Birds of the Ice Age give clues how today's birds will adapt

Date:

May 21, 2015

Source:

Bournemouth University

Summary:

A new study focusing on the birds of the Ice Age has shed light on the long term response of birds to climate change.

The study, published in PLOS ONE, has revealed that many of the birds were larger at this time reflecting the richness and greater productivity of the environment in the Ice Age.

Conducted by Bournemouth University's John Stewart alongside research from Roger Jacobi, a picture emerges of an unusual mix of birds in one space and a distinct Neanderthal Dawn Chorus.

John Stewart said, "During the Ice Age just over 40 thousand years ago in the north of England Neanderthals were living in an environment which included extinct animals like woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos and cave hyenas as well as the more familiar horses and reindeer. These mammals are well known to science and many studies have illuminated the spectacular fauna that lived at this early stage. Not so well known are the birds."

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