The earthquake zones off of certain coasts — like those of Japan and Java — make them especially vulnerable to tsunamis, according to a new study. They can produce a focusing point that creates massive and devastating tsunamis that break the rules for how scientists used to think tsunamis work. Until now, it was largely […]
Archive for March, 2013
Sea Floor Earthquake Zones Can Act Like a ‘Magnifying Lens’ Strengthening Tsunamis Beyond What Was Through Possible
March 20th, 2013 
Riffin 
Posted in Featured Post 
Tags: Costas Synolakis, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, Utku Kanoglu, WFS, world fossil society 
No Comments »A New Snake Skull from the Paleocene of Bolivia Sheds Light on the Evolution of Macrostomatans
March 19th, 2013 Riffin Macrostomatan snakes, one of the most diverse extant clades of squamates, display an impressive arsenal of cranial features to consume a vast array of preys. In the absence of indisputable fossil representatives of this clade with well-preserved skulls, the mode and timing of these extraordinary morphological novelties remain obscure. Here, we report the discovery of […]
New fossils show that four different types of birds had stiff feathers on their legs.
March 18th, 2013 Riffin More than 100 million years ago, birds living in what is now China sported wings on their legs, a new study of fossils suggests. Researchers found evidence of large leg feathers in 11 bird specimens from China’s Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature. The feathers suggest that early birds had four wings, which may have played […]
Dinosaur-Era Climate Change Study Suggests Reasons for Turtle Disappearance
March 17th, 2013 Riffin The dry, barren prairie around Alberta’s Drumheller area was once a lush and subtropical forest on the shores of a large inland sea, with loads of wetlands inhabited by dinosaurs, turtles, crocodiles and small mammals. But that changed about 71-million-years ago, according to a new study by researchers Annie Quinney and Darla Zelenitsky in paleontology […]
Mineral Shows in March 2013
March 16th, 2013 Riffin March 16-17—SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Southwest Gem & Mineral Society; San Antonio Event Center; 8111 Meadow Leaf Dr.; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-4; adults $5, seniors and military $3, students $2, children $1; minerals, fossils, jewelry, gemstones, club exhibits, silent auction, children’s games, hourly and grand door prizes; contact Robert Bowie, TX 78133, (210) 287-5233; e-mail: krbotx@gvtc.com; […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Greater Kansas City Association of Earth Science Clubs, Mineral Shows in March 2013, Palomar Gem & Mineral Club, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, Southwest Gem & Mineral Society, Val Latham and Sharon Szymanski; Mingus Union High School, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »First Fossil Record of Alphonsea Hk. f. & T. (Annonaceae) from the Late Oligocene Sediments of Assam, India and Comments on Its Phytogeography
March 15th, 2013 Riffin A new fossil leaf impression of Alphonsea Hk. f. & T. of the family Annonaceae is described from the Late Oligocene sediments of Makum Coalfield, Assam, India. This is the first authentic record of the fossil of Alphonsea from the Tertiary rocks of South Asia. The Late Oligocene was the time of the last significant […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Alphonsea Hk, Annonaceae, Early Miocene, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »Light Shed On Ancient Origin of Life
March 14th, 2013 Riffin University of Georgia researchers discovered important genetic clues about the history of microorganisms called archaea and the origins of life itself in the first ever study of its kind. Results of their study shed light on one of Earth’s oldest life forms. “Archaea are an ancient form of microorganisms, so everything we can learn about […]
Cryptic Clams: Biologists Find Species Hiding in Plain View
March 14th, 2013 Riffin Cryptic comments seem to have an ambiguous, obscure or hidden meaning. In biology, cryptic species are outwardly indistinguishable groups whose differences are hidden inside their genes. Two University of Michigan marine biologists have identified three cryptic species of tiny clams, long believed to be members of the same species, which have been hiding in plain […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: cryptic species, L. australis, O'Foighil, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »fossil egg study :connection between French and Spanish dinosaurs
March 13th, 2013 Riffin A study headed by the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Palaeontology Institute has for the first time documented detailed records of dinosaur egg fossils in the Coll de Nargó archaeological site in Lleida, Spain. Up until now, only one type of dinosaur egg had been documented in the region. The archaeological site in Coll de Nargó containing […]
Secondary Cartilage Revealed in a Non-Avian Dinosaur Embryo
March 12th, 2013 Riffin The skull and jaws of extant birds possess secondary cartilage, a tissue that arises after bone formation during embryonic development at articulations, ligamentous and muscular insertions. Using histological analysis, we discovered secondary cartilage in a non-avian dinosaur embryo, Hypacrosaurus stebingeri (Ornithischia, Lambeosaurinae). This finding extends our previous report of secondary cartilage in post-hatching specimens of […]
