by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
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What would happen to any agricultural soil when trampled by the heaviest of the dinosaurs<\/strong> that ever walked on Earth’s face? It may sound like a pointless, meaningless and absurd question. However, some scientists now explain, we should actually pay attentiotn to the problem question. Because a similar phenomenon is now occurring every day in crop fields around the world,. With serious consequences for their equilibrium.<\/p>\n The giant herbivores have nothing to do with it, of course. Instead, says a study<\/a> recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)<\/em>, the world is now dealing with an escalating problem: the burden of agricultural machinery<\/strong>. Indeed, the researchers note, harvesters “exceed by far the heaviest living terrestrial animals – African bush elephants, with a maximum body mass of ca. 8,000 kg – and are now approaching that of the heaviest animals that ever walked on Earth: sauropods<\/strong>.” A trend that threatens to add mechanical tractors to the list of soil enemies as well.<\/p>\n