University of Alabama researchers have discovered the fossilized remains of a large marine reptile that once ruled the open seas 80 million years ago. The initial discovery, made June 20 by middle-school student Noah Traylor during a UA-hosted expedition, was later identified as part of a large neck vertebra of an elasmosaur, which is a […]
Archive for July, 2013
Scientists Cast Doubt On Theory of What Triggered Antarctic Glaciation
July 15th, 2013 
Riffin A team of U.S. and U.K. scientists has found geologic evidence that casts doubt on one of the conventional explanations for how Antarctica’s ice sheet began forming. Ian Dalziel, research professor at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics and professor in the Jackson School of Geosciences, and his colleagues report the findings […]
Earth’s Core Affects Length of Day
July 14th, 2013 Riffin Researchers studied the variations and fluctuations in the length of day over a one to 10 year period between 1962 and 2012 Research at the University of Liverpool has found that variations in the length of day over periods of between one and 10 years are caused by processes in Earth’s core. Earth rotates once […]
Recent Earthquake Activity Is Not Unusual, Scientists Say
July 13th, 2013 Riffin China’s tragic magnitude 6.9 earthquake on April 13 and the recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Mexico, and elsewhere have many wondering if this earthquake activity is unusual. Scientists say 2010 is not showing signs of unusually high earthquake activity. Since 1900, an average of 16 magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes — the size that […]
Insect fossil Sheds Light On Climate Change
July 12th, 2013 Riffin Simon Fraser University biologists have discovered a new, extinct family of insects that will help scientists better understand how some animals responded to global climate change and the evolution of communities. “The Eocene Apex of Panorpoid Family Diversity,” a paper by SFU’s Bruce Archibald and Rolf Mathewes, plus David Greenwood from Brandon University, was recently […]
How Early Earth Kept Warm Enough to Support Life
July 11th, 2013 Riffin Solving the “faint young sun paradox” — explaining how early Earth was warm and habitable for life beginning more than 3 billion years ago even though the sun was 20 percent dimmer than today — may not be as difficult as believed, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study. In fact, two CU-Boulder researchers […]
The Origin of the Turtle Shell: Mystery Solved
July 10th, 2013 Riffin A team of researchers from Japan has finally solved the riddle of the origin of the turtle shell. By observing the development of different animal species and confirming their results with fossil analysis and genomic data, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology show that the shell on the turtle’s back derives only from […]
The Evolution of Fins to Limbs in the Land Invasion Race
July 8th, 2013 Riffin Why did animals with limbs win the race to invade land over those with fins? A new study comparing the forces acting on fins of mudskipper fish and on the forelimbs of tiger salamanders can now be used to analyze early fossils that spanned the water-to-land transition in tetrapod evolution, and further understand their capability […]
Fossil Insect Traces Reveal Ancient Climate, Entrapment, and Fossilization at La Brea Tar Pits
July 5th, 2013 Riffin The La Brea Tar Pits have stirred the imaginations of scientists and the public alike for over a century. But the amount of time it took for ancient animals to become buried in asphalt after enduring their gruesome deaths has remained a mystery. Recent forensic investigations, led by Anna R. Holden of the Natural History […]
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Tags: Fossil Insect, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society 
No Comments »The Giant Cretaceous Coelacanth (Actinistia, Sarcopterygii) Megalocoelacanthus dobiei Schwimmer, Stewart & Williams, 1994, and Its Bearing on Latimerioidei Interrelationships
July 4th, 2013 Riffin We present a redescription of Megalocoelacanthus dobiei, a giant fossil coelacanth from Upper Cretaceous strata of North America. Megalocoelacanthus has been previously described on the basis of composite material that consisted of isolated elements. Consequently, many aspects of its anatomy have remained unknown as well as its phylogenetic relationships with other coelacanths. Previous studies have […]
