#miocene — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #miocene, aggregated by home.social.
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The rise and expansion of reef systems in the Indo-Pacific during the warm and CO2 high Miocene (and decline in the aftermath) will never stop being puzzling to me. Now we have evidence that it also had the biodiversity effects expected.
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The rise and expansion of reef systems in the Indo-Pacific during the warm and CO2 high Miocene (and decline in the aftermath) will never stop being puzzling to me. Now we have evidence that it also had the biodiversity effects expected.
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The rise and expansion of reef systems in the Indo-Pacific during the warm and CO2 high Miocene (and decline in the aftermath) will never stop being puzzling to me. Now we have evidence that it also had the biodiversity effects expected.
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The rise and expansion of reef systems in the Indo-Pacific during the warm and CO2 high Miocene (and decline in the aftermath) will never stop being puzzling to me. Now we have evidence that it also had the biodiversity effects expected.
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The rise and expansion of reef systems in the Indo-Pacific during the warm and CO2 high Miocene (and decline in the aftermath) will never stop being puzzling to me. Now we have evidence that it also had the biodiversity effects expected.
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https://www.europesays.com/be-fr/61180/ Cette mâchoire vieille de 18 millions d’années pourrait bouleverser l’origine des grands singes… et la nôtre ! #AfriqueDuNord #BE #BEFr #Belgique #Belgium #DécouverteDeFossile #fossile #GrandsSinges #Humanite #MâchoireInférieure #MâchoireInférieureFossilisée #Miocène #NouvelleEspèce #Primate #Science #ScienceAndTechnology #Sciences #SciencesEtTechnologies #Singe #Technologies #Technology
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https://www.europesays.com/fr/837410/ Cette mâchoire vieille de 18 millions d’années pourrait bouleverser l’origine des grands singes… et la nôtre ! #AfriqueDuNord #DécouverteDeFossile #fossile #FR #France #GrandsSinges #humanité #MâchoireInférieure #MâchoireInférieureFossilisée #Miocène #NouvelleEspèce #Primate #Science #ScienceAndTechnology #Sciences #SciencesEtTechnologies #Singe #Technologies #Technology
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https://www.europesays.com/ch-fr/73339/ Cette mâchoire vieille de 18 millions d’années pourrait bouleverser l’origine des grands singes… et la nôtre ! #AfriqueDuNord #DécouverteDeFossile #fossile #GrandsSinges #Humanite #MâchoireInférieure #MâchoireInférieureFossilisée #Miocène #NouvelleEspèce #Primate #Science #ScienceAndTechnology #Sciences #SciencesEtTechnologies #Singe #Suisse #Technologies #Technology
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/410120/ Early Miocene Fossil Fills Gap in Ape Family Tree #Africa #ape #Egypt #Éire #Eurasia #Evolution #fossil #Hominid #Hominoid #Hominoidea #Human #IE #Ireland #Masripithecus #MasripithecusMoghraensis #Miocene #monkey #Science #WadiMoghra
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#Masripithecus: A new #Miocene ape from #Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102"Masripithecus provides a crucial intermediate link between the previously disjunct African and Eurasian fossil records, revealing that #apes were already diversifying in the area and therefore positioned to expand into Europe and Asia as soon as land connections were established."
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#Masripithecus: A new #Miocene ape from #Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102"Masripithecus provides a crucial intermediate link between the previously disjunct African and Eurasian fossil records, revealing that #apes were already diversifying in the area and therefore positioned to expand into Europe and Asia as soon as land connections were established."
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#Masripithecus: A new #Miocene ape from #Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102"Masripithecus provides a crucial intermediate link between the previously disjunct African and Eurasian fossil records, revealing that #apes were already diversifying in the area and therefore positioned to expand into Europe and Asia as soon as land connections were established."
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#Masripithecus: A new #Miocene ape from #Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102"Masripithecus provides a crucial intermediate link between the previously disjunct African and Eurasian fossil records, revealing that #apes were already diversifying in the area and therefore positioned to expand into Europe and Asia as soon as land connections were established."
