Wolf bones show environment change
US researchers said the bones of wolves could provide scientists with
a better picture of environmental change than tree rings can.
"Since the widespread combustion of fossil fuels, we have put a human
fingerprint on atmospheric carbon dioxide," Joseph Bump, a forest
science researcher at Michigan Technological University, said in a
release.
"That fingerprint shows up in trees, and it shows up in animals that
eat trees, but it shows up with the least variation in the top
predators."
Bump and his colleagues studied moose and wolf bone samples dating
back to 1958 from Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.
They also looked at 30,000-year-old bones from extinct dire wolves
and prehistoric bison pulled from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles.
They found the wolves provide a clearer record of environmental
change than the plants, the moose or the bison.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society
B.
- UPI
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