Archive for March, 2016

Evolution of some of the largest dinosaurs explained

Riffin T Sajeev,Russel T Sajeev,World Fossil Society,WFS Scientists from the University of Liverpool have developed computer models of the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs to examine the evolution of their body shape. Sauropod dinosaurs include the largest land animals to have ever lived. Some of the more well-known sauropods include Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus. They are […]

Synemporion keana : An Extinct Bat

The Hawaiian Islands have long been thought to support just one endemic land mammal in the archipelago’s brief geologic history, the Hawaiian hoary bat. But new fossil evidence indicates that a second, very different species of bat lived alongside the hoary bat for thousands of years before going extinct shortly after humans arrived on the […]

Seaweed fossils : Chinggiskhaania bifurcata

Honing in on when life on Earth evolved from single-celled to multicellular organisms is no easy task. Organisms that old lacked many distinguishing characteristics of modern life forms, making their fossils exceptionally rare. But University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee paleontologist Stephen Dornbos and his research partners have discovered new clues in the quest. The team found fossils […]

How Mount Kosciuszko came to exist

Geologists from the University of Sydney and the California Institute of Technology have solved the mystery of how Australia’s highest mountain — Mount Kosciuszko — and surrounding Alps came to exist. Most of the world’s mountain belts are the result of two continents colliding (e.g. the Himalayas) or volcanism. The mountains of Australia’s Eastern highlands […]

Tullimonstrum gregarium: Solving the mystery of the Tully Monster

The Tully Monster, an oddly configured sea creature with teeth at the end of a narrow, trunk-like extension of its head and eyes that perch on either side of a long, rigid bar, has finally been identified. A Yale-led team of paleontologists has determined that the 300-million-year-old animal — which grew to only a foot […]

How Tyrannosaurus rex became top predator

The fossilized remains of a new horse-sized dinosaur reveal how Tyrannosaurus rex and its close relatives became top predators, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Paleontologists have long known from the fossil record that the family of dinosaurs at the center of the study–tyrannosaurs–transitioned from small-bodied […]

Fossil of oldest pine tree discovered

Scientists have discovered the oldest-know fossil of a pine tree.The charred pine twigs date back 140 million years to a time when fires raged across large tracts of land.Pine trees now dominate the forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The research suggests the tree’s evolution was shaped in the fiery landscape of the Cretaceous, where oxygen […]

Electrokoenenia yaksha : The minute fossilized microwhip scorpion

It’s smaller than a grain of rice, yellowish, trapped in amber and lived 100 million years ago alongside dinosaurs. Meet Electrokoenenia yaksha, a newly described type of microwhip scorpion, or palpigrade, from Myanmar, whose minute fossilised remains have been found, trapped in Burmese amber. It has been described by an international team led by Michael […]

A fossilized lizard preserved in amber

A fossilized lizard preserved in amber and found in Southeast Asia is 99 million years old scientists have determined. That makes it the oldest ever specimen of its kind and could hold the key to a ‘lost ecosystem’.The fossil is about 75 million years older than the previous oldest lizard discovered, researchers at Florida Museum […]

Oldest fossil land organism identified

The earliest example of an organism living on land – an early type of fungus – has been identified. The organism, from 440 million years ago, likely kick-started the process of rot and soil formation, which encouraged the later growth and diversification of life on land. A fossil dating from 440 million years ago is […]