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Neogene Uplift Of The Chiribiquete Tabletop Mountains In The Colombian Amazon And Its Paleobiogeographic Implications
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113645 <-- shared paper
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H/T Richard F. Ott
“The Chiribiquete are table top mountains located deep in the Colombian Amazon and host many rare endemic species. Helanlin Xiang's work shows that the Chiribiquete Mountains likely upifted before the Early Miocene and could have acted as a long-lived stepping stone, connecting species in the Andes with the Guyana Shield…”
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#Miocene #Paleogeography #Palynology #Amazonia #Caquetá #paleobiogeography #Columbia #Amazon #jungle #geomorphology #neogene #uplift #geology #structuralgeology #tectonics #Chiribiquete #tabletopmountains #Andes #GuyanaShield #dating #isotopes #biome #ecosystem #tepui #elevation #sedimentology #stratigraphy #Araracuara #fluvial #lacustrine #deposition orogeny #regional #uplift #drainage #hydrography #hydrology #river #network #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geophysics #seismology -
Neogene Uplift Of The Chiribiquete Tabletop Mountains In The Colombian Amazon And Its Paleobiogeographic Implications
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113645 <-- shared paper
--
H/T Richard F. Ott
“The Chiribiquete are table top mountains located deep in the Colombian Amazon and host many rare endemic species. Helanlin Xiang's work shows that the Chiribiquete Mountains likely upifted before the Early Miocene and could have acted as a long-lived stepping stone, connecting species in the Andes with the Guyana Shield…”
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#Miocene #Paleogeography #Palynology #Amazonia #Caquetá #paleobiogeography #Columbia #Amazon #jungle #geomorphology #neogene #uplift #geology #structuralgeology #tectonics #Chiribiquete #tabletopmountains #Andes #GuyanaShield #dating #isotopes #biome #ecosystem #tepui #elevation #sedimentology #stratigraphy #Araracuara #fluvial #lacustrine #deposition orogeny #regional #uplift #drainage #hydrography #hydrology #river #network #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geophysics #seismology -
Neogene Uplift Of The Chiribiquete Tabletop Mountains In The Colombian Amazon And Its Paleobiogeographic Implications
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113645 <-- shared paper
--
H/T Richard F. Ott
“The Chiribiquete are table top mountains located deep in the Colombian Amazon and host many rare endemic species. Helanlin Xiang's work shows that the Chiribiquete Mountains likely upifted before the Early Miocene and could have acted as a long-lived stepping stone, connecting species in the Andes with the Guyana Shield…”
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#Miocene #Paleogeography #Palynology #Amazonia #Caquetá #paleobiogeography #Columbia #Amazon #jungle #geomorphology #neogene #uplift #geology #structuralgeology #tectonics #Chiribiquete #tabletopmountains #Andes #GuyanaShield #dating #isotopes #biome #ecosystem #tepui #elevation #sedimentology #stratigraphy #Araracuara #fluvial #lacustrine #deposition orogeny #regional #uplift #drainage #hydrography #hydrology #river #network #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geophysics #seismology -
Neogene Uplift Of The Chiribiquete Tabletop Mountains In The Colombian Amazon And Its Paleobiogeographic Implications
--
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113645 <-- shared paper
--
H/T Richard F. Ott
“The Chiribiquete are table top mountains located deep in the Colombian Amazon and host many rare endemic species. Helanlin Xiang's work shows that the Chiribiquete Mountains likely upifted before the Early Miocene and could have acted as a long-lived stepping stone, connecting species in the Andes with the Guyana Shield…”
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#Miocene #Paleogeography #Palynology #Amazonia #Caquetá #paleobiogeography #Columbia #Amazon #jungle #geomorphology #neogene #uplift #geology #structuralgeology #tectonics #Chiribiquete #tabletopmountains #Andes #GuyanaShield #dating #isotopes #biome #ecosystem #tepui #elevation #sedimentology #stratigraphy #Araracuara #fluvial #lacustrine #deposition orogeny #regional #uplift #drainage #hydrography #hydrology #river #network #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geophysics #seismology -
Neogene Uplift Of The Chiribiquete Tabletop Mountains In The Colombian Amazon And Its Paleobiogeographic Implications
--
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113645 <-- shared paper
--
H/T Richard F. Ott
