Glacial+Meerkat

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=Glacial Meerkat (S. glacies)=

Introduction:
The glacial meerkat is a descendant of the meerkat suited to living in snowy environments. Despite the current trend of global warming, the Earth will go into a second ice age approximately 2000 years in the future. In the future, the meerkat would have developed genetic traits that allow it to better survive in this colder environment.­

Classification:

 * Kingdom || Animalia ||
 * Phylum || Chordata ||
 * Class || Mammalia ||
 * Order || Carnivora ||
 * Family || Herpestidae ||
 * Genus || Suricata ||
 * Species || S. glacies ||

Habitat:
The Earth is likely to go through another ice age in about 2000 years’ time. Although global warming is supposed to warm the Earth, fossil fuels are expected to deplete in 300 years, reducing significantly the emissions of greenhouse gases, allowing for the ice age to occur. During the ice age, the surface temperature of the planet will decrease significantly, and the polar ice caps will advance. Since southern Africa is close to Antarctica, it was predicted that the meerkat’s environment will decrease significantly in temperature. In a few thousand years’ time, the surface of the Earth and position of the continents will not have changed significantly, so the glacial meerkat will continue to live in southern Africa. A map of the world after 50 million years has been used as a reference above.

Webbed paws (structural)-
In the colder environment, the glacial meerkat’s food source would have shrunk significantly due to extinction or evolution of other species, increasing the need for the glacial meerkat to extend its hunting grounds into the oceans. The larger surface area of the paws would also make it easier for the glacial meerkat to burrow into the snow.

Breeding “permissions”(behavioral)-
In the cold, many meerkats die at a young age. To counter this, the meerkat gang “rules” have changed so that all meerkats in the gang can mate and breed, where it used to be a privilege for only the alpha male and female. Through this, the meerkat gangs can keep their population count high to suit the cold environment.

Increased body heat (physiological)-
To survive in a cold environment, the glacial meerkat requires body heat to keep warm. To achieve this, the glacial meerkat has developed a higher metabolism rate to increase its body temperature. The glacial meerkat also store some blubber under the skin as a form of insulation.

Selection Pressure:
The decrease in the Earth’s surface temperature resulted in an immense change in the meerkat’s environment. Through the process of natural selection, the meerkat eventually developed the genes for a white coat for camouflage, and the scarcity of food led the meerkats to develop webbed paws to allow for hunting in the waters. The cold environment led to the deaths of many meerkats at youth, so the glacial meerkats have changed their “gang rules” so that all meerkats within a gang may breed.

=Sources:= Increased body heat: To survive in a cold environment, the glacial meerkat requires body heat to keep warm. To achieve this, the glacial meerkat has developed a higher metabolism rate to increase its body temperature. The glacial meerkat also store some blubber under the skin as a form of insulation.
 * 1) Commondreams.org (2004). //How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age…// Retrieved June 13, 2012, from []
 * 2) NASA Official. (2011). //Continents in Collision: Pangaea Ultima.// Retrieved June 14, 2012, from []
 * 3) technologyreview.com (2010). //Global Warming vs. the Next Ice Age.// Retrieved June 8, 2012, from []