Palaeontologists Solve Mystery of 500 Million-Year-Old Squid-Like Carnivore

A study by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum sheds new light on a previously unclassifiable 500 million-year-old squid-like carnivore known as Nectocaris pteryx.

"We think that this extremely rare creature is an early ancestor of squids, octopuses, and other cephalopods," says Martin Smith of U of T's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and the Department of Natural History at the ROM. "This is significant because it means that primitive cephalopods were around much earlier than we thought, and offers a reinterpretation of the long-held origins of this important group of marine animals."

The new interpretation became possible with the discovery of 91 new fossils that were collected by the ROM from the famous Burgess Shale site (Yoho National Park) in the UNESCO World Heritage Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, British Columbia over the past three decades, and examined by PhD student Martin Smith along with U of T EEB and Geology assistant professor and ROM palaeontologist Jean-Bernard Caron.

"Previously, all knowledge of Nectocaris came from a lone specimen described in 1976. Due to the ambiguous characteristics evident on that specimen, Nectocaris has remained unclassified until now," says Smith, lead author of the study published in Nature. "Our study reveals that Nectocaris is similar to known members of the modern cephalopod group, which includes squid, octopus, cuttlefish and the nautilus, as well as common fossils such as ammonites and belemnites, which are now extinct."

"We know very little about the relationships between the major groups of molluscs, and the early history of the group," says Smith. "Fossils like Nectocaris help us to map out how the groups alive today might be related, and how they evolved. This tells us something about how biodiversity originated in the past, and helps us to understand the rich tapestry of life today."

The new specimens, between two and five centimetres long, show that Nectocaris was kite-shaped and flattened from top to bottom, with large, stalked eyes and a long pair of grasping tentacles, which the researchers believe helped it to hunt for and consume prey. Smith and Caron further suggest that the creature swum using its large lateral fins, and, like modern cephalopods, probably used its nozzle-like funnel to accelerate by jet propulsion. "Some of the specimens' large gills were choked with mud, suggesting that the animals were fossilized after being caught in an underwater mud-flow," says Smith.

"Our findings mean that cephalopods originated 30 million years earlier than we thought, and much closer to the first appearance of complex animals in the 'Cambrian explosion'" says Smith. Nectocaris does not have a mineralized shell, a fact that surprised the scientists. "It's long been thought that cephalopods evolved in the Late Cambrian period, when gradual modifications to the shells of creeping, snail-like animals made them able to float. Nectocaris shows us that the first cephalopods actually started swimming without the aid of gas-filled shells. Shells evolved much later, probably in response to increased levels of competition and predation in the Late Cambrian."

"Modern cephalopods are very complex, with intricate organs and startling intelligence. We go from very simple pre-Cambrian life-forms to something as complex as a cephalopod in the geological blink of an eye, which illustrates just how quickly evolution can produce complexity."

Smith says Nectocaris proves that there are still surprises in the fossil record. "Fossils can only ever tell us a part of the story," he says. "Exceptional soft-bodied fossils such as Nectocaris, combined with advances in developmental and molecular biology, still have a lot to bring to the table, and I'm sure that they will continue to help to refine and replace our current hypotheses."

The findings are presented in a paper titled "Primitive soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian," to be published May 27, 2010 in Nature. The study was partially funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant awarded to Caron and U of T fellowships to Smith.

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Toronto.

Extinct Giant Shark Nursery Discovered in Panama

The six-foot-long babies of the world's biggest shark species, Carcharocles megalodon, frolicked in the warm shallow waters of an ancient shark nursery in what is now Panama, report paleontologists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Florida.

"Adult giant sharks, at 60-70 feet in length, faced few predators, but young sharks faced predation from larger sharks," said Catalina Pimiento, visiting scientist at STRI and graduate student at the University of Florida. "As in several modern shark species, juvenile giant sharks probably spent this vulnerable stage of their lives in shallow water where food was plentiful and large predators had difficulty maneuvering."

Paleontologists from the Smithsonian and the University of Florida collected more than 400 fossil shark teeth from Panama´s 10-million-year-old Gatun Formation as part of ongoing work to reveal the origins of this narrow land-bridge that rose to connect North and South America about 3 million years ago. "The 28 teeth that we identified as C. megalodon were mostly from neonates and juveniles," said Pimiento. Researchers used reference collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the Florida Museum of Natural History to characterize the teeth.

"Very little is known about the life cycle of this giant shark that ruled the oceans not so long ago. Now we think that the young spent their first years close to the coast among mangroves," said STRI staff scientist Carlos Jaramillo, who heads the Canal excavation project.

The team discarded several other explanations for the concentration of small teeth at the site. Before their discovery in Panama, two other fossil beds have been proposed as paleo-shark nurseries: the Williamsburg Formation from the Paleocene and the Oligocene Chandler Bridge Formation, both in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

The sandy soils of the Gatun Formation have been used for years to make cement. Soon these outcrops will be exhausted. Scientists continue to race against the clock to find out more about the ancient inhabitants of the region.

These results, generated with funds from the U.S. National Science Foundation, are published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Mass Extinctions: 'Giant' Fossils Are Revolutionizing Current Thinking

Large-sized gastropods (1) (up to 7 cm) dating from only 1 million years after the greatest mass extinction of all time, the Permian-Triassic extinction (2), have been discovered by an international team including a French researcher from the Laboratoire Biogéosciences (CNRS/Université de Bourgogne), working with German, American and Swiss colleagues. These specimens call into question the existence of a "Lilliput effect," the reduction in the size of organisms inhabiting postcrisis biota, normally spanning several million years.

The team's results, published in the February 2010 issue of the journalGeology, have drastically changed paleontologists' current thinking regarding evolutionary dynamics and the way the biosphere functions in the aftermath of a mass extinction event.

The history of life on Earth has been punctuated by numerous mass extinctions, brief periods during which biodiversity is considerably reduced, followed by phases of re-conquest of the biosphere, corresponding to the diversification of those species that survived. Over the last 540 million years, around twenty mass extinctions, of greater or lesser intensity, have succeeded one another. The most devastating of these, the Permian-Triassic (P-T) mass extinction, which decimated more than 90% of the marine species existing at the time, occurred 252.6 million years ago with a violence that is still unequaled today.

In the aftermath of such events, environmental conditions are severely disrupted: the oceans become less oxygenated, water becomes poisonous, there is increased competition, collapse of food chains, etc. Until now, it has generally been accepted that certain marine organisms, such as gastropods or bivalves, were affected by a drastic reduction in size in response to major disruptions of this nature, both during and after the event. It took several million years for such organisms to return to sizes comparable to those that existed prior to the crisis. This is what scientists call the "Lilliput effect," in reference to the travels of Gulliver (3) who was shipwrecked on the island of the same name, inhabited by very small Lilliputians.

An international team of French, German, American and Swiss paleontologists has recently discovered large gastropod fossils dating from only 1 million years after the P-T mass extinction. The researchers have spent several years studying the re-conquest phase that followed the P-T crisis. By focusing their efforts on fossil-bearing outcrops in Utah dating from the Early Triassic, which have not yet been studied in detail, they have uncovered some outstanding specimens of gastropods, up to 7 cm, which can be termed as "giants" in comparison to those generally found, normally no bigger than 1 cm.

Complementary studies of these new gastropod fauna also indicate that they are not any smaller than older or present-day fauna. This discovery therefore refutes the existence of a Lilliput effect on gastropods during the major part of the Early Triassic or, at the very least, suggests that its importance has been overestimated. Quite surprisingly, the presence of these large gastropods also coincides with an explosive re-conquest of the ocean by organisms such as ammonites (4, 5). Taken together, these events therefore suggest that restructuring of marine ecosystems was already well underway only one million years after the P-T crisis, a very short time after a mass extinction of such magnitude.

