Ohio State University geologists have isolated complex organic molecules from 350-million-year-old fossil sea creatures – the oldest such molecules yet found. The molecules may have functioned as pigments, but the study offers a much bigger finding: an entirely new way to track how species evolved.
Oldest Complex Organic Molecules Found In Ancient Fossils
Kategorie: Paläontologie
Ancient human footprints found in Mexico
Ancient human footprints discovered in the Mexican desert may be among the oldest in the Americas, researchers said on Wednesday. The 13 footprints found in Cuatro Cienegas in the northern state of Coahuila are fossilized in stone less than an inch deep and are around the age of the oldest known footprints in North or South America – they could be between 10.000 and 15.000 years old. The oldest discovered human footprints in the New World are in Monte Verde, Chile and are believed to be around 13.000 years old. The earliest known hominid tread marks are the Laetoli footsteps in Tanzania. At 3.7 million years old, they far predate the advent of homo sapiens.
Source: Reuters
West Australian Fossil Find Rewrites Land Mammal Evolution
A fossil fish discovered in the West Australian Kimberley has been identified as the missing clue in vertebrate evolution, rewriting a century-old theory on how the first land animals evolved. The fossil skeleton shows the fish’s skull had large holes for breathing through the top of the head but importantly also had muscular front fins with a well-formed humerus, ulna and radius – the same bones are found in the human arm. The fossil proves that features of land-living tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) evolved much earlier in their evolutionary history than previously thought. Humans can trace their evolutionary roots, and adaptations for life on land, further back in time – to more than 380 million years ago.
Cell Division Found In Oldest Known Embryo Fossils
A group of 15 scientists from five countries has discovered evidence of cell division and differentiation in fossil embryos that are more than 550 million years old. They used x-ray imaging technologies that produce higher resolutions than hospital-CT scans and digitally extracted cells from the embryos of ancient animals that have been preserved in the Doushantuo Formation, a fossil site in South China.
Virginia Tech News
Giant Insects Might Reign…With More Oxygen
The delicate lady bug in your garden could be frighteningly large if only there was a greater concentration of oxygen in the air, a new study concludes. The study adds support to the theory that some insects were much larger during the late Paleozoic period because they had a much richer oxygen supply.