COP15

Scientists return from expedition after mapping fungal networks on world’s most remote island

As COP15 enters its second week, SPUN’s research team is drawing attention to how underground biodiversity powers the Earth’s ecosystems on land and in the sea

Business Announcement

SPUN (SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNDERGROUND NETWORKS)

 

IMAGE: TOBY KIERS HOLDS A DECAYING COCONUT HUSK WITH SMALL FUNGI GROWING ON IT. view more 

CREDIT: SPUN.EARTH

Palmyra Atoll (December 12, 2022) - In the middle of the Pacific Ocean is an uninhabited atoll that houses underground mycorrhizal networks that may have evolved a unique ability to cycle nutrients between seabirds, rainforest trees, and coral reefs. The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) travelled to this remote atoll – a place so untouched that researchers had to freeze their clothes each night to prevent the introduction of non-native species to the protected islands – for a recent research expedition.

In partnership with The Nature Conservancy Climate Adaptation Lab, SPUN is mapping the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi across Palmyra Atoll, 1,000 miles south of Hawai’i. This atoll, the Earth’s most remote, is the site of much lore, including a double murder, sunken treasure, and disappearing aircrafts. It is also home to a million seabirds, untouched coral reefs, and a fish population that is 44% sharks.

“Never could I have imaged sampling fungi while small sharks swam around my feet. As we hiked in the ocean between forested islands, we could hardly hear ourselves talk because the birds were so loud,” says Dr. Toby Kiers, Executive Director of SPUN. “Visiting Palmyra allows you to go back in time when other organisms – not humans – dominated the landscape.”

The scientists sampling Palmyra hope to understand how mycorrhizal fungi facilitate nutrient movement between the sea and the rainforest – and how remote island ecosystems are coping with climate change, invasive species, and rising sea levels. During the course of the expedition, SPUN scientists collected samples from across 27 islands. These have been sent off for DNA sequencing so that the fungal players can be identified.

Among the island’s species is the towering Pisonia tree. Pisonia is a native rainforest species that has been reported to digest seabirds that get trapped by the sticky substance secreted by its seeds. Kiers and her team conducted extensive sampling of the symbiotic fungi that colonize Pisonia roots to test how nutrients from birds and their guano are captured and fed back to the rainforest trees. Scientists believe that these mycorrhizal fungi create nutrient feedback loops that not only support the island’s rainforests, but also the plankton communities and coral reefs offshore.

“On these remote islands – out of reach of human interference – we see an extreme form of interdependence among organisms on land and sea,” says Kiers.  Lose any of these organisms – fungi, crab, birds, tree, corals – and we may witness a devastating cascade effect.

The waters surrounding the atoll host some of the most pristine coral populations in the world. “We know fungi play an important role in mediating the transport and availability of beneficial nutrients to plants. Now, an understanding of similar fungi-coral interactions is emerging,” says Dr. Alex Wegmann, lead scientist for the Nature conservancy’s Palmyra Program. “Palmyra’s intact reef system provides an excellent opportunity to more fully understand the beneficial role of fungi in island and reef ecosystem resilience to climate impacts, like rising ocean temperatures and changing ocean chemistry.”

Palmyra Atoll is also home to the largest crab species in the world. Coconut crabs grow up to a meter wide and are prolific hunters and tree climbers. The science team has hypothesized that these land crabs are helping to distribute the symbiotic fungi to new roots through their digging, re-enforcing the cycling of nutrient among birds, crabs, coral reefs and native rainforest.

Until now, the fungal communities of the atoll had never been studied, and researchers anticipate the discovery of new species able to withstand extreme heat, salinity and low nutrient conditions. Despite being so remote, the islands have been threatened by invasive species. The Nature Conservancy has removed over 1 million non-native coconut palms and eradicated large populations of introduced brown rats. And, as sea levels around the islands rise, erosion is beginning to eat away at Palmyra.