“The Chiribiquete are table top mountains located deep in the Colombian Amazon and host many rare endemic species. Helanlin Xiang's work shows that the Chiribiquete Mountains likely upifted before the Early Miocene and could have acted as a long-lived stepping stone, connecting species in the Andes with the Guyana Shield…”
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#Miocene #Paleogeography #Palynology #Amazonia #Caquetá #paleobiogeography #Columbia #Amazon #jungle #geomorphology #neogene #uplift #geology #structuralgeology #tectonics #Chiribiquete #tabletopmountains #Andes #GuyanaShield #dating #isotopes #biome #ecosystem #tepui #elevation #sedimentology #stratigraphy #Araracuara #fluvial #lacustrine #deposition orogeny #regional #uplift #drainage #hydrography #hydrology #river #network #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geophysics #seismology -
A 7.2M-year-old femur from Bulgaria shows early bipedalism predating known African bipeds. The bone, tentatively attributed to Graecopithecus, suggests walking upright may have begun in Eurasia, not Africa. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Miocene https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-72-million-year-old-femur-from
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A 7.2M-year-old femur from Bulgaria shows early bipedalism predating known African bipeds. The bone, tentatively attributed to Graecopithecus, suggests walking upright may have begun in Eurasia, not Africa. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Miocene https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-72-million-year-old-femur-from
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A 7.2M-year-old femur from Bulgaria shows early bipedalism predating known African bipeds. The bone, tentatively attributed to Graecopithecus, suggests walking upright may have begun in Eurasia, not Africa. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Miocene https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-72-million-year-old-femur-from
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A 7.2M-year-old femur from Bulgaria shows early bipedalism predating known African bipeds. The bone, tentatively attributed to Graecopithecus, suggests walking upright may have begun in Eurasia, not Africa. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Miocene https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-72-million-year-old-femur-from
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A 7.2M-year-old femur from Bulgaria shows early bipedalism predating known African bipeds. The bone, tentatively attributed to Graecopithecus, suggests walking upright may have begun in Eurasia, not Africa. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Miocene https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-72-million-year-old-femur-from
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Stupendemys geographica es la tortuga de agua dulce más grande que ha existido, con un caparazón que supera los 2 metros de longitud y la tonelada de peso. Vivió desde el Mioceno medio al comienzo del Plioceno (9-7,2 MdA) sin competición, manteniendo una dieta omnívora que incluía animales duros, como moluscos y pequeños cocodrilos. 📷Ryan Somma #mioceno #miocene #plioceno #pliocene
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Stupendemys geographica es la tortuga de agua dulce más grande que ha existido, con un caparazón que supera los 2 metros de longitud y la tonelada de peso. Vivió desde el Mioceno medio al comienzo del Plioceno (9-7,2 MdA) sin competición, manteniendo una dieta omnívora que incluía animales duros, como moluscos y pequeños cocodrilos. 📷Ryan Somma #mioceno #miocene #plioceno #pliocene
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Stupendemys geographica es la tortuga de agua dulce más grande que ha existido, con un caparazón que supera los 2 metros de longitud y la tonelada de peso. Vivió desde el Mioceno medio al comienzo del Plioceno (9-7,2 MdA) sin competición, manteniendo una dieta omnívora que incluía animales duros, como moluscos y pequeños cocodrilos. 📷Ryan Somma #mioceno #miocene #plioceno #pliocene
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Stupendemys geographica es la tortuga de agua dulce más grande que ha existido, con un caparazón que supera los 2 metros de longitud y la tonelada de peso. Vivió desde el Mioceno medio al comienzo del Plioceno (9-7,2 MdA) sin competición, manteniendo una dieta omnívora que incluía animales duros, como moluscos y pequeños cocodrilos. 📷Ryan Somma #mioceno #miocene #plioceno #pliocene
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Stupendemys geographica es la tortuga de agua dulce más grande que ha existido, con un caparazón que supera los 2 metros de longitud y la tonelada de peso. Vivió desde el Mioceno medio al comienzo del Plioceno (9-7,2 MdA) sin competición, manteniendo una dieta omnívora que incluía animales duros, como moluscos y pequeños cocodrilos. 📷Ryan Somma #mioceno #miocene #plioceno #pliocene
