Lack of feces of dinosaurs makes the Earth less seriously fertile

American scientists discovered that the Earth was richer in nutrients than in the dinosaur era.

Dinosaurs with massive bodies, moving long distances and leaving huge amounts of waste helped the Earth to be much more fertile than today, the International Business Times reported on October 17. The study was conducted by expert Christopher Doughty from Northern Arizona University.

Animals play an important role in nutrient transport, but this role has been narrowed because many animals are extinct or severely degraded. Previously, Earth was the world of giant species with lots of sea whales and large size animals on the ground.

The team compared the circulation of nutrients through soil, water and air during different periods by observing the concentration of deposition elements over time. They discovered compared to dinosaurs, the amount of nutrients dispersed less than 92% on the ground and 95% under the sea.

Dinosaurs help disperse nutrients on the Earth's surface.(Photo: International Business Times).

The research team said that in the past, marine mammals, seabirds, fishes migrating from the sea to the river to breed and terrestrial animals created an interconnected system that recycles nutrients from the deep sea inland.

Marine animals transport nutrients from the deep sea to the surface of the water, seabirds and river-feeding marine fishes continue to carry them from the sea to the mainland, then large animals move nutrients into the continent. location.

Today there are still some large animals like elephants or whales that exist, but many of the world's largest animals are extinct. The most massive animal ever lived on Earth is the legal lizard (titanosaurs) , the herbivorous dinosaur of the lizard-legged family (sauropod) . The lizards have long tails, small heads and tall necks to help them reach the tops of trees, similar to today's giraffes.

The largest fossil lizard fossil named Patagotitan mayorum , was discovered in South America. It is longer than 37m, estimated to weigh 57,150 - 62,600kg while still alive. This is the largest terrestrial animal that ever existed on Earth. Today's elephants can only reach about 6 meters in length and weigh about 5,900kg.

Compare the size of humans and some dinosaurs.(Video: Anatwell Group).

The Earth still has another giant animal, the blue whale . They can be more than 30m long and weigh approximately 181,500kg. However, the number of blue whales is declining in the past few centuries.

The digestion process in animals is part of the nutrient cycle. Massive animals will digest large amounts of nutrients. Nutrients can be confined in plant parts at a slow rate of decomposition until released through animal feeding, digestion and release.

Without large animals, those nutrients will release more slowly, when plants decompose themselves without the help of animals, making the whole ecosystem less nutritious. South South America, where the legal lizard Patagotitan mayorum lived, was severely affected by the loss of large numbers of giant animals.

By increasing the number and accelerating the spread of elements such as phosphorus, plants grow faster, meaning larger herbivores are responsible for creating their own food and contributing to the nutrient-rich living environment. .

New findings are important in today's environmental research, according to Christopher Doughty."We are losing large animals that exist like wild elephants very quickly. This loss will seriously affect the future ecosystem due to reduced nutrient intake," he explained.