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Human’s Oldest Ancestor Found in Burgess Shale

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2012Scienceamerican palaeontologist, burgess shale, cambrian explosion, canada, charles doolittle walcott, chordate family, earthworms, fossil, jean bernard caron, leeches, marine organisms, myomeres, nerve cord, pikaia, pikaia gracilens, predator, primitive, primitive chordate, rom, royal ontario museum, scanning electron microscopy, simon conway morris, siphusauctum, tegopelte, university of cambridge, university of toronto, vascular system, vertebrate, worm, yoho national park

*Pikaia is most primitive vertebrate known*

Researchers from the University of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the University of Cambridge have confirmed that a 505 million-year-old creature, found only in the Burgess Shale fossil beds in Canada’s Yoho National Park, is the most primitive known vertebrate and therefore the ancestor of all descendant vertebrates, including humans.

The research team’s analysis proves the extinct Pikaia gracilens is the most primitive member of the chordate family, the group of animals that today includes fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals. Their study is based on the analysis of 114 specimens and is published in the British scientific journal Biological Reviews. (more…)

Ancient Dinosaur Nursery Oldest Nesting Site Yet Found

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2012Scienceadam yates, cretaceous periods, david evans, dinosaur eggs, dinosaur footprint, dinosaur nesting site, dinosaur record, dinosaur reproduction, early dinosaur, early jurassic period, eric roberts, evolution, evolutionary history, excavation, fossil record, hans-dieter sues, hatchling, jurassic, massospondylus, oldest known embryo, prosauropod dinosaur, reproductive behaviour, robert reisz, royal ontario museum, sauropods, sedimentary rocks, smithsonian institute, South Africa

*UTM professor unearths fossils in South Africa*

An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus-revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. The newly unearthed dinosaur nesting ground predates previously known nesting sites by 100 million years, according to study authors.

A new study led by University of Toronto Mississauga paleontologist Robert Reisz, with co-author, Professor David Evans of ecology and evolutionary biology and the Royal Ontario Museum, along with a group of international researchers, describes clutches of eggs, many with embryos, as well as tiny dinosaur footprints, providing the oldest known evidence that the hatchlings remained at the nesting site long enough to at least double in size. (more…)

University of Toronto/Royal Ontario Museum Scientists Discover Unusual ‘Tulip’ Creature

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2012Nature, Scienceanimal, bizarre creature, burgess shale, burgess shale animals, calyx, canadian rockies, cup like structure, filter feeding system, fossil, fossil specimens, invertebrate palaeontology, jean bernard caron, lorna obrien, middle cambrian burgess shale, mount stephen, ocean, parks canada, primitive members, royal ontario museum, seafloor, siphusauctum gregarium, stem, tulip beds, UNESCO, university of toronto

*Lived in the ocean more than 500-million years ago*

A bizarre creature that lived in the ocean more than 500-million years ago has emerged from the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies.

Officially named Siphusauctum gregarium, fossils reveal a tulip-shaped creature that is about the length of a dinner knife (approximately 20 centimetres) and has a unique filter feeding system. (more…)

Tag Archives: royal ontario museum

Human’s Oldest Ancestor Found in Burgess Shale

Ancient Dinosaur Nursery Oldest Nesting Site Yet Found

University of Toronto/Royal Ontario Museum Scientists Discover Unusual ‘Tulip’ Creature