The researchers plan to continue to study the fossils discovered in this locality in Utah while searching for other species and groups, such as bivalves, to confirm this new data. However, these findings already suggest that paleontologists are going to have to re-think the immediate and long term impact of mass extinctions on species.

Notes:

(1) The gastropods concerned by this study are mollusks that lived on the sea bed and are related, for example, to present-day land snails.

(2) The Permian-Triassic mass extinction, named after the two geological periods that encompass it, namely the Permian (299 -- 252.6 Ma) and the Triassic (252.6 -- 201.6 Ma), is the greatest mass extinction ever documented. It marks the end of the Primary (or Paleozoic) era and the beginning of the Secondary (or Mesozoic) era.

(3) Gulliver's Travels, written by Jonathan Swift in the 18th century.

(4) Ammonoids, related to present-day nautilus, cuttlefish and squid, are free-swimming cephalopod mollusks with external shells. They disappeared from the world's oceans at the same time as the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, after having been a major part of the marine fauna for nearly 400 million years.

(5) See also Brayard et al. 2009. Science 235: 1118-1121.

Galapagos Islands are transformed

The Galapagos archipelago has already been transformed by global climate changes and human activity, a report has concluded.A series of events, including the 1982 El Nino, overfishing and the appearance of urchins that destroy coral, has altered the islands' marine ecosystems. At least 45 Galapagos species have now disappeared or are facing extinction. That suggests future climate change driven by human activity will have an major impact on the islands' wildlife. The Galapagos, the Rosetta Stone of evolution, is now teaching us about the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems Professor Les KaufmannBoston University, US The report, published in the journal Global Change Biology, details the conclusions of a scientific meeting convened by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, the Galapagos National Park Service and environmental and wildlife groups including Conservation International and WWF, to assess the vulnerability of the islands to climate change. It found that the islands have yet to recover from the intense El Nino climate event of 1982 to 1982, which triggered abnormal weather conditions. That event destroyed coral reefs in the archipelago, many of which had persisted for at least 400 years. However, overfishing significantly weakened the marine ecosystem's ability to recover from the devastation caused by the El Nino.PROBABLY EXTINCT Black spotted damselfish (Azurina eupalama), shown aboveThe 24-rayed sunstar (Heliaster solaris) In particular, fishermen removed so many large predatory fishes and lobsters from the islands' seas, that huge numbers of sea urchins were able to colonise the area. They then overgrazed the coral, damaging it further and preventing it re-establishing. As a result, 45 species are now globally threatened. All live on the Galapagos, and most are found nowhere else. These 45 species include five mammals, six birds, five reptiles, six fishes, one echinoderm, seven corals, six brown algae and nine red algae. Among those is the coastal-living Mangrove finch, a species once studied by Charles Darwin. Fewer than 200 remain, all of which are dependant on mangroves that are susceptible to further climate change. Other threatened species include the Galapagos sea lion, marine iguana, Galapagos penguin and pink cup coral (Tubastraea floreana), which only survives in a few colonies. Two species have not been formally evaluated, but are thought to have already gone extinct. The Galapagos damsel (Azurina eupalama), which only lived in the archipelago's waters, eating plankton, was once common.POSSIBLY EXTINCT A number of macroalgae or seaweed species have not been seen for more than 20 years including:Dictyota galapagensisSpatoglossum schmittiThe Galápagos stringweed (Bifurcaria galapagensis) But after 1983 it has not been sighted. As yet, no marine fish has formally been determined to be extinct, highlighting the impact that climate changes and overfishing have had on the region. "The Galapagos, the Rosetta Stone of evolution, is now teaching us about the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems," says report co-author Professor Les Kaufmann from Boston University, US. "Nowhere on Earth are the combined impacts of climate change and overfishing more clearly defined than in the Galapagos Islands," says co-author Sylvia Earle of the US National Geographic Society. "Decades of data link recent fishing pressures to disruption of the islands' fine-tuned systems, making them more vulnerable to natural, and anthropogenic changes in climate." BBC By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News

Paleontologists Find Extinction Rates Higher in Open-Ocean Settings During Mass Extinctions

For many years, paleobiological researchers interested in the history of biodiversity have focused on charting the many ups (evolutionary radiations) and downs (mass extinctions) that punctuate the history of life. Because the preserved record of marine (sea-dwelling) animals is unusually extensive in comparison, say, to that of terrestrial animals such as dinosaurs, it's been easier to accurately calibrate the diversity and extinction records of marine organisms.

"Paleontologists now recognize that there were five particularly large, worldwide mass extinction events during the history of life, known among the cognoscenti as 'The Big Five,'" says Miller. "Much ink in research journals has been spilled over the past few decades on papers investigating the causes of these events."
Although researchers have long understood the potential value of "dissecting" mass extinctions, to ask whether some environments and organisms were affected more dramatically than others, little attention has been paid to a major dichotomy observed among marine sedimentary rocks and fossils: the distinction between epicontinental seas, which were broad shallow seas (typically less than 100 meters in depth) that once covered large regions of present-day continents, and open-ocean-facing coastlines, such as the continental shelves that rim many continents.
Today, it is difficult to appreciate that there was a time when regions such as Cincinnati were once covered by epicontinental seas, which gradually diminished over time so that almost none are left in the present day. And yet, a large percentage of Earth's fossil record is associated with these settings in the geological past, and there are many reasons to believe that their environmental properties were very different from open-ocean settings.
For one thing, because they were so broad and relatively flat, drops in sea level should have had more drastic effects on epicontinental seas because large regions could have been drained entirely in a short amount of time. On the other hand, the sluggish circulation associated with epicontinental seas may have inhibited the spread of the waterborne effects of such events as volcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts, which may have been more effective killing agents in open oceans.
In their research, Miller and Foote assembled data on the occurrences of marine genera from the Paleobiology Database for the Permian through Cretaceous periods, during which both major settings are well preserved in the fossil record. From that, they determined whether these occurrences were from epicontinental seas or open-ocean-facing settings, and they then compared extinction and origination rates in the two settings throughout the interval.
"This was a particularly juicy interval to work with, because it includes three of The Big Five, including the Late Permian mass extinction, the largest extinction in the history of marine animal life, and the end-Cretaceous event, which also did in the dinosaurs and has been associated previously with the impact of a big comet or asteroid," Miller says.
Miller and Foote found that, while extinction rates in the two settings did not generally differ from one another during "background" times between mass extinctions, there was a strikingly different pattern for the mass extinctions: extinctions rates during mass extinctions were significantly higher in open-ocean-facing settings than in epicontinental seas, indicating that open-ocean settings were more susceptible to the mass-extinction-causing agents.
The only exception to Miller and Foote's basic finding was an interval of heightened extinction in the run-up to the big event at the end of the Permian, during which the extinction rate was higher in epicontinental seas. But this interval had already been fingered by previous researchers as one in which there was a big sea-level decline, so Miller and Foote's finding bolsters the view that a drop in sea level was uniquely important as a cause of extinction in that interval.
For their analysis, Miller and Foote looked at several hundred thousand occurrences of fossils throughout the world assembled from the Paleobiology Database and used paleogeographic maps on which they had delineated the boundaries of epicontinental seas to determine whether individual occurrences were from epicontinental seas or the open ocean. "We then determined from these occurrences whether a given genus had a statistically significant tendency to occur in one setting more often than in the other, and if so, it was classified as open-ocean 'loving' or epicontinental-sea 'loving,'" Miller explains. "Our assessments of extinction and origination rates for the two settings were based on these assignments."
Anticipating that biologists might ask if the results primarily reflected a property unique to bivalve mollusks, which comprise a plurality of the data, Miller and Foote ran their analysis again using everything but the bivalves and obtained the same pattern. Similarly, because epicontinental seas tend to be associated with tropical latitudes dominated by carbonate (biologically derived) sediments and open-ocean settings occur more frequently in nontropical latitudes dominated by terrigenous (land-derived) sediments, Miller and Foote extracted subsets of the data limited only to tropical carbonates and nontropical terrigenous sediments and then split them into epicontinental seas versus open oceans. In nearly all cases they got the same results, thereby making it clear that their results truly reflected a difference between epicontinental seas and open oceans.
"One clear outcome of our analyses is that different marine environments respond differently to agents of mass extinction," says Miller. "Given present-day concerns that physical agents such as the accelerated pace of global warming may be inducing a 'sixth' extinction, we might also ask whether some present-day marine settings are likely to be more susceptible than others to the effects of extinction-causing agents."
Although their results to date are compelling, Miller and Foote are not done. Among other things, they intend to extend their analyses back through the entire Paleozoic Era, when epicontinental seas were at their zenith. They will be especially interested in the response of the marine biota to the other two of The Big Five mass extinctions: the Late Ordovician and Late Devonian events.
About the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is a global compilation of the occurrences of fossil taxa categorized at the genus or species levels, including geographic, environmental, and time information about these occurrences. It is a collaboration of paleontological researchers from around the world and permits users to track where taxa of interest were living through time, and to piece together and analyze global diversity trends in unprecedented ways.
This research was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program in Exobiology and National Science Foundation (NSF) programs in Biocomplexity and in Geology and Paleontology. Adapted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati.

