Latest news with #BigBend
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
KU researchers discover ‘big possum' species from 60 million years ago in Texas
Paleontologists at the University of Kansas have discovered a new 'big possum' species that lived in the warm, tropical and vegetation-filled ecosystem of far west Texas 60 million years ago. The scientists discovered a new species of ancient near-marsupials, or Swaindelphys, while analyzing fossils from Texas' Big Bend National Park, according to a news release from KU. The 800,000 acre park is roughly 500 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The fossils were originally found decades ago, but they had not been thoroughly studied. The project's lead author, doctoral student Kristen Miller, was particularly interested in unknown molar fossils. She wanted to find out what species they represented. The researchers, who published their findings last week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, were surprised at what they found. This new species, called Swaindelphys solastella, is remarkable for multiple reasons. First, it is much larger than any other similar species known from the Paleocene period, according to the release. This is the period that occurred just after the extinction of dinosaurs. The Swaindelphys solastella 'was gigantic by the standards of Swaindelphys,' but researchers estimate it was the size of a modern hedgehog. 'Since everything is bigger in Texas, this is perhaps not surprising,' said curator and professor Chris Beard, co-author of the study. Miller said the Swaindelphys solastella is also the youngest and most southern species from this time period. While the fossils were found in Texas, the ecosystem they came from was drastically different than the one we see today. Miller said the environment would have been warmer and more tropical than it is now, with lots of vegetation and rivers. The fossils were found in a deposit from an ancient river system, even though that river is long gone today. Researchers said Swaindelphys are very similar to early primates. So, they hope to use this new discovery to inform studies about early primates in the same ecosystems in Texas. Miller also said she wants to continue this research to see if ancient landscapes posed obstacles to species distribution, like the distribution of the Swaindelphys.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
KU researchers discover ‘big possum' species from 60 million years ago in Texas
Paleontologists at the University of Kansas have discovered a new 'big possum' species that lived in the warm, tropical and vegetation-filled ecosystem of far west Texas 60 million years ago. The scientists discovered a new species of ancient near-marsupials, or Swaindelphys, while analyzing fossils from Texas' Big Bend National Park, according to a news release from KU. The 800,000 acre park is roughly 500 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The fossils were originally found decades ago, but they had not been thoroughly studied. The project's lead author, doctoral student Kristen Miller, was particularly interested in unknown molar fossils. She wanted to find out what species they represented. The researchers, who published their findings last week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, were surprised at what they found. This new species, called Swaindelphys solastella, is remarkable for multiple reasons. First, it is much larger than any other similar species known from the Paleocene period, according to the release. This is the period that occurred just after the extinction of dinosaurs. The Swaindelphys solastella 'was gigantic by the standards of Swaindelphys,' but researchers estimate it was the size of a modern hedgehog. 'Since everything is bigger in Texas, this is perhaps not surprising,' said curator and professor Chris Beard, co-author of the study. Miller said the Swaindelphys solastella is also the youngest and most southern species from this time period. While the fossils were found in Texas, the ecosystem they came from was drastically different than the one we see today. Miller said the environment would have been warmer and more tropical than it is now, with lots of vegetation and rivers. The fossils were found in a deposit from an ancient river system, even though that river is long gone today. Researchers said Swaindelphys are very similar to early primates. So, they hope to use this new discovery to inform studies about early primates in the same ecosystems in Texas. Miller also said she wants to continue this research to see if ancient landscapes posed obstacles to species distribution, like the distribution of the Swaindelphys.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
KU researchers discover ‘big possum' that lived around 60 million years ago
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A team led by University of Kansas paleontologists has unearthed a giant prehistoric predator that once roamed the Earth not long after the dinosaurs went extinct. According to a news release from KU, a species of Swaindelphys was found for the first time in Texas's Big Bend National Park; however, the environment in which it flourished during the Paleocene was very different from what exists today. Download WDAF+ for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV The new species, Swaindelphys Solastella, is significantly larger than other Swaindelphys species that were known at the time. The peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology published their report on the ancient species, which was enormous by Swaindelphys standards but still roughly the size of a modern hedgehog. KU said the lead author of the report is a doctoral student at the university. Kristen Miller is a student in KU's Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum and spent a year studying specimens collected decades ago in West Texas by the late Judith Schiebout, a paleontologist whose career was spent at Louisiana State University. According to a news release, Miller wanted to find out what kind of metatherians — the group that includes living marsupials and their extinct relatives — the Texas fossils represented. 'I compared them to a lot of other marsupials from around the same time period to see what they're most closely related to,' Miller said. 'It was a lot of morphological comparisons.' Download WDAF+ for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV At first, the scientists believed the fossils were either the oldest of a group of Eocene metatherians that appeared a few million years later, or they were survivors of a group of large Cretaceous metatherians that somehow survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. Both theories were ultimately proven incorrect by Miller's analysis. The Texas specimens belong to a 'surprisingly large' species of Swaindelphys. 'Not only are they the largest metatherians from this time period, but they're also the youngest and located at the most southern latitude,' Miller said. 'Since everything is bigger in Texas, this is perhaps not surprising.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Will a Category 5 hurricane make landfall in Florida in 2025? History says that's unlikely
