Morgan BellA Fossil or Two, and a Kangaroo
July 18th 2009 13:30
So what's going on in the world of fossils?
Here are some recent discoveries:
New Australian Dinosaurs
Fossils of three new species of dinosaurs have been discovered in Australia, including a meat-eater larger than Velociraptor from the Jurassic Park movies, suggesting Australia may have a more complex prehistoric past. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
A Mummified Dinosaur
The dinosaur, approximately 7.5 meters (25 feet) long, apparently died on the banks of a sandy channel, perhaps near the bend of a river, where its body was rapidly buried under accumulating sediment. The waterlogged soil entombed it in a mineral-rich soup before the body could decay much, thus ensuring highly detailed preservation. Although fossils containing organic compounds or mummified soft tissues have been discovered before, the presence of both in one find is "as rare as hen's teeth, and the preservation seen in Dakota is something not seen in any other fossil to date," (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
How Dinosaur Hands Evolved Into Bird Claws
U.S. and Chinese scientists say their discovery of a beaked, plant-eating dinosaur fossil shows how birds' three-fingered claws evolved from dinosaurs. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
Rethinking The Origin of Our Ancestors
A new Myanmar fossil primate, Ganlea megacanina, suggests the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from large-toothed primates in Asia and not Africa. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
A Prehistoric Giant Elephant
Indonesian scientists are reconstructing the largest, most complete skeleton of a prehistoric giant elephant ever found in the tropics, a finding that may offer new clues into the largely mysterious origins of its modern Asian cousin.
The prehistoric elephant is believed to have been submerged in quicksand shortly after dying on a riverbed in Java around 200,000 years ago. Its bones — almost perfectly preserved — were discovered by chance in March when an old sand quarry collapsed during monsoon rains.
The animal stood four meters (13-feet) tall, five meters (16-feet) long and weighed more than 10 tons — closer in size to the woolly mammoth of the same period than to the great Asian mammals now on Earth. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
Megapiranhas and the Mystery of the Zig Zag Teeth
Megapiranha was up to 3 feet long (1 meter) — a fish-beast four times as big as piranhas living today, studies of its jawbones indicate. It lived about 8 million to 10 million years ago.
Another close relative of the piranha, called pacu. Pacu have squared-off stumps of teeth used for munching veggies.
Now a newly uncovered jawbone of a transition species ties all these teeth together. Named Megapiranha paranensis, this previously unknown fossil fish bridges the evolutionary gap between flesh-eating piranhas and their plant-eating cousins.
In modern piranhas, the teeth are arranged in a single file. But in the relatives of piranhas — which tend to be herbivorous fishes — the teeth are in two rows. The new fossil shows an intermediate pattern: teeth in a zig-zag row. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
The Sea Urchin Missing Link
The remains of a 65 million-year-old sea urchin uncovered in April at Stevns Cliff in southeastern Zealand is being called a possible biological ‘missing link’ by officials at East Zealand Geological Museum. (CLICKHERE for more . . .)
The Shark Penis Missing Link
The mode of reproduction seen in modern sharks is nearly 400 million years old. That is the conclusion drawn from the discovery of a so-called "clasper" (penis) in a primitive fossil fish.
A team of Australian and British researchers showed that placoderms, a group of ancient fishes that died out more than 350 million years ago, gave birth to live young. Beautifully preserved fossil embryos in the body cavity of the placoderm Incisoscutum showed that these fishes, close to the common origin of all jawed vertebrates, had a mode of reproduction similar to modern sharks. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
It is a fascinating time in the world of fossil discovery!
Here are some recent discoveries:
New Australian Dinosaurs
Fossils of three new species of dinosaurs have been discovered in Australia, including a meat-eater larger than Velociraptor from the Jurassic Park movies, suggesting Australia may have a more complex prehistoric past. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
A Mummified Dinosaur
The dinosaur, approximately 7.5 meters (25 feet) long, apparently died on the banks of a sandy channel, perhaps near the bend of a river, where its body was rapidly buried under accumulating sediment. The waterlogged soil entombed it in a mineral-rich soup before the body could decay much, thus ensuring highly detailed preservation. Although fossils containing organic compounds or mummified soft tissues have been discovered before, the presence of both in one find is "as rare as hen's teeth, and the preservation seen in Dakota is something not seen in any other fossil to date," (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
How Dinosaur Hands Evolved Into Bird Claws
U.S. and Chinese scientists say their discovery of a beaked, plant-eating dinosaur fossil shows how birds' three-fingered claws evolved from dinosaurs. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
Rethinking The Origin of Our Ancestors
A new Myanmar fossil primate, Ganlea megacanina, suggests the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from large-toothed primates in Asia and not Africa. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
A Prehistoric Giant Elephant
Indonesian scientists are reconstructing the largest, most complete skeleton of a prehistoric giant elephant ever found in the tropics, a finding that may offer new clues into the largely mysterious origins of its modern Asian cousin.
The prehistoric elephant is believed to have been submerged in quicksand shortly after dying on a riverbed in Java around 200,000 years ago. Its bones — almost perfectly preserved — were discovered by chance in March when an old sand quarry collapsed during monsoon rains.
The animal stood four meters (13-feet) tall, five meters (16-feet) long and weighed more than 10 tons — closer in size to the woolly mammoth of the same period than to the great Asian mammals now on Earth. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
Megapiranhas and the Mystery of the Zig Zag Teeth
Megapiranha was up to 3 feet long (1 meter) — a fish-beast four times as big as piranhas living today, studies of its jawbones indicate. It lived about 8 million to 10 million years ago.
Another close relative of the piranha, called pacu. Pacu have squared-off stumps of teeth used for munching veggies.
Now a newly uncovered jawbone of a transition species ties all these teeth together. Named Megapiranha paranensis, this previously unknown fossil fish bridges the evolutionary gap between flesh-eating piranhas and their plant-eating cousins.
In modern piranhas, the teeth are arranged in a single file. But in the relatives of piranhas — which tend to be herbivorous fishes — the teeth are in two rows. The new fossil shows an intermediate pattern: teeth in a zig-zag row. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
The Sea Urchin Missing Link
The remains of a 65 million-year-old sea urchin uncovered in April at Stevns Cliff in southeastern Zealand is being called a possible biological ‘missing link’ by officials at East Zealand Geological Museum. (CLICKHERE for more . . .)
The Shark Penis Missing Link
The mode of reproduction seen in modern sharks is nearly 400 million years old. That is the conclusion drawn from the discovery of a so-called "clasper" (penis) in a primitive fossil fish.
A team of Australian and British researchers showed that placoderms, a group of ancient fishes that died out more than 350 million years ago, gave birth to live young. Beautifully preserved fossil embryos in the body cavity of the placoderm Incisoscutum showed that these fishes, close to the common origin of all jawed vertebrates, had a mode of reproduction similar to modern sharks. (CLICKHERE for more . . . )
It is a fascinating time in the world of fossil discovery!
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