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Ancient Mass Extinction Of Earth's Creatures Summary

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In the scientific article, “Ancient mass extinction may have shrunk Earth’s creatures” by Sid Perkins, Perkins explains that the mass extinction that occurred millions of years ago may have a correlation to the size of organisms on Earth’s surface in the present. Perkins states that long ago organisms used to be the size of school buses, but information from a new study shows that the mass extinction caused most of the vertebrate species to shrink to the size of a human forearm. Lauren Sallan, a paleobiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, states that the one-hundred thousand year long cold spell which occurred about three-hundred and fifty-nine million years ago during the end of the Devonian Period caused the growth of glaciers. This …show more content…

Sallan and Andrew Galimberti, the co-author of the study, looked at the fossil records of over one-thousand species of vertebrates that were alive during the ninety-six million year period before and after the mass extinction. For sixty million years the size of the vertebrates steadily increased in size reaching up to sizes matching a school bus. However, the vertebrate species that survived the mass extinction during the thirty-six million year period following the mass extinction were much smaller compared to the size of the vertebrates before the extinction. In fact, most of the surviving species observed by the team were measured to be less than forty centimeters in length. Information about this adaptation was published earlier in The Science Magazine, which stated that this change is unrelated to the climate and oxygen levels at the time. This led the team to believe that this adaptation occurred because of the advantages smaller organism had over larger ones. The team stated that smaller organisms today tend to grow and reproduce faster because they are able to create a new generation before they are killed off by

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The book title the sixth Extinction Written by Elizabeth Kolbert is based on The extinction of species. Author Kolbert discusses personal research and scientific studies of certain species that have become extinct are becoming extinct. One species Kolbert discusses in her research studies is the Panama Golden A discovery of a fugues that has brought extinction of the golden frog from wild and has speared throughout different counties including the United States. Kolbert travels to Panama to document first-hand what she discovers through scientific research of the mass Extinction of the one of the longest living Amphibians.

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The dinosaur extinction theory – a large asteroid impact and a giant volcanic eruption at the end of cretaceous – also supports that dinosaurs were cold blooded, when the dust due to the meteorite covered the earth, then the sun light could not penetrate the smoke and dust, thus sunlight did not enter the earth for many years, this lead to the drop in temperature on the land, as dinosaurs were cold blooded they could not raise their body temperature without sunlight and hence were

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Therefore, through the addition of further survival pressures, humans changed the local ecosystem, inevitably subjecting megafauna species on the verge of extinction to their demise. Moreover, Martin demonstrates the responsibility of human activity in the extinction of species through the comparison of the relative megafauna age extinctions between

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The discovery of this mammal was proof that mammals had lived alongside the dinosaurs. It gave scientist a small glimpse into ancient mammal species. Chapter 6– Questions

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The fact that the author describes how the things we are causing today, such as the disappearing coral reefs, have only happened several times in millions and millions of year of recordable history emphasizes the importance and implications of the events happening. “The sixth extinction” is a novel in which the author combines history, her personal adventures, and dialogue with renowned scientists over many disciplines to describe the many threats posed to the fauna and flora around us today. What is amazing about this novel is Kolbert combines history, such as the story of how extinction was actually discovered, to tie together events happening in front of our eyes with thing’s already experienced. For example, Kolbert discusses the fossils of ancient animals which were first used to develop the theory of extinction in a historical context, and then visits the museum that actually holds the

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From the beginning of The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert we can see a very different style of writing from what we previously encountered in Encounters with the Archdruid. The Story is told in a more colorful and up beat way. As we begin the book the author talks about humans and their destructive nature on the planet. I really enjoyed how Kolbert depicted as if she was telling the history of any other creatures. When she describes how man is pollution of the planet she did in a way that to me painted the picture of an animal that was destructive in nature, as If the best thing for earth and all of its inhabitants would be the removal of this plague.

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594 Words | 3 Pages

Title Researchers and scientists have constructed extensive research on dinosaur’s extinction. Speculation instead of real evidence seems common in most theories about the dinosaurs’ extinction. However, Jay Gould’s essay “Sex, Drugs, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” is the complete opposite of speculation over evidence. Rather, Gould uses the mix of persuasive techniques, such as rhetorical questions, logos, along with profound evidence to not only disapprove of other theories but convince readers of his place on the dinosaur’s extinction.

