"Still Death in Antarctica"
Sharon Robinson, Associate Professor

The remains of an Antarctic skua's meal end up deposited on a moss bed in Antarctica. It is too cold for things to break down and so lichens take up residence between the vertebrae. These bird neck bones are probably decades old judging by the growth of the lichen. The hairy lichen (top left) is Usnea. The moss beds are drying out as a result of climate change and are being encrusted with black, yellow and white crustose lichens.