Ocean animals have mushroomed in size

Date of publication: February the 26^th of 2015

Source of information: Student Society for Science: https://student.societyforscience.org/article/ocean-animals-have-mushroomed-size

Scientific field: Animals

Extract:  Many ocean animals have bulked up dramatically since ancient eras.  Today’s sea creatures tend to be larger( 100 times larger) than their ancient relatives. Scientists have found that animals tend to involve into species that are much larger than their distant ancestors.

Critical appraisal:

Noel Heim is a paleontologist at Stanford University in Alto, California. His team compared the body size of animals between the Cambrian Period and the modern times. Today, marine animals are an average of 150  times larger than they were  during the Cambrian. The scientists don’t know what drives the trend. Firstly, one possibility is an arms race between predators and prey.  The main idea is that larger animals are less likely to become some  critter’s snack. The second possibility  has to be with oxygen .  Finally, some of the land mammals and reptiles animals eventually returned to the ocean. And have the ability to breathe oxygen-rich air.

Glossary:

-Cambrian:  A period of Earth’s history that lasted from about 541 million to 510 million years ago. It is one of the earliest periods in which fossils can be used to date rocks.

-Predator: A creature that preys on other animals for most or all of it’s food.

-Prey: Animals species eaten by others.

-Paleontology: The branch of science concerned with ancient, fossilized animals and plants.

- Species:  A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce. 

Written by Lidia Figueras