• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Fossils of the future to mostly consist of humans, domestic animals

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 18, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Karen Koy, Missouri Western State University.


As the number and technology of humans has grown, their impact on the natural world now equals or exceeds those of natural processes, according to scientists.

Many researchers formally name this period of human-dominance of natural systems as the Anthropocene era, but there is a heated debate over whether this naming should take place and when the period began.

In a co-authored paper published online in the journal Anthropocene, University of Illinois at Chicago paleontologist Roy Plotnick argues that the fossil record of mammals will provide a clear signal of the Anthropocene.

He and Karen Koy of Missouri Western State University report that the number of humans and their animals greatly exceeds that of wild animals.

As an example, in the state of Michigan alone, humans and their animals compose about 96% of the total mass of animals. There are as many chickens as people in the state, and the same should be true in many places in the United States and the world, they say.

“The chance of a wild animal becoming part of the fossil record has become very small,” said Plotnick, UIC professor of earth and environmental sciences and the paper’s lead author. “Instead, the future mammal record will be mostly cows, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, etc., and people themselves.”

While humans bury most of their dead in cemeteries and have for centuries, their activities have markedly changed how and where animals are buried.

These impacts include alterations in the distribution and properties of natural sites of preservation, associated with shifts in land use and climate change; the production of novel sites for preservation, such as landfills and cemeteries; and changes in the breakdown of animal and human carcasses.

Additionally, the use of large agricultural equipment and increased domestic animal density due to intensive animal farming likely increases the rate of and changes the kind of damage to bones, according to the paleontologists.

“Fossil mammals occur in caves, ancient lakebeds and river channels, and are usually only teeth and isolated bones,” he said. “Animals that die on farms or in mass deaths due to disease often end up as complete corpses in trenches or landfills, far from water.”

Consequently, the fossils from the world today will be unique in the Earth’s history and unmistakable to paleontologists 100,000 years from now, according to the researchers.

“In the far future, the fossil record of today will have a huge number of complete hominid skeletons, all lined up in rows,” Plotnick said.

###

Media Contact
Brian Flood
[email protected]
312-996-7681

Original Source

https://today.uic.edu/fossils-of-the-future-to-mostly-consist-of-humans-domestic-animals

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2019.100233

Tags: AgricultureBiologyDeath/DyingEarth ScienceEcology/EnvironmentGeology/SoilPaleontology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

CK2–PRC2 Signal Drives Plant Cold Memory Epigenetics

August 2, 2025
blank

AI-Driven Protein Design Advances T-Cell Immunotherapy Breakthroughs

August 1, 2025

Melanthiaceae Genomes Reveal Giant Genome Evolution Secrets

August 1, 2025

“Shore Wars: New Study Tackles Oyster-Mangrove Conflicts to Boost Coastal Restoration”

August 1, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    45 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Metabolic Traits Conserved and Diverged in Tumors, Xenografts

Portable Laser Method for On-Site Arsenic Detection

Blocking YAP-TEAD/LOX Signaling Reduces Lung Fibrosis

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.