Skate may be fished to extinction

The most precarious marine species on the planet A species of skate could become the first marine fish driven to extinction by commercial fishing, say scientists.A study reveals that an error in the classification of the species has meant researchers have failed to see just how close to the brink it is. The French team reports its findings in the journal Aquatic Conservation. Marine biologist Nicholas Dulvy from Simon Fraser University in Canada says the skate is now "the most precarious marine species on Earth". The team's genetic studies have revealed that what is referred to as the common skate is actually two clearly distinct species - the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedia) and the blue skate (Dipturus flossada).The fish were originally categorised separately, but an influential study in 1926 recognised only one valid species - Dipturus batis. This classification has been unchallenged since. The 80-year error has ensured that fisheries have not been catching what they thought, explained Dr Dulvy, who is also co-chair of the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) shark specialist group. The result has been that catches of the smaller, more resilient blue skate has entirely masked the decline of the flapper skate. Disappearing fastThe research team, led by Samuel Iglesias from the Marine Biology Station in Concarneau on the west coast of France, paints a very bleak picture for the future of the flapper skate. Dr Iglesias and his team spent over a year working with French fisheries and taking DNA samples from the skate that was caught. His findings finally revealed that the larger D. intermedia species was indeed in serious decline. Dr Iglesias said: "The threat of extinction for European Dipturus together with mislabelling in fishery statistics highlight the need for a huge reassessment of population for the different Dipturus species in European waters. "Without revision and recognition of its distinct status the world's largest skate, D. intermedia, could soon be rendered extinct." Dr Dulvy added: "As far as we can tell, [humans have] not yet driven anything fully to extinction by over-fishing." He and many other marine scientists are now very concerned that this skate species will be the first. By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News

Is 80-Year-Old Mistake Leading to First Species to Be Fished to Extinction?

A species of common skate is to become the first marine fish species to be driven to extinction by commercial fishing, due to an error of species classification 80 years ago, reveals research published November 17 in the journal Aquatic Conservation.The European common skate, Dipturus batis, has been on the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species since 2006, with France currently being responsible for 60.2% of reported landings. These catches are predominantly registered under the name 'D.batis,' however researchers, led by Dr Samuel Iglésias, show that 'D. batis' is in fact two clearly distinct species which have been incorrectly categorised as one since the 1920s.>From the mid-19th century the common skate was described as two distinct species, the flapper skate, D. intermedia, and the blue skate, D. flossada. However, in an influential work in 1926 R.S Clark recognised only 'D. batis' as a valid species and this classification has largely gone unchallenged since.This classification confusion has resulted in the depletion of the flapper skate, the more endangered species of the two, being masked in the catch record. This means the risk of extinction is far higher than previously assessed and without immediate and incisive action the species may be in an irreversible decline towards extinction.When conducting sampling in fish markets during the start of this study Dr Iglésias observed noticeable morphological differences in the 'Dipturus batis' specimens he sampled. In order to understand these differences the researchers not only analysed the systematic molecular data but also reviewed the species' life history and analysed fishery statistics."As the species was listed as 'Critically endangered' I wanted to understand who's who? I estimated at the beginning that it would take some weeks to resolve this question, but in the end it took me about two years," said Iglésias. "Our research clearly shows that D. cf. flossada and D. cf. intermedia are distinct and should be resurrected as two valid species."Common Skates, which were once abundant in British and European waters, have been in sharp decline for decades. In 2008 the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) noted that the species is depleted in the Celtic and North Seas, the Skagerrak and the English Channel. The ICES advised no target fishing and that by-catch should be minimised."The threat of extinction for European Dipturus together with mislabelling in fishery statistics highlight the need for a huge reassessment of population for the different Dipturus species in European waters," concluded Iglésias. "Without revision and recognition of its distinct status the world's largest skate, D. cf. intermedia, could soon be rendered extinct."Journal Reference:Iglésias S.P., Toulhoat L., Sellos D.Y. Taxonomic confusion and market mislabelling of threatened skates: important consequences for their conservation status. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems,

Killer Algae: Key Player In Mass Extinctions

Supervolcanoes and cosmic impacts get all the terrible glory for causing mass extinctions, but a new theory suggests lowly algae may be the killer behind the world's great species annihilations.

Today, just about anywhere there is water, there can be toxic algae. The microscopic plants usually exist in small concentrations, but a sudden warming in the water or an injection of dust or sediment from land can trigger a bloom that kills thousands of fish, poisons shellfish, or even humans.
James Castle and John Rodgers of Clemson University think the same thing happened during the five largest mass extinctions in Earth's history. Each time a large die off occurred, they found a spike in the number of fossil algae mats called stromatolites strewn around the planet. Castle will be presenting the research on October 19 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Portland, Oregon.
"If you go through theories of mass extinctions, there are always some unanswered questions," Castle said. "For example, an impact – how does that cause species to go extinct? Is it climate change, dust in the atmosphere? It's probably not going to kill off all these species on its own."
But as the nutrient-rich fallout from the disaster lands in the water, it becomes food for algae. They explode in population, releasing chemicals that can act as anything from skin irritants to potent neurotoxins. Plants on land can pick up the compounds in their roots, and pass them on to herbivorous animals.
If the theory is right, it answers a lot of questions about how species died off in the ancient world. It also raises concerns for how today's algae may damage the ecosystem in a warmer world.
"Algae growth is favored by warmer temperatures," Castle said. "You get accelerated metabolism and reproduction of these organisms, and the effect appears to be enhanced for species of toxin-producing cyanobacteria."
He added that toxic algae in the United States appear to be migrating slowly northward through the country's ponds and lakes, and along the coast as temperatures creep upward. Their expanding range portends a host of problems for fish and wildlife, but also for humans, as algae increasingly invade reservoirs and other sources of drinking water.
Journal reference:
Castle et al. Hypothesis for the role of toxin-producing algae in Phanerozoic mass extinctions based on evidence from the geologic record and modern environments. Environmental Geosciences, 2009; 16 (1): 1 DOI: 10.1306/eg.08110808003
Adapted from materials provided by Geological Society of America, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

