Oldest non-stromatolites found, according to Nature News and Views, vol. 563, pp190-191 8 November 2018. In 2016 scientists claim to have identified fossilised algal mats, knowns as stromatolites, in rocks of the Isua Supracrustal Belt, Greenland, dated as 3.7 billion years. This made them the oldest stromatolites ever found, displacing 3.45 billion year dated rocks […]
Oldest sponges found, according to ScienceDaily 15 October 2018 and Nature Ecology & Evolution 15 October 2018; doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0676-2. Researchers at the University of California have found evidence of sponges in rock and oils from Oman, Siberia, and India, dated as 660-635 million years ago. This is classified the Neoproterozoic Era, and is claimed to […]
John Mackay and Joseph Hubbard have found some great fossils in the Newcastle Coal Measures, on the east coast of Australia. These included fossil thorns on what seems to be a previously unrecorded species of Neuropteris, a seed fern. Regardless of what the classification finally turns out to be it means one challenging thing, so […]
Did dinosaurs stop to smell the flowers? According to articles in ScienceDaily 7 August 2018 and Historical Biology, doi: 10.1080/08912963.2018.1502288 published online 25 July 2018, they could have. Many flowers attract pollinators by producing fragrances. George Poinar, an entomologist at Oregon State University and his son Greg, a perfume collector, have examined fossil flowers found […]
Fossils made in a day, claim scientists in articles in Science (AAAS) News 14 August 2018 and Palaeontology 25 July 2018 doi: 10.1111/pala.12386. Some fossils of animals and birds include outlines of soft tissues, such as skin and feathers, as well as preserved bones. As part of research into the preservation of soft tissues two […]
Lucy’s child’ climbed trees, according to articles in ScienceDaily and National Geographic 4 July 2018 and Cosmos 6 July 2018 and Science Advances 4 July 2018, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aar7723. A team of scientists in the USA have studied a foot fossil found with a partial skeleton in Ethiopia in 2002. The skeleton has been identified as […]
Oldest rainforest frogs found, according to BBC news, National Geographic News, and ScienceDaily, 14 June 2018 and Scientific Reports Scientific Reports, 14 June 2018, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26848-w. Scientists from University of Florida and China University of Geosciences in Beijing have found the remains of four tiny frogs embedded in specimens of amber originally collected in Burma. […]
Stick disguise evolved early, claim scientists, according to reports in Nature News 25 April 2018 and Proceedings of Royal Society B 25 April 2018 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.042. Stick insects, as their name suggests, have long slender bodies and many have plate-like projections called lamellae, which also help make them look like twigs. These features are considered […]
Upside down dinosaurs explained by scientists in Science (AAAS) News 21 February 2018, and Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.02.010, published online 9 February 2018. Ankylosaurs were squat, short-legged dinosaurs with thick tails and armour-plated backs. Scientists who study them have noted that most have been preserved lying on their backs – i.e. upside down, and […]
Giant burrowing bat fossil found, as reported in ScienceDaily 10 January 2018, BBC News 11 January 2018 and Scientific Reports, doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-18403-w. An international team of scientists has found teeth and bones of an extinct burrowing bat in rock layers in Central Otago region in New Zealand. Burrowing bats can fly, but also forage for […]