Starting today, June 1 and for the next 182 days (until Nov. 30), Southwest Floridians will paying more attention to the weather forecast, especially with what is happening in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf. It's called Hurricane Season. In recent years, because of the number of hurricanes Southwest Florida has had to deal with and the damage caused by those storms, including historic Hurricane Ian in September 2022, it might feel like we must have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane during this run. You could argue the back-to-back hurricanes we had last year (2024) − Helene and Milton − combined added up to a Cat 5, but that's not how it works. More: Hurricane season is almost here. When should I build my hurricane kit, what should I put in it? Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, 2024, with winds of 140 mph. Just 13 days later, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. It struck near Siesta Key Oct. 9, 2024. The storm was accompanied by sustained winds of 120 mph. Turn back the clock a couple of years to Sept. 28, 2022 and we had Hurricane Ian, which caused catastrophic to Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and other coastal locations in Southwest Florida. It sure felt and looked like a Category 5 hit here. But officially, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. It was initially a Category 5 storm before weakening to a Category 4 just before landfall at Cayo Costa. Ian had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. There were more than 140 deaths attributed to Ian. It is possible, but not probable based on past history. Could it happen? Sure. But since records have been kept, it has never happened here, even though with Ian it was right on the edge of being added to the short list. Since the 1900, three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in Florida: The 'Labor Day Hurricane' of 1935 The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane is considered the strongest storm ever recorded to make landfall in the U.S., smashing into the Florida Keys on Sept. 2, 1935, with winds of 185 mph. It killed an estimated 409 people. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 On Aug. 24, 1992, Andrew made landfall in South Miami-Dade County with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. Although 23 deaths were directly attributed to the storm, according to NOAA, "Hurricane Andrew destroyed more than 50,000 homes and caused an estimated $26 billion in damage, making it at the time the most expensive natural disaster in United States history." And the most recent, Hurricane Michael in 2018 Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018, as a Category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 161 mph. According to the National Weather Service: "Wind and storm surge caused catastrophic damage, particularly in the Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach areas. Eight direct fatalities were reported: seven in Florida and one in Georgia. In addition, 43 indirect deaths were attributed to the storm." More: When does hurricane season start in Florida? What to document for insurance now There's only be one. Hurricane Camille in 1969. Camille had sustained winds of more than 170 mph when it hit Mississippi on Aug. 17, 1969. More than 250 people were killed, many in Virginia due to massive flooding the storm brought to that state. Camille tracked north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a Category 5 the day before making landfall. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: How many Category 5 hurricanes hit Florida?
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Will a Category 5 hurricane make landfall in Florida in 2025? History says that's unlikely
Starting today, June 1 and for the next 182 days (until Nov. 30), Southwest Floridians will paying more attention to the weather forecast, especially with what is happening in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf. It's called Hurricane Season. In recent years, because of the number of hurricanes Southwest Florida has had to deal with and the damage caused by those storms, including historic Hurricane Ian in September 2022, it might feel like we must have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane during this run. You could argue the back-to-back hurricanes we had last year (2024) − Helene and Milton − combined added up to a Cat 5, but that's not how it works. More: Hurricane season is almost here. When should I build my hurricane kit, what should I put in it? Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, 2024, with winds of 140 mph. Just 13 days later, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. It struck near Siesta Key Oct. 9, 2024. The storm was accompanied by sustained winds of 120 mph. Turn back the clock a couple of years to Sept. 28, 2022 and we had Hurricane Ian, which caused catastrophic to Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and other coastal locations in Southwest Florida. It sure felt and looked like a Category 5 hit here. But officially, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. It was initially a Category 5 storm before weakening to a Category 4 just before landfall at Cayo Costa. Ian had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. There were more than 140 deaths attributed to Ian. It is possible, but not probable based on past history. Could it happen? Sure. But since records have been kept, it has never happened here, even though with Ian it was right on the edge of being added to the short list. Since the 1900, three Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in Florida: The 'Labor Day Hurricane' of 1935 The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane is considered the strongest storm ever recorded to make landfall in the U.S., smashing into the Florida Keys on Sept. 2, 1935, with winds of 185 mph. It killed an estimated 409 people. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 On Aug. 24, 1992, Andrew made landfall in South Miami-Dade County with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. Although 23 deaths were directly attributed to the storm, according to NOAA, "Hurricane Andrew destroyed more than 50,000 homes and caused an estimated $26 billion in damage, making it at the time the most expensive natural disaster in United States history." And the most recent, Hurricane Michael in 2018 Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018, as a Category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 161 mph. According to the National Weather Service: "Wind and storm surge caused catastrophic damage, particularly in the Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach areas. Eight direct fatalities were reported: seven in Florida and one in Georgia. In addition, 43 indirect deaths were attributed to the storm." More: When does hurricane season start in Florida? What to document for insurance now There's only be one. Hurricane Camille in 1969. Camille had sustained winds of more than 170 mph when it hit Mississippi on Aug. 17, 1969. More than 250 people were killed, many in Virginia due to massive flooding the storm brought to that state. Camille tracked north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a Category 5 the day before making landfall. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: How many Category 5 hurricanes hit Florida?
