‘Nemo' may have developed an unexpected survival tactic
NEWCASTLE, England – The brightly colored fish made famous by the movie "Finding Nemo" have developed an unexpected survival tactic that researchers say may help them combat rising ocean temperatures.
According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, university researchers discovered that clownfish reduce their body size in response to marine heat waves - a behavior that significantly improves their chances of survival.
Over a five-month period, scientists recorded the length of 134 clownfish during a marine heat wave in Oceania.
Researchers said nearly three-quarters of the fish shrank in size, suggesting the presence of a widespread adaptive response.
"It was a surprise to see how rapidly clownfish can adapt to a changing environment and we witnessed how flexibly they regulated their size, as individuals and as breeding pairs, in response to heat stress as a successful technique to help them survive," Melissa Versteeg, a Ph.D. researcher at England's Newcastle University and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
Coral Babies Head To Florida Keys To Help Restore Dying Reefs
According to the study, shrinking increased a clownfish's chances of surviving extreme heat by as much as 78%.
Clownfish are not the only marine creature known to exhibit the behavior.
Researchers noted that other species, including marine iguanas, shrink under environmental stress by reabsorbing some of their bone material.
"This is not just about getting skinnier under stressful conditions," Versteeg said. "These fish are actually getting shorter."
Scientists believe this decrease in body size may result in a lower metabolism, reducing the organism's need for food.
Wife Killed In Alligator Attack In Central Florida While Canoeing With Her Husband
Dr. Theresa Rueger, a lecturer in tropical marine sciences at Newcastle University and senior author of the study, said the findings may help explain the broader global trend of shrinking fish sizes.
"Our findings show that individual fish can shrink in response to heat stress, which is further impacted by social conflict, and that shrinking can lead to improving their chances of survival. If individual shrinking were widespread and happening among different species of fish, it could provide a plausible alternative hypothesis for why the size many fish species is declining and further studies are needed in this area," Rueger stated.
The study did not indicate whether corals, a vital component of many marine ecosystems, possess similar shrinking abilities to adapt to warming oceans.Original article source: 'Nemo' may have developed an unexpected survival tactic
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Newly Discovered Footprints Dramatically Re-date When Humans First Came to Americas
A new study published in the journal Science Advances confirms that the peopling of the Americas began much earlier than originally thought. Back in 2021, a series of footprints were discovered within the mud of a paleolake bed which had long ago dried up. A 2021 study hypothesized that the prints meant the arrival of settlers to North America occurred somewhere between 23,000 and 21,000 years earlier than previously believed. Now, the new study has confirmed that the footprints were made between 20,700 and 22,400 years ago. "It's a remarkably consistent record," explained lead author Vance Holliday, who was also a co-author on the initial study. "You get to the point where it's really hard to explain all this away. As I say in the paper, it would be serendipity in the extreme to have all these dates giving you a consistent picture that's in error.'Halliday undertook the study for a second time because there was some controversy over the use of ancient pollen and seeds to determine the footprints' age. For this new study, he and his researchers analyzed the mud itself. 'Mud never lies,' Halliday said, explaining that it always holds up to radiocarbon analysis. This most recent study makes the third paper and third laboratory to confirm the timeframe of the footprints' creation. 'It would be serendipity in the extreme to have all these dates giving you a consistent picture that's in error,' Halliday said. The discovery is particularly notable for its lack of artifacts, leading Halliday to posit that the footprints were left by nomadic hunter-gatherers trudging through the lake bed. 'These people live by their artifacts, and they were a long way from where they can acquire replacement material,' he explained. 'They're not just randomly losing artifacts. It's logical…If you're passing through, carrying your gear, you're not leaving it by chance.' The footprints predate the Clovis people, which have long been believed to be the oldest North American humans on record. 'When you stand there and see the prints, you understand they undermine everything you've learned. They're not gesture steps—they're a revolution in human arrival history,' Holliday said. Newly Discovered Footprints Dramatically Re-date When Humans First Came to Americas first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 21, 2025
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Earth's Magnetic Field Might Weirdly Be Controlling the Air We Breathe, Scientists Say
