Earth’s axis influences evolution and extinction, say researchers
The earth’ axis and rotation have been found to cause significant changes in plankton, which are an important part of the food chain
Changes in our planet’s orbit have influenced evolution - and extinction - over hundreds of millions of years, New Zealand researchers have helped reveal.
The findings - made by Victoria University’s Professor James Crampton and researchers from GNS Science and the Universities of Wisconsin, California Riverside, and Chicago - also hold important implications for what climate change may bring.
The research team investigated the fossils of graptoloids, an extinct type of plankton that floated in ancient oceans, and found that regular changes in the Earth’s orbit and axis of rotation in turn caused significant changes in both the evolution and extinction rates of these creatures.
“This research is very exciting, because the relationship between these orbital changes and extinction has never been shown before in truly ancient ecosystems,” Crampton said.
There was a strong debate in science about what impacts environmental change had on extinction and evolution, as opposed to how species themselves interacted and competed.