All articles tagged with #terrestrial life
A study analyzing 380-million-year-old lungfish jawbones from Western Australia reveals new insights into the evolution of land animals, highlighting the biomechanical adaptations that facilitated the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life, and shedding light on the origins of tetrapods.
A new study examines the relationship between landscape dynamics and the diversification of marine and terrestrial life over the Phanerozoic eon. The researchers propose a method to quantify global-scale physiographic changes using a landscape evolution model. They find that sediment flux to the oceans and the diversity of marine animal families are strongly correlated, suggesting that nutrient availability plays a crucial role in marine biodiversity. Similarly, sedimentary flux onto continents and the physiographic variety of the landscape are found to be key factors in the diversification of terrestrial plants. The study highlights the importance of abiotic factors, such as sediment flux and physiographic changes, in shaping the biodiversity patterns of marine and terrestrial life.
A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests that orcas, whales, dolphins, and other "fully aquatic" mammals have evolved to a point where they can never return to land. Researchers concluded that these mammals have passed an evolutionary threshold that marks the point of no return to terrestrial life. The study also suggests that when land animals returned to the sea, they grew larger to better retain heat in the cold depths of the ocean. This finding supports the theory proposed by Belgian paleontologist Louis Dollo in the 19th century that once an animal loses a complex trait like walking on land, it is unlikely to regain it.
A new study has found that fully-aquatic marine mammals, such as dolphins and orcas, are highly unlikely to evolve to live on land again. The adaptations that allowed these animals to thrive in water have passed an evolutionary threshold, making the transition to terrestrial life virtually impossible. The study examined over 5,600 mammal species and found that once a certain threshold of aquatic adaptations has been crossed, it becomes irreversible. The researchers concluded that the chances of fully aquatic animals, like whales and dolphins, returning to land are almost nonexistent.