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Earth's oxygenated atmosphere and magnetic field make life possible, but scientists have discovered that there's a hidden link between the two that's stronger than we originally imagined. Comparing 540 million years of data from charcoal deposits and magnetic crystals formed from ancient volcanic eruptions, scientists found that the processes creating both increase at the same rate over time, and even experience the same jump in activity levels around 330 million years ago. Scientists aren't yet certain which mechanism is impacting the other—or if there is a third mechanism impacting them both. If you list all of the things that had to go right to make life on Earth possible, our minuscule existence (cosmically speaking) seems all the more amazing. Our Sun is a G-type star with moderate radiation output that doesn't tidally lock our planet. The Earth is situated in our Sun's habitable zone. The planet has maintained a robust atmosphere for hundreds of millions of years, and the dynamo at the planet's heart generates a magnetic field that protects us from the most harmful effects of space radiation. Earth truly is a paradise for life. Although scientists have known about these life-giving aspects of Earth for centuries, they're still discovering surprising connections between them. In a new study published last week in the journal Science Advances, scientists from NASA, the University of Washington, and the University of Leeds in the U.K. discovered a surprising connection between two of Earth's most important life-sustaining features—its oxygenated atmosphere and its magnetic field. It's hardly surprising that the existence of one of these features might impact the existence of the other. After all, Mars (which is also in the Sun's habitable zone) used to have an atmosphere, but without a robust magnetic field, the Red Planet eventually lost that atmosphere to the unrelenting lashing of solar winds. However, the authors of this new paper found that, on Earth, the correlation between these two systems runs much deeper than we previously imagined. 'We find that both exhibit strong linearly increasing trends, coupled with a large surge in magnitude between 330 and 220 million years ago,' the authors wrote. 'Our findings suggest unexpected strong connections between the geophysical processes in Earth's deep interior, the surface redox budget, and biogeochemical cycling.' Analyzing data stretching back to the Cambrian some 541 million years ago, the researchers found that the rise in Earth's magnetic field and the rise in its oxygen levels were very closely aligned—slowly increasing overtime, except for one bout of increased activity lasting from 330 million to 220 million years ago. To map this comparison over the course of hundreds of millions of years, the researchers couldn't rely on direct data—there is no such record for atmospheric oxygen levels, for example. However, they could track the strength of wildfires, which show up as charcoal deposits in the geologic record. This would provide a clue, since a stronger, longer-lasting fire means that there was more oxygen in the atmosphere to fuel said fire. To compare this record with Earth's magnetic field history, the team analyzed certain magnetic crystals that formed in ancient volcanoes and—due to their composition—essentially act like a 'compass frozen in time,' according to Nature. Once plotted side-by-side, the team noticed that the two processes largely increased in lockstep with one another, and even experienced the same increase 330 million years ago. Interestingly, this coincides with the formation of Pangea, though scientists aren't sure exactly if the formation of the supercontinent is related to the increase or a coincidence, as the data does stretch back far enough to compare levels to other supercontinents in Earth's history. So, what's going on here? Well, the researchers aren't exactly sure, but they have a few guesses. The most likely one is that Earth's magnetic field directly impacts oxygen levels, as it protects Earth (and oxygen-producing plants) from solar radiation. However, it's also possible that increased oxygenation coupled with plate tectonics—which drive oxygen toward the liquid outer core that produces the magnetic field—could also play a role. The authors also aren't ruling out the idea that a third, currently unknown mechanism could provide an explanation for this steadily upward trend. 'One single mind cannot comprehend the whole system of the Earth,' Ravi Kopparapu, a co-author of the study from NASA, told Live Science. 'We're like kids playing with Legos, with each of us having a separate Lego piece. We're trying to fit all of it together and see what's the big picture.' While 540 million years is an unfathomably long time compared to our human lifespan (or even our species' existence), it's only around 12 percent of Earth's entire existence, so these trends could simply be coincidental. All we can do is continue searching for answers among the clues that we do have, and try to grasp just how wondrous our home planet really is. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Neanderthal extinction: a space physicist reopens the debate
Neanderthals have long been the subject of intense scientific debate. This is largely because we still lack clear answers to some of the big questions about their existence and supposed disappearance. One of the latest developments is a recent study from the University of Michigan, published in the journal Science Advances. It proposes that Neanderthals went extinct for astrophysical reasons. The work was led by Agnit Mukhopadhyay, an expert in space physics, a discipline that studies natural plasmas, especially those found within our own solar system. Plasma is the state of matter that dominates the universe: the Sun and stars are huge balls of plasma, as are the northern lights. Mukhopadhyay's research suggests that a shift in the Earth's magnetic poles around 41,000 years ago, known as the Laschamp event, may have contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals. According to his work, the extreme weakening of the Earth's magnetic field during that event allowed for greater penetration of cosmic and ultraviolet radiation. This would have generated more aggressive environmental conditions that Neanderthals could not withstand, giving our own species, Homo sapiens, an edge. In this context, sapiens would have had an advantage over