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Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds

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Researchers studying two solar parks, situated in arid locations, found they produced 'cool islands' extending around 700 meters from the solar park boundaries. The temperature of surrounding land surface was reduced by up to 2.3 degrees at 100 meters away from the solar park, with the cooling effects reducing exponentially to 700 meters. This new discovery is important as it shows the solar park could impact ecological processes, including productivity, decomposition, and ultimately the carbon balance, in the surrounding landscape.

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New dating of an archaeological site in the Thar Desert to 177,000 years ago shows the use of stone handaxes persisted for over 1 million years in India, and may have endured until the arrival of Homo sapiens.

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The first 3D reconstructions of extinct Cretaceous birds reveal a reptilian tooth replacement pattern.

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Using a new mechanistic model of evolution on Earth, researchers can now better explain why the rainforests of Africa are home to fewer species than the tropical forests of South America and Southeast Asia. The key to high species diversity lies in how dynamically the continents have evolved over time.

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As early as 18,000 years ago, humans in New Guinea may have collected cassowary eggs near maturity and then raised the birds to adulthood, according to an international team of scientists, who used eggshells to determine the developmental stage of the ancient embryos/chicks when the eggs cracked.

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The global decline of pollinators threatens the reproductive success of 90 per cent of all wild plants globally and the yield of 85 per cent of the world's most important crops. Pollinators -- mainly bees and other insects -- contribute to 35 per cent of the world's food production. The service provided by pollinators is particularly important for securing food produced by the more than two billion small farmers worldwide. An agroecologist points out that yields could be increased if pollinators were encouraged.

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When researchers first started to look at animal bones from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, they wanted to learn about the diet and environment of early human ancestors who lived there between 120,000 and 90,000 years ago. But they soon realized that the bones they had found weren't just meal scraps. They'd been shaped into tools, apparently for use in working leather and fur.

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Peacock tails are just one example of how evolution walks a line between favoring traits that make it easier to survive, and traits that make it easier to find a mate. In a new study, scientists have found evidence of this age-old conundrum in the form of a fossil bird from the Early Cretaceous with a pair of elaborate tail feathers longer than its body.

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A new study has discovered the oldest known cavities found in a mammal, the likely result of a diet that included eating fruit.

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The conditions under which early members of the genus Homo dispersed outside Africa were analysed on a broader scale, across Europe during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. The model is based on the comparison of functional trait distribution of large herbivorous mammals in sites with archaeological or fossil evidence of human presence and in sites, which lack evidence of human presence.

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The Indian wolf could be far more endangered than previously recognized, say first scientists to sequence its genome. Indian wolves could also represent the most ancient surviving lineage of wolves.

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Bird dispersal movements are thought to depend on complex demographic and genetic factors. Researchers show that there may be a simpler explanation: bird dispersal distances depend on the morphology and flight efficiency of the wings. Bird populations and the capacity of species to move across the landscape can determine which species will thrive and which may become endangered.

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The rise and fall of Earth's land surface over the last three million years shaped the evolution of birds and mammals, a new study has found, with new species evolving at higher rates where the land has risen most.

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Researchers have discovered archaeological sites in the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia associated with the remains of ancient lakes formed when periods of increased rainfall transformed the region into grassland. The researchers found that early humans spread into the region during each 'Green Arabia' phase, each bringing a different kind of material culture. The new research establishes northern Arabia as a crucial migration route and a crossroads for early humans.

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Scientists have discovered three new species of ancient creatures from the dawn of modern mammals that hint at rapid evolution immediately after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

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A new study has revealed that over the last 20,000 to 50,000 years, birds have undergone a major extinction event, inflicted chiefly by humans, which caused the disappearance of about 10 to 20 percent of all avian species. According to the researchers, the vast majority of the extinct species shared several features: they were large, they lived on islands, and many of them were flightless.

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There is enough water on our planet, but by far the largest part is salt water that is unsuitable as drinking water. Therefore, especially in dry regions of the earth, the search for new freshwater resources is very active. An international team of researchers has now discovered strong evidence of a groundwater deposit off the coast of Malta.

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Research on a newly discovered bird fossil found that a unique brain shape may be why the ancestors of living birds survived the mass extinction that claimed all other known dinosaurs.

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Converting vacant urban lots into greenspaces can reduce blight and improve neighborhoods, and new research shows that certain types of such post-industrial reclamation efforts offer the added bonus of benefiting bees.

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Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly but their flying abilities may have been different from adult pterosaurs, according to a new study. Researchers found that hatchling humerus bones were stronger than those of many adult pterosaurs, indicating that they would have been strong enough for flight.