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Scientists Discover Fossil of Giant Ancient Sea Predator

By Guest PostMay 27, 2011Scienceancient sea creatures, anomalocaridid creature, anomalocaridids, biodiversification, cambrian animals, cambrian explosion, cambrian period, complex ecosystems, deep-water, derek briggs, fossils, marine animals, marine fauna, marine predators, morocco, ordovician period, paleontologists, peter van roy, sea floor, sediment clouds

Paleontologists have discovered that a group of remarkable ancient sea creatures existed for much longer and grew to much larger sizes than previously thought, thanks to extraordinarily well-preserved fossils discovered in Morocco.

The creatures, known as anomalocaridids, were already thought to be the largest animals of the Cambrian period, known for the “Cambrian Explosion” that saw the sudden appearance of all the major animal groups and the establishment of complex ecosystems about 540 to 500 million years ago. Fossils from this period suggested these marine predators grew to be about two feet long. Until now, scientists also thought these strange invertebrates-which had long spiny head limbs presumably used to snag worms and other prey, and a circlet of plates around the mouth-died out at the end of the Cambrian. (more…)

The Winners of Mass Extinction: With Predators Gone, Prey Thrives

By Guest PostMay 11, 2011Scienceage of fishes, age of the crinoids, crinoid fossils, devonian era, devonian period, ecology, ecosystem, Environment, fish, fossil record, fossils, hangenberg event, lauren sallan, lotka volterra cycles, marine vertebrate, mass extinction, modern biodiversity, natural experiment, ocean life, ohio state university, paleontologist, population of prey species, predator prey dynamics, predator prey relationships, residual defenses, robert nicholls, thomas kammer, university of chicago, william ausich

*Extinction of fishes 360 million years ago created natural ecology experiment*

In present-day ecology, the removal or addition of a predator in an ecosystem can produce dramatic changes in the population of prey species. For the first time, scientists have observed the same dynamics in the fossil record, thanks to a mass extinction that decimated ocean life 360 million years ago.

What was bad for fish was good for the fish’s food, according to a paper published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the University of Chicago, West Virginia University and The Ohio State University found that the mass extinction known as the Hangenberg event produced a “natural experiment” in the fossil record, with results that mirror modern observations about predator-prey relationships. (more…)

UF Pine lsland Pollen Study Leads to Revision of State’s Ancient Geography

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2011Scienceavon park formation, calusa indian village, david jarzen, deep injection well, early eocene, evolution of mammals, florida, flowering plants, fort myers, fossils, fredrick rich, geologic history, gray lignitic clay, jonathan bloch, limestone, marine environments, oligocene epoch, paleontologist, phytoplankton, pine island, pollen, sea level

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study of 45-million-year-old pollen from Pine Island west of Fort Myers has led to a new understanding of the state’s geologic history, showing Florida could be 10 million to 15 million years older than previously believed.

The discovery of land in Florida during the early Eocene opens the possibility for researchers to explore the existence of land animals at that time, including their adaptation, evolution and dispersal until the present. (more…)

Unexpected Exoskeleton Remnants Found in Paleozoic Fossils

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2011Sciencearthropods, canada, cenozoic fossils, chitin protein complex, fossils, george cody, horseshoe crabs, low energy x rays, mesozoic fossils, molecular signature, ontario, organic fossil record, paleozoic era, partial bacterial degradation, polysaccharide, protein

Washington, D.C.— Surprising new research shows that, contrary to conventional belief, remains of chitin-protein complex—structural materials containing protein and polysaccharide—are present in abundance in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Previously the oldest molecular signature of chitin-protein complex was discovered in 25 million year old Cenozoic fossils and remnants of structural protein have also been discovered in 80 million-year-old Mesozoic fossils. Carnegie’s George Cody and an international team of scientists discovered relicts of protein-chitin complex in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Their findings, published online by Geology, could have major implications for our understanding of the organic fossil record. (more…)

Using Discards, Scientists Discover Different Dinosaurs’ Stomping Grounds

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2010Scienceceratopsians, dinosaur, duck-billed dinosaurs, fossils, hadrosaurs, herbivores, late cretaceous, montana, nicholas longrich, North America, ornithopod, period, thescelosaurus, triceratops, tyler lyson, tyrannosaurs rex, western canada, yale university, yyoming

By examining the type of rock in which dinosaur fossils were embedded, an often unappreciated part of the remains,

Certain dinosaur species liked to live in different habitats, separated by only a few miles. Image credit: Nicholas Longrich

scientists have determined that different species of North American dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago occupied different environments separated by just a few miles.

Hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, along with the small ornithopod Thescelosaurus, preferred to live along the edge of rivers, according to the research. Ceratopsians, on the other hand, which include the well-known Triceratops, preferred to be several miles inland.

The findings, which appear in the online edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, give scientists a more complete picture of the distribution of different species and help explain how several large herbivores managed to coexist. (more…)

Tag Archives: fossils

Scientists Discover Fossil of Giant Ancient Sea Predator

The Winners of Mass Extinction: With Predators Gone, Prey Thrives

UF Pine lsland Pollen Study Leads to Revision of State’s Ancient Geography

Unexpected Exoskeleton Remnants Found in Paleozoic Fossils

Using Discards, Scientists Discover Different Dinosaurs’ Stomping Grounds