EU officials warn of disappearing Cod

The European Union's executive body is calling for sharp cuts in the amount of cod fishermen can catch next year, pointing to estimates that the fish is close to extinction in some major fishing areas around Europe.Officials warned Friday that only steep catch cuts will prevent the disappearance of a species prized for centuries for its flaky white flesh.The European Commission said recent studies showed cod catches in some areas are far outstripping the rate of reproduction. It is calling for up to 25 percent cuts in some areas."We are not that far away from a situation of complete collapse," said Jose Rodriguez, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. He and other environmentalists said pressure from the fishing industry had kept quotas at levels too high to sustain a viable populations around Europe, while lack of enforcement meant illegal fishing made the problem worse.Scientists estimated that in the 1970s there were more than 250,000 tons of cod in fishing grounds in the North Sea, eastern English Channel and Scandinavia's Skagerrak strait. In recent years, however, stocks have dropped to 50,000 tons.The European Commission said Friday it would seek in 2010 to cut the catch in some fishing grounds around Britain, France, Spain and much of Scandinavia from 5,700 tons to 4,250 tons.In the Mediterranean, bluefin tuna has been overfished for years to satisfy increasing world demand for sushi and sashimi. The tuna population is now a fraction of what it was a few decades ago, but the EU's Mediterranean nations last month refused to impose even a temporary ban.Oceana estimated that illegal fishing doubled the amount of tuna caught.Meanwhile cod, which once sustained vibrant fishing communities from Portugal to Britain to Canada, is increasingly consumed by the ton as salt cod and fish-and-chips."People don't ask for fish and chips, they ask for cod and chips," said Mike Guo, a manager at Great Fish and Chips in Essex, England. "It's a traditional dish."The depletion of the species has caused the decay and disappearance of hundreds of fishing villages on both sides of the Atlantic.Overfishing off Canada's maritime provinces exhausted the world's richest cod grounds and forced the government to impose a fishing moratorium. The collapse wiped out more than 42,000 jobs, and 18 years later the fish have still not returned."It was devastating," said Tom Hedderson, minister of fisheries in Newfoundland. "This affected whole communities ... all up and down the coast here in Newfoundland and Labrador."He welcomed the EU call to cut catches by 25 percent, but suggested more drastic cuts may be needed.Some Canadian scientists believe the collapse of cod stocks off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia changed the marine ecosystem so dramatically that it may be impossible for cod to recover. Off Newfoundland alone, cod stocks once exceeded more than 400,000 tons but now scale only 5,500 tons, Hedderson said.There are signs of recovery of Atlantic cod off New England, however, after years of conservation efforts. And international regulators have reopened some areas off Canada for limited fishing, Canada's Fisheries and Oceans Department spokesman Scott Cantin said.The fishing industry in Europe, however, is in decline. The number of vessels in the 15 nations that were part of the EU in 1995 has dropped from 104,000 then to 81,000 in 2006. In Britain, employment in the fishing sector sank from 21,600 in 1990 to 16,100 in 2006.The EU Commission's demand for cod cuts will be discussed by the bloc's 27-member states in a Dec. 14-15 meeting, when the fishing quotas for 2010 will be finalized. "The scientific prognosis for most stocks is not encouraging, with many in a worse state than last year," Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday. "This, combined with the difficult economic climate, will mean that the negotiations will be even more challenging this time around." Keeping fishermen in port with excessive quotas will add to their economic woes, said Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation. Norway and the EU jointly oversee cod stocks in North Sea, with each party regulating the stocks in its waters. Norway and the EU will begin annual negotiations on cod stock management in November. Ann Kristin Westberg, deputy director-general of Norway's Fishery Ministry, said her country was unlikely to accept a 25 percent quota. "We probably want to have it lower," she said. "We would like to point out that stock the EU are involved in managing are in terrible shape." The cod harvest from the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine fishing grounds, the two primary New England fishing grounds, in 2007 totaled 3,868 metric tons, the biggest catch since 2003 but far under the landings of the 1980s when fishermen often caught more than 20,000 tons annually. "The Gulf of Maine stock is responding to the recovery plan, and the Georges Bank stock is recovering but not as much," said Teri Frady of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachussets.

Quick Rebound From Marine Mass Extinction Event, New Findings Show

In 1980, Luis Alvarez and his collaborators stunned the world with their discovery that an asteroid impact 65 million years ago probably killed off the dinosaurs and much of the the world's living organisms. But ever since, there has been an ongoing debate about how long it took for life to return to the devastated planet and for ecosystems to bounce back.

Now, researchers from MIT and their collaborators have found that at least some forms of microscopic marine life — the so called "primary producers," or photosynthetic organisms such as algae and cyanobacteria in the ocean — recovered within about a century after the mass extinction. Previous research had indicated the process might have taken millions of years.
It has taken so long to uncover the quick recovery because previous studies looked mostly at fossils in the layers of sediment from that period, and apparently the initial recovery was dominated by tiny, soft-bodied organisms such as cyanobacteria, which do not have shells or other hard body parts that leave fossil traces. The new research looked instead for "chemical fossils" — traces of organic molecules (compounds composed of mostly carbon and hydrogen) that can reveal the presence of specific types of organisms, even though all other parts of the organisms themselves are long gone.
The new research, published in the Oct. 2 issue of Science, was led by Julio Sepúlveda, an MIT postdoc who carried out part of the work while still a graduate student at the University of Bremen, Germany, and MIT Professor of Geobiology Roger Summons, among others.
The team had two major advantages that helped to make the new findings possible. One was a section of the well-known cliff face at Stevns Klint, Denmark, that happens to have an unusually thick layer of sediment from the period of the mass extinction — about 40 centimeters thick, compared to the few cm thickness of the layers that Alvarez originally studied from that period at Gubbio (Italy) and Stevns Klint (Denmark). And team members tapped one of the most powerful Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometers (GC-MS) in the world, a device that can measure minute quantities of different molecules in the rock. MIT's advanced GC-MS is one of only a few such powerful instruments currently available at U.S. universities.
When people look at microfossils in the sediments from the period but are unable to detect the chemical biomarkers with the level of sensitivity the MIT team was able to achieve, they "miss a big part of the picture," Sepúlveda says. "Many of these microorganisms" that were detected through molecular signatures "are at the base of the food chain, but if you don't look with biochemical techniques you miss them."
The analysis clarified the sequence of events after the big impact. Immediately after the impact, certain areas of the ocean were devoid of oxygen and hostile to most algae, but close to the continent, microbial life was inhibited for only a relatively short period: in probably less than 100 years, algal productivity showed the first signs of recovery. In the open ocean, however, this recovery took much longer: previous studies have estimated that the global ocean ecosystem did not return to its former state until 1 to 3 million years following the impact.
Because of the rebound of primary producers, Sepúlveda says "very soon after the impact, the food supply was not likely a limitation" for other organisms, and yet "the whole ecology of the system remained disrupted" and took much longer to recover.
The findings provide observational evidence supporting models suggesting that global darkness after the impact was rather short. "Primary productivity came back quickly, at least in the environment we were studying," says Summons, referring to the near-shore environment represented by the Danish sediments.
"The atmosphere must have cleared up rapidly," he says. "People will have to rethink the recovery of the ecosystems. It can't be just the lack of food supply" that made it take so long to recover.
The team hopes to be able to study other locations with relatively thick deposits from the extinction aftermath, to determine whether the quick recovery really was a widespread phenomenon after the mass extinction.
These findings seem to rule out one theory about how the global ecosystem responded to the impact, which held that for more than a million years there was a "Strangelove ocean" — a reference to the post-apocalyptic scenario in the movie Dr. Strangelove — in which all the primary producers remained absent for a prolonged period, Summons says.
In addition to Sepúlveda and Summons, the work was carried out by Jens Wendler of the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany, and Kai-Uwe Hinrichs of the University of Bremen. The work was funded by the DFG, European Graduate College Europrox and the NASA Astrobiology and Exobiology Programs.
Journal reference:
Julio Sepúlveda, Jens E. Wendler, Roger E. Summons, and Kai-Uwe Hinrichs. Rapid Resurgence of Marine Productivity After the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction. Science, 2009; DOI: 10.1126/science.1176233
Adapted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Original article written by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office.

