Extinct reptile sheds light on aquatic evolution
A Polish-Chinese scientific team has described a new marine reptile that lived about 250 million years ago in what is now China. The discovery sheds new light on the evolution of the aquatic lifestyle of extinct reptiles and confirms the close relationship of turtles with dinosaurs and their relatives.
-
Creating fish semen banks improves breeding, says researcher
Supporting the process of fish reproduction in the event of an ecological disaster, securing the stability of breeding in fish hatcheries and protecting the gene pool - these are the main objectives of fish semen banks, which are being established by scientists from the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn.
-
Climate change will affect mushroom pickers, says expert
Due to climate change, there will be fewer chanterelles and boletes in Polish forests, as these mushrooms are associated with trees from the pine family, scientists predict. Penny bun pickings may also be smaller. Mushroom pickers will instead pick summer cep, for example.
-
Climate change will see birds get smaller and their beaks and legs get longer, warns expert.
In warmer climates, in the course of evolution birds lengthen their legs and beaks and, in a separate process, reduce body size. Scientists from Poland and Australia investigated the interdependencies between these mechanisms on 99.7% species of birds.
-
Researcher discover trick aquatic insects use to escape predators
When water striders escape from predators, they bounce off the water surface in a quick jump. Larger and heavier species must use a new mechanism to escape successfully. Scientists have just found out what it is.
-
Wolves at risk from the dumping of rotting carcasses
In addition to eating hunted deer and wild boars, wolves also feed on the carcasses of dead farm animals, illegally dumped on the edges of fields, into swamps and forests, which poses an epidemiological threat, shows research conducted with telemetry collars.
-
Dangerous protozoan transmitted by ticks attacks dogs and wolves
Veterinarians across Poland have been reporting cases of dogs with symptoms of severe anaemia, lethargy and wasting. Scientists have shown that the dogs were attacked by a parasitic protozoan. It turns out that it also poses a threat to wolves.
-
Spraying mosquitoes and ticks is not a solution, says expert
To cure the problem of mosquitoes and ticks, we should increase the population of mosquito-eating organisms, says entomologist Dr. Stanisław Czachorowski.
-
Road salt negatively affects spring bloom of zooplankton
Road salt used in winter has a negative impact on zooplankton, preventing its spring reproduction success, shows Dr. Sebastian Szklarek, an ecohydrologist from the Polish Academy of Sciences. Less zooplankton affects the phytoplankton balance and thus, among other things, a larger bloom of cyanobacteria.
-
Four plesiosaur teeth found in central Poland
Four plesiosaur teeth from about 148 million years ago have been discovered by scientists from the Jagiellonian University and the Polish Academy of Sciences in the Owadów-Brzezinki quarry (near Sławno, Łódź province). According to the researchers, these are the first fossils of the aquatic reptiles from this palaeontological site.
