55 million years ago, early horses underwent a phase of abnormal body shrinkage. Humanity may be entering a similar phase due to an unimaginable factor.
This is the argument put forth by Professor Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland, United Kingdom). Based on a series of studies of fossils from various animal species, he and his colleagues have provided insights into how species—including humans—adapt to survive during periods of climate change.
Professor Steve Brusatte – (Photo: THE GUARDIAN)
According to The Guardian, Professor Brusatte compares the potential circumstances of humanity to those of early horses, which became smaller in body size as temperatures rose around 55 million years ago, during a period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
This phenomenon is also recorded in the fossils of several ancient human species linked to living conditions, such as Homo floresiensis, known as the “Hobbit,” which once lived on the island of Flores in present-day Indonesia and is believed to have gone extinct several tens of millions of years ago.
In his book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, Professor Brusatte notes that animals in warmer regions of the Earth today are generally smaller than those in colder areas, a principle known as “Bergmann’s Rule.”
“The reasons are not entirely understood, but perhaps part of it is that smaller animals have less surface area and thus can dissipate excess heat more effectively,” The Guardian quotes from his analysis.
This finding serves as another warning to humanity about the profound and concerning changes facing all of mankind and Earth’s organisms due to the climate crisis—caused by humans themselves.
In a recent study, an international team of scientists led by Dr. Manuel Will from the Department of Early Ecology and Quaternary, University of Tübingen, Germany, investigated human remains over millions of years and also pointed out that temperature is a key predictive factor for changes in body size.