Loggerhead turtles at risk of extinction

It's a scene that scientists say is all too common: A commercial fishing boat pulls in a net full of shrimp or tuna and finds a loggerhead sea turtle mixed in with the catch.Biologists like Matthew Godfrey say one or two such takings can happen every day among fishing fleets off the Southeast coast. Those numbers can add up to thousands annually for a turtle species that has traveled the oceans for 200 million years but now faces a growing array of threats.Godfrey is among the authors of the latest federal report on loggerheads that says most groups of the ancient reptile are at risk of extinction — in large part due to increased commercial fishing.The study, released last month, predicted broad population declines across the globe in the coming years, including in a nesting area along the southeastern United States that is one of the world's largest."Unfortunately, a lot of times the target fish habitat and the turtle habitat overlap," said Godfrey, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. "The turtles are air breathers, so they need to get to the surface, but if they're tangled up in the net, they can't get to the surface, and they essentially drown."Loggerheads have been listed as a threatened species since 1978. This latest report puts new pressure on the government to upgrade their status to endangered and further restrict commercial fisheries.But even the increased awareness that an endangered listing would bring might not save the turtles, which migrate thousands of miles through the sea.Meaningful protections require broad global cooperation given the turtles' far-flung travels. Fishing operators already are chafing under regulations aimed at protecting the animals, and further restrictions could draw strong opposition and fresh concerns about hurting coastal economies."These trends are very difficult to reverse. It's like turning a big battleship," said Blair Witherington, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who helped write the report. "We really ought to be doing it now."The report was commissioned by the National Marine Fisheries Service as a result of petitions from environmental groups, who say the government is moving too slowly to protect loggerheads and have sued to force stronger actions. Many of the study's authors work for the federal agencies that will decide whether to change its status to endangered.For the first time, the study called for dividing loggerhead populations into nine distinct global populations, a potentially key recommendation that would allow each to be studied and protected as a separate species.It said seven of those nine populations are in danger of extinction, including two along U.S. coasts: the major population in the Atlantic Ocean, which has nesting concentrated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, and a smaller population that migrates through Pacific waters off the West Coast and Hawaii.Aside from fishing, the report said other major threats include coastal development that disrupts nesting, such as erosion-control barriers and other structures that prevent mothers from nesting and bright lights that can disorient hatchlings. The animals and their eggs are also still hunted for consumption in some parts of the world, the report said, and will probably be threatened by changing sea levels from climate change, which could wash away nesting habitats.The U.S. and other countries already have adopted a number of protections, but the report said their effectiveness has been incomplete.Since the mid-1990s, shrimp trawlers have been required to use gear that allows turtles to escape, for example. But the National Marine Fisheries Service has estimated that nearly 650 turtles a year are still killed by shrimpers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.In April, federal regulators restricted the use of long fishing lines for catching red grouper off Florida's western coast after studies showed that as many as 800 loggerheads were caught by the lines every 18 months. The temporary ban, from mid-May to mid-October — when sea turtles feed in the warm Gulf waters — angered fishing operators, who said it could kill their business."I don't know what else they could expect us to do," said Woody Moore, a commercial fisherman out of Jacksonville, Fla., who said he thinks the dangers posed by fishing fleets are exaggerated."I've never in my life caught a dead one," he said. "And I've been fishing 30 years." Elizabeth Griffin, fisheries campaign manager at Oceana, an advocacy group that has sued the government to protect loggerheads more aggressively, acknowledged that significant steps have been taken but said the turtles remain largely unprotected in the water. She said the United States, which hosts about 90 percent of loggerhead nesting off the Atlantic Ocean, should heed its own scientists' advice. "We're a key player in preventing loggerheads from going extinct in the Atlantic so we really need to be a leader on this issue," Griffin said. Therese Conant, deputy director of the Fisheries Service's endangered species division and another of the report's authors, said the government would probably issue a proposed decision in February on whether to change the turtles' status.

Marine Microorganisms: Surviving Mass Extinction By Leading A Double Life

Drifting across the world’s oceans are a group of unicellular marine microorganisms that are not only a crucial source of food for other marine life — but their fossils, which are found in abundance, provide scientists with an extraordinary record of climatic change and other major events in the history of the earth.

Now, planktonic foraminifera — single-celled shell building members of the marine microplankton community — have given up a secret of their very own.
A team of experts, including scientists from The University of Nottingham, have presented remarkable evidence that planktonic foraminifera may have survived mass extinction by taking refuge on the sea floor.
Dr Chris Wade from the Institute of Genetics, said: “Using genetic data we have been able to prove that the planktonic species Streptochilus globigerus and the benthic — sediment living — foraminiferan Bolivina variabilis are one and the same biological species. Moreover, geochemical evidence shows that this species actively grows within the open-ocean surface waters, thus occupying both planktonic and benthic domains. Such ecologically-flexible species are eminently suited to the recolonisation of the extinction-susceptible planktonic domain following mass extinctions events, such as the end-Cretaceous event.”
It had been thought that all modern planktic foraminifers were descended from the few lucky survivors of the meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and 65 to 70 per cent of life on earth 65 million years ago. However, this might not be the case.
Dr Wade together with PhD student Heidi Seears have shown that live specimens of the planktonic species Streptochilus globigerus, collected 600 miles offshore in the middle of the Arabian Sea, are genetically identical to the benthic species Bolivina variabilis, found off the coast of Kenya.
Their surprising discovery suggests that planktonic foraminifera may have survived the end Cretaceous mass-extinction by abandoning the poisonous oceans for a refuge in the relative safety of the sea-floor. When the oceans returned to normal, the survivors were able to recolonise the ocean surface once more.
The research, carried out in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Dr Kate Darling, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “If some species can switch between free-swimming and bottom-dwelling lifestyles, then it's possible that most planktic foraminifers may have survived the late Cretaceous extinction in the sediment, not in the plankton. It seems likely that the foraminifer species which had the ability to occupy both habitats survived on the sea-floor, avoiding the meteor impact catastrophe in the oceans above.
Journal reference:
Kate F. Darling et al. Surviving mass extinction by bridging the benthic/planktic divide. PNAS, Published online before print July 2, 2009 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0902827106
Adapted from materials provided by University of Nottingham.

Endangered Right Whales Identified Where They Were Presumed Locally Extinct

Using a system of underwater hydrophones that can record sounds from hundreds of miles away, a team of scientists from Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an area they were thought to be locally extinct.