“As the world continues to push past atmospheric carbon thresholds tied to near-future climate impacts, we need to steady for what’s to come,” says Wegmann. “Understanding the role fungi play in the transport and mediation of beneficial nutrients on land and in the ocean will help prioritize conservation actions that promote and safeguard ecosystem resilience.” 

Toby Kiers carries supplies to a sampling site on an islet while sampling mycorrhizal fungi on Palmyra Atoll

The native pisonia tree is a key part of the nutrient cycle researchers explored on Palmyra.

A coconut crab scuttles around Palmyra Atoll at night. Scientists believe these crustaceans are part of an important nutrient cycle on the remote islands.

An islet of the Palmyra Atoll, where scientists sampled mycorrhizal fungi to better understand a unique nutrient cycle.

Trees host seabirds on Palmyra Atoll. These seabirds' guano is believed to fuel an important nutrient cycle on the remote islands.

A SPUN researchers surveys the water near a sampling site on Palmyra Atoll.

CREDIT

spun.earth

The expedition was led by Professor Toby Kiers, who was recently named as one of TIME’s emerging leaders of 2022 for her work decoding complex trade interactions among plants and mycorrhizal fungi.

Kiers was joined by Dr. Stuart West (Oxford University, UK) and Dr. Charles Cornwallis (Lund University, Sweden), and remote support was provided by Dr. Alex Wegmann (The Nature Conservancy, USA), Dr. Nicole Hynson (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA) and Dr. Kabir Peay (Stanford University, USA)

SPUN (Society for the Protection of Underground Networks) is a science-based initiative to map and protect the mycorrhizal networks that regulate the Earth’s climate and ecosystems. In collaboration with researchers and local communities, SPUN is leading efforts to explore mycorrhizal biodiversity and advocating for the inclusion of fungi in conservation and climate agendas. Visit https://spun.earth/.

The Nature Conservancy is a global non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Informed by science and guided by traditional values and practices, we apply innovative, nature-based solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive. TNC has forged partnerships to manage 14 preserves and other sites in Hawai‘i and Palmyra Atoll, working with government, private parties and communities to protect Hawai‘i’s and Palmyra’s forests and coral reefs for their ecological value and for the many benefits they provide to people. Visit www.nature.org/HawaiiPalmyra.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

COP15

Mountain ecosystems should be prioritized in biodiversity policies

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

More action is urgently needed to safeguard the world’s precious mountain ecosystems, according to a University of York researcher whose policy brief is being presented at this month’s United Nations Biodiversity Conference (“COP15”) in Montreal, Canada.

Professor Robert Marchant is calling on national governments to put mountain environments at the centre of  their climate change and biodiversity  policy efforts and actions.

The UN General Assembly named 2022 the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development – some 20 years after the first International Year of Mountains. But while some successes have been achieved in that time, Professor Marchant says national policy simply isn’t keeping pace with land use change, development, population growth and the impacts of climate change on global mountain systems.

“Twenty years on, climates are still changing, populations are still growing, and mountain environments continue to be developed and transformed – but what hasn’t happened is any corresponding establishment of sustainable policies,” he explains.  

“Government environmental and business policies are rarely joined up and we are seeing continued widespread land degradation in mountain habitats. This includes uncontrolled grazing, deforestation, or overdevelopment  - and much of it is resulting from weak policies and changing tenure laws.”

Mountains cover around a quarter of earth's land mass. They host about half the world’s biodiversity hotspots. They are a hugely important component of global water supply because they receive more rain than lowland areas, experience less evaporation at high elevations, and contain large stores of water as snow and ice. 

Well-functioning mountain ecosystems are more resilient to climate extremes – they can buffer shocks such as high intensity rainstorms or prolonged dry spells – and are important stores of carbon and storehouses of biodiversity.

Despite this, mountains don’t receive the corresponding policy attention and investment from their national governments. They are particularly vulnerable to climate change and human interventions, which threaten their globally important ecosystem services.

For example, the area around Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya is an area of high population density and rapid economic development. It has seen a major expansion in agriculture over the past twenty years, as land has been privatised and companies have realised they can drill deep boreholes in the land to extract water from the mountain’s aquifer.

