Antarctic life hung by a thread during ice ages

Only species that are champions of cold weather adaptation in the present day, such as Emperor Penguins and Snow Petrels, were likely able to survive in locally restricted areas of biological productivity. Those animals, it seems likely, may have stayed in Antarctica during the Ice Ages.

But the polynyas were too isolated to support larger top predators, such as seals and whales, which had to move north to escape starvation. Many other penguin species lost access to traditional feeding grounds and ice-free breeding areas on land, which are crucial for their survival. Some of those animals may have thus been forced to emigrate as far north as the Patagonian shelf off the coast of what is now Argentina.

“Science is only now beginning to ponder what happened here during the Ice Ages,” says Thatje. “This research is leading to a radical reconsideration of those time periods. Antarctic species are champions in adaptations to extreme cold and the harshest environmental conditions. Understanding how the stunning Antarctic fauna has evolved and coped with glacial-interglacial periods will help us to assess their sensitivity to current climate warming.”

Thatje also notes that the animals of Antarctica are extremely vulnerable to warming temperatures. Their ability to survive in extreme cold is unique and has taken tens of millions of years to evolve.

Shifts in the distribution of animals over glacial cycles have likely been a very common phenomenon in region, he says. But given the fact that sub-Antarctic organisms are invading the area as temperatures rise, Thatje says it is time to assess how and if the Antarctic ecosystems will be able to cope with the new invaders.

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