extinct

Sawn Rock – Nandewar Volcanic Range, NSW, one of the studied volcanoes from the east Australian volcanic chain. Credit: Dr. Tracey CrossinghamRemnants of volcanoes strewn across Australia act as a map of the northward movement of the continent over an underlying “hotspot” within the Earth’s interior over the past 35 million years.Dr. Tamini Tapu, Associate Professor Teresa Ubide, and Professor Paulo Vasconcelos, researchers from the University of Queensland, have unveiled that these remnants provide insights into the…

Annotated seismic cross-section of the Fontanelas volcano. Credit: Pereira and Gamboa, 2023A new study suggests that an extinct offshore volcano in Portugal can potentially store 1.2-8.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide, representing 24-125 years of the country’s industrial emissions. The method involves ‘in situ mineral carbonation,’ where CO2 reacts with specific rock elements to create new, safely stored minerals. This efficient and quick method could pave the way for using other offshore volcanoes globally for carbon…

Annotated seismic cross-section of the Fontanelas volcano. Credit: Pereira and Gamboa, 2023 A new study published in Geology concludes that an extinct volcano off the shore of Portugal could store as much as 1.2–8.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of ~24–125 years of the country's industrial emissions. For context, in…

We know, we know. It’s not fauna. But this palm has an amazing story of rediscovery. The date species was originally domesticated during the Neolithic, some 7,000 years ago. The dates grown in the region of the Kingdom of Judah, known as Judean dates, were extolled by historians of the day. But by the 19th century, the plant had vanished. Over the past 50 years, however, excavations at the high-altitude Dead Sea site of Masada turned up 1,900-year-old seeds that researchers decided to plant.One of the seeds grew.…

For thousands of years, the Salish woolly dog resided on B.C.'s southwest coast, providing their owners with companionship — and hair. Now, blankets woven from the fur of this extinct dog are on display at the Museum of North Vancouver until early July.The woolly dogs were a part of Coast Salish culture that was erased during colonization, says the museum's Indigenous cultural programmer Senaqwila Wyss. "It's time to share their story now, as it's been pretty silenced for so long," said Wyss, who is from the Squamish…

The victims of extinction are countless and their are killers numerous—but, in recent centuries, there’s been one obvious, enduring culprit: Homo sapiens. A Mononykus Hunts In ‘Prehistoric Planet’As humankind has increased in numbers and technologized, more and more species have disappeared for good. Or have they really? Scientists may finally be on the verge of breakthroughs that can simulate some animals’ resurrection. But, despite what Jurassic Park led us to believe, simply having a creature’s DNA isn’t enough to…

Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.By analyzing the various features of fossil bones we can reveal not only the overall size and shape of the animal, but also what kind of movement the animal was capable of, its lifestyle, and the environment in which it lived.But what if we looked inside fossil bones? What secrets would it reveal about the growth and development of an extinct animal?In a newly published paper in the Journal of…

By University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences May 8, 2023Mauritius’ sensitive ecosystem is at risk of mass extinction due to the loss of native animal species that help plants spread their seeds. This study highlights the importance of protecting the remaining animals, like the Mauritian fruit bat, to preserve the island’s unique flora and fauna.The small island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean is often envisioned as a lush paradise, dotted with large trees and teeming with a diverse array of…

The idea of digging into a juicy mammoth meatball might not sound that terrible if we were alive over 10,000 years ago. But to think about biting into a juicy, prehistoric hunk of meat in the current day and age, I’ll admit it threw me off a bit this morning while reading about it. Of course, this special meatball wasn’t just made because the creators were hungry. Instead, the food farm responsible for it hoped to show how easy it is to grow meat from cells. Australian-based food farm Vow is the company behind…

The species Homo sapiens evolved some 300,000 years ago and has come to dominate Earth unlike any species that came before. But how long can humans last? Eventually humans will go extinct. At the most wildly optimistic estimate, our species will last perhaps another billion years but end when the expanding envelope of the sun swells outward and heats the planet to a Venus-like state. But a billion years is a long time. One billion years ago life on Earth consisted of microbes. Multicellular life didn’t make its debut…