Frances Alonzo (VOA, 6/12/09)
Fifty-three million years ago, scientists say the Arctic was a warm, swamp-like environment filled with plants and vegetation. Recent findings suggest a large number of mammals thrived there year round including six months of a dark, Arctic winter.
In a study released in June’s issue of Geology, scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder say through the analyses of carbon and oxygen isotopes in fossil teeth, they uncovered evidence that during the winter, mammals ate twigs, leaf litter, and fungi.
Field search for mammal fossils in the High Arctic in 2004.
In a study released in June’s issue of Geology, scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder say through the analyses of carbon and oxygen isotopes in fossil teeth, they uncovered evidence that during the winter, mammals ate twigs, leaf litter, and fungi.
Field search for mammal fossils in the High Arctic in 2004.The chief author of the study, Jaelyn Eberle says a few types of animals found at that time were hippo-like creatures, rhino-type animals, as well as distant cousins of tapirs, primates, flying lemurs, and rodents “did not migrate” and could withstand “months of continuous darkness.” More>>
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