sunday 26th July) 2020
Today, Saturday 18th 2020, is the start of Dragonfly Week, an annual celebration of these amazing members of the Odonata organised by the British Dragonfly Society. It is wonderful to see these magnificent creatures emerging from the office pond and we know how important small ponds are to many temperate species as in recent years, great tracts of wetland habitat have been lost.
Recently Emerged from the Office Pond – A Hawker Dragonfly
A dragonfly that has just emerged from Everything Dinosaur’s office pond.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Celebrating National Dragonfly Week
We are not experts, but we think the majority of dragonflies that we see are Southern Hawkers (Aeshna cyanea), a relatively large and inquisitive species that is widespread in the UK and Europe. These insects have a long fossil record with the first winged forms evolving around 325-330 million years ago (Carboniferous). They may have been around for a very long time, but it is always exciting to see them leave the office pond and very occasionally we can spot them in the warehouse yard.
A Fossil of a Dragonfly (Brazil – Crato Formation)
The first animals to take to the air. Dragonflies are believed to be amongst the very first animals to evolve powered flight. The insects had the sky largely to themselves until the first members of the Pterosauria evolved.
Today, May 8th, is Sir David Attenborough’s birthday. Sir David Attenborough has enjoyed the best part of seventy years as a broadcaster, narrator and television presenter. His energy and enthusiasm for the natural world shows no sign of deteriorating despite him being just six years short of his centenary. Over recent years, the veteran broadcaster has become an active campaigner raising awareness about climate change, global warming and the impact of our species on the planet.
Sir David Attenborough
He remains as busy as ever, with the BBC producing a new five-part television series narrated by Sir David, highlighting how natural forces such as ocean currents, seismic activity, sunshine and volcanoes contribute to maintaining a sustainable natural world. A source close to Everything Dinosaur has stated that the series is entitled “A Perfect Planet”.
Sir David Attenborough
A gentleman and a scholar. Sir David Attenborough is 94 years old today.
Many Happy Returns
The television programmes will also highlight how some animals such as snub-nosed monkeys, wolves and bears are having to adapt as the world around them changes. Birdlife from the Galapagos islands including vampire finches will also feature in the series.
Commenting on the significance of these programmes, Sir David stated that:
“To preserve our perfect planet we must ensure we become a force for good”.
The fifth and final episode will look at how our species has impacted upon the environment and the billions of other organisms that share our world.
Sir David added:
“Our planet is one in a billion, a world teeming with life. But now, a new dominant force is changing the face of Earth: humans”.
Team members have been lucky enough to have corresponded with Sir David Attenborough, he remains as enthusiastic as ever and passionate about conservation. Many happy returns Sir David, stay safe, keep well.
Sir David Attenborough – A Nonagenarian Passionately Campaigning to Raise Awareness About Climate Change
Sir David Attenborough veteran naturalist and broadcaster. An active campaigner raising awareness about climate change and global warming.
A researcher from the Swedish Museum of Natural History in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and the Instituto Antártico Argentino based in Buenos Aires (Argentina), has published a scientific paper which provides details of the first fossil frog to have been found on the continent of Antarctica.
A Fossil Frog from Seymour Island
The fossils, consisting of a partial ilium and a bone from the skull which were found in Eocene-aged deposits on Seymour Island, resemble an extant lineage of frogs known as helmeted frogs (family Calyptocephalellidae). Until this discovery, no Cenozoic ectothermic continental tetrapods (amphibians and reptiles), had been documented from Antarctica. The tiny frog fossils suggest that around 40 million years ago, climatic conditions at high latitudes in the southern hemisphere were still mild enough to support “cold-blooded” amphibians.
A Life Reconstruction of the Helmeted Frog Found on the Antarctic Peninsula (Seymour Island)
Life reconstruction of the frog genus described from the Eocene of Antarctica.
Picture credit: Pollyanna von Knorring / Swedish Museum of Natural History
Studying Eocene Freshwater Habitats
Writing in the academic, on-line journal “Scientific Reports”, the researchers conclude that some Eocene freshwater habitats in Antarctica provided habitats that were favourable for cold-blooded (ectothermic) vertebrates such as frogs. Antarctica was much milder than it is today, the warmest months of the year averaging around 13 degrees Celsius whilst temperatures in the winter would have dropped to below an average of 4 degrees Celsius. Frogs were present in freshwater ecosystems at a time in the history of Antarctica where ice sheets had formed in upland areas towards the interior of the continent.
