For the first time, a dramatic climate shift that has long fascinated scientists has been linked to the impact in Quebec of an asteroid or comet, Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues report in a new study funded by the National Science Foundation. The event took place about 12,900 years ago, at the beginning of the […]
Archive for September, 2013
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Fossil Fishes from China Provide First Evidence of Dermal Pelvic Girdles in Osteichthyans
September 4th, 2013 
Riffin The pectoral and pelvic girdles support paired fins and limbs, and have transformed significantly in the diversification of gnathostomes or jawed vertebrates (including osteichthyans, chondrichthyans, acanthodians and placoderms). For instance, changes in the pectoral and pelvic girdles accompanied the transition of fins to limbs as some osteichthyans (a clade that contains the vast majority of […]
Acoustic Waves Warn of Tsunami
September 2nd, 2013 Riffin An early warning system against tsunamis has been developed and tailored for the need of the Mediterranean, but preparedness on the ground is paramount to ensuring peoples’ safety. When a coastal area is about to be hit by the waves of a tsunami, time is everything. The earlier we know where and when it is […]
Implications of Diet for the Extinction of Saber-Toothed Cats and American Lions
September 1st, 2013 Riffin The saber-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, and American lion, Panthera atrox, were among the largest terrestrial carnivores that lived during the Pleistocene, going extinct along with other megafauna ~12,000 years ago. Previous work suggests that times were difficult at La Brea (California) during the late Pleistocene, as nearly all carnivores have greater incidences of tooth breakage […]
