DENVER (AP) — A trove of
ancient bones from gigantic animals discovered in the Colorado
mountains is providing scientists with a fascinating look at what
happened about 120,000 years ago when the Earth got as warm as it is
today.
Evidence left
behind by mastodons, mammoths, giant sloths and huge bison — along with
insects, plants, pollen and other animals — offers a glimpse at how
ancient animal adapted to climate change.
Among
their findings: The warmer weather allowed forests to reach about 2,500
feet farther up the mountainside than today's tree line, which is about
11,500 feet above sea level at the Snowmass site. Forests also may have
been denser, and smaller trees and grasslands might have been more
widespread amid drier conditions.
A
team of 47 scientists has been studying material unearthed four years
ago near Snowmass, a town just outside Aspen, when a bulldozer was
enlarging a reservoir. The researchers published their first big batch
of data in the journal Quaternary Research in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment