An unusual fossil fish that has fins behind its anus could have implications for human evolution according to a scientist at The University of Manchester. Dr Robert Sansom from the Faculty of Life Sciences identified the paired fins of Euphanerops, a fossil jawless fish that swam in the seas around 370 million years ago. The […]
Archive for April, 2013
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Scientists decoded the genome of living fossil Coelacanth
April 18th, 2013 
Riffin An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of a creature whose evolutionary history is both enigmatic and illuminating: the African coelacanth. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, the coelacanth was once thought to be extinct. A living coelacanth was discovered off the African coast in 1938, and since then, questions […]
Tulip tree’s genome is ‘molecular fossil’
April 17th, 2013 Riffin The “extraordinary level of conservation” of genetic data in the tulip tree remains largely unchanged since the dinosaurs, a study suggests.The species’ genomic change is about 2,000 times slower than in humans, making it a “molecular fossil”, a team of US researchers said. The new information has affected our understanding of flowering plants’ evolution, they […]
WFS Profile: Dr. Rinchen Barsbold
April 17th, 2013 Riffin Dr. Rinchen Barsbold born December 21, 1935 in Ulan Bator is a Mongolian paleontologist and geologist. He works with the Institute of Geology, at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He is recognized around the world as a leader in vertebrate paleontology and Mesozoic stratigraphy. Barsbold has been instrumental in the discovery and recovery of one of the largest […]
Dinosaur Was a Strong Swimmer, Doggy-Paddle Style
April 16th, 2013 Riffin Claw marks on a 100-million-year-old riverbed in China reveal how some dinosaurs doggy-paddled over long distances, scientists say. “What we have are scratches left by the tips of a two-legged dinosaur’s feet,” study researcher Scott Persons, of the University of Alberta, said in a statement. “The dinosaur‘s claw marks show it was swimming along in […]
Fossilized shell-breaking Crab
April 15th, 2013 Riffin While waiting for colleagues at a small natural history museum in the state of Chiapas, Mexico last year, Cornell paleontologist Greg Dietl chanced upon a discovery that has helped rewrite the evolutionary history of crabs and the shelled mollusks upon which they preyed. In a museum display case he recognized a 67- to 69-million-year-old fossil […]
Organic Remains from world’s oldest Dinosaur Embryo Bonebed
April 14th, 2013 Riffin The great age of the embryos is unusual because almost all known dinosaur embryos are from the Cretaceous Period. The Cretaceous ended some 125 million years after the bones at the Lufeng site were buried and fossilized. Led by University of Toronto Mississauga paleontologist Robert Reisz, an international team of scientists from Canada, Taiwan, the […]
Fossil Pollen sheds light on early Pollinators
April 13th, 2013 Riffin The collapse of honeybee colonies across North America is focusing attention on the honeybees’ vital role in the survival of agricultural crops, and a new study by University of Florida and Indiana University Southeast researchers shows insect pollinators have likely played a key role in the evolution and success of flowering plants for nearly 100 […]
The Origin and Initial Rise of Pelagic Cephalopods in the Ordovician
April 12th, 2013 Riffin During the Ordovician the global diversity increased dramatically at family, genus and species levels. Partially the diversification is explained by an increased nutrient, and phytoplankton availability in the open water. Cephalopods are among the top predators of todays open oceans. Their Ordovician occurrences, diversity evolution and abundance pattern potentially provides information on the evolution of […]
Diversification in Ancient Tadpole Shrimps Challenges the Term ‘Living Fossil’
April 11th, 2013 Riffin The term ‘living fossil’ has a controversial history. For decades, scientists have argued about its usefulness as it appears to suggest that some organisms have stopped evolving. New research has now investigated the origin of tadpole shrimps, a group commonly regarded as ‘living fossils’ which includes the familiar Triops. The research reveals that living species […]