Professor Marchant notes: “Once you’ve paid for that borehole, that water is a free resource to you. But these services are provided by nature – and no-one is presently paying for either the water resources or for stewardship of that land. Asking companies to pay for this kind of service, by issuing controllable permits for example,  would be a step towards treating our mountain resources with more respect.”

Professor Marchant and his co-authors are calling on countries to invest more in mountain ecosystem restoration activities, and to formulate effective climate change policies that consider the unique nature and resources of mountains. Also urgently needed is more international information sharing and data collection on mountain use, as well as better analysis of the current restoration initiatives taking place around the world.

He says: “We are hoping for some progress at COP15, but what is really needed is an international treaty or code of practice that accepts the value of our mountain ecosystems, and I suspect that is some way off.”

‘Ecosystem restoration in the mountains’ is led by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and written by contributors from the University of York, United Nations Environment Programme, Mountain Research Initiative, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Remains of two new marine worms from 455 million years ago discovered in Morocco

• The finding, which involved the Complutense University of Madrid and the IGEO, identified two well-preserved species of palaeoscolecid worms from the Ordovician: Anguiscolex africanus and Wronascolex superstes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID

A research project undertaken by the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and the Institute of Geoscience (IGEO, CSIC-UCM) identified various marine worms from the Palaeozoic era (Ordovician period) 455 million years ago at the Tafilalt Biota site in Morocco. They correspond to the new genus and species Anguiscolex africanus, and the new species Wronascolex superstes.

Palaeoscolecid worms are not rare in the Paleozoic; the problem is that 99.99% of the fossil record comprises their sclerites (hard plates embedded in the cuticle) in isolation, which typically build up in certain limestone rocks. In other words, this type of worm lived in all the seas of the globe, but there is no evidence of their fossils other than at a tiny fraction of sites.

The worm fossils at the Moroccan site were articulated and well preserved in lutites (fine-grained rocks) and in an environmental context dominated by turbulent waters, which makes the finding, according to the UCM and IGEO palaeontologist Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Marco, a "palaeontological surprise in a far from favourable geological context".

The cuticle of these marine worms, described in Historical Biology, was covered in phosphatic microsclerites (measuring 20-100 thousandths of a millimetre), arranged in rings on the successive segments, their conservation being facilitated by rapid burying, having first been protected beneath bacterial veils which precipitated iron sulphides.

These two individuals are now added to the finding made some years ago, at the same site and by the same research team, of the worm Gamascolex vanroyi.

Worms that lived when Morocco was “polar”

Another of the conclusions highlighted by the study is the "gigantism" of the three worms known in the Tafilalt Biota, which are two to three times larger than the global record of palaeoscolecids in Australia, North America and Central-Western Europe. "This circumstance could be connected with metabolic reasons involved in what is known as "polar gigantism", as Morocco was very close to the Earth's South Pole during the Ordovician Period," Gutiérrez Marco explains.

This is the third of these organisms to be found in the Tafilalt Biota, an outstandingly well-preserved site containing a mixture of fossils from groups with hard parts (trilobites, molluscs, echinoderms) and others with a soft to weakly mineralised body (rare arthropods, worms, paropsonemid discs…).

The finding forms part of the ongoing research into the Ordovician in Morocco in connection with a series of projects under the National Plan (Ministry of Science and Innovation), with 15-day field seasons being organised in the desert terrain a couple of times a year.

The researchers also have a network of collaborators who locate fossils throughout the year, and contact them if they find anything of note.

"We are trying to reconstruct the ecosystems and organisms of the past, and the data obtained help in this case to refine the geological correlation of the fossil-bearing units of Morocco with other contemporaneous units located on the marine shelf of the former continent of Gondwana", the UCM researcher emphasises.

Bibliographical reference: Diego C. García-Bellido & Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco (2022), Polar gigantism and remarkable taxonomic longevity in new palaeoscolecid worms from the Late Ordovician Tafilalt Lagerstätte of Morocco, Historical Biology, DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2022.2131404.

