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Australia's ancient rainfall patterns more complex than previously believed
Confirmed
In Short: Australia's ancient rainfall patterns are more complex than previously believed, according to a new study.
Australia's ancient rainfall patterns are more complex than previously believed, according to a new study.
The study, which analyzed the walking patterns of predatory mammals, suggests that the extinct thylacine likely hunted more like an opportunistic pouncer rather than the wolf-like predator it is often portrayed as.
Background
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a land area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world, and is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent.
What's confirmed
- Australia's ancient rainfall patterns are more complex than previously believed, according to a new study.
- The study, which analyzed the walking patterns of predatory mammals, suggests that the extinct thylacine likely hunted more like an opportunistic pouncer rather than the wolf-like predator it is often portrayed as.
What's still developing
- “One more warning sign here of what we’re facing in a warmer world.” Every few years, El Niño or its cool counterpart, La Niña, shifts rainfall across the tropics, dries out Australia, floods parts of Peru, and rearranges the weather on most of the planet.
- All are capable of living in scansorial or highly complex environments, and, like most marsupials, opt to utilize bounding gaits instead of galloping during high-speed locomotion.” “What sort of predator was the thylacine?
- “The results showed that hunting ecology was reflected in the way predators moved, particularly during faster, high-performance gaits associated with acceleration, maneuvring and prey capture.” “Walking patterns were more strongly influenced by evolutionary history, but still retained information about hunting behavior.” The study was published in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution.