Posts by James Borrell
Eat your greens! The secrets to how herbivores grow so large
The largest land animal that ever lived was a vegetarian. When a local farmer stumbled upon a thighbone in Patagonia, he initially assumed it was a gigantic segment of petrified wood. But as paleontologists from around the world began to excavate, they found the fossilised remains of perhaps the largest animal species ever to walk … Continued
Serengeti: Evolution in action
The Serengeti is home to the greatest concentration of large mammals in the world. Spanning 30,000 square kilometres of Kenya and Tanzania, this is a true natural wonder, made all the more precious by wildlife declines elsewhere in Africa. Yet for the wildlife that calls the Serengeti home it can be a harsh and unforgiving … Continued
North America’s forgotten megafauna
Mention megafauna and your imagination probably leaps to Africa with its vast herds of elephant, lumbering rhino and majestic giraffe. But if you thought Africa was the only place where magnificent mammals had evolved then you’d be wrong. Barely a moment ago in geological time giants roamed North America too, as well as many other … Continued
Expedition captures first ever video footage of elusive Peruvian bird
Conservationists are celebrating this week as camera traps captured images and video of the elusive Sira Currasow bird and the rare Andean spectacled bear, deep inside the remote Cerros del Sira, Peru. The success is hard earned, with biologists from the Universities of Exeter and Glasgow along with scientists from Peru, having spent weeks trekking through rugged and challenging … Continued
