Category: Palaeontology
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The emergence of modern zoogeographic regions in Asia examined through climate–dental trait association patterns
Study area and time intervals Similarly to our previous study on the present-day ecoregions of China and Southern Asia22, the area studied in this work is focused on China, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, which have a distinct climate system, unlike any other region in the world. We extend our study area from 40°N…
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“There’s Nothing Like Them” – Bizarre New Fossils Offer Glimpse Into Earth’s Ancient Oceans
Fossil plankton from half a billion years ago. These tiny algae measure much less than a millimetre in size. They evolved their colonial structure to avoid being eaten by early animals. Credit: THP Harvey Microfossils dating back half a billion years have been discovered by a scientist from the University of Leicester. A scientist from…
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Unveiling a Baby Turtle Disguised as a Plant Fossil
The fossil that was originally interpreted to be a plant, but researchers have now discovered is the inside of the shell of a baby turtle. Credit: Fabiany Herrera and Héctor Palma-Castro Researchers nicknamed the fossil “Turtwig” after a Pokemon that’s half-turtle, half-plant. From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Colombian priest named Padre Gustavo Huertas…
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Why dinosaur footprints inspired paleontologist Martin Lockley
On November 25, paleontologist Martin Lockley passed at the age of 73. PopSci spoke with Lockley about his career studying dinosaur tracks and footprints earlier this year. Rows of razor-sharp teeth. Femur bones the size of telephone poles. The towering skeleton of an animal taller than a giraffe. The replicas of dinosaur bodies and giant…
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Fossil plant revealed as a baby turtle fossil.
Newswise — From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Colombian priest named Padre Gustavo Huertas collected rocks and fossils near a town called Villa de Levya. Two of the specimens he found were small, round rocks patterned with lines that looked like leaves; he classified them as a type of fossil plant. But in a…
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Molecular fossils shed light on ancient life
Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. Research published Dec. 1 in Nature Communications combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted a shift in how animals eat. David Gold, associate…
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It turns out, this fossil ‘plant’ is really a fossil baby turtle
From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Colombian priest named Padre Gustavo Huertas collected rocks and fossils near a town called Villa de Levya. Two of the specimens he found were small, round rocks patterned with lines that looked like leaves; he classified them as a type of fossil plant. But in a new study,…
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Geoscientists map changes in atmospheric CO2 over past 66 million years
Today atmospheric carbon dioxide is at its highest level in at least several million years thanks to widespread combustion of fossil fuels by humans over the past couple centuries. But where does 419 parts per million (ppm) — the current concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere — fit in Earth’s history? That’s a…
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Climate change shown to cause methane to be released from the deep ocean
New research has shown that fire-ice — frozen methane which is trapped as a solid under our oceans — is vulnerable to melting due to climate change and could be released into the sea. An international team of researchers led by Newcastle University found that as frozen methane and ice melts, methane — a potent…
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Dinosaur or Early Bird? 210-Million-Year-Old Southern African Footprints Fuel Scientific Debate
A study has revealed that over 210 million years ago, ancient animals possibly possessed bird-like feet. This discovery comes from an analysis of Trisauropodiscus footprints found in southern Africa, dating back to the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic Periods. These footprints, which differ from any known fossil animals of that era, suggest that either early…