Navigation Links
Ice Age extinction claimed highly carnivorous Alaskan wolves

kan habitat was probably recolonized by wolves that survived south of the ice sheet in the continental United States, Leonard said.

The ancient Alaskan wolves differed from modern wolves not only in their genes, but also in their skulls and teeth, which were robust and more adapted for forceful bites and shearing flesh than are those of modern wolves. They also showed a higher incidence of broken teeth than living wolves.

“Taken together, these features suggest a wolf specialized for killing and consuming relatively large prey, and also possibly habitual scavenging,” Leonard said.

Chemical analyses of the bones back up this conclusion. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of the Alaskan wolf bones are intermediate between those of potential prey species—mammoth, bison, musk ox and caribou—suggesting that their diet was a mix of these large species.

The cause of Pleistocene extinction (called the “megafaunal” extinction because of the large size of many of its victims) is controversial. It has been variously blamed on human hunting or climate change, or on a combination of factors as the Ice Age waned.

For the specialized Alaskan wolves, the story is perhaps less complicated. “When their prey disappeared, these wolves did as well,” Leonard said. But the results of this study also imply that the effects of the extinction were broader than previously thought. “There may be other extinctions of unique Pleistocene forms yet to be discovered,” she added.
'"/>

Source:Smithsonian


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Low level of extinction during ice age linked to adaptability
2. Super predators and mass extinctions
3. Small species back-up giant marsupial climate change extinction claim
4. FSU scientist warns North Atlantic right whale facing extinction
5. Size matters: Preventing large mammal extinction
6. Climate model links higher temperatures to prehistoric extinction
7. Traditional models underestimate extinction rates
8. New study pinpoints epicenters of Earths imminent extinctions
9. Ocean dead zones trigger sex changes in fish, posing extinction threat
10. Genetic study shows humans have pushed orangutans to the brink of extinction
11. Climate change drives widespread amphibian extinctions