Views of the Fragmentary Ilium from Seymour Island
Ilium (NRM-PZ B282) of Calyptocephalella sp. from Seymour Island, Antarctica. Ilium in lateral (a), medial (b), ventral (c) and dorsal (d) views. Scale bar equals 1 mm.
Picture credit: Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Discovery of Fossil Frog Remains
The fossil frog remains were collected during three joint Argentinian-Swedish expeditions to Seymour Island in the southern hemisphere summers 2011–13. The bone fragments were concentrated from dry-sieved sediment samples. The closest living relatives of the Eocene specimen are limited to the Chilean Andes (Calyptocephalellidae). With the discovery of the fossils on Seymour Island, the researchers conclude that these types of helmeted frog were much more widespread across what remained of Gondwana during the Eocene.
The material is housed in the palaeozoological collection of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm.
The scientific paper: “First fossil frog from Antarctica: implications for Eocene high latitude climate conditions and Gondwanan cosmopolitanism of Australobatrachia” by Thomas Mörs, Marcelo Reguero and Davit Vasilyan published in Scientific Reports.
Researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History (Florida University) and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County have published a scientific paper describing a portion of a left humerus (upper arm bone), discovered in north-western Puerto Rico that represents the oldest fossil remains of a frog ever found in the Caribbean. The tiny bone, it measures less than one centimetre in length, has been assigned to the genus Eleutherodactylus, colloquially called coquí frogs in reference to the distinctive “coe-kee” call made by the males of some species as they seek to attract a mate.
The Fossilised Humerus is Compared to the Humeri of Extant Genera
Comparisons of the fossil specimen to representatives of each extant Caribbean frog genus as well as each Caribbean subgenus of Eleutherodactylus (Eleutherodactylus, Euhyas, Pelorias and Schwartzius). Note various views LACM 162445 anterior, medial, posterior and lateral views. Scale bar = 1 mm.
Picture credit: Blackburn et al (Biology Letters) with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur
The authors of the scientific paper comment that it is fitting to have discovered this fossil bone in Puerto Rico, as the coquí is one of the national symbols associated with this tropical island.
From the San Sebastian Formation and Estimated to be 29 Million Years Old
The tiny bone was found by co-author Jorge Velez-Juarbe (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County), in a mudstone layer of the San Sebastian Formation, exposed by a river (Rio Guatemala), in the north-western portion of the island, close to the town of San Sebastián. The mudstone layer has been dated to 29.47 million years ago (+/- 300,000 years) and it represents an estuarine environment. Other vertebrate fossils associated from this location include turtles, gharials and rodents.
Commenting on the discovery, lead author David Blackburn (Florida Museum of Natural History), stated:
“It’s a national treasure. Not only is this the oldest evidence for a frog in the Caribbean, it also happens to be one of the frogs that are the pride of Puerto Rico and related to the large family Eleutherodactylidae, which includes Florida’s invasive greenhouse frogs.”
A Life Reconstruction of the Prehistoric Frog
The 29-million-year-old Eleutherodactylus frog life reconstruction. Based on measurements of the partial humerus, the scientists estimate the extinct frog to have measured around 4 centimetres in length.
Picture credit: Jorge Velez-Juarbe (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Looking for Evidence of Oligocene Frogs
Scientists studying data from phylogenetic assessments had postulated that these types of frogs had established themselves in the Caribbean during the Oligocene but until now there was no fossil evidence to support this line of research. The bones of frogs tend to have a poor preservation potential. They are small, light and any corpse would very likely, quickly decompose in the hot, humid tropical conditions.
Possibly first arriving in the Caribbean by rafts of vegetation displaced from South America, these small tree frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus, which encompasses some 200 species, dominate the Caribbean today. Coquís differ from most other frogs as they usually do not lay their eggs in water. They do not have a hatching tadpole stage, instead the tadpole stage takes place within the egg, the male carefully tending the nest and ensuring that the eggs remain moist. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge as fully formed froglets.
A Male Coquí Frog Protecting a Clutch of Eggs
A male coquí frog protecting a clutch of eggs.
Picture credit: Jorge Velez-Juarbe (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Florida in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico” by David C. Blackburn, Rachel M. Keeffe, María C. Vallejo-Pareja and Jorge Vélez-Juarbe published in Biology Letters.
New Study Might Help Explain Why Crocodilians Survive Extinction Events
A team of scientists including researchers from the Natural History Museum (London) and the Milner Centre for Evolution (Bath University), have provided fresh insight into how crocodilians are able to survive dramatic changes in climate that cause extinctions amongst other vertebrates. The researchers conclude that extant crocodilians are part of a lineage of great survivors that might cope better than most other large animals when having to face a world with a continuing rise in average annual temperature.
Crocodilians Might Be Better Able to Cope with Global Climate Change
An anterior view of the skull of an estuarine crocodile photographed in the Grant Museum, London. The largest reptile on Earth, the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) from south-east Asia is also known as the saltwater crocodile or saltie. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Crocodiles Surviving Mass Extinction Events
Writing in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, the scientists suggest that the ability of crocodilians to survive mass extinction events could be due in part, to their approach to reproduction. Modern crocodiles are an ancient lineage. They are grouped into the clade Neosuchia, which first arose in the Late Cretaceous, although related forms are even older, such as the Pseudosuchia, which first arose some 250 million years ago.
Neosuchian crocodilians have therefore survived numerous extinction events, including two mass extinctions, the first that occurred approximately 66 million years ago and saw the demise of their fellow archosaurs – the Dinosauria and the Pterosauria as well as many other different types of organism. Then, there was a second, albeit smaller, mass extinction event towards the end of the Eocene approximately 33.9 million years ago.
The Relationship Between Size of Female Crocodilians and Where They are Found
The relationship between distribution patterns and body size has been recorded and analysed in many kinds of endothermic (warm-blooded) animals. However, evidence to support the idea that there is a correlation between where in the world animals are found and the size of females in ectotherms (cold-blooded animals), has been generally, not that well documented.
No extensive study between the global distribution of crocodiles and the body mass of females has been carried out. The research team examined the relationship between latitudinal distribution and body mass in twenty living species of crocodilians and studied seven other important factors in reptile reproduction such as size of the egg clutch laid, the number of successful hatchings per nest, incubation length and incubation temperature.
The Average Size of a Female of the Species was Correlated Against the Latitudinal Midpoint of Where that Species is Found
Plotting the average size of female crocodiles against where the species is found.
Picture credit: Lakin et al (Biological Journal of the Linnean Society)
Statistical Analysis
Using statistical analysis, the study showed that, in general, smaller species of crocodilian tend to live at low latitudes (close to the equator). Larger species tend to live at higher latitudes, still in the tropics but further away from the equator. This is the first study to propose a relationship between where in the world crocodilians live and the effect on adult female body mass.
Previous studies looking at the how well adapted crocodilians are have cited diet, their aquatic nature and their behaviours as factors in helping these types of creatures to survive dramatic changes in environmental conditions. However, this study also identified a unique aspect of crocodilian reproductive biology that may also be a significant factor.
Crocodilians have no sex chromosomes, just like many types of tortoises and turtles, instead the sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated. Both crocodiles and most turtles have a threshold temperature at which the ratio of males to females is roughly equal in any given clutch.
Temperature and Crocodiles
In crocodilians, the higher the temperature of the clutch, then more males will be produced. For those members of the Order Chelonia (Testudines), that are biologically subject to temperature controlled sexual determination, the opposite is true, higher temperatures result in more female hatchlings. The increase in average global temperatures is already having a dramatic impact on turtle populations. Our warming world is resulting in some hatchling populations being comprised of 80% females. Such an imbalance in animal populations could have a dramatic impact on those species affected.
Environmental Temperature Affects the Sex of Crocodilians and Most Members of the Order Testudines
In most turtles/tortoises sex of the individual is dependent upon temperature of the clutch. This environmental factor determines the sex of all crocodilians. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The diagram (above), demonstrates that in crocodilians the higher the temperature of the nesting environment, more males are likely to be produced from the nest. For most members of the Order Testudines, the reverse is true – warmer temperatures will lead to more females.
The research team wanted to assess the impact of this aspect of crocodilian reproductive biology on their ability to cope with the impact of climate change.
Twenty Different Species of Crocodile Studied
In total, twenty different species of crocodiles were assessed to see if there was a correlation between their latitude and a variety of biological traits such as female body size and incubation temperature. The researchers conclude (with some exceptions), that smaller species do tend to live close to the equator, whilst larger species generally live in more temperate climates at higher latitudes. Intriguingly, they found that, in contrast to most Testudines, the threshold incubation temperatures don’t correlate with the latitude.
Whilst turtles are critically endangered by the increase in temperatures due to climate change, this research indicates that crocodiles and their close relatives may be slightly more resilient because of the ways they look after their young. For example, sea turtles always return to the same beach to nest and lay eggs regardless of the local environmental conditions, leaving their young to hatch alone and fend for themselves.
The authors hypothesise that the geographical location of the nest doesn’t affect the incubation temperatures as much as in turtles because crocodilians select their nesting sites carefully and bury their nests in rotting vegetation or earth which insulates them against temperature fluctuations.
However, despite being around virtually unchanged for 90 million years, crocodilians are still threatened and several species are critically endangered. Unless adequate steps are taken to safeguard these species, they too, will sadly, end up going the same way as the dinosaurs.
Keystone Species
Lead author of the study, PhD student Rebecca Lakin at the Milner Centre for Evolution (University of Bath) stated:
“Crocodilians are keystone species in their ecosystems. They are amongst the last surviving archosaurs, a group that once inhabited every continent and has persisted for at least 230 million years”.
A model of a crocodile with an articulated lower jaw.
Rebecca added:
“They show a remarkable resilience to cataclysmic climate change and habitat loss, however half of all living crocodile species are threatened with extinction and the rate of vertebrate species loss will soon equal or even exceed that of the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. Whilst their parenting skills and other adaptations brace them for climate change, they aren’t immune. They are still vulnerable to other human-induced threats such as pollution, the damming of rivers, nest flooding and poaching for meat or skin. Climate change could encourage these great survivors to relocate to other areas that are close to densely human populated areas, putting them at even greater threat.”
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the Milner Centre for Evolution in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “First evidence for a latitudinal body mass effect in extant Crocodylia and the relationships of their reproductive characters” by Rebecca J Lakin, Paul M Barrett, Colin Stevenson, Robert J Thomas and Matthew A Wills published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
These might be challenging times for us humans (Homo sapiens), what with all the concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, but at least for some animals it is business as usual. We have frogspawn in our office pond! The first eggs were laid in the early morning of the 19th March. We normally have frogspawn around the third week of March in our part of the world, the date of laying can vary by a couple of weeks, depending on the weather and the type of winter we have had. However, the spawning usually takes place around this time of year (third week of March).
Frogspawn is Spotted
The First Frogspawn Spotted in the Office Pond Early on the 19th March 2020
The first batch of frogspawn laid in the office pond (March 19th 2020). The photograph was taken a few minutes after 8am in the morning. From the size of the frogspawn we think that these are the eggs from a single female and that they had only just been laid.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
We have counted a total of seven frogs in the pond, the majority were males. We tend to have the males arriving first and the females taking up residence a little time later (after all, the females tend to be pounced upon as soon as they enter the pond). The frogs are all Common frogs (Rana temporaria), their name is a bit of a misnomer these days, as like many amphibians, they are becoming increasingly rare.
More Frogspawn was Laid that Morning (March 19th 2020)
More frogspawn laid on the morning of 19th March 2020. Team members at Everything Dinosaur estimate that the egg masses represent the eggs from two or three females. We shall continue to carefully monitor the pond (taking care not to disturb the frogs too much), to see if more eggs will be laid.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
As we cope with the current restrictions on our lives due to the coronavirus crisis, we will be able to observe how the tadpoles are getting on – something for us to think about in these challenging times. At least the frogs are behaving as normal, for them at least, it is business as usual.
New Study Suggests Climate Change Could Reduce Lifespan Amongst Hundreds of Species
Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast and Tel Aviv University (Israel), have carried out one of the most comprehensive studies to date to better understand what affects life expectancy among all living vertebrates in the world. The study’s conclusions not only challenge a long-accepted theory about the lifespan of organisms, but also provide a new perspective on climate change – that global warming could have a huge impact on the life expectancy among ectothermic animals such as reptiles and amphibians.
Amphibians such as Frogs Could Be Exceptionally Vulnerable to the Consequences of Global Warming
Cold-blooded animals such as frogs may be exceptionally vulnerable to climate change.
Picture credit: Queen’s University Belfast
Global Warming
The “rate of living” theory has long been accepted as an explanation as to why organisms age. According to this theory, the faster the metabolic rate the shorter the lifespan. Live fast and die after a relatively short period, in other words the “faster” the species lives in terms of the speed of its internal body functions and how quickly they start to reproduce, or how “slowly” in terms of these internal body functions and of lower reproductive rates, will determine the lifespan.
Research into How Organisms Age
This hypothesis helps to explain why some vertebrates such as frogs and reptiles may only live for a few months, whilst other species such as elephants, the Greenland shark and turtles can live for a very long time.