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JOURNAL

Historical Biology

DOI

10.1080/08912963.2022.2131404 

ARTICLE TITLE

Polar gigantism and remarkable taxonomic longevity in new palaeoscolecid worms from the Late Ordovician Tafilalt Lagerstätte of Morocco

Fossil-sorting robots will help researchers study oceans, climate

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS HAVE CREATED A ROBOTIC, AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM -- CALLED FORABOT -- RESEARCHERS THAT SORTS, MANIPULATES, AND IDENTIFIES MICROSCOPIC MARINE FOSSILS. THE TECHNOLOGY AUTOMATES A TEDIOUS PROCESS THAT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN ADVANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD’S OCEANS AND CLIMATE – BOTH TODAY AND IN THE PREHISTORIC PAST. THE IMAGE HERE SHOWS THE SECTION OF FORABOT THAT PHOTOGRAPHS INDIVIDUAL FOSSILS SO THAT THEY CAN BE IDENTIFIED, USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. view more 

CREDIT: EDGAR LOBATON AND THOMAS MARICHATTO

Researchers have developed and demonstrated a robot capable of sorting, manipulating, and identifying microscopic marine fossils. The new technology automates a tedious process that plays a key role in advancing our understanding of the world’s oceans and climate – both today and in the prehistoric past.

“The beauty of this technology is that it is made using relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf components, and we are making both the designs and the artificial intelligence software open source,” says Edgar Lobaton, co-author of a paper on the work and an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. “Our goal is to make this tool widely accessible, so that it can be used by as many researchers as possible to advance our understanding of oceans, biodiversity and climate.”

The technology, called Forabot, uses robotics and artificial intelligence to physically manipulate the remains of organisms called foraminifera, or forams, so that those remains can be isolated, imaged and identified.

Forams are protists, neither plant nor animal, and have been prevalent in our oceans for more than 100 million years. When forams die, they leave behind their tiny shells, most less than a millimeter wide. These shells give scientists insights into the characteristics of the oceans as they existed when the forams were alive. For example, different types of foram species thrive in different kinds of ocean environments, and chemical measurements can tell scientists about everything from the ocean’s chemistry to its temperature when the shell was being formed.

However, evaluating foram shells and fossils is both tedious and time consuming. Which is why a team of engineering and paleoceanography experts developed Forabot to automate the process.

“At this point, Forabot is capable of identifying six different types of foram, and processing 27 forams per hour – but it never gets bored and it never gets tired,” Lobaton says. “This is a proof-of-concept prototype, so we’ll be expanding the number of foram species it is able to identify. And we’re optimistic we’ll also be able to improve the number of forams it can process per hour.

“Also, at this point, the Forabot has an accuracy rate of 79% for identifying forams, which is better than most trained humans.”

“Once Forabot has been optimized, it will be a valuable piece of research equipment, allowing student ‘foram pickers’ to better spend their time learning more advanced skills,” says Tom Marchitto, co-author of the paper and a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “By using community-sourced taxonomic knowledge to train the robot, we can also improve uniformity of foram identification across research groups.”

Here’s how Forabot works. First, users have to wash and sieve a sample of hundreds of forams. This leaves users with a pile of what looks like sand. The sample of forams is then placed into a container called the isolation tower. A needle at the bottom of the isolation tower then projects up through the sample, lifting a single foram up where it is removed from the tower via suction. The suction pulls the foram to a separate container called the imaging tower, which is equipped with an automated, high-resolution camera that captures multiple images of the foram. After the images are taken, the foram is again lifted by a needle until it can be picked up via suction and deposited in the relevant container in a sorting station. Video of the Forabot in action can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLkLIghc4Jg.

“The idea is that our AI can use the images to identify what type of foram it is, and sort it accordingly,” Lobaton says.

“We’re publishing in an open source journal, and are including the blueprints and AI software in the supplementary materials to that paper,” Lobaton adds. “Hopefully, people will make use of it. The next step for us is to expand the types of forams the system can identify, and work on optimizing the operational speed.”

The paper, “Forabot: Automated Planktic Foraminifera Isolation and Imaging,” is published in the open-access journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. Corresponding author of the paper is Turner Richmond, a recent Ph.D. graduate from NC State. The paper was co-authored by Jeremy Cole, a Ph.D. graduate of NC State; and by Gabriella Dangler, an undergraduate at NC State.

The work was done with support from the National Science Foundation, under grant number 1829930.

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JOURNAL

Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems

DOI

10.1029/2022GC010689 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Forabot: Automated Planktic Foraminifera Isolation and Imaging

A peculiar protected structure links Viking knots with quantum vortices

Mathematical analysis identifies a vortex structure that is impervious to decay

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AALTO UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: IN BORROMEAN RINGS, EACH CIRCLE HOLDS THE PATTERN TOGETHER BY PASSING THROUGH THE OTHER TWO CIRCLES. view more 

CREDIT: ALEXANDR KAKINEN / AALTO UNIVERSITY

Scientists have shown how three vortices can be linked in a way that prevents them from being dismantled. The structure of the links resembles a pattern used by Vikings and other ancient cultures, although this study focused on vortices in a special form of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. The findings have implications for quantum computing, particle physics and other fields.

Postdoctoral researcher Toni Annala uses strings and water vortices to explain the phenomenon: ‘If you make a link structure out of, say, three unbroken strings in a circle, you can’t unravel it because the string can’t go through another string. If, on the other hand, the same circular structure is made in water, the water vortices can collide and merge if they are not protected.’

‘In a Bose-Einstein condensate, the link structure is somewhere between the two,’ says Annala, who began working on this in Professor Mikko Möttönen’s research group at Aalto University before moving back to the University of British Columbia and then to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Roberto Zamora-Zamora, a postdoctoral researcher in Möttönen’s group, was also involved in the study.

The researchers mathematically demonstrated the existence of a structure of linked vortices that cannot break apart because of their fundamental properties. ­‘The new element here is that we were able to mathematically construct three different flow vortices that were linked but could not pass through each other without topological consequences. If the vortices interpenetrate each other, a cord would form at the intersection, which binds the vortices together and consumes energy. This means that the structure cannot easily break down,’ says Möttönen.

From antiquity to cosmic strands

The structure is conceptually similar to the Borromean rings, a pattern of three interlinked circles which has been widely used in symbolism and as a coat of arms. A Viking symbol associated with Odin has three triangles interlocked in a similar way. If one of the circles or triangles is removed, the entire pattern dissolves because the remaining two are not directly connected. Each element thus links its two partners, stabilising the structure as a whole.

The mathematical analysis in this research shows how similarly robust structures could exist between knotted or linked vortices. Such structures might be observed in certain types of liquid crystals or condensed matter systems and could affect how those systems behave and develop.

‘To our surprise, these topologically protected links and knots had not been invented before. This is probably because the link structure requires vortices with three different types of flow, which is much more complex than the previously considered two-vortex systems,’ says Möttönen.

These findings may one day help make quantum computing more accurate. In topological quantum computing, the logical operations would be carried out by braiding different types of vortices around each other in various ways. ‘In normal liquids, knots unravel, but in quantum fields there can be knots with topological protection, as we are now discovering,’ says Möttönen.

Annala adds that ‘the same theoretical model can be used to describe structures in many different systems, such as cosmic strings in cosmology.’ The topological structures used in the study also correspond to the vacuum structures in quantum field theory. The results could therefore also have implications for particle physics.

Next, the researchers plan to theoretically demonstrate the existence of a knot in a Bose-Einstein condensate that would be topologically protected against dissolving in an experimentally feasible scenario. ‘The existence of topologically protected knots is one of the fundamental questions of nature. After a mathematical proof, we can move on to simulations and experimental research,’ says Möttönen.

