Scientists have managed to set a date for the Nullarbor Plain to turn into an arid region. Curtin University reports.
Nullarbor is a wide flat plain in southern Australia almost devoid of trees and vegetation, and even the word “nullarbor” is translated from Latin as “not a single tree”. At the same time, scientists are interested in when exactly this region acquired its modern appearance, since this event radically influenced the evolution of Australian flora and fauna.
Maximilian Dröllner and his colleagues decided to date the drying up of this region. To do this, they analyzed ancient iron-rich deposits in the ground. They need liquid water to form, so it is possible to tell when the environment was dry by dating the time of precipitation of each layer.
It turns out that the groundwater level dropped significantly between 2.4 and 2.7 million years ago. This is because of the transition from the wet conditions of the late Pliocene to the dry conditions of the early Pleistocene.
The authors hope their discovery will help explore species diversity in the southwest and southeast of Australia. Zoologists know of examples of related bird, insect, and plant species that shared common ancestors but now live thousands of kilometers apart due to ecological barriers created by ancient climate changes.
Previously, biologists confirmed that moths have “tails.” work as bait for bats.