Neanderthals thanks to their presumed use of close-fitting clothing, ochre – a mineral with protective properties against the sun – and taking shelter in caves. Caves which, by the way, on numerous occasions were inhabited by both Neanderthals and our own species. The hypothesis is interesting, and is based on innovative three-dimensional models of the Earth's geospatial system during this period. However, as with many hypotheses that attempt to explain complex phenomena on the basis of a single variable, its scope and some of the assumptions on which it is based need to be examined more closely. One of the pillars of this hypothesis is that Neanderthals did not wear tight-fitting clothing, and would therefore have been more exposed to the harmful effects of solar radiation. It is true that sewing needles have not been definitvely linked to Neanderthals. The first needles documented in Eurasia are associated with either Denisovan or sapiens populations around 50,000 years ago, and in western Europe they did not appear until around 23,000 years ago. But this does not mean that Neanderthals did not wear clothing. In fact, the Homo sapiens who lived during episodes of extreme cold (such as the Heinrich 4 event, which occurred some 39,600 years ago) did not have sewing needles either, but they did have enough technology to make garments, and possibly tents and footwear. There is ample archaeological evidence of Neanderthals processing hides, such as the systematic use of scrapers and other tools associated with the tanning process. However, the use of fur or clothing has much older origins. In fact, the genetic study of lice has revealed that humans were already wearing clothing at least 200,000 years ago. Furthermore, in cold environments such as those they inhabited in Europe, it would have been unfeasible to survive without some form of body protection. Even if they did not have needles, it is very plausible that they used alternative systems such as ligatures or bone splinters to adapt animal hides to the body. The absence of needles should not be confused with the absence of functional clothing. The study also highlights the use of ochre by Homo sapiens, which it says offered protection against solar radiation. Although experiments have been carried out to demonstrate certain blocking capacities of ochre against ultraviolet (UV) rays, its use by human populations is not limited to a single group. In fact, evidence of pigment use during the same period has been found in Africa, the Near East and the Iberian Peninsula, and among different human lineages. The use of ochre has been documented in Neanderthal contexts for more than 100,000 years, both in Europe and in the Levant. Its application may have had multiple purposes: symbolic, therapeutic, cosmetic, healing, and even an insect repellent. There are no solid grounds for claiming that its use for protective purposes was exclusive to Homo sapiens, especially when both species shared spaces and technologies for millennia. Nor can we be sure that it was used as a protective sunscreen. Leer más: One of the most significant factors may have been the marked difference in population size. There were fewer Neanderthals, meaning they would have been assimilated by the much more numerous populations of Homo sapiens. This assimilation is reflected in the DNA of current populations, suggesting that, rather than becoming extinct, Neanderthals were absorbed into the evolutionary process. Technology also played a part– as far as we know, Neanderthals did not use hunting weapons at a distance. The invention and use of projectiles associated with hunting activities – first in stone and later in hard animal materials – appear to be an innovation specific to Homo sapiens. Their development may have given them an adaptive advantage in open environments, and a greater capacity to exploit different prey and environments. Leer más: Associating the Neanderthal 'extinction' to their supposed failure to adapt to increased solar radiation during the Laschamp excursion oversimplifies a phenomenon that remains the subject of heated debate. Put simply, the archaeological record does not support Mukhopadhyay's hypothesis. There is no evidence of an abrupt demographic collapse coinciding with this geomagnetic event, nor of a widespread catastrophic impact on other human or animal species. Moreover, if solar radiation had been such a determining factor, one would expect high mortality also among populations of sapiens that did not wear tight clothing or live in caves (in warm regions of Africa, for instance). As far as we know, this did not happen. When trying to explain the disappearance of Neanderthals, it is vital that we integrate multiple lines of archaeological, paleoanthropological and genetic evidence. These humans were not simply victims of their own technological clumsiness or of a hostile environment that they failed to cope with. They were an adaptive and culturally complex species that, for more than 300,000 years, survived multiple climatic changes – including other geomagnetic shifts such as the Blake event, which occurred about 120,000 years ago. Neanderthals developed sophisticated tools, dominated vast territories and shared many more traits with us than was assumed for decades. So did the magnetic reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles wipe out the Neanderthals? The answer is: probably not. Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation, un sitio de noticias sin fines de lucro dedicado a compartir ideas de expertos académicos. Lee mas: Neanderthals: the oldest art in the world wasn't made by Homo sapiens Modern human DNA contains bits from all over the Neanderthal genome – except the Y chromosome. What happened? How Neanderthal language differed from modern human – they probably didn't use metaphors Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.
