Archive for September, 2015

More oxygen in the core of Earth

There is more oxygen in the core of Earth than originally thought. Lawrence Livermore geologist Rick Ryerson and international colleagues discovered some new findings about Earth’s core and mantle by considering their geophysical and geochemical signatures together. This research provides insight into the origins of Earth’s formation. Based on the higher oxygen concentration of the […]

Marrellomorph redefine evolutionary timelines

Some of the oldest marine animals on the planet, including armoured worm-like forms and giant, lobster like sea creatures, survived millions of years longer than previously thought, according to a spectacularly preserved fossil formation from southeastern Morocco. The Lower Fezouata formation has been revealing exciting discoveries about life in the Ordovician — around 485 — […]

fossils formation unlocked

Fossils tell amazing stories and inspire them, too — just think of this summer’s “Jurassic World” blockbuster. But because some of the processes that preserve fossils are not well understood, there’s still more information that they could reveal. Now scientists report in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry a new way to probe fossils to find out […]

Bunostegos akokanensis: A Pre reptile

A newly published analysis of the bones of Bunostegos akokanensis, a 260-million-year-old pre-reptile, finds that it likely stood upright on all-fours, like a cow or a hippo, making it the earliest known creature to do so. To date all of the known pareiasaurs who roved the supercontinent of Pangea in the Permian era a quarter […]

Coelacanths :Living Fossils

The coelacanth, an elusive deep-sea dweller long thought extinct, had another item added Tuesday to an already-long list of unusual physical traits: an obsolete lung lurking in its abdomen.Similar to the human appendix, the organ was likely rendered defunct by evolution, researchers noted in the journal Nature Communications.Like all fish, today’s coelacanths — referred to […]

‘Lightning Claw’ Dinosaur Fossil

The remains of a “lightning claw” dinosaur was discovered by opal miners in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. The giant dinosaur was said to have existed during the mid-Cretaceous period in the supercontinent called Gondwana, according to Australian Geographic.  The dinosaur belonged to the megaraptorid group of dinosaurs known primarily in Argentina. It is believed […]

Ariyalur Fossils : Belemnites

Belemnites (Belemnitida) were squid-like animals belonging to the cephalopod class of the mollusc phylum, and therefore related to the ammonites of old as well as to the modern squids, octopuses and nautiluses. Now extinct, their fossils are found in rocks of Jurassic and Cretaceous ages, with a few species hanging on into the early part […]

Desmatochelys padillai : Giant fossil turtle

Scientists at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt have described the world’s oldest fossil sea turtle known to date. The fossilized reptile is at least 120 million years old — which makes it about 25 million years older than the previously known oldest specimen. The almost completely preserved skeleton from the Cretaceous, with a length […]

mantle plumes with volcanic hotspots

University of California, Berkeley, seismologists have produced for the first time a sharp, three-dimensional scan of Earth’s interior that conclusively connects plumes of hot rock rising through the mantle with surface hotspots that generate volcanic island chains like Hawaii, Samoa and Iceland. Essentially a computed tomography, or CT scan, of Earth’s interior, the picture emerged […]

Ariyalur Fossils:Rastellum carinatum

This is a Cretaceous aged fossil oyster of the species Rastellum carinatum from Dalmiapuram (Kallakkudi formation). It has wide, angled ribs that have led to it being called the ‘denture clam’. The zig-zag join between the two shells stopped coarse dirt and debris entering the shell and damaging its soft body. Like modern oysters it […]