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I have the opportunity to do one of these formations next year. What are the pros and cons to each?
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Potential Reoccurrence of Dinosaur-like Adaptations in the Future
Trevor posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Dear fellow forum goers, As of late, I have come across an interesting timetable on Wikipedia detailing the timeline of the far future based on predictions from fields such as astrophysics, geology, and evolutionary biology. At the 250-300 million years from now marker the article reads: "All the continents on Earth may fuse into a supercontinent. Three potential arrangements of this configuration have been dubbed Amasia, Novopangaea, and Pangaea Ultima.[40][56] This will likely result in a glacial period, lowering sea-levels and increasing oxygen levels, further lowering global temperatures". Later on, it posits that at the 400-500 million years from now mark that "The supercontinent (Pangaea Ultima, Novopangaea, or Amasia) will likely have rifted apart.[56] This will likely result in higher global temperatures, similar to the Cretaceous period.[58]" This is pretty interesting to me and I was pondering whether creatures similar to dinosaurs would evolve to fill the new evolutionary niches produced by this environment. It would be satisfying in some way for there to be a cyclic resurgence of forms of organisms on Earth based on the geological cycles that the Earth undergoes. Do you think such creatures akin to dinosaurs would reign again?- 8 replies
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2020 rapidly approaching! Will there be a Fossil Of The Decade (FOTD)?
MeargleSchmeargl posted a topic in Fossil of the Month
The end of the 2010's are rapidly approaching. The first FOTY was held in 2010, nearly 10 years ago now. With the 2020's nearly upon us, we have almost 10 exquisite winners of FOTY in each category of the contest. The question now: Will there be a decade contest? Such a decision would probably be the hardest we Fossilers will ever make if it does turn out to be something in 2020. It would probably be the most competitive contest the forum has ever seen, and would be very exciting to see. Will it happen? -
Hello all. There are a few fossil finding locations I hope to go to soon. Number 1 on my list is some Cretaceous dig site in South Carolina, probably somewhere near or in a river. I haven't worked out an exact location yet, but I will be going soon. If anyone has any creek, river, or quarry they suggest I should go to, let me know. Number two is Texas. I will be going all around Texas, and possibly to the Grand Canyon. I will look for some creeks or quarries I can go to to look for fossils, presumably before the KPG mass extinction. If anyone has a good fossil finding location, let me know. Last on my list is Lake Huron. I went to Lake Huron over the summer, and while my cousin played in the water, I stayed on the shore to look for fossils with my grandfather, and boy did we find a lot of them! We mostly found shells and corals, but we did find a burrow of one of those coil-shelled worms. I also found a crinoid shell. Next time I go, I hope to find the actual worm shell! A geologist said he found a dinosaur tooth there, but it must have been the tooth of something else. I am also going to other places, but at the moment, I'm not sure where. I will keep you guys updated!
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- cloud the dinosaur king
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Hello, for me currently Paleontology is only a hobby, but I want to have a future in this. So what I am asking for is some advice, what is the best universities in Europe especially in Germany and how should I best prepare myself to gain acceptance. When I say this I am speaking for all the young enthusiasts that want this to be more than just a hobby, but a life long career. I would like to dedicate my life to this field. All advice would be appreciated, regards Leander.
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The fossil record suggests specialist species are most vulnerable to dramatic ecological shifts, whether geologic and climatic in nature. Photo by Arjen de Ruiter/Shutterstock BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Which species are worth saving? Which species will survive global warming? Which will thrive? Conservationists are facing hard questions and tough decisions as they anticipate a warming climate. Some scientists are looking to the fossil record for help. Recently, a team of paleontologists led by Alycia Stigall set out to mine the fossil record for clues as to the future challenges of conservation. Specifically, researchers wanted to know which species are most vulnerable to environmental shifts. To find out, scientists studied the effects of significant climatic and geologic shifts on biodiversity throughout evolutionary history. Their analysis showed ecological changes mostly benefit generalist species, while hurting specialists. Generalists are most successful among large landmasses, where they can spread out across a variety of environs and take advantage of an array of natural resources. Specialists thrive within regions with highly differentiated habitats. Through geologic time, the division of landmasses into smaller islands promoted specialization, while the adjoining of islands into larger landmasses benefited generalists. Because specialists occupy small ecological niches, competing for slices of a relatively small resource pie, their presence corresponds with more rapid speciation and greater biodiversity. The fossil record suggests shifts enabling the territorial expansion of generalists coincided with a reduction in speciation and biodiversity. Given the opportunity, generalists invade the niches of specialists and diminish biodiversity. Naturally, generalists make for the most destructive invasive species. Unfortunately, ecologists expect global warming to encourage the spread of invasive species. The new findings -- recently presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America -- suggest specialist species will need the most help surviving climate change. "Places that are tropical and stable, regions that have similar climate year-round, will likely be impacted the most by invasive species," Stigall explained in a news release. "Data sets for modern species are usually limited in terms of the number of species and years available when talking about biodiversity, so hopefully we can use the fossil record to expand our knowledge and use the past to make informed decisions about the future." http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/09/27/Fossils-are-informing-the-future-of-conservation/9631475010661/?spt=su&or=btn_fb
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