Ammonites are a group of extinct cephalopod mollusks with ribbed spiral shells. They are exceptionally diverse and well known to fossil lovers. Régis Chirat, researcher at the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes et Environnement (CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1/ENS de Lyon), and two colleagues from the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford […]
Archive for October, 2014
How dinosaur arms turned into bird wings
October 7th, 2014 
Riffin Although we now appreciate that birds evolved from a branch of the dinosaur family tree, a crucial adaptation for flight has continued to puzzle evolutionary biologists. During the millions of years that elapsed, wrists went from straight to bent and hyperflexible, allowing birds to fold their wings neatly against their bodies when not flying. How […]
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Tags: bird wings, dinosaur arms, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society 
No Comments »Fossil of ancient multicellular life sets evolutionary timeline back 60 million years
October 4th, 2014 Riffin A Virginia Tech geobiologist with collaborators from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found evidence in the fossil record that complex multicellularity appeared in living things about 600 million years ago — nearly 60 million years before skeletal animals appeared during a huge growth spurt of new life on Earth known as the Cambrian Explosion. […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: 60 million years, life, multicellular, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, timeline, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »52-million-year-old amber preserves ‘ant-loving’ beetle
October 3rd, 2014 Riffin Scientists have uncovered the fossil of a 52-million-year old beetle that likely was able to live alongside ants — preying on their eggs and usurping resources — within the comfort of their nest. The fossil, encased in a piece of amber from India, is the oldest-known example of this kind of social parasitism, known as […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: 52-million-year-old amber, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »
