Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid now known as the Chicxulub impactor, struck the Earth’s surface leaving a crater 93 miles in diameter. This impact is widely agreed to have caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a mass extinction in which 75% of plant and animal species on Earth became extinct, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Although the asteroid killed off […]

  Increasing global temperatures due to climate change have resulted in increases in the severity and frequency of coral disease events around the globe. Coral species have faced rapid declines due to disease outbreaks, so understanding immune responses and associated potential life-history trade-offs is therefore a priority. Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington […]

In recent years, there has been growing concern in the scientific community that major tropical cyclones such as typhoons and hurricanes will increase with global warming. To better predict the frequency of these weather patterns, understanding typhoons in the past warmer periods of Earth’s history is particularly important. A new method of investigating these events […]

A fifth of the world’s biggest fisheries, such as Atlantic Cod and Walleye Pollock are reliant on healthy seagrass meadows, according to a study published this week. The study, entitled ‘Seagrass meadows support global fisheries production‘ published in Conservation Letters, also demonstrates the prevalence of seagrass associated fishing globally. Carried out in partnership with Dr Leanne […]

A study published this week in the journal Endangered Species Research has identified a local population of Blue Whales off New Zealand that is genetically distinct from other populations in the Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean. This population, consisting of 700 pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda), have been found living between the North and South Islands of New […]

A study conducted by the Madagascar Whale Shark Project has revealed that juvenile whale sharks swim to Madagascar, particularly the island of Nosy Be, to feed.  This is the first major scientific survey of it’s kind in the area and shows it is a newly-identified hotspot for these fish. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the world’s largest […]

A new study led by the University of Leicester has given an insight into our planet’s climate over half a billion years ago. Using chemical analysis of small fossilised shells, combined with climate model simulations, the team of scientists from the University of Leicester (UK), British Geological Survey (BGS; UK), and CEREGE (France) found evidence […]