One successful strategy, adopted by many species from horses to earthworms, was to turn to dwarfism
The project, entitled the "Bighorn Basin Coring Project", is funded by the United States National Science Foundation and involves scientists from the US, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.The comparisons come with some studies predicting that at current rates temperatures could rise by 6C by the end of this century.The report says: "Research into the effects on the planet the last time the temperature increased by 6°C has found the fossil record shows that mass extinctions occurred, but that many new forms of life evolved and others were able to travel long distances to find a cooler climate that suited them.
"One successful strategy, adopted by many species from horses to earthworms, was to turn to dwarfism."They avoided starvation by shrinking in size. Because food is less nutritious in a warmer world people, animals and insects will have to eat more to survive, when food is liable to be scarce.
"In this situation smaller, hobbit-sized people, who mature sexually earlier, will have the best chance of surviving."
The study predicted mass extinctions within 200 years unless politicians move to tackle climate change.
It added: "The prospect is worsened by the fact that the last comparable warming took 10,000 years to develop, giving long-lived species like trees time to adapt.
"This time the warming will arrive in two centuries or less, leaving no time for adaptation. Even species that can move quickly will find their migration blocked by farms, roads, cities and dams."