Worm poo's window into past climate - Research from the universities of Reading and York shows that earthworms could provide a window into past climates, allowing scientists to piece together the prevailing weather conditions thousands of years ago.
Release Date 10 July 2013
A study by researchers from the Universities of Reading and York has demonstrated that balls of calcium carbonate (small lumps of chalk-like material) excreted by the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris - commonly known as lobworms or nightcrawlers - maintain a memory of the temperature at which they were formed.
Knowledge of past climates is of vital importance for developing and benchmarking models that make predictions for future climates. Many different proxies already exist but no proxy is perfect, or is available in every location, so it is imperative to have many options.
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