Post Your Comments:
(Date:12/2/2009)...ELPHIA Mexican-American adolescents exposed to ci...o pick up the habit themselves, and this may be pa...oking initiation, according to new study findings....n the United States and highlights the global impl...ork Convention on Tobacco Control, which includes ...
(Date:12/2/2009)...AYETTE, Ind. ╤ A Smoky Mountain forest,s woo...lay a role in how forest understories recover from... , Despite heavy logging in portions of the fore...um plants on the secondary forest floor was simila... Purdue assistant professor of forestry and natura...
(Date:12/2/2009)...- A team comprised of undergraduate students from ...nors in a national poster contest hosted by the In... (ISPE). , The annual contest highlights the res...month at the ISPE Annual Meeting in San Diego, Cal...a Posterior Criciate Ligament Tensioning Device," ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Watching movies featuring characters who smoke negatively influences Mexican-American teens 2Study finds logging effects vary based on a forest's history, climate 2Dalton Pharma Services Adds Formulation Development Services 57793 1Dalton Pharma Services Adds Formulation Development Services 57793 2John Theurer Cancer Center and Leukemia 26 Lymphoma Society Highlight Upcoming Trends in Hematological Malignancies 57791 1John Theurer Cancer Center and Leukemia 26 Lymphoma Society Highlight Upcoming Trends in Hematological Malignancies 57791 2John Theurer Cancer Center and Leukemia 26 Lymphoma Society Highlight Upcoming Trends in Hematological Malignancies 57791 3Dalton Pharma Services Adds Formulation Development Services 57789 1Dalton Pharma Services Adds Formulation Development Services 57789 2
... on weather balloons largely accounts for a data d...over the existence of global warming, according to... National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (...l Science, says that direct heat of the sun on tem...) probably explains the discrepancy between report...
...arch team has discovered important new information...for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)--a deadl...eries caused by uncontrolled cell growth. Therapie...d to heart failure and death within a few years. ,...in almost exclusively expressed in cancer, is also...
...t Science Centre at the Swedish University of Agri...eakthrough in our understanding of how plants cont...e international journal Science, Thursday 11th, th... plant leaves is transported to the shoot tips whe...edge can lead to the development of new tools that...
Other Biology News:Errors in the measurement of global warming corrected 2Researchers develop gene therapy to reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension 2Researchers develop gene therapy to reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension 3Long-sought flower-inducing molecule found 2
(Date:12/3/2009)...Dec. 3 JourneyLite of Houston, LL...y to offer patients a second surgical option, ver...D® System that it currently performs. The fi...as performed by surgeon partner, Matthew St. Laur...ted as doing well. ,, The Vertical Sleeve Gastr...
(Date:12/3/2009)...lif., Dec. 3 Peregrine P...ced that it will release its financial results for...r 10, 2009 at 7:00 a.m. EST and will host a confer...:30 a.m. EST on the same day. ,, Peregrine,s se... the second quarter ended October 31, 2009 and wil...
(Date:12/2/2009)...ines, Dec. 2 Spectrum Blue Steel i...rgy companies on the planet. Through the efforts o...President and Recycling Specialist Leroy Johnston,...5 years, stated that Spectrum Blue Steel is light ...or spectacular earnings because of the bi products...
(Date:12/2/2009)...ec. 2 The world,s first concept de...gy, a breakthrough alternative to replace a petroc...f synthetic rubber with renewable biomass, made th...ire will be on display at a lounge in the common d...ort throughout December 21, while the other tire w...
Breaking Biology Technology:JourneyLite of Houston Now Offering Sleeve Gastrectomy 2Peregrine Pharmaceuticals to Report Second Quarter FY 2010 Financial Results 2Spectrum Blue Steel partners with Famous Chemists for Procuring Profitable Applications from Garbage Using the Biosphere MKV and Electrostatic Precipitators 2Spectrum Blue Steel partners with Famous Chemists for Procuring Profitable Applications from Garbage Using the Biosphere MKV and Electrostatic Precipitators 3The World's First Goodyear Concept Tires Made with BioIsoprene(TM) Technology Arrive in Copenhagen in time for United Nations Climate Change Conference 2The World's First Goodyear Concept Tires Made with BioIsoprene(TM) Technology Arrive in Copenhagen in time for United Nations Climate Change Conference 3
...nsin attracts far fewer defense research dollars a...ut a number of public and private initiatives are ...h-tech national security projects. , ,These projec... terrorism unfolds and the nation responds to the ...he Wisconsin Technology Council , believes there ...
...ies were nervously introducing their products to a...ment executives, early adopters, and eager media. ...e demos were nearly flawless. John Patrick,s Futur...was cacophonic. Heck, even the Wi-Fi was glitch-fr...anies delivered amazing products to the market. ,...
...s to securing information networks, Paul Barford b...he guys in the black hats. , ,Barford, an assista...on Department of Computer Sciences , said the acce...shows no signs of abating. In fact, the fun-seekin...ty have been joined by a more sophisticated class ...
Other Biology Technology:Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 2Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 3Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 4Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 5Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 6Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work 7Basking (briefly) in the DEMOfall 2006 glow 2Safe Internet requires total network security, prof. says 2Safe Internet requires total network security, prof. says 3
...eening and binding optimization and built on the f...synthesis platform. These microarrays are availabl...roarray Service. Probe Content Our Standard DNA...wn aptamer sequences. Add up to 100 of your own cu...
...vice for custom peptide microarray experiments uti...d on Paraflo microfluidic chips for quantitative a...um samples. This comprehensive service includes as...s using sample(s) provided by you, single or dual ...
...tope analysis service utilizing high density pepti... chips for immunological studies, vaccine developm... service includes assistance with your sequence de...you, single or dual color detection of the binding...
...eening and binding optimization and built on the f...synthesis platform. Thousands of customer specifie...Sciences can provide assistance with custom sequen... of our comprehensive DNA/RNA Aptamer Microarray S...
Biology Products: