Antarctica Served as Climatic Refuge in Earth's Greatest Extinction Event

marco_polo

A new discovery suggest that Antartica army have served as a refuge during the widespread end Permian extinction.

Scientist have discovered an ancestor of mammals Kombuisia antarctica , which was a member of the extinct group called anomodonts. It proves a prediction, based on fossils found in South Africa later in the Triassic Period, that animals like Kombuisia antarctica should have existed at this time.

Interestingly this 'new' discovery was made amongst sample collected over 30 years ago that were part of a collection at the American Museum of Natural History.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091202205621.htm
Scientists are still debating what caused the end-Permian extinction, but it was likely associated with massive volcanic activity in Siberia that could have triggered global warming. When it served as refuge, Antarctica was located some distance north of its present location, was warmer and wasn't covered with permanent glaciers, said the researchers. The refuge of Kombuisia in Antarctica probably wasn't the result of a seasonal migration but rather a longer-term change that saw the animal's habitat shift southward.

Fossil evidence suggests that small and medium sized animals were more successful at surviving the mass extinction than larger animals. They may have engaged in "sleep-or-hide" behaviors like hibernation, torpor and burrowing to survive in a difficult environment.

Position of Antartica at this time

Galvasean

It's amazing the amount of 'new' discoveries that are made in museums. It makes you wonder what other brilliant tthings are lying hidden, gatheing dust right under our collective noses.
Something similar occured recently when researchers at the London Museum of Natural History had a look at an old Proceratosaurus skull.
What is interesting, is that this find appears to lend support to a controversial theory that some animals, including lystrosaurs, hibernated to avoid the worst aspects of the Permian extinction.

marco_polo

Galvasean wrote: »

It's amazing the amount of 'new' discoveries that are made in museums. It makes you wonder what other brilliant tthings are lying hidden, gatheing dust right under our collective noses.
Something similar occured recently when researchers at the London Museum of Natural History had a look at an old Proceratosaurus skull.
What is interesting, is that this find appears to lend support to a controversial theory that some animals, including lystrosaurs, hibernated to avoid the worst aspects of the Permian extinction.

If discoveries like this can be made in the collections of major museums, one wonders what else might have been 'unearthed but undiscovered' out there in private collections around the world.