Scientists Say Lazy Mollusks Are Less Likely to Go Extinct
A new study claims a sedentary lifestyle could be a prime way for a species to avoid extinction. Before you go canceling your gym membership, you have to ask yourself one vital question: Are you a mollusk? If the answer is no, you might want to keep pumping iron. Scientists from the University of Kansas analyzed mollusk extinctions over millions of years, finding the laziest species had the lowest chance of extinction.
The team led by postdoctoral researcher Luke Strotz used mollusks for this analysis for several reasons. For one, there are a lot of mollusks in the fossil record, particularly in the Western Atlantic. You can also assess the metabolic aspects of a mollusk from fossils. This allowed the team to analyze 299 different species of extinct and living mollusks across more than 5 million years from the mid-Pliocene to the present.
Overall, extinct mollusks are more likely to have higher metabolic levels. That means they need more resources to flourish than a “low-energy” species. This isn’t universally true, though. The researchers noted that species with narrow ranges were most affected by high metabolic activity. A mollusk that lives only in a certain area and has high metabolic activity is potentially in trouble. Meanwhile, a species with high metabolic activity that occupies wide ranges of ocean is in better shape.
Interestingly, the overall metabolic rate of mollusk communities tends to remain consistent over time. Some animals might go extinct, but others rise up into their “metabolic niche.” The team expected metabolic activity in a region to fluctuate or trend downward as more vulnerable species died off.
This isn’t just an academic question — an understanding of which species are most vulnerable could be vital as climate change pushes global temperatures higher. We might even be able to mitigate the effects of warming oceans if we can pinpoint the organisms that are at risk because of a higher metabolic rate. Research has suggested that the climate will continue warming even if we drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. This is information that we’ll need to have.
The next step for the team is to assess how much impact metabolic rates have on extinction for other types of animals. It’s at least plausible that other marine animals will exhibit similar patterns. Proving a similar correlation on land would be much more difficult, but the team will attempt to find out.
Continue reading
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Is Leaking into Space
NASA reports the probe grabbed so much regolith from the asteroid that it's leaking out of the collector. The team is now working to determine how best to keep the precious cargo from escaping.
AMD’s New Radeon RX 6000 Series Is Optimized to Battle Ampere
AMD unveiled its RX 6000 series today. For the first time since it bought ATI in 2006, there will be some specific advantages to running AMD GPUs in AMD platforms.
NASA Created a Collection of Spooky Space Sounds for Halloween
NASA's latest data release turns signals from beyond Earth into spooky sounds that are sure to send a chill up your spine.
NASA Discovers Vital Organic Molecule on Titan
In the latest analysis, researchers from NASA have identified an important, highly reactive organic molecule in Titan's atmosphere. Its presence suggests the moon could support chemical processes that we usually associate with life.