Giant Tortoises Can Live for Over a Hundred Years
The Rebor 1:6 scale Pinta Island tortoise “Lonesome George” in oblique lateral view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The image (above) shows the Rebor 1:6 scale giant tortoise model “Lonesome George”.
The Hotter the Environment – The Faster the “Rate of Living”
Until now the theory had not been tested at a global scale with all land vertebrates and there were limitations with the range of species the theory was tested on. The scientists from Queen’s University and Tel Aviv University analysed data from over 4,100 land vertebrate species from across the planet to test the prevailing “rate of living” theory.
They discovered that “rate of living” does not affect aging rates, rejecting the previously accepted link between lifespan and metabolism.
Writing in the academic journal “Global Ecology and Biogeography”, the researchers found that rates of aging in cold-blooded organisms (ectotherms), including amphibians and reptiles are linked to high temperatures. These findings led the scientists to put forward an alternative hypothesis: the hotter the environment is, the faster the rate of living that in turn leads to more accelerated aging and a shorter lifespan.
Critical Implications
Commenting on the significance of this new study, co-author Dr Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, (School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast) stated:
“Our findings can have critical implications for our understanding of factors that contribute to extinctions, especially in modern times when we are facing a worldwide decline of biodiversity, with cold-blooded animals being particularly endangered. Now we know that the life-expectancy of cold-blooded vertebrates is linked to environmental temperatures, we could expect to see their lifespans further reduced as temperatures continue to rise through global warming.”
A Pair of Common Frogs Mating (Rana temporaria)
A pair of mating frogs (2017). The long-term outlook for many species of amphibian including the Common frog (Rana temporaria) is not good.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Amphibians the Most Threatened Class of the Animalia
According to date from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN), some 30,000 species are currently threatened with extinction. This figure represents around 27% of all the species assessed. Amphibians are, on average, the most threatened Class, with 41% of species threatened. A press release from the Queen’s University Belfast states that nearly one in five of the world’s estimated 10,000 species of lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles and other reptiles are threatened with extinction.
PhD student, Gavin Stark, the lead author of the study (Tel Aviv University), explained:
“The link between lifespan in cold-blooded animals (amphibians and reptiles) and ambient temperatures could mean that they are especially vulnerable to the unprecedented global warming that the planet is currently experiencing. Indeed, if increasing ambient temperatures reduces longevity, it may make these species more prone to go extinct as the climate warms.”
Dr Pincheira-Donoso added:
“We need to further develop our understanding of this link between biodiversity and climate change. Only armed with knowledge will we be able to inform future policies that could prevent further damage to the ecosystem.”
The Scientific Paper
The paper entitled, “No evidence for the “rate-of-living” theory across the tetrapod tree of life” is published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. Manuscript ID GEB-2019-0279.R4.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from Queen’s University Belfast in the compilation of this article.
Another busy week for Everything Dinosaur team members. A member of staff was at the London Natural History Museum recently, although they had a busy itinerary there was still time to enter the main gallery (the Hintze Hall) and to say hello to “Hope”, the enormous Blue Whale exhibit that replaced “Dippy” the Diplodocus in 2017. Suspended overhead, dominating the refurbished gallery, the Blue Whale skeleton (Balaenoptera musculus), symbolises the Museum’s focus on conservation and supporting efforts to save natural habitats and wildlife.
The Blue Whale Skeleton
The Spectacular “Hope” Blue Whale Exhibit in the Hintze Hall (London Natural History Museum)
The beautiful Blue Whale skeleton exhibit dominating the Hintze Hall at the London Natural History Museum. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Blue Whale Skeleton Measures 25.2 Metres Long
The skeleton measures 25.2 metres in length, it weighs some 4.5 tonnes and consists of 221 individual bones. Not all parts of the exhibit are real bone, some bones were missing from the right flipper and these have been replaced by 3-D printed mirror copies of the bones from the left flipper. Seeing the Diplodocus exhibit in the main gallery was always a highlight of any visit to the Museum. It became almost a ritual to say hello to “Dippy” on the way to a meeting or prior to visiting one of the various departments on site.
The Diplodocus exhibit was only a cast, a specimen that had been donated to the London Natural History Museum in 1905 by the Scottish-born billionaire Andrew Carnegie. “Dippy” was installed into the Hintze Hall in 1979, but finally removed in January 2017 to be replaced by the Blue Whale exhibit.
We will have to get used to saying hello to “Hope” instead.
