Trinity News Daily - U.S. and World Latest News from Technology, Entertainment, Health and Sports

Breaking Daily News and Current Events

Thursday, March 4, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • World
  • Latest News
    • Larry David Decided the Return of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ with New Season
    • Spiders Start to Fly in Chicago, As Their Season Begins
    • Hummingbird Vision Is Adapted To High-Speed Flight
    • Kronos Is The Latest Nickname For 2 Planet Eating Stars
    • The Ecosystem of Teller Lake in Colorado Threatened by Thousands of Goldfish
    • Researchers Dream of a World Without Mosquitoes
    • NASA Shares Spectacular Pic of Earthrise over Moon
    • The Ozone Layer is Repairing Itself
    • Giraffes Are In Danger Of Becoming Extinct In The Wild
    • Pregnant Woman Stabbed And Her Unborn Child Removed From Her Belly

Pages

  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Trinity News Daily Staff
  • Who We Are

Recent Posts

  • Documentary Tells Story of Three Identical Strangers June 29, 2018
  • First Look at DiCaprio and Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” June 28, 2018
  • Jared Leto to Star in Spider-Man Spinoff “Morbius” June 28, 2018
  • Toby Kebbell Joins Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot June 27, 2018
  • New Record-Breaking Number of Academy Members Announced June 26, 2018
  • Actress Heather Locklear Arrested Once Again June 26, 2018
  • Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie and Kit Harington Got Married June 25, 2018

Scientists Unearth Fossil River Dolphin that Originally Lived in the Ocean

September 2, 2015 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow
Scientists Unearth Fossil River Dolphin that Originally Lived in the Ocean

The Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)

A group of scientists from the Smithsonian has unearthed the fossils of a new species of ‘river dolphin’ which initially lived in the ocean.

Researchers now hope that the new find may help them better understand how species migrate from one place to another when they are pressurized by a changing environment. Nowadays, cold-loving animals must leave their habitats and adapt to northern altitudes as global warming pushes temperatures further up.

The research team had to race against the tide when they performed the excavation but the findings were rewarding. A paper on the new discovery was published Tuesday in the journal Peer J. The dolphin was scientifically dubbed Isthminia panamensis and was found on a coast in Panama.

Researchers explained that the animal share many traits with modern-day river dolphins, so they may be remotely related. Currently, there are only four species of river dolphins that can survive outside captivity. Unfortunately, three of them are on the threatened species list including the Irrawaddy River Dolphin , while the forth, the Yangtze River Dolphin, was recently declared extinct.

But there are signs that the newly found river dolphin thrived in the sea. So, scientists speculate that the species originally lived in oceans, but as the place got crowded they decided to migrate to rivers. In the new environment they were able to survive due to their wide flippers, flexible necks, and elongated snouts.

The recent find challenges evolutionary theory which states that whales and dolphins evolved from land animals to amphibians to sea creatures, since the move of Isthminia panamensis is exactly backwards.

Isthminia panamensis is also important because it represents a common ancestor to both river dolphins and ocean-bound dolphins. Though its features suggest that it was perfectly adapted to living in a river, the place where it was excavated suggests that it had lived in the ocean. Additionally, its skull and jaw suggest that it was a sea creature.

Nevertheless, the team acknowledged that they are not sure that the newly found species is related to modern day river dolphins.

Nicholas D. Pyenson, senior author of the discovery and curator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, explained that the new fossil provides scientists with new clues on how the river dolphin invaded Amazonia. Moreover, several other species in Amazonia had oceanic ancestors including stingrays and turtles.

Smithsonian scientists suspect the Isthminia was pushed into inland when the ocean levels started to rise. And that may happen again to many marine species with climate change and global sea levels rise, the group explained.

Image Source: Flickr

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 8 other subscribers

Recent Articles

cannabis plants

Prototype App Could Tell the Actual Effects of Cannabis on a Person

April 26, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Viagra pill

Viagra Might Help Fight Cancer (Study)

April 12, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Opioids in a plastic container.

Opioids Just As Effective As Over The Counter Drugs For Treating Chronic Pain (Study)

March 8, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Child being exposed to bright lights from a tablet.

Bright Lights Before Bedtime Can Prevent Kids From Going To Sleep (Study)

March 6, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Several opioid pills laid on a black surface.

The Opioid Pandemic Affects More and More US Children (Study)

March 5, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Close-up of a colon cancer cell.

Eating Nuts May Help Avoid Colon Cancer (Study)

March 1, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Woman suffering from obesity.

Prolonged Obesity Increases Risk Of Heart Disease (Study)

February 22, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Glass of red wine.

Drinking Red Wine May Keep Teeth And Gums Healthy (Study)

February 21, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Single fathers have higher mortality risk.

Mortality Rate For Single Fathers Is Surprisingly High (Study)

February 15, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Woman with her male partner on a field.

Your Partner Can Cheat On You Even If They’re Sexually Satisfied (Study)

February 13, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Cloth embroidered by a person suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia Patients Can Manage Verbal Hallucinations By Playing A Video Game

February 12, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

mouse on leaf in tree

Researchers are Testing a Cancer Vaccine for Human Usage (Study)

February 4, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

white pills on white surface

FDA Changes Packaging of Anti-Diarrhea Drug to Avoid Abuse

January 31, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Drinking too much alcohol during your teen years was potentially linked to liver diseases later on.

Liver Diseases Likelier In People Who Drank Large Amounts Of Alcohol In Their Adolescence

January 22, 2018 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • Sistine Chapel God

    Most People Think God Looks Like Them (Study)

    Jun 13, 2018
  • Mars colored in red and bluish hues

    Ancient Martian Lake Rocks Might Hold Evidence for Life on the Red Planet (Study)

    May 29, 2018
  • work of Rembrandt

    Art Dealer Claims He Discovered A New Rembrandt

    May 22, 2018
  • giant sloth skeleton

    Ancient Humans Were Hunting Giant Sloths (Study)

    Apr 27, 2018
  • diamonds in a meteorite

    Meteorite Diamonds Might Have Come from Ancient Solar System (Study)

    Apr 18, 2018
  • Artist's rendering of planet Nibiru

    Conspiracy Theorists Claim Biblical Rapture Will Happen This Month

    Apr 12, 2018
  • Hubble Space Telescope

    Cosmic Alignment Reveals Most Distant Star

    Apr 3, 2018
  • Isle of Skye

    Isle of Skye Dinosaur Tracks, Of “Global Importance” (Study)

    Apr 3, 2018
  • Earth's atmosphere

    China’s Falling Space Lab Breaks Up Over Pacific

    Apr 2, 2018
  • dark matter in space

    Ghostly Galaxy Has Almost No Dark Matter (Study)

    Mar 29, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • Uncategorized
  • World

Copyright © 2021 TrinityNewsDaily.com

About · Staff · Terms and Conditions · Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.