A Tray of <i>Nebria turmaduodecima</i> Beetles (IMAGE)
Caption
After collecting these specimens in August of 1980, California Academy of Sciences entomologist David Kavanaugh, Ph.D., used them as the basis for describing a new species, Nebria turmaduodecima. The specimens were collected on a large snowfield in the Trinity Alps mountain range at elevations between 6,900 and 7,500 feet. Nearly 30 years later, Academy scientists returned to the same location to evaluate the impact of climate change on the distribution of the species--and found that they had to climb to at least 7,900 feet to find these same beetles. 'There's no question that the beetles are moving higher up the mountains,' said Kavanaugh. 'And where I used to find hundreds of them, I'm often now finding just a handful--or none at all.'
Credit
Sharon Beals, California Academy of Sciences
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