A new kind of pterosaur, a flying reptile from the time of the dinosaurs, has been identified by scientists from the Transylvanian Museum Society in Romania, the University of Southampton in the UK and the Museau Nacional in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The fossilised bones come from the Late Cretaceous rocks of Sebeş-Glod in the […]
Archive for the ‘Featured Post’ Category
Carcass of a 50-million-year-old fossil of a lizard
February 4th, 2013 
Riffin Even for the lucky few creatures that are preserved in the fossil record, soft tissues such as skin and feathers typically disappear over time. But a newly developed technique has found a way to bring them back to life in some cases. Researchers have now used the approach to resurrect the teeth and recognize the […]
Internal Bone Structure Reveals Loading and Walking Behavior
February 3rd, 2013 Riffin The form and structure of bones change as a result of the forces to which they are subjected. Researcher Patrik Christen of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has used this fact to determine the load using the bone structure. This knowledge can be important in predicting the progress and treatment of bone diseases, as well […]
First Artificial Enzyme Created by Evolution in a Test Tube
February 1st, 2013 Riffin There’s a wobbly new biochemical structure in Burckhard Seelig’s lab at the University of Minnesota that may resemble what enzymes looked like billions of years ago, when life on earth began to evolve — long before they became ingredients for new and improved products, from detergents to foods and fuels. Seelig created the fledgling enzyme […]
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Tags: Evolution in a Test Tube, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society 
6 Comments »Ups and Downs of Biodiversity After Mass Extinction
January 31st, 2013 Riffin The climate after the largest mass extinction so far 252 million years ago was cool, later very warm and then cool again. Thanks to the cooler temperatures, the diversity of marine fauna ballooned, as paleontologists from the University of Zurich have reconstructed. The warmer climate, coupled with a high CO2 level in the atmosphere, initially […]
Poisonous prehistoric ‘raptor’ discovered by research team from Kansas and China
January 30th, 2013 Riffin A group of University of Kansas researchers working with Chinese colleagues have discovered a venomous, birdlike raptor that thrived some 128 million years ago in China. This is the first report of venom in the lineage that leads to modern birds. “This thing is a venomous bird for all intents and purposes,” said Larry Martin, […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: dinosaurs, dromaeosaur, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, Sinornithosaurus, theropods, WFS, world fossil society 1 Comment »Extinction Rates Not as Bad as Feared … for Now: Scientists Challenge Common Belief
January 28th, 2013 Riffin Concerns that many animals are becoming extinct, before scientists even have time to identify them, are greatly overstated, according Griffith University researcher, Professor Nigel Stork. Professor Stork has taken part in an international study, the findings of which have been detailed in “Can we name Earth’s species before they go extinct?” published in the journal […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Extinction Rates, Riffin T Sajeev.Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »Prehistoric Ghosts Revealing New Details: Synchrotron Helps Identify Previously Unseen Anatomy Preserved in Fossils
January 27th, 2013 Riffin Scientists at The University of Manchester have used synchrotron-based imaging techniques to identify previously unseen anatomy preserved in fossils. Their work on a 50-million-year-old lizard skin identified the presence of teeth (invisible to visible light), demonstrating for the first time that this fossil animal was more than just a skin moult. This was only possible […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Bahndwivici ammoskius, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »New Dinosaur Fossil Challenges Bird Flight Origins Theories
January 26th, 2013 Riffin The discovery of a new bird-like dinosaur from the Jurassic period challenges widely accepted theories on the origin of flight. Co-authored by Dr Gareth Dyke, Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Southampton, the paper describes a new feathered dinosaur about 30 cm in length which pre-dates bird-like dinosaurs that birds were long […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Eosinopteryx, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »Sex of Early Birds Suggests Dinosaur Reproductive Style
January 23rd, 2013 Riffin In a paper published in Nature Communications on January 22, 2013, a team of paleontologists including Dr. Luis Chiappe, Director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s (NHM) Dinosaur Institute, has discovered a way to determine the sex of a prehistoric bird species. Reconstruction of Confuciusornis sanctus. (Credit: Stephanie Abramowicz, NHM Dinosaur Institute) […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Confuciusornis sanctus, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society 1 Comment »
