Recent research has revealed that when one of two competing lemur species goes extinct, the surviving species does not thrive. In fact, data examined by the research team shows that over the past 2,000 years, when a species goes extinct, the surviving species is vulnerable to new selective pressures that can actually increase the likelihood that it too will go extinct.
The research team, which included scientists from the University of Cincinnati and University of Massachusetts at Amherst, used radiocarbon and isotope data from fossils from eight large lemur species that have gone extinct on the island of Madagascar during the past 2,000 years. They found that after the larger lemurs disappeared, the remaining lemurs did not expand into the available niches.
Photo © Brooke Crowley / University of Cincinnati
No comments:
Post a Comment