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JOURNAL

Communications Physics

DOI

10.1038/s42005-022-01071-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Topologically protected vortex knots and links

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Dec-2022

Early-career archaeologists are pessimistic about future careers

Many early-career researchers in the academic field of archaeology experience stress due to precarious employment situation / Results of extensive international survey supervised by Mainz University

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ

A high proportion of early-career researchers in the field of archaeology are concerned about the lack of career development opportunities available and believe their chances of finding long-term employment in their chosen discipline are low. This is one of the findings of an international survey recently published in the European Journal of Archaeology. The survey was coordinated by Dr. Maxime Brami, a researcher at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and involved 419 early-career archaeologists. "Only about 21 percent of the participants believe it is likely that they will find a permanent position in archaeology," said Brami. 45 percent of those surveyed said that unlimited contracts in the field are extremely rare. Furthermore, 84 percent claimed to have suffered from stress due to a lack of career prospects, while 61 percent cited competition for jobs in the field as a stress factor. However, despite these rather negative aspects, many early-career archaeologists remain passionate about their discipline and 71 percent of those surveyed expressed a desire to continue working in academia.

According to Brami, the idea for the survey was prompted by a growing number of the approximately 1,500 members of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), in particular the early-career academics among them, who in recent years have been expressing concern about their professional situation. Brami and his colleagues from the Early Career Archaeologists (ECA), a community within the EAA, subsequently designed the survey and launched it in 2021. The survey consisted of 37 questions and was advertised via the ECA and EAA websites as well as on social media. Of the participants, 86 percent were based in Europe, 20 percent of these were from Germany; 46 percent had completed a doctorate, while 43 percent held a Master's degree or a similar qualification. In addition to worries about the job climate, bullying was also cited as an important topic, with 47 percent of the participants reporting being bullied in the workplace, in most cases by their superiors. The working environment in archaeology was repeatedly described as 'toxic' and 'very competitive'. About 62 percent of women reported experiencing gender-based discrimination during their careers, as opposed to about 12 percent of men.

"In the past two decades, there has been a steep rise in both the number of doctoral graduates and short-term employment contracts at universities, while the number of permanent faculty positions has stagnated. This has led to oversaturation in the academic job market and precarious employment conditions," said Brami, commenting on the possible reasons for the difficult situation. He suggests that the outlook for early-career archaeologists may be improved if, among other things, the transition from graduate to a permanent member of academic staff was structured more clearly. In addition, early-career academics needed to be better informed about the support available to them, for example from labor unions, and about means of combating bullying. "In principle, early-career researchers should have the same ordered working conditions as permanent employees, with regular progress reports and opportunities for further development, so that they can improve their career prospects."

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JOURNAL

European Journal of Archaeology

DOI

10.1017/eaa.2022.41 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A Precarious Future: Reflections from a Survey of Early Career Researchers in Archaeology

True giant wombat gives Diprotodon podium a wobble

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A RECONSTRUCTED IMAGE OF RAMSAYIA, ALONGSIDE A MODERN DAY WOMBAT. view more 

CREDIT: ELEANOR PEASE

If you thought Australia was home to only one ancient ‘giant wombat’, think again. 

While the Diprotodon - the extinct megafauna species that is distantly related to wombats but was the size of a small car - is commonly (but incorrectly) thought of as Australia’s ‘giant wombat’, researchers from Griffith University have shed light on a large species that does belong in the modern-day wombat family. 

The complete skull of this true fossil giant wombat, found in a Rockhampton cave in Queensland and estimated to be around 80,000 years old, has been described for the first time by a team led by Associate Professor Julien Louys from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution. 

Associate Professor Louys said the discovery provided unprecedented insights into the biology and appearance of these previously little known ‘gentle giants’. 

“The extinct megafauna of Australia never ceases to amaze and intrigue not just Australians, but people all over the world,” he said.  

“Although one of the most charismatic of the giant mammals to go extinct, Diprotodon is commonly referred to as a 'giant wombat'. But this is incorrect as Diprotodon belongs to an entirely different family - equivalent to saying a hippo is just a giant pig.  