The discovery is particularly important, researchers say, because it is in an area that may be opened to shipping if the melting of polar ice continues, as expected.
Results of the study were presented this week at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Portland, Ore.
The scientists are unsure of exactly how many whales were in the region, which is off the southern tip of Greenland and site of an important 19th-century whaling area called Cape Farewell Ground. But they recorded more than 2,000 right whale vocalizations in the region from July through December of 2007.
“The technology has enabled us to identify an important unstudied habitat for endangered right whales and raises the possibility that – contrary to general belief – a remnant of a central or eastern Atlantic stock of right whales still exists and might be viable,” said David Mellinger, an assistant professor at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport and chief scientist of the project.
“We don’t know how many right whales there were in the area,” Mellinger added. “They aren’t individually distinctive in their vocalizations. But we did hear right whales at three widely space sites on the same day, so the absolute minimum is three. Even that number is significant because the entire population is estimated to be only 300 to 400 whales.”
Only two right whales have been sighted in the last 50 years at Cape Farewell Ground, where they had been hunted to near extinction prior to the adoption of protective measures.
Funded by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, the project began in 2007 with the deployment of five hydrophones off the coast of Greenland. These instruments, built by Haru Matsumoto at OSU, were configured to continuously record ambient sounds below 1,000 Hz – a range that includes calls of the right whale – over a large region of the North Atlantic.
Right whales produce a variety of sounds, Mellinger said, and through careful analysis these sounds can be distinguished from other whales. The scientists used recordings of North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales to identify the species’ distinct sounds, including vocalizations known as “up” calls. Beginning in July of 2007, the scientists recorded a total of 2,012 calls in the North Atlantic off Greenland.
The pattern of recorded calls suggests that the whales moved from the southwest portion of the region in a northeasterly direction in late July, and then returned in September – putting them directly where proposed future shipping lanes would be likely.
“Newly available shipping lanes through the Northwest Passage would greatly shorten the trip between Europe and East Asia, but would likely cross the migratory route of any right whales that occupy the region,” said Phillip Clapham, a right whale expert with NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory, who participated in the study. “It’s vital that we know about right whales in this area in order to effectively avoid ship strikes on what could be a quite fragile population.”
In addition to Mellinger and Clapham, scientists involved in the project include Sharon Nieukirk, Karolin Klinck, Holger Klinck and Bob Dziak of the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies – a joint venture between OSU and NOAA; and Bryndís Brandsdóttir, of the University of Iceland.
This is the third time that Mellinger’s team has used hydrophones to locate endangered right whales. In the January 2004 issue of the journal Marine Mammal Science, Mellinger and his colleagues outlined how they used autonomous hydrophones to identify right whales in the Gulf of Alaska, where only one confirmed sighting had taken place in 26 years. And they identified the seasonal occurrence of right whales off Nova Scotia in a 2007 issue of the journal.
OSU scientists first began hearing whale sounds several years ago on a U.S. Navy hydrophone network. The hydrophone system – called the Sound Surveillance System, or SOSUS – was used by the Navy during the Cold War to monitor submarine activity in the northern Pacific Ocean. As the Cold War ebbed, these and other military assets were offered to civilian researchers performing environmental studies.
An Oregon State researcher, Christopher Fox, first received permission from the Navy to use the hydrophones at his laboratory at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center to listen for undersea earthquakes – a program now directed by Bob Dziak.
While listening for earthquakes, the OSU researchers begin picking up sounds of ships, marine landslides – and whales. Matsumoto, an engineer at the center, then developed autonomous hydrophones that can be deployed independently. Hydrophones since have become an important tool for marine ecologists, as well as geologists.
Adapted from materials provided by Oregon State University.
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Oregon State University (2009, June 13). Endangered Right Whales Identified Where They Were Presumed Locally Extinct. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/06/090609132412.htm

Back from a watery grave

Extinct in UK rivers, the burbot fish now swims at ZSL London ZooA fish which disappeared from UK waters over 30 years ago has been cast a lifeline by ZSL.Four burbot fish are now being displayed in one of the Aquarium's freshwater tanks, giving members of the public their first ever glance at the mysterious species which originate from the streams and lakes of North America and Europe.The fish, which hasn't been seen or caught in UK waters since the 1970s, is the only freshwater member of the cod family and joins over 200 different species in our own collection.Brian Zimmerman, Assistant Curator of the Aquarium, said: `It's a real shame that the burbot fish has disappeared from UK waters. Hopefully having some of the fish on display in our Aquarium will alert visitors to the plight of freshwater fish species in the UK and around the world, one of the most endangered groups of animals.'The four fish have been given to the Zoo in a bid to raise the species profile. A team from The University of Southampton is investigating the cause of the burbot's extinction and the possibility of reintroducing the species back into British rivers.Dr Paul Kemp, who is a member of the team, said: `Opinion is divided over the reasons for the loss of this species. Climate change, over-fishing, pollution and habitat destruction have all been advanced as possible causes. `Our study is currently examining the role of changes in water temperature, genetics, and river engineering in the burbot's extinction in the wild.'

Western Gray Whales Get a Break From Noisy Oil Development

An oil and gas consortium has agreed to suspend this summer's planned seismic testing off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, the only feeding area for the critically endangered Western gray whale. The decision by Sakhalin Energy, which is developing the Sakhalin II project, followed a recommendation today by an international scientific panel to halt further noisy seismic testing in the whales' feeding area near Piltun Bay on the western edge of the Sea of Okhotsk.The agreement was reached during a meeting of the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel today in Geneva. Convened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the 11-member panel of scientists met this week with representatives of Shell, Sakhalin Energy, Russian government officials, project lenders and environmental NGOs to review the most recent science on the whales. The Western gray whale is one of the world's most endangered whale populations. These whales feed only in the summer at the very time and place used by oil and gas companies to conduct their development activities before severe winter weather again closes in around the northeastern part of the oil-rich Sakhalin shelf. While Sakhalin Energy has agreed to a moratorium on seismic exploration near Piltun Bay this summer, that does not mean that the feeding ground will be quiet enough for the whales to eat and for mothers to teach their calves to forage near the mouth of the bay. Other energy companies that have not joined in the panel process are continuing with their noisy development activities. Said Aleksey Knizhnikov from WWF-Russia, "Major international giants BP and Exxon have completely ignored pleas to join the panel, disregarded advice on how to mitigate the impacts of their activities, and refused to provide even basic information on what their activities are in the region." ExxonMobil holds 30 interest in the nearby Sakhalin-1 Project with other investors from Russia, Japan and India. BP holds an interest in nearby Sakhalin V. In a report issued today based on a multi-year photo record of the whales, the advisory panel identified two main feeding areas in proximity to the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin II oil and gas development projects - a nearshore feeding area adjacent to Piltun Bay, and an offshore area, east of Niyskiy Bay. Gray whales utilize these feeding areas during the ice-free season. More recently, western gray whales have also been identified feeding on the southeast coast of the Kamchatka peninsula. The western Pacific population of gray whale, Esrichtiius robustus, is one of only two surviving populations of this species. Both populations were brought near to extinction by commercial whaling, but the eastern Pacific population, which migrates annually between Mexico and Alaska, has recovered and now numbers about 20,000 animals. By comparison, the western Pacific population, which is believed to migrate between eastern Russia and China, is estimated at about 130 individuals, with only 25-35 reproductive females. New research presented by the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel shows "a significant decline in sightings and behavior changes of the whales in their primary feeding area near Piltun Bay," the scientific panel said. Oil and gas exploration activities in the area appear to have displaced the whales to deeper areas offshore, making it more difficult for whale calves to feed. Since the Western gray whale only feeds in the summertime, such displacement could be devastating to the struggling whale population. "WWF lauds the responsible and forward looking approach taken by Sakhalin Energy in heeding this call from the panel," said Knizhnikov. "The results seen today demonstrate that collaborative science based initiatives like this panel process can succeed – even on issues as complex as oil and gas development." Doug Norlen from Pacific Environment, an international NGO that has monitored Sakhalin oil and gas projects for over a decade, called on BP, Exxon and the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft to "abandon their reckless plans that threaten the western gray whales with extinction." "Exxon is conducting acoustically loud pile driving, thrusting huge columns into the ground to build their facility at the exact time and place that the whales should be feeding," Norlen told ENS. "If you scare the Western gray whales off that place, the frightening thing is that they can go a whole year without proper feeding habitat." "While we got a good outcome for this year from Sakhalin Energy, Exxon, BP and Rosneft are derelict in their responsibility to engage with science and independent scientists," Norlen said. "If there were an international court for environmental crimes, the executives of these companies would be in prison." ExxonMobil holds 30 interest in the Sakhalin-1 Project, which includes three offshore fields and is one of the largest single foreign direct investments in Russia. Operated by Exxon Neftegas Limited, the investors in the project include affiliates of Rosneft, RN-Astra (8.5%) and Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (11.5%); the Japanese consortium SODECO (30%); and the Indian state-owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd. (20%). On its website, the Sakhalin-1 Consortium says its support of the gray whale population research program amounted to US$17 million between 1997 and 2007, expanded the knowledge base about the species, and involved prominent Russian and Western whale scientists. Sakhalin I says the project is "committed to ongoing support of the gray whale research program and continues to work with Russian marine research institutes and the industry to study the population, behavior and habitat use by the whales, as well as characterize the natural environment including ambient sound." BP is involved in the Sakhalin V project Norlen called the scientific panel's recommendations "absolutely precedent setting." "It is precedent setting because," he said, "it means that if other companies such as Exxon, BP and Rosneft do not begin to cooperate with this process and do not abide by the moratorium, they will be complict in driving the Western gray whale closer to extinction."

