Global warming ‘could make us shorter’

Global warming could make us shorter, scientists say.

Palaeontologists studying fossilised horses have found a direct link between the size of mammals and the planet's temperature - with warmer times meaning smaller beasts.

Researchers from the universities of Florida and Nebraska used fossils to follow the evolution of horses from their earliest appearance 56 million years ago.

As temperatures went up their size went down, and vice versa, said Dr Jonathan Bloch, curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

At one point they were as small as a house cat, he said.

The researchers say that the current warming could have the same effect on mammals - and could even make humans smaller.



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