“There were however, true giant wombats. These have traditionally been poorly known, but the discovery of the most complete skull of one of these giants, Ramsayia, has provided us with an opportunity to reconstruct what this creature looked like, where and when it lived, and how the evolution of giant wombats took place in Australia.” 

The cranium and mandible of the Ramsayia magna fossil was discovered from the rear of the front chamber of Lower Johansons Cave in Rockhampton in the early 2000s, but it was only through subsequent excavations and analysis by Associate Professor Louys’s team that is was confirmed as belonging to a previously described but very poorly known species. 

Extinct giant wombats of the family Vombatidae (broadly defined as twice the size of modern wombats) are rarer than the fossil diprotodontids that are often popularly - and incorrectly - referred to as giant wombats. 

Associate Professor Louys said this giant wombat - Ramsayia - had extensive cranial sinuses, which had not been previously reported for a wombat. 

“This indicates that the wombat had a large, rounded skull for the attachment of specific and strong chewing muscles,” he said. 

“The giant wombat also possessed a 'premaxillary spine', an indication that it had a large, fleshy nose. 

“In this paper, we show that all true giant wombats evolved large body sizes first, then individually became quite specialised to eat different types of grasses. 

"We also dated this species as being about 80,000 years old. This is the first date for this species and is much earlier than human arrival in Australia, although we still don’t know exactly when or why this species became extinct.” 

The research ‘Cranial remains of Ramsayia magna from the Late Pleistocene of Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats (Marsupialia, Vombatidae)’ has been published in Papers In Palaeontology.  

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JOURNAL

Papers in Palaeontology

DOI

10.1002/spp2.1475 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Cranial remains ofRamsayia magnafrom the Late Pleistoceneof Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats(Marsupialia, Vombatidae)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Dec-2022

Extinct 'monkey lemur' shows similarities to fossil humans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO

 

IMAGE: ARCHAEOLEMUR SKULL SHOWING A LARGE AND ROBUST ANTERIOR DENTITION 2 view more 

CREDIT: IAN TOWLE

Analysis of teeth of extinct lemurs has revealed fascinating clues to the evolution of humans, a University of Otago study has found.

 

Lead author Dr Ian Towle, of the Sir John Walsh Research Institute in the Faculty of Dentistry, says the “surprisingly large” monkey lemur, Archaeolemur, had novel anatomical features not seen in living lemurs, such as lacking a 'tooth comb’ in the front of the mouth for grooming.

 

“These extinct lemurs are so different to those alive today. They also show fascinating similarities to monkeys and apes, including humans,” he says.

 

The study, published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, aimed to assess the diet of Archaeolemur by analysing chipping in 447 teeth, comparing chipping frequencies to those of other primates.

 

The results were surprising – with these remarkable extinct lemurs with dentitions resembling baboons in shape; but presenting tooth chipping patterns similar to fossil hominins such as Neanderthals.

 

“Archaeolemur tooth chipping patterns are unlike any living primate, with their front teeth showing substantial fractures, often with numerous tooth chips on a single tooth, yet very little chipping on their back teeth.

 

“Similar tooth fracture patterns are observed in fossil hominins, such as Neanderthals. Typically, in Neanderthals these fracture patterns are thought to be related to tool-use behaviours,” Dr Towle says.

 

The results fit with previous research on Archaeolemur, in particular evidence that their large and robust front teeth may have been used to process a diet containing hard and tough foods.

 

Dr Towle thinks the study raises the “fascinating possibility” that stone tools do not necessarily explain the high rate of fractures on Neanderthal teeth.

 

“Archaeolemur shows similar tooth chipping patterns, yet there is no evidence to suggest they were capable of, or used, such tools.

 

“Studying extinct primates not only provides crucial insight into their diet and behaviour, but also elucidates our own evolutionary history.”

 

Given the overlap in skull and dental shape, and potential similarities in diet and behaviour, it is perhaps not surprising that Archaeolemur was thought to be an ape when first discovered in Madagascar over 100 years ago.

