#extinction

#extinction

Scientists are Trying to Save the Endangered Plains-Wanderer Birds by Making Them Wear Tiny Solar-Powered BackpacksScientists are making plains-wanderer birds carry something in their back while wandering, but don't worry, it's for a good reason: to save them from extinction.The tiny ground-dwelling birds are critically endangered species of birds from Australia, or more specifically around Victoria and New South Wales. It is estimated that there are only around 500 to 1,000 plains-wanderers left in the wild. South Australian, Victorian, and New South Wales governments are forming an alliance to prevent the tiny birds from going extinct.The joint mission includes breeding the bird in controlled captivity before re-releasing them with a special solar powered ‘backpack’ on their back. This backpack is connected to satellites and functions as a tracker for each individual.From The Guardian:Researchers have long struggled to understand the movements of the birds in the wild – which is where the solar backpacks come in.They have a two-year lifespan and will be tracked by satellite. Previously, tracking was limited by a 12-week battery life and the birds could only be followed with a transmitter in the field.While the data collected from every tracker is going to be used as the foundation for further plains-wanderer conservation efforts.Image: Zoos Victoria#conservation #plainswanderer #bird #extinction 

How Did Birds Survive the Asteroid Impact That Killed the Dinosaurs?Around 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub event changed the world when an asteroid slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula and plunged the world into a darkness that killed off 75% of the existing species. The dinosaurs were the best-known of the victims. But not all dinosaurs died out. The few that survived were birds. Even then, the surviving bird species were only a small percentage of the birds that existed before the asteroid impact. Why these these particular species of birds survive? What's the difference between Cretaceous birds and those living today? It appears to be big brains. But it's not just size- new scans of Ichthyornis, a bird that went extinct after the asteroid impact, shows a small forebrain, or cerebrum, like many dinosaurs. Modern birds have much larger forebrains compared to their other brain structures. The forebrain is responsible for many functions, so scientists don't yet know exactly how a larger forebrain aided some birds' survival, but speculate that it might have made them more able to modify their behavior in the face of a new environment. Just don't call them birdbrains. Read more about this research at LiveScience. -via Damn Interesting Image credit: Torres et al/CC BY 4.0)#bird #dinosaur #birdevolution #extinction #asteroid #birdbrain

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is Now Officially ExtinctThis is a piece of sad news for us.The ivory-billed woodpecker, along with 22 more species has been declared extinct by the U.S. government. Possible reasons behind the avian’s disappearance are too much development, water pollution, logging, competition from invasive species, birds killed for feathers, and animals captured by private collectors.Cornell University bird biologist John Fitzpatrick believes that the declaration was too early after the time, effort, and millions of dollars spent on preservation efforts and searches for the splendid woodpecker. “A bird this iconic, and this representative of the major old-growth forests of the southeast, keeping it on the list of endangered species keeps attention on it, keeps states thinking about managing habitat on the off chance it still exists,” Fitzpatrick said.Image credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology via AP; AP Photo/Haven Daley#Birds #Extinction #IvoryBilledWoodpecker 

27.5-Million-Year Geologic Cycle is Earth's "Pulse""Many geologists believe that geological events are random over time," said Geologist Michael Rampino of New York University, "But our study provides statistical evidence for a common cycle, suggesting that these geologic events are correlated and not random."According to a new study published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers, geological activities on Earth follow a 27.5-million-year-cycle.From SciTechDaily:Using the latest age-dating data available, Rampino and his colleagues compiled updated records of major geological events over the last 260 million years and conducted new analyses.The team analyzed the ages of 89 well-dated major geological events of the last 260 million years. These events include marine and land extinctions, major volcanic outpourings of lava called flood-basalt eruptions, events when oceans were depleted of oxygen, sea-level fluctuations, and changes or reorganization in the Earth’s tectonic plates.They found that these global geologic events are generally clustered at 10 different timepoints over the 260 million years, grouped in peaks or pulses of roughly 27.5 million years apart.Thankfully, the most recent cluster of geological events was about 7 million years ago, so the next major pulse is (or should be) 20 million years in the future. Phew!#geology #geophysics #extinction #geologicalevent