COUNCIL CHRONICLE – A new study helped bring back to life, in the form of a highly detailed sculpture, a 500 million years old life form. The reconstruction of this ancient arthropod was resembled either to a deformed clam or a space alien but is nonetheless an important piece of the evolutionary history of our planet.

A team of Lund University scientists is the ones to commission the sculpture, which is part of their new paper.

The Reconstruction of this Ancient Life Form Brings to Life New Details on Evolution

The recently unveiled sculpture is the reconstructed image of an Agnostus pisiformis. This is a currently extinct arthropod that used to live 500 million years ago in the area known nowadays as Scandinavia.

The creature is believed to have been just some four-tenths of an inch. Scientists have been able to accurately reconstruct it thanks to its being almost perfectly preserved in limestone and shale.

“The incredible degree of preservational detail means that we can grasp the entire anatomy of the animal, which, in turn, reveals a lot about its ecology and mode of life,” explains Mats E. Erikson, a geology professor part of the study.

According to the study paper, this life form started out as a larva. Then, by shedding and once again growing its hard exoskeleton a number of times, it reached adulthood. Its body also seems to have been protected by two hard shields, which resembled clam shells as the creature curled up.

The ocean-going lifestyle of this creature is still largely unknown. However, it is believed to have plucked bits of matter, used as a food source, out of the water.

This life form is also being used as an index fossil. Namely, such fossils are believed to have lived only in a particular time period. As such, scientists use them to date earth and sediment layers.

Artists at the 10 Tons studio in Denmark created the highly detailed sculpture of the arthropod. Multiple sculptures were created, each showing this early life form in a different position. The recreations are also larger so that the characteristics of the A. pisiformis can be more easily noticed.

Both the artists and the scientists are hoping that the sculptures will go on display as part of a traveling exhibit which shows the “bizarre animals of the Cambrian seas”. This was a period that marked an explosion in the number of life forms on Earth.

Image Source: Wikimedia

COUNCIL CHRONICLE – According to the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, ash trees, a once common and abundant species across the United States, might be “on the brink of extinction”.

The update to the IUCN Red List was published on Thursday, September 14, and now includes 25,062 species threatened with extinction out of the total 87,967 included on the list.

Ash Trees, Once Abundant, Now Threatened

As pointed out in the official IUCN press release, five of the six ash tree species most prominent in North America entered the Red List with a less than enviable status. They have been declared Critically Endangered, which places them just “one step” from going extinct. The sixth species of ash trees was also added to the list but assessed as being Endangered.

IUCN points out that “Ash trees are a key component of North American forests. They provide habitat and food for birds, squirrels, and insects, and support important pollinator species such as butterflies and moths.”

Reports show that these tree’s species are being decimated by the invasive Agrilus planipennis or the Emerald Ash Borer beetle, as it is more commonly called.

Murphy Westwood declares that the decline of the ash tree is “likely” to affect more than 80 percent of the trees. Westwood is the lead of this newest assessment and a member of the IUCN’s Global Tree Specialist Group.

He continued by pointing out that this decrease will “dramatically change” the composition of urban and wild forests as well. Removing ash trees, which still cover quite extensive areas, is reportedly ‘extremely costly’.

Ash trees are also considered ecologically and economically valuable. So several studies are being conducted to try and “halt their devastating decline” and ensure the species’ survival.

The being in an ‘imminent risk of extinction’ status is underlined by the fact that ash trees are reportedly ‘disappearing’ at a faster rate than can be counted. Estimates claim that the invasive and rapid spreading emerald ash borer beetle can lead to the disappearance of a whole forest in just six years.

Tens of millions of trees have reportedly already been killed by it since its arrival in the U.S. back in the 1990s. The warming weather is also helping the beetle spread faster in areas in which it previously did not have access to because of their then colder climates.

Image Source: Wikimedia

COUNCIL CHRONICLE – The iconic white cliffs of the British town of Dover might be more important than believed as new research reveals to have found space in them. These fossilized remains of cosmic dust might be useful in learning more about the early solar system, and in advancing the prospects for future space travel.

White Cliffs of Dover, Already an Important Source of Information

Imperial College London researchers are behind this latest discovery. Martin Suttle, the lead author, pointed out that the cliffs were already a significant source of information. The white cliffs are the source of numerous fossilized creatures, ones which can help scientists determine the many changes undergone by the planet.

“It is so exciting because we’ve now discovered that fossilised space dust is entombed alongside these creatures, which can also provide us with information about what was happening in our solar system at the time,” continued Suttle.

As part of their study, the team also found a way of establishing if this space dust was also clay-rich. Scientists see this as being a sort of “cosmic diving rod”.

This is because clay can only form where there is water. Determining the clay content in solar dust can then try and help establish the existence of water-rich asteroids in the solar system. These might later be allegedly used as a water source in future space missions.

The study team considers that studying the cosmic dust particles that landed on Earth might “ultimately be used to trace” the location of such water-rich asteroids. They might allegedly be a good tool in “mapping this resource”.

This is not the first discovery of cosmic dust on Earth, as some were discovered in some 2.7 billion years old rocks. However, only well-preserved one can be studied.

Thanks to this latest find, researchers consider that they can study and try and understand cosmic events that took place even 98 million years ago.

Currents research findings and papers are available in the journals Earth and Planetary Science Letters and Geology.

The white cliffs of Dover stretch over eight miles and form part of the coastline facing France and the Strait of Dover. Their iconic appearance is given by their chalk and black flint composition.

Image Source: Flickr

COUNCIL CHRONICLE – News emerged earlier this week that scientists discovered almost 400 new species of fauna and flora, 381 to be precise, while studying the Amazon region over a period of two years. On average, this would mean that two new species were identified every two days.

However, the authors of this latest report that most of these newly spotted species may already be at risk of harm because of human activity.

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381 new species discovered in the Amazon – New report reveals that, between 2014-2015, a new plant or animal sp… https://t.co/Kf1IM1WFf5

— WWF (@WWF) August 31, 2017

400 New Species Discovered, Many More Still Left to Find?

This new report is the result of a collaboration between the Mamiraua Institute for Sustainable Development in Brazil and the World Wide Fund or WWF. In 2014 and 2015, researchers from the two organizations discovered no less than 381 new species of animals, insects, and plants in an area that is still vastly unknown.

The Amazon region is considered to be one of the most biodiverse area of the world and a biodiversity hotspot. Even the fact that scientists are still spotting and finding new species is enough to tell of its great variety of both fauna and flora.

Calculating a median, this report points out that some two new species were discovered every couple of days. Of the almost 400 new species, 216 of them were previously unknown plants.

The remaining discoveries enumerate 93 new fish species, 32 amphibians, and 20 mammals. One new bird species was spotted, as well as 19 reptile ones.

These species are only increasing the count of new discoveries. According to reports, over 2,000 new species were discovered in the region in between 1999 to 2015 alone.

However, scientists are also pointing out the potentially harmful effects that human activity may already be having on these newly recorded species.

“All the species that were discovered, all 381, are in areas where humankind is destroying the Amazon. This is very important to us because it links the fact that our economic activities are causing species to go extinct before we even know about them,” states Ricardo Mello. He is the WWF Brazil Amazon program coordinator.

However, the scientific community also underlines that there is still hope for this biodiverse hotspot. Some consider that reports such as this newly released one as well as other studies might help serve as a ‘wake-up call’.

Image Source: Wikimedia