 

“Archaeolemur is a brilliant example of convergent evolution, showing remarkable similarities to monkeys and apes. This species also highlights the extent to which lemurs in Madagascar diversified into a variety of ecological niches.”

 

Dr Carolina Loch, also from Sir John Walsh Research Institute, and who mentored Dr Towle during his tenure as postdoctoral fellow at the SJWRI, says the research is another great example of the “breadth and depth of multidisciplinary research” at the Faculty of Dentistry.

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

DOI

10.1002/ajpa.24674 

Fossil site reveals giant arthropods dominated the seas 470 million years ago

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

 

IMAGE: FOSSILS FROM THE FEZOUATA SHALE. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, A NON-MINERALIZED ARTHROPOD (MARRELLOMORPHA), A PALAEOSCOLECID WORM AND A TRILOBITES view more 

CREDIT: EMMANUEL MARTIN

Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods – relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders – dominated the seas 470 million years ago.

Early evidence from the site at Taichoute, once undersea but now a desert, records numerous large “free-swimming” arthropods.

More research is needed to analyse these fragments, but based on previously described specimens, the giant arthropods could be up to 2m long.

An international research team say the site and its fossil record are very different from other previously described and studied Fezouata Shale sites from 80km away.

They say Taichoute (considered part of the wider “Fezouata Biota”) opens new avenues for paleontological and ecological research.

“Everything is new about this locality – its sedimentology, paleontology, and even the preservation of fossils – further highlighting the importance of the Fezouata Biota in completing our understanding of past life on Earth,” said lead author Dr Farid Saleh, from the University of Lausanne and and Yunnan University.

Dr Xiaoya Ma, from the University of Exeter and Yunnan University, added: “While the giant arthropods we discovered have not yet been fully identified, some may belong to previously described species of the Fezouata Biota, and some will certainly be new species.

“Nevertheless, their large size and free-swimming lifestyle suggest they played a unique role in these ecosystems.”

The Fezouata Shale was recently selected as one of the 100 most important geological sites worldwide because of its importance for understanding the evolution during the Early Ordovician period, about 470 million years ago.

Fossils discovered in these rocks include mineralised elements (eg shells), but some also show exceptional preservation of soft parts such as internal organs, allowing scientists to investigate the anatomy of early animal life on Earth.

Animals of the Fezouata Shale, in Morocco’s Zagora region, lived in a shallow sea that experienced repeated storm and wave activities, which buried the animal communities and preserved them in place as exceptional fossils.

However, nektonic (or free-swimming) animals remain a relatively minor component overall in the Fezouata Biota. 

The new study reports the discovery of the Taichoute fossils, preserved in sediments that are a few million years younger than those from the Zagora area and are dominated by fragments of giant arthropods.

“Carcasses were transported to a relatively deep marine environment by underwater landslides, which contrasts with previous discoveries of carcass preservation in shallower settings, which were buried in place by storm deposits,” said Dr Romain Vaucher, from the University of Lausanne.

Professor Allison Daley, also from the University of Lausanne, added: “Animals such as brachiopods are found attached to some arthropod fragments, indicating that these large carapaces acted as nutrient stores for the seafloor dwelling community once they were dead and lying on the seafloor.”

Dr Lukáš Laibl, from the Czech Academy of Sciences, who had the opportunity to participate in the initial fieldwork, said: “Taichoute is not only important due to the dominance of large nektonic arthropods.

“Even when it comes to trilobites, new species so far unknown from the Fezouata Biota are found in Taichoute.”

Dr Bertrand Lefebvre, from the University of Lyon, who is the senior author on the paper, and who has been working on the Fezouata Biota for the past two decades, concluded: “The Fezouata Biota keeps surprising us with new unexpected discoveries”.

The paper, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is entitled: “New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota.” 

 

Large fragments of nektonic arthropods

The newly discovered site from the Fezouata Shale

CREDIT

Bertrand Lefebvre

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-25000-z 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Dec-2022