Biodiversity was booming not only in dinosaurs, but also in the early Cretaceous era. The sea was also full of life, including some huge predators, unlike what he was living today.
In a new study, researchers deeply dive into attractive ecosystems from the early Cretaceous. There is a marine reptile with a bus -like bus -like bus, which gains other large carnivores and forms the seventh nutritional level, which is rare in the food network.
For comparison, modern sea Nutritional level Five or six, such as Orca, sperm whales, and glate white sharks.
The nutritional level indicates the position inside the food network, and the low level means a species that is close to the bottom. Level 1 contains major producers such as algae and plants, while level 2 contains major consumers such as herbivores.
Level 3 is for carnivores that eat herbivores, known as secondary consumers, and higher levels are carnivores that prey on fellow carnivores.
New research focuses on the ancient Paja -classic residents of the current Colombia. At that time, the sea surface was high, and most of the region was covered with warm and shallow sea.
The ocean clearly had life at all nutritional levels, and the author of the research, mainly between the warm climate and the split of the ultra -continent’s pangia, a wider space between Cretaceous, which is mainly driven. It is said that it is part of the surge in gender.
Supporting high -level peak predators requires a variety of and healthy ecosystems, and the lively vitality of the history of the past has evolved an incredible Leviathan.
PAJA’s ecosystems lived in a large dolphin -like reptile, a crocodile -shaped beast called Tereo Saurus, and a long -necked PLIOSAURS.
The seventh nutritional potential shows how rich and complicated the PAJA ecosystem. The authors of this study must have been 130 million years ago.
In order to shine light on this ancient habitat, researchers have rebuilt the ecosystem network, which is a model of interaction between species in the ecosystem.
They used modern wildlife analog to estimate unprocessed information, taking into account important details, such as the size of the fossilized animal body and the adaptation of eating.
The author has pointed out that this approach is mainly used to study the current ecosystem, but has recently been applied to fossil data.
Researchers have been inspired by existing marine ecosystem networks based on modern Caribbean ecosystems to use this reference model to test and fine -tune the PAJA network.
At the end of it, their network said that one of the most lively marine food networks known for science turned unprecedented eyes.
“Our research is to first examine these potential ecological interactions.” say MCGILL UNIVERSITY biologist DirleyCortés.
And it is interesting, but she also adds our wider understanding of both ancient and modern ecology.
“Understanding this complexity will help you track how the ecosystem evolves over time.” say“Light light on the structure that supports today’s biodiversity.”
The formation of Paja is now known for its impressive marine reptiles, Cortes and her colleagues pointed out, but without a robust food network for the predators to support them. It is unlikely that it has evolved.
Researchers have stated that they are hardly known about the wide habitat of a large habitat, including many fish, ammonite, and other important creatures at a lower nutritional level.
In addition to focusing on this unbelievable Cretaceous community, the author of the research says that their work should be helpful to answer more broad questions. Evolution of marine ecosystems -Includes the origin and influence of “exceptionally large predators” like Paja.
“These discoveries clarify how the marine ecosystem developed through intense nutritional competition and how it has shaped the diversity seen today.” say A biologist Hans Larson at Magil University.
According to researchers, this study does not have a type of scrutiny applied to the formation of PAJA, but it can change quickly, considering the abundant data that is already available in fossil records.
This study was published in Linne Association Animal Journal。
