Ancient Bees May Have Been Wiped Out with the Dinosaurs
Source: bbc.co.uk
Scientists are now saying that bees may have suffered a die-off during the dinosaur extinction.No word on if the dinos planned to build a replacement bee army of robots, as Harvard Microrobotics Labs have been working on.
More on the ancient bee disaster from BBCNews...
---
Dino impact also decimated bees, says study
From : BBC
Scientists say there was a widespread extinction of bees 66 million years ago, at the same time as the event that killed off the dinosaurs.The demise of the dinosaurs was almost certainly the result of an asteroid or comet hitting Earth.
But the extinction event was selective, affecting some groups more than others.
Writing in Plos One journal, the team used fossils and DNA analysis to show that one bee group suffered a serious decline at the time of this collision.
The researchers chose to study bees within the subfamily known as Xylocopinae - which included the carpenter bees.
This was because the evolutionary history of this group could be traced back to the Cretaceous Period, when the dinosaurs still walked the Earth.
[...]
The findings of this study could have implications for today’s concern about the loss in diversity of bees, a pivotal species for agriculture and biodiversity.
"Understanding extinctions and the effects of declines in the past can help us understand the pollinator decline and the global crisis in pollinators today," Dr Rehan explained.
Read the full article at: bbc.co.uk
