An international study led by Flinders University has found a fertile area of inspiration to explain an important step in evolution – and it’s a whole lot of poop.

The new study describes the ‘faecal revolution’ to explain a crucial turning point in animal and environmental evolution on Earth.

The West Eifel Volcanic Field comprises more than one hundred maars – circular lakes formed by explosive eruptions. Until now, little was known about when these volcanic eruptions occurred. A research team from Heidelberg University, Curtin University in Perth (Australia), and the University of Göttingen has now reliably dated the most recent eruptions of the maar volcanoes. Their studies show that many of them were active in short pulses across large parts of the West Eifel at nearly the same time. The strongest and most recent of these eruption episodes occurred about 25,000 years ago. The new findings on the dynamics of the West Eifel maar volcanoes are significant for research into other volcanic fields of this type as well as for hazard assessment.

Carbon fixation continues through winter

A paper published in Carbon Research reports that microbial inorganic carbon fixation remains active in Qinghai Lake, the largest saline lake in China, during the ice-covered season. The work focuses on how microorganisms assimilate inorganic carbon beneath lake ice, a period that has received far less attention than the summer open-water season despite its importance for annual lake carbon cycling.

The team, led by corresponding author Xiaoyan Li of Beijing Normal University, examined both light-dependent carbon fixation and dark-dependent carbon fixation in under-ice waters. Qinghai Lake, located on the Tibetan Plateau, provides a natural setting for this question because it is a high-altitude saline lake with prolonged seasonal ice cover, low temperatures, and distinctive microbial habitats.