Bones found on Mid-County beach may be rare, extinct whale

Fossilized bones that some experts think could be the remains of an extinct whale dating back some 5 million years -- when shallow ocean covered the county and walruses and long-snouted dolphins plied the local waters -- have been found along a Mid-County beach.County construction crews spotted a set of vertebrae protruding from the ground last month; scientists have since identified the remains as whale bones. A planned excavation of the site, (the exact location of which the Sentinel is withholding at the request of paleontologists, to protect the discovery), is expected to reveal more about the animal."It might be something really exciting and new to science or it might be something that's not new to science but still important," said Frank Perry, paleontologist at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.Based on the few bones that are exposed, the whale is thought to be between 15 and 20 feet long. The rock the animal sits in comes from the end of the Miocene Epoch, which helps pinpoint its age to at least 5 million years, experts say.At that time, according to scientists, the ocean was not what it is today. Seawater spilled over much of California and contained a whole different mix of marine life. The dozens of species of whales then are just distant relatives of what exist today.Paleontologists who have visited the Santa Cruz fossil say it's too early to know whether the animal was an ancient baleen whale, along the lines of today's plankton-feeding humpbacks, or a meat-eating toothed whale, more closely related to the modern orca."If we get the skull, that will help us pin down a lot of details," said David Haasl, a paleontologist with Auburn-based PaleoResource Consultants, which has been contracted with the county to excavate the animal.The question paleontologists are burning to answer is just how much of the skeleton still sits beneath the surface. While fragments of whale bones are common on Santa Cruz County shores, which hold many shells and other remnants from the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, paleontologists have reason to believe the recently discovered whale fossil may be intact."When you go to a museum and see a full dinosaur skeleton, you have the impression that paleontologists always come across full skeletons, but that's not so," Perry said. "There's just a small part exposed here in Santa Cruz, but it looks very promising that we'll find more."The paleontology community has come across some historic gems in Central California before. The remains of a relative of the beluga whale, now only known to Arctic waters, was discovered inland. A small and little-known species of baleen whale was uncovered on Año Nuevo Island.A date to excavate the recently discovered whale has yet to be set, but county officials say they hope to do it as soon as possible.

Why Certain Fishes Went Extinct 65 Million Years Ago

Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago, according to a new study.*Today, those same features characterize large predatory bony fishes, such as tuna and billfishes, that are currently in decline and at risk of extinction themselves, said Matt Friedman, author of the study and a graduate student in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago."The same thing is happening today to ecologically similar fishes," he said. "The hardest hit species are consistently big predators."Studies of modern fishes demonstrate that large body size is linked to large prey size and low rates of population growth, while fast-closing jaws appear to be adaptations for capturing agile, evasive prey—in other words, other fishes. The fossil record provides some remarkable evidence supporting these estimates of function: fossil fishes with preserved stomach contents that record their last meals.When an asteroid struck the earth at the end of the Cretaceous about 65 million years ago, the resultant impact clouded the earth in soot and smoke. This blocked photosynthesis on land and in the sea, undermined food chains at a rudimentary level, and led to the extinction of thousands of species of flora and fauna, including dinosaurs.Scientists had speculated that during that interval large predatory fishes might have been more likely than other fishes to go extinct because they tended to have slowly increasing populations, live more spread out, take longer to mature, and occupy precarious positions at the tops of food chains. Today, ecologically similar fishes appear to be the least able to rebound from declining numbers due to overfishing.To build the database he needed to test this prediction, Friedman traveled around the world measuring the body size and jaw bones of 249 genera of fossil fishes that lived during the late Cretaceous. These kinds of direct measurements are possible in fossil fishes because many are represented by complete, articulated individuals. This is unlike the fossil record of most other vertebrates, where bones, teeth and other parts of the skeleton are often scattered and found in isolation.This study is the first to test this theory with hard data and to quantify the relationship between body size, jaw function and vulnerability of fishes during the Cretaceous extinction, according to Friedman."Anyway you sliced it, the data showed that if you were a big fish with a fast bite you were toast," he said.Ironically, today's large fishes with fast bites evolved relatively shortly after the end-Cretaceous extinction, apparently filling the functional and ecological roles vacated by the victims of that mass extinction. Although the two groups of fishes are not related to each other, their fates may end up being similar.The paper is called "Ecomorphological selectivity among marine teleost fishes during the end-Cretaceous extinction" and will appear in issue 13 of PNAS. In it, Friedman describes the results of his study as robust because the large-bodied, predatory fishes that are disproportionately devastated also have the best fossil records. "In other words, we can be convinced that these forms really do die off here, and that their disappearance can't be chalked up to a lousy fossil record," Friedman noted.Nevertheless, fossil fishes are not well studied because paleontologists, as a group, tend to be drawn to other animals, such as dinosaurs. Therefore, many large-scale patterns of fish evolution remain unclear.The fossil fishes included in the study are diverse in form, and range in length from about 20 feet to less than one inch."This study demonstrates that fossil datasets are germane to modern diversity and evolution by allowing us to calibrate what characteristics might relate to extinction vulnerability today," Friedman said. "Echoes of the end-Cretaceous extinction reverberate 65 million years later."This research was supported by the Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research, Hinds Fund, Evolving Earth, National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency.This study is published March 31, 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Source: University of Chicago Medical Center

Census Of Modern Organisms Reveals Echo Of Ancient Mass Extinction

Paleontologists can still hear the echo of the death knell that drove the dinosaurs and many other organisms to extinction following an asteroid collision at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago.

