A 7,000-year-old road was discovered at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea ● Researchers have discovered traces of what appears to be the first major extinction event in life ● Australian authorities’ dilemma: kill kangaroos or let them die of hunger

A 7,000-year-old road was discovered at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea

Back in 2021, a seven-thousand-year-old Neolithic settlement was discovered near the coast of Dalmatia, not far from the island of Korčula. Then archaeologists from the University of Zadar discovered not only traces of the settlement, but also the walls that surrounded it.

According to the received data, the settlement was located on an artificial island connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. More recently, archaeologists managed to identify the road that connected the settlement with the island of Korčula.

The road, 4 meters wide, located at a depth of about 4-5 meters, was paved with stone slabs, which is an innovation for those times. In fact, the first paved roads were recorded in Mesopotamia and Egypt about six and five millennia ago, respectively.

What is even more interesting, on the opposite side of the island of Korčula, archaeologists discovered an almost identical settlement, which reveals a real network of artificial islands connected by stone roads.

Both settlements belong to the Hvar culture, a local Neolithic culture that arose about seven thousand years ago and lasted until 4,500 years ago.

Researchers have discovered traces of what appears to be the first major extinction event in life

In principle, almost all geological eras are separated from each other by a catastrophic event. One that leads to significant changes in the flora and fauna of the time. Some of them are smaller in scale, while others have threatened the very existence of life altogether.

Over time, paleontologists and geologists have been able to identify five major episodes of mass extinction of life forms, some of which resulted in the extinction of at least 50% of complex organisms at the time. The one from episode six, one of the fastest of them all, is said to live in the present.

But it seems that there are still unknown episodes in the history of life that we need to find out. And one of them has just been presented in a study published in the journal PNAS, a study co-authored by several researchers from the University of California and the University of Virginia.

The episode referred to by American experts took place approximately 550 million years ago, during the geological era called the Ediacaran. By the way, the Ediacaran era is a geological era accepted by the scientific community only since 1990. It covers the period from 635 million years ago to about 540 million years ago, followed by the Cambrian.

The Ediacaran is also defined by the appearance and spread of atypical life forms, exclusively aquatic animals, strange forms not seen today or in other geological eras, without solid organic forms (skeleton, carapace, teeth, etc.).

According to data collected by experts, 550 million years ago, approximately 70% of the animal groups that appeared in the first part of the Ediacaran disappeared, and this percentage puts this little-known extinction among the largest in the history of the earth. For comparison, the cataclysmic event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is responsible for the extinction of 80% of life forms.

What exactly led to this episode, scientists cannot say now. One clue may be the fact that, paradoxically, the Ediacaran extinction was usually survived by large organisms. This may support the idea that those who survived were better adapted to an environment where oxygen levels dropped dramatically. But for now, this is just a guess.

Australian authorities’ dilemma: kill kangaroos or let them die of hunger

Faced with increasingly severe drought episodes, Australian authorities have taken a decision that has already sparked outrage among environmental organizations around the world. Namely, to shoot a large number of kangaroos, and not to allow them to die of hunger in numbers that would reach “catastrophic” proportions.

Last year alone, 80 to 90 percent of kangaroos disappeared in some areas of Australia amid severe drought. Although they are a protected species, the number of kangaroos currently exceeds 30 million and is predicted to double, meaning that the species’ existence is not threatened.

In fact, according to the Australian authorities, this measure is aimed at protecting kangaroos by keeping the optimal number. Even without the drought, about five million kangaroos are killed annually for meat. To leave them alive is to condemn most of them to slow starvation.

It’s also the paradox facing Australian officials and environmental groups advocating a ban on their killing… to stop hunting them means making things worse.

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