A 390-million-year-old murder mystery has finally been solved, and the culprit still exists
Ancient supercontinent Gondwana, where the 'murder' took place approx 400mn years ago
Scientists may have finally solved the world’s oldest ‘murder mystery’: The disappearance of a group of marine animals from ancient supercontinent Gondwana.
Gondwana used to be a supercontinent, from around 550 million years ago to approximately 180 million years ago, alongside Laurasia.
Gondwana incorporated present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
The 390-million-year-old murder mystery
It is believed that the so-called Malvinoxhosan biota — an ancient group of water-dwelling animals — disappeared from Gondwana over a period of five million years. What caused their disappearance remained a mystery for centuries.
Now, a recent study has pointed fingers towards climate change. The study, published on Oct 13 in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, found that climate change led to a dramatic fall in the sea levels, wiping out the group of marine animals.
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"It's a 390-million-year-old murder mystery," said study lead author Cameron Penn-Clarke.
How climate change wiped off Malvinoxhosan biota?
According to the researchers, who reanalysed hundreds of fossils belonging to the Malvinoxhosan biota, the decrease in the water level was not directly responsible for their extinction but it triggered those climate changes that they couldn’t adapt to.
The drop in sea level disrupted ocean currents around the South Pole known as "circumpolar thermal barriers," which enabled warmer water from the equator to mix with colder southern waters.
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But Malvinoxhosan biota animals were meant to survive in cool waters.
Eventually, they vanished and it led to a "complete collapse" of the ecosystem around the South Pole.
"This research is important when we consider the biodiversity crisis we are facing in the present day," Penn-Clarke said.
"It demonstrates the sensitivity of polar environments and ecosystems to changes in sea level and temperature," he added, warning, "Any changes that occur are, unfortunately, permanent."
The study also revealed that the phenomenon which wiped off marine life from the South Pole millions of years ago has disturbing parallels to the situation today.
(With inputs from agencies)
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