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 […]
Posts Tagged ‘Russel T Sajeev’
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 […]
volcanic eruptions triggered mass extinction Before dinosaurs’ era
April 10th, 2013 Riffin More than 200 million years ago, a massive extinction decimated 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species, marking the end of the Triassic period and the onset of the Jurassic. The event cleared the way for dinosaurs to dominate Earth for the next 135 million years, taking over ecological niches formerly occupied by other marine […]
Posted in Featured Post 
Tags: Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP)Lisa BoushSam BowringTerrence BlackburnNoah McLean, E. Troy Rasbury, John PufferGreg McHone, massive extinction, Mohammed Et-Touhami, Paul OlsenDennis Kent, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, WFS, world fossil society 
No Comments »New Measurement of Crocodilian Nerves Could Help Scientists Understand Ancient Animals
April 8th, 2013 Riffin Crocodilians have nerves on their faces that are so sensitive, they can detect a change in a pond when a single drop hits the water surface several feet away. Alligators and crocodiles use these “invisible whiskers” to detect prey when hunting. Now, a new study from the University of Missouri has measured the nerves responsible […]
Posted in Featured Post Tags: Casey Holliday, Ian George, Riffin T Sajeev, Russel T Sajeev, trigeminal nerve, WFS, world fossil society No Comments »Dwarf Whale Survived Well Into Ice Age
April 6th, 2013 Riffin Research from New Zealand’s University of Otago detailing the fossil of a dwarf baleen whale from Northern California reveals that it avoided extinction far longer than previously thought. Otago Department of Geology PhD student Robert Boessenecker has found that the fossil of the 4-5 meter long Herpetocetus, thought to be the last survivor of the […]
Estimating Impact Forces of Tail Club Strikes by Ankylosaurid Dinosaurs
April 5th, 2013 Riffin It has been assumed that the unusual tail club of ankylosaurid dinosaurs was used actively as a weapon, but the biological feasibility of this behaviour has not been examined in detail. Ankylosaurid tail clubs are composed of interlocking vertebrae, which form the handle, and large terminal osteoderms, which form the knob. Methodology/Principal Findings Computed […]
New Evidence Ancient Asteroid Caused Global Firestorm On Earth
April 4th, 2013 Riffin A new look at conditions after a Manhattan-sized asteroid slammed into a region of Mexico in the dinosaur days indicates the event could have triggered a global firestorm that would have burned every twig, bush and tree on Earth and led to the extinction of 80 percent of all Earth’s species, says a new University […]
Dusting for prints from a fossil fish to understand evolutionary change
April 3rd, 2013 Riffin In 370 million-year-old red sandstone deposits in a highway roadcut, scientists have discovered a new species of armored fish in north central Pennsylvania. Fossils of armored fishes like this one, a phyllolepid placoderm, are known for the distinctive ornamentation of ridges on their exterior plates. As with many such fossils, scientists often find the […]