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/269700/ 7-Million-Year-Old Sahelanthropus Fossils Bolster Case for Earliest Upright Walking #Africa #Antetorsion #Bipedalism #Bonobo #Chad #chimpanzee #Éire #Femur #forearm #fossil #Hominin #IE #Ireland #Locomotion #Miocene #Sahelanthropus #SahelanthropusTchadensis #Science #TorosMenalla #Ulna #Walking
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7-Million-Year-Old Sahelanthropus Fossils Bolster Case for Earliest Upright Walking
For more than two decades, Sahelanthropus tchadensis — a very early (6.7 to 7.2 million years old) hominin…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #Africa #Antetorsion #AU #Australia #Bipedalism #Bonobo #Chad #chimpanzee #Femur #Forearm #fossil #Hominin #Locomotion #Miocene #Sahelanthropus #Sahelanthropustchadensis #Toros-Menalla #Ulna #walking
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/394489/ -
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
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#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
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#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
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#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
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#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
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#SeaCows Have Engineered the #PersianGulf’s #Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/ancient-manatee-relative-reveals-sea-cows-have-engineered-arabian-gulfs-seagrass
High abundance of Early #Miocene sea cows from #Qatar shows repeated evolution of seagrass #EcosystemEngineers in Eastern Tethys https://peerj.com/articles/20030/
"This part of the world has been prime #SeaCow habitat for the past 21 million years—it’s just that the sea cow role has been occupied by different species over time."
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#SeaCows Have Engineered the #PersianGulf’s #Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/ancient-manatee-relative-reveals-sea-cows-have-engineered-arabian-gulfs-seagrass
High abundance of Early #Miocene sea cows from #Qatar shows repeated evolution of seagrass #EcosystemEngineers in Eastern Tethys https://peerj.com/articles/20030/
"This part of the world has been prime #SeaCow habitat for the past 21 million years—it’s just that the sea cow role has been occupied by different species over time."
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#SeaCows Have Engineered the #PersianGulf’s #Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/ancient-manatee-relative-reveals-sea-cows-have-engineered-arabian-gulfs-seagrass
High abundance of Early #Miocene sea cows from #Qatar shows repeated evolution of seagrass #EcosystemEngineers in Eastern Tethys https://peerj.com/articles/20030/
"This part of the world has been prime #SeaCow habitat for the past 21 million years—it’s just that the sea cow role has been occupied by different species over time."
-
#SeaCows Have Engineered the #PersianGulf’s #Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/ancient-manatee-relative-reveals-sea-cows-have-engineered-arabian-gulfs-seagrass
High abundance of Early #Miocene sea cows from #Qatar shows repeated evolution of seagrass #EcosystemEngineers in Eastern Tethys https://peerj.com/articles/20030/
"This part of the world has been prime #SeaCow habitat for the past 21 million years—it’s just that the sea cow role has been occupied by different species over time."
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Another nice example of the long-term "it's all connected!" of the #ocean / #atmosphere system. When the Benguela Upwelling System shifted gears in the late #Miocene, it made southern #Africa more #arid.
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Another nice example of the long-term "it's all connected!" of the #ocean / #atmosphere system. When the Benguela Upwelling System shifted gears in the late #Miocene, it made southern #Africa more #arid.
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Another nice example of the long-term "it's all connected!" of the #ocean / #atmosphere system. When the Benguela Upwelling System shifted gears in the late #Miocene, it made southern #Africa more #arid.
-
Another nice example of the long-term "it's all connected!" of the #ocean / #atmosphere system. When the Benguela Upwelling System shifted gears in the late #Miocene, it made southern #Africa more #arid.
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Another nice example of the long-term "it's all connected!" of the #ocean / #atmosphere system. When the Benguela Upwelling System shifted gears in the late #Miocene, it made southern #Africa more #arid.