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The TED Talk “How to win at evolution and survive a mass extinction” was presented by Lauren Sallan, who is a paleobiologist. The purpose of this talk was to explain to the viewers how the earliest species survived mass extinction and evolution, and how this brought us to where we are today. She focused on the benefits of mass extinction, and how species evolved to be able to stay alive longer. The speaker did meet her goal of explaining how mass extinction and evolution work together throughout history to keep species alive.

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The Ordovican extinction event. This was an event that ouccured hundres of millions of years ago. This event is thought by sincentest to have two parts to it. The first theory is that a gamma ray burst happened close enough to earth to affect earth. A gamma ray burst is one of the most powerful events ever in the universe next to what is called the big bang.

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This journal looks at fossils of Mammuthus across Eurasia to explore why the fossils indicate notable transformation in the Mammuthus lineage over a short period of time. The researchers cast doubt on previous studies which support a gradual change in morphology that is simultaneous in the Mammuthus species range. From ~ 3.0 million years ago(MA) to the end of the Pleistocene era (~11.7 thousand years ago or ka) the Mammuthus population experienced significant evolutionary change: shortening and heightening of the mandible and skull, thinning of molar enamel, and an increase in hypsodont dentition (high-crowned teeth used for grassland feeding). Four chronospecies of Eurasian Mammuthus have been named based on these data: the first Elephantids known as Mammuthus rumanus, Early Pleistocene mammoths called M. meridionalis, Middle Pleistocene - M. trogontherii and Late Pleistocene known as M. primigenius. The researchers describe a new concept of Mammuthus evolution, based on the fossil timeline of the previously listed evolutionary changes, that does not involve a gradualistic model (a species evolving continuously in one direction) but instead relies on Darwinian

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One extinction that occurred was at end Permian, at the end of the Paleozoic era which wiped out about 90% of all species which may be caused by volcanism, meteor, global warming, sea-level changes, glaciation, or ocean chemistry changes. Another extinction that occurred was at end Cretaceous, at the end of the Mesozoic era which made around 60-80% of all species extinct which may have been caused by a meteor impact, volcanic activity, or sea-level change. Another extinction that occurred was at late Pleistocene at the end of the Cenozoic era which made nearly all mammals and birds over 45 pounds extinct, which may be caused by over-hunting by humans.

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There is evidence that suggests that along with rising carbon dioxide levels, volcanic dust may have been a large contributing factor in the deglaciation of Snowball Earth. Evidence supporting ice covered continents and oceans has been provided by deposits such as iron-manganese in glacial sediments. This indicates that the ocean was lacking oxygen and that there were probably glacial formations (Hoffman & Li, 2009). Simulations have shown that for atmospheric carbon dioxide to have been fully responsible for the termination of snowball Earth, the levels would have to have been about 550 times the present levels (Pierrehumbert, 2004). It is highly unlikely that the level of carbon

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Imagine what would happen if we lived in a world where water was kept 8 feet off the ground and there was absolutely no way you could get it if you weren’t tall enough. Most likely, the short people would die off. The taller ones would multiply, and before long, instead of a population of people of all sizes, you would have a population of only tall people. Living things that are best suited, or adapted, to their environment survive and multiply. Those that are not, are unable to survive.

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1939 Words | 8 Pages

The creation story retold by evolution does little to bridge the distance between faith and science, although “creation scientists” have tried, who, according to Ronald Numbers at the University of Wisconsin, “compress the history of life on earth into less than ten thousand years. To accomplish this, they attribute most of the fossil record to the brief period of the flood and its aftermath. They believe that the majority of plants and animals buried sequentially in the stratified rocks once lived together in the antediluvian world; thus these relics do not represent successive populations of flora and fauna spanning millions of years, as evolutionists and most other creationists would assert.” However, for David Mindell, a professor of Ecology

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1. V.C.1. Identify styles and types of verbal communication What are the two types of verbal communication? Explain each and describe what methods can be used to deliver a verbal message.

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