Marine fossils are a reliable benchmark for degrading and collapsing ecosystems
Biologists attempting to conserve and restore denuded environments are limited by their scant knowledge of what those environments looked like…Read More
Sea urchins keep on trucking while other marine life languishes in the Florida Keys
In the summer of 2020, Florida Museum researchers Tobias Grun and Michał Kowalewski dove into the shallow waters off the…Read More
Adriatic ecosystems withstand major climate shifts but wither under human impact
An analysis of more than 70,000 fossils indicates that mollusk communities were incredibly resilient to major climatic shifts during the…Read More
Rise of marine predators reshaped ocean life as dramatically as mass extinctions
Evolutionary arms races between marine animals overhauled ocean ecosystems on scales similar to the mass extinctions triggered by global disasters,…Read More
Only eat oysters in months with an ‘r’? Rule of thumb is at least 4,000 years old
Foodie tradition dictates only eating wild oysters in months with the letter “r” – from September to April – to…Read More
Seagrass meadows harbor wildlife for centuries, highlighting need for conservation
Seagrass meadows put down deep roots, persisting in the same spot for hundreds and possibly thousands of years, a new…Read More
Florida Museum receives NSF grant to lead conservation paleobiology research network
The National Science Foundation awarded the Florida Museum of Natural History a $500,000 grant to develop a research coordination network…Read More
The walking dead: Fossils on the move can distort patterns of mass extinctions
Using the fossil record to accurately estimate the timing and pace of past mass extinctions is no easy task, and…Read More
Drill holes in fossil shells point to bigger predators picking on small prey
The drill holes left in fossil shells by hunters such as snails and slugs show marine predators have grown steadily…Read More
Mollusk graveyards are time machines to oceans’ pristine past
A Florida Museum of Natural History study shows that mollusk fossils provide a reliable measure of human-driven changes in marine ecosystems…Read More