University of Portsmouth – आवारा मुसाफिर

Europe had different herbivorous dinosaurs to Asia and America

September 14, 2023570 Views

Scientists have discovered a new species of small plant-eating dinosaur on the Isle of Wight in southern England (UK). The new species, Vectidromeus insularis, is the second member of the hypsilophodont family to be found on the island, suggesting that Europe had its own family of small herbivorous dinosaurs, distinct from those found in Asia and North America. Hypsilophodonts were a group of nimble, bipedal herbivores that lived around 125 million years ago. The animals lived alongside early tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs, and Iguanodon. The new fossil represents an animal about the size of a chicken but was a juvenile and may have grown much larger. An artistic impression shows Vectidromeus insularis. Photo credit: Emily Willoughby Vectidromeus is a close relative o...

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Giants of the Jurassic seas were twice the size of a killer whale

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May 12, 2023797 Views

Over 20 years ago, the BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs TV documentary series showed a 25-metre long Liopleurodon. This sparked heated debates over the size of this pliosaur as it was thought to have been wildly overestimated and more likely to have only reached an adult size of just over six metres long. An artist’s impression of the pliosaur. Photo credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth The speculation was set to continue, but now a chance discovery in an Oxfordshire museum has led to University of Portsmouth palaeontologists publishing a paper on a similar species potentially reaching a whopping 14.4 metres - twice the size of a killer whale. Professor David Martill from the University of Portsmouth’s School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, said: “I was a...

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Using art and song to help solve plastic waste crisis

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December 6, 2022784 Views

A pioneering scheme using street art, theatre and song aims to reduce open dumping and burning of waste as well as increase plastic recycling in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Uncontrolled plastic waste disposal is becoming an increasingly serious problem there; threatening the environment and human health. Waste is often burned, contributing to climate change and poor air quality. This creative campaign has been co-created by University of Portsmouth experts, local stakeholders including artists, musicians and waste collectors to increase recycling in rural areas. The methods being used are aimed at teaching people that waste has value, and that dumping and burning waste impacts heavily on human health. The University has partnered with WasteAid and provincial environmental...

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Ecotourism is having a negative effect on primate’s behaviour

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April 26, 2022989 Views

A new research shows that the increase in primate ecotourism is having a negative effect on monkey’s behaviour. The study, led by the University of Portsmouth, found that this fast-growing tourism sector where tourists can conveniently reach primates via motor boats is causing stress-related behaviours in monkeys. The research looked at the impact of a single engine motor boat approaching a community of proboscis monkeys, an endangered species living in a remote riparian area (strips of vegetation that border rivers, streams and lakes) in Sabah, Malaysia. Proboscis monkeys are unusual looking with their very long noses, which adds to making them appealing to tourists. Community of proboscis monkeys. Photo: Rudi Delvaux Many of these boats, carrying multiple tourists, approach ...

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Surfing Towards Coastal Ecosystem Protection

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March 14, 2022521 Views

Scientists at the University of Portsmouth believe a strategy used to protect popular surfing spots could now be more widely adopted to help preserve endangered coastal environments. A new research paper, published this week in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, says, ‘wave reserves’, initially aimed at protecting treasured surf spots, are also a way to ensure the conservation of ecologically valuable coastal areas. The concept of wave reserves has gained popularity over the past few decades. The first wave reserve was established in Bells Beach, Australia in 1973 by surfers keen to defend their prized waves from damaging human activity. But it is especially since the beginning of the 2000s that the surfing community has established dozens of wave reserves around the...