"The evolutionary legacy of the end-Cretaceous extinction is very much with us. In fact, it can be seen in virtually every marine community, every lagoon, every continental shelf in the world," said University of Chicago paleontologist David Jablonski. It is, he said, "sort of an echo of the big bang for evolutionary biology."
This conclusion followed a detailed global analysis of marine bivalves, one of the few groups plentiful enough in the fossil record to allow such a study, which was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Andrew Krug of the University of Chicago, Jablonski and James Valentine of the University of California, Berkeley, examined the geologic ages of every major lineage of living bivalves the world over, from oysters and scallops to quahogs and cockles.
International biological census
The team followed procedures similar to taking a census of everyone living in Chicago, inferring birth rates from that age profile, and then comparing them to a census for Tokyo, Mexico City and other major international metropolitan areas.
Their analysis quantified the time of origin for 711 lineages of bivalves living in the oceans today, and converted them to evolutionary origination rates. In all but the highest-latitude locations, the team saw the clear signs of a strong increase in origination rates following the end of the Cretaceous.
That was no great surprise, Jablonski said, because "the post-extinction recovery pulse is dramatic—we've known about it for a long time." The surprising finding was that the initial 10 million-year boom never really went bust. The origination rate slowed a bit, but did not drop back to the levels that preceded the mass extinction. "It was as if the post-war baby boom birth rate slowed slightly but never returned to pre-war levels," he said.
Why the origination rate failed to drop to previous levels remains an unsolved question, "one that we never even would have asked if we hadn't analyzed the data in this new way," Jablonski noted. "It could be that the extinction took out competitors that had been holding the bivalves back, and permanently opened more room to diversify. Or the post-extinction increase in predation by crabs, fish and other enemies may have spurred the bivalves to keep evolving at a faster pace." These will be interesting ideas to test next, according to Jablonski.
There's a subtlety to the findings. "These data don't mean that the extinction was less severe at high latitudes. They mean that the recovery was less prolific at high latitudes," he said.
Tropical recovery engine
The difference reflects the lag between when lineages arise in the tropics and when they finally make it up into polar waters. "The tropics were the engine of the recovery, and they just kept on pumping out new lineages," Jablonski said, while the poles slowly collected lineages spreading out from warmer zones.
The paper culminated a discussion among the authors that had nothing to do with the end-Cretaceous extinction, said Krug, a Postdoctoral Scholar in Geophysical Sciences at Chicago. They were following up other work that Krug had done on the interplay between the geographic range, age and species composition of modern lineages.
When they compared the data from several provinces, Krug noticed the same statistical blip in each—a sharp kink in the curve summing up the ages of living lineages. "When we saw that the kink fell right at 65 million years ago, we knew we had something," Jablonski said. Upon further analysis, a significant pattern emerged for origination rates, an evolutionary signal that had withstood 65 million years of later global changes in climate, geography and ecology.
"It turned out to be supported in almost all the provinces, and the strength of that support was predictable based on latitude of the province," Krug said. "We'd found a pattern no one had ever seen before. It was an exciting moment."
Their report appears in the Feb. 6 issue of the journal Science.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Chicago.

Little blue penguin influx along BOP coastline

It would appear that one of Eastern Bay's favourite little birds, the little blue penguin, have been also been seen enjoying our beaches, especially over the last week. "They come ashore for numerous reasons" says Community Relations Ranger, Mike Jones. "At dusk they come ashore to rest and recuperate after a day out trying to catch their supper. Please don't try and `rescue' them – they are perfectly healthy and don't try what one worried member of the public did recently which was to try and push the bird back out to sea!"However, if you do see a little blue penguin along the beach during the day it could possibly be injured. If it does have obvious injuries, the best thing to do is to either call our local bird rescuer, Rosemary Tully, on +64 7 312 9475 with details or contact your local DOC office. And as always, please keep your dog restrained and away from these vulnerable birds" said Mr Jones.High juvenile mortality is unfortunate but natural for little blue penguins, particularly at this time of year. From late December to March chicks are leaving the nest for the first time. Many are unable to fend for themselves and simply die of exhaustion or starvation. It's recommended that if you find a dead penguin, that you leave it on the beach. Secondly adults go through a moult stage for approximately four weeks; where they remain in their nests. They do not feed because their new feathers become water logged when wet. If they have not built up sufficient fat reserves for the fast they may die. If you see a moulting penguin it's recommended that you leave it alone; do not put it in the water. If it is being attacked by a dog or another predator please call your local DOC office.The korora, little blue penguin, is the world's smallest penguin and is found in both New Zealand and Southern Australia. Its main breeding sites are in the Hauraki Gulf and Northland but this protected native species can be found right around the shores of the Bay of Plenty.Studies in the South Island have shown that typically only 30% of chicks survive to adulthood. During a difficult season, when little food is available, the mortality rate can be even higher. Some are found washed up on beaches, but the majority disappear.Source: New Zealand Department of ConservationBlue penguin/kororâ Southern little blue penguinThe blue penguin is the smallest penguin in the world, standing just 25 cm tall and weighing a little over 1 kg. Its plumage is slate-blue with a bright white belly and it lacks any type of crest. In Canterbury, experts also recognise a separate sub-species, known as the white flippered penguin. It is difficult to distinguish from the blue penguin, but to the discerning eye the white flippered is slightly larger, lighter in colour and has a characteristic broader white band at the front of its flipper.Blue penguins only come ashore under the cover of darkness and live underground in burrows, natural holes, or under human structures and buildings. They remain around their colony all year, although they may make long foraging trips of more than 70 km during the non-breeding period.The population and range of the little blue penguin has been declining in areas not protected from predators. Where predator control is in place, populations have been stable or increasing.

Emperor penguins face extinction

Less ice could spell bad news for a great many species Emperor penguins, whose long treks across Antarctic ice to mate have been immortalised by Hollywood, are heading towards extinction, scientists say. Based on predictions of sea ice extent from climate change models, the penguins are likely to see their numbers plummet by 95% by 2100. That level of decline could wreak havoc on the delicate Antarctic food chain. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Emperor penguins, the largest species, are unique in that they are the only penguins that breed during the harsh Antarctic winters. Colonies gather far inland after long treks across sea ice, where the females lay just one egg that is tended by the male. That means that the ice plays a major role in their overall breeding success. What is more, the extent of sea ice cover influences the abundance of krill and the fish species that eat them - both food sources for the penguins. Hal Caswell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and his colleagues used projections of sea ice coverage from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) last report. In addition, they used a "population dynamics" model describing the mating patterns and breeding success of emperor penguins. The model has been honed using 43 years' worth of observations of an emperor colony in Antarctica's Terre Adelie. Slow learners While there are a number of models and scenarios in the IPCC report, the team used only 10 of them - those that fit with existing satellite data on sea ice. They then ran 1,000 simulations of penguin population growth or decline under each of those 10 climate scenarios. They are to Antarctica what the polar bear is to the Arctic Joel Cohen, Rockefeller University The results suggest that by the year 2100, emperor penguins in the region are likely to experience a reduction in their numbers by 95% or more. The likelihood of this occurring, according to the researchers, is at least a one-in-three chance and possibly more than eight out of 10. Though the penguins could avert disaster by shifting their breeding patterns with the climate, the study's lead author Stephanie Jenouvrier said that was unlikely. "Unlike some other Antarctic bird species that have altered their life cycles, penguins don't catch on so quickly," she said. "They are long-lived organisms, so they adapt slowly. This is a problem because the climate is changing very fast." 'Conservative approach' Several prior studies have shown that climate change can affect the reproduction and geographic distribution of species, but this is the first that makes predictions about the ultimate fate of a species as a whole. "I don't see any reason not to take these predictions very seriously," said Dan Reuman, a population biologist at Imperial College London. Particularly warm seasons cause Antarctic ice to break up early "The study is based on a wide range of climate forecasts, it takes a conservative approach, it's based on a large amount of data on penguin demography, and the model accurately forecasts the data that already exist." Dr Reuman suggests that more of this kind of work should be done to understand the species-by-species effects of climate change, and thereby the influence on whole communities. It is an idea echoed by Joel Cohen, head of the Laboratory of Populations at Rockefeller University. "The emperor penguin is an important species in its own right, but the whole communities in which it's embedded are also of importance," he told BBC News. The penguins also serve as a species that particularly draws attention to the crisis in their region, he added. "They are to Antarctica what the polar bear is to the Arctic. "This study takes our knowledge, puts it together, gives us some insights, arouses concern and suggests that we ought to be understanding this situation a lot better." Source: BBC News