Credit: Tomasz Szczygielski

Analyses of turtle bones help understand why the reptiles fled from land into water

The first species of turtles on Earth over time began to prefer the aquatic environment over the land one. Water helped them protect themselves from increasingly large, predatory dinosaurs. The analysis of the bones of these species, carried out by Polish scientists, helps understand the living environment of the oldest turtles.

  • Source: Wikipedia. Credit: Dmitry Bogdanov (licence CC BY 3.0).
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    'Forgotten' marine reptile an important puzzle in plesiosaur evolution

    The marine reptile Trematospondylus macrocephalus was described in 1858; it is one of the oldest plesiosaurs known to science. However, it was soon forgotten - until now. New research shows that it is an important piece in the evolutionary puzzle of this group.

  • Credit: Professor Rafał Kowalczyk/ Mammal Research Institute PAS
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    Biologists from Białystok to help reintroduce lynx in Poland

    Polish scientists working on an international project will conduct genetic research on lynxes living in Poland. They will recommend animals for breeding at breeding farms and for release into the wild in a specific area. A database of lynx genotypes will also be created.

  • Credit: Adobe Stock
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    Over 200,000 km of river fish habitats in Europe lost due to impoundments

    Over 200,000 km of river fish habitats in European rivers have been altered due to man-made barriers and the creation of dam lakes. This fragmentation of a free-flowing rivers contributes to the loss of biodiversity in the aquatic environment.

  • 05.12.2023. Bones presented during a press conference at the Museum of Evolution of the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The conference topic was 'Miedary - a new site of extinct vertebrates from 240 million years ago'. The conference was organized by the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. (sko) PAP/Albert Zawada
    Life

    Remains of 240-million-year-old predators found in Miedary

    Polish scientists have discovered the remains of over 1,000 specimens of extinct animals dating back approximately 240 million years. Among them are the bones of a reptile previously unknown to science.

  • Fig. A school of predatory fish Strobilodus, drawing by Aleksandra Hołdy-Michalska
    Life

    Teeth of Late Jurassic predatory fish under microscope

    Scientists from the Jagiellonian University and the Polish Academy of Sciences examined the teeth of predatory fish from approximately 148 million years ago under the microscope. Based on their research, they have shown that differences in the structure of the teeth were one of the factors that enabled the coexistence of similar species in one area.

  • Credit: Adobe Stock
    Life

    Black grouse population in Poland nearly extinct, warns biologist

    The black grouse population in Poland is on the verge of extinction, says Michał Adamowicz from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw. Over a few decades, it decreased from 30,000 to less than 300. The reasons include climate warming, the influx of alien species resulting mainly from human activity, and landscape changes for agricultural areas.

  • Source: www.uj.edu.pl
    Life

    AllChemy HopCat algorithm cracks complex chemical rearrangements

    Artificial intelligence has cracked some of the most complex chemical reactions - carbocation rearrangements - and predicted their products. This is thanks to the HopCat algorithm, an integral part of the AllChemy software created and developed by Professor Bartosz Grzybowski's group.

  • Credit: Adobe Stock
    Life

    We need to standardise database on farm animals to protect them from wolves, say experts

    Scientists have called for the implementation of a coordinated and standardised European database with quality-controlled livestock predation data.

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    Life

    Scientists build flexible robot that imitates sea animals from millions of years ago

    Scientists have built a flexible robot that imitates extinct sea animals from 450 million years ago which can recreate the movements of the oldest mobile stem echinoderms.

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    Peatland vegetation diseases can be detected with AI and satellite systems

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Boulder TM 1219 in a wider landscape perspective. Credit: A. Rozwadowski, source: Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

Polish scientists reinterpret petroglyphs of Toro Muerto

The geometric patterns, lines and zigzags that accompany the images of dancers (danzantes) carved in the rocks of the Peruvian Toro Muerto are not snakes or lightning bolts, but a record of songs - suggest Polish scientists who analyse rock art from 2,000 years ago.