One of the most shrill arguments from alarmists is the idea that climate change will wipe out species because they can’t adapt. The claims run from polar bears to tortoises, to plants and coral. Yes, if we listen to these arguments, Nature so poorly equipped it’s creatures that they can’t adapt to a slightly warmer future.
Except when the last ice age ended, and it got warmer, and the saber-toothed cats got bigger because the prey got bigger…instead of disappearing due to “climate change”.
From the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
La Brea Tar Pit fossil research shows climate change drove evolution of Ice Age predators
LOS ANGELES — Concerns about climate change and its impact on the world around us are growing daily. New scientific studies at the La Brea Tar Pits are probing the link between climate warming and the evolution of Ice Age predators, attempting to predict how animals will respond to climate change today.
The La Brea Tar Pits are famous for the amazing array of Ice Age fossils found there, such as ground sloths, mammoths, and predators like saber-toothed cats and powerful dire wolves. But the climate during the end of the Ice Age (50,000-11,000 years ago) was unstable, with rapid warming and cooling. New research reported here has documented the impact of this climate change on La Brea predators for the first time.
Two new studies published by research associates at of the Page Museum document significant change over time in the skulls of both dire wolves and saber-toothed cats. “Different tar pits at La Brea accumulated at different times,” said F. Robin O’Keefe of Marshall University, lead author on the dire wolf study (Palaeontologia Electronica, April 9, 2014). “When we compare fossils deposited at different times, we see big changes. We can actually watch evolution happening.”
After the end of the last Ice Age, La Brea dire wolves became smaller and more graceful, adapting to take smaller prey as glaciers receded and climate warmed. This rapidly changing climate drove change in saber-toothed cats as well. “Saber-toothed cats show a clear correlation between climate and shape. Cats living after the end of the Ice Age are larger, and adapted to taking larger prey,” said Julie Meachen of Des Moines University, lead author on the sabertooth study (Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2014).
The two scientists discuss their work in a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK_DKSNbgR4&feature=youtu.be
“We can see animals adapting to a warming climate at La Brea,” said O’Keefe. “Then humans show up and all the big ones disappear. We haven’t been able to establish causality there yet. But we are working on it.”
The emerging links between climate change and evolution needs further study. There are many unanswered questions; such as why predators change in the ways that they do, the importance of factors other than climate, and whether the arrival of humans played a role in the mass extinction at the end of the Ice Age. “There is much work to be done on the specimens from the tar pits. We are working actively to bring together the researchers and resources needed to expand on these discoveries,” says John Harris, chief curator at the Page Museum. “Climate change is a pressing issue for all of us, and we must take advantage of what Rancho La Brea can teach us about how ecosystems react to it.”
O’Keefe, F. R., W. J. Binder, S. R. Frost, R. W. Sadleir, and B. Van Valkenburgh. 2014. Cranial morphometrics of the dire wolf, Canis dirus, at Rancho La Brea: temporal variability and its links to nutrient stress and climate. Palaeontologia Electronica.
Palaeontologia Electronica was the first peer-reviewed online paleontology journal in the world and has been in publication for 17 years. On April 9, visit palaeo-electronica.org/content/2014/723-canis-dirus-craniometrics
Meachen, J. A., F. R. O’Keefe, and R. W. Sadleir. 2014. Evolution in the sabre-tooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, in response to Pleistocene climate change. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 27: 714-723. Visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12340/abstract
About the Natural History Family of Museums
The Natural History Family of Museums includes the NHM, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits (Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire), and the William S. Hart Park and Museum (Newhall, California). The Family of Museums serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education.
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The late Prof.Mike Morwood taught me. And so did Prof. Brown from the same university, UNE.
I agree with your last statement about the evolutionary tree that the Hobbit came from, it is a mystery. Their small size and the elephants they hunted, seem to have occurred from isolation over many thousands of years, that happens in isolated island groups of prehistoric origins.
I saw and attended a lecture at UNE, about H.floresiensis. But the teeth were different from H.erectus. I mentioned this to Mike, he said that the canines had got smaller or worn down. Like modern humans. But the original fossils were changed deliberately by an Indonesian minister, who according to Mike (personal conversation) knew nothing about palaeoanthropology. Luckily they had taken plaster casts of the original fossils. One of your universities agreed with our professors too. You should get Mikes book “The discovery of the Hobbit” by Mike Morwood and Penny van Oosterzee. 2007, Random house Australia. It was so sad he died so early and a great loss to archaeology. He was one of my favorite lecturers, very approachable. I was not a great student, but I majored in Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology for a BA.
One lecture back in the late 1980s, Mike was interested in investigating S.E.Asia and parts of East Timor,however then the political situation precluded this. He was interested in finding out more about how the Australian Aborigines actually got here. Peter Brown reckoned there was a period around 60,000 years ago, when the seas were very low, and could have island hopped.
Also in Aborigine dream time legends, they recall very small humans that would creep up on them and fire small arrows at them. The same legends appear in Flores, when the island was occupied, and there are tales that a very small humans would steal babies, and the islanders actually killed them off. However, the cave they were found in, evidence of a volcanic eruption seems to have killed them too around 18,000 years ago.
The archaeological record is changing all the time, one of the myths is that Columbus brought back syphilis to Europe in the 1400s from South America. Actually fossils from various parts of Italy especially Pompeii, show that syphilis was also present in children and adults. That was 1300 years before Columbus.
Although Wikipedia should be used with care, it seems to indicate that pre-Columbian outbreaks of Syphilis in Europe are false.
I don’t use Wikipedia, I was completing a post graduate unit on Pompeii and Herculaneum. An archaeological examination of skeletons has suggested very strongly, that syphilis was present in adults and congenital syphilis is children.
One of the cures they reckoned for tackling syphilis was to catch malaria. Yeah. It is strongly considered that some Roman Emperors were actually suffering from tertiary syphilis. But they used to cremate the buggers, so it can’t be proven scientifically. I am talking about Tiberius, Caligula and Nero.
re post by: dbstealey says: April 10, 2014 at 4:52 pm
I’m late to the party, but hope DB will see this anyhow. DB, your view of evolution is one that’s relatively common. The scientific definition of evolution has nothing to do with evolving into a “higher state.” Evolution has no standards in that regard – the evolution doesn’t have to lead to something smarter or prettier or more complex or anything that way. It only has to be able to survive – and it may occur by chance, or because it’s in some way better able to not only survive but propagate in the particular environment it’s in.
Look at the (disgusting) cockroach for example. It’s been relatively unchanged for an extremely long time, because in fact it’s a very successful evolutionary product. Cripes, if we had WWIII nuclear Armageddon, or a major asteroid impact, that wiped nearly everything out, it’s a good bet that the blasted cockroach would be one of the best likely to survive on land. Another example – man is in no way the pinnacle of evolution. So far, the dinosaurs managed to exist far longer than we have, and so at least thus far, are the more successful species. Time will tell on that one, but it’ll be long after we’re all dead and gone and either mankind will still exist and manage to do so longer than the Dino’s did, or mankind will disappear.
I understand the temptation to think of evolution as somehow having to lead to something that WE think is in some way better or more complex or smarter or in some way a “higher state” – but that’s hubris. We can’t judge what is or isn’t the most likely to succeed, because we don’t have a crystal ball to know what environmental conditions will exist in the future to be able to tell which species will manage to survive and flourish, and which will, like 99% of species before, go extinct. And that’s all evolution is about – which will manage to survive and procreate.
re post by: Catherine Ronconi says: @ur momisugly April 10, 2014 at 4:24 pm
Catherine, comments are moderated by people who very generously donate their time… so depending on the time of day and posting volume, it can take anywhere from almost no lag to maybe 30 min or so for posts to show up. They’re moderated to keep spam and really egregiously offensive things from being posted – but this site is one that does virtually no censoring. Further, if a mod does decide something you posted needs to be censored (rare), they ALWAYS allow your post to show up – at least your name and the time, and then will show a moderator message that your comment has been snipped, and often a brief by about why.
If you have a post that still hasn’t shown up after maybe 30 or 45 min, and expecially if you see comments from others posted after yours, then it’s hung in the automatic filter. Post a polite request with “TO the MODERATOR” (or something like that) starting your post, and ask them to check the spam filter because you think a post is hung up. Presto, your post will appear as soon as one of them sees your request – or they’ll let you know if they’re unable to find it (almost never happens that I’ve seen).
This site is EXCELLENT when it comes to allowing people to talk and not censoring based on ideology or prejudice or bias.
Speaking of which – THANKS to all the moderators for your hard work for all of us!
re post by: bushbunny says: April 11, 2014 at 8:29 pm
Being long lived has nothing to do with us being successful. Bacteria vastly outnumber us, and they’ve generally got a very short lifespan. Same with cockroaches, termites, ants, etc. And there are MANY other mammals that are fertile every month. In fact horses come in heat every three weeks, and so do cats, etc. And they don’t go through menopause, but generally can continue having offspring throughout their entire lives. There a number of different ways to be “successful.” Having a long life and caring for your children is one – but the drawback is typically relatively few offspring, so we’re very vested in trying to ensure they each survive. Species with short lifespans, however, typically have large numbers of offspring, and are less vested in ensuring each one’s survival. Then there are mixtures, like turtles that have long lives, but still produce many offspring, and don’t do anything to ensure their survivial in terms of nurturing them after they are hatched. They’re on their own.
And do you REALLY think that other mammals don’t “hand pick” their mates? Think again.
Rational, we are long lived in comparison to our early ancestors. The biblical age 6 scores and 10 (70 years) well the poor pre Homo group were lucky to outlive 35. And of course selective breeding in domesticated animals is one reason why mating is not as free as it would be in wild animals. But wild animals or birds, have a different set of ethics regarding breeding, the pack or mob instance where the alpha males fight sometimes. Birds often stay together until one dies.
Besides arranged marriages, we often have the factor that we or others pick our mates. Sometimes multiple mates as in polygamists. Once our leaders, kings and war lords were first fighters to lead a group or clan. The Romans were not successful because they were kind to people. They were a military society. And we introduced agriculture that allowed some people to exchange and store surplus. That evolution or adaptation what ever you call it.
Why do you think humans, with some exceptions, generally only have one child at a time? And others animals have multiple births, it’s because of survival rates are programmed. Some are more long lived and survive better than others. That’s just nature.
bushbunny says (April 13, 2014 at 7:07 pm): “The biblical age 6 scores and 10 (70 years)…”
Three score and ten.
http://biblehub.com/psalms/90-10.htm
milodonharlani says:
April 11, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Regarding Darwin’s not knowing how heredity works, I’ve thought about how great it would have been had he somehow found the paper by Mendel, J.G. (1866). Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, Bd. IV für das Jahr, 1865 Abhandlungen:3–47. And had it translated from German.
It is important remember that Darwin’s theory of selection requires a biological (genetic) mechanism for inheritance, something that can differentially pass from generation to generation. Ironically, it is one of the important scientific predictions that was never made. Darwin advanced a mechanism, selection, that acted upon heritable characteristics of an organism somehow. At the time no one had any idea of how this worked and the Victorian and earlier assumption was that it was tied to “blood” somehow. Darwin seems to have taken the fact as a matter of course, since he could see that selection worked and simply glossed over that blank spot on the canvas.