ramonmercado
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Newly Discovered: Animal Fossils
- Thread starter Mighty_Emperor
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- fossils palaeontology
But then. . . Farmers get grumpy if you Badger them!
Mungoman
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There's a joke out here that is well worn and it concerns Farmers.
The question is: What two things do you never see - answer: A dead donkey or a happy farmer.
The phenomenon must be world wide...
The question is: What two things do you never see - answer: A dead donkey or a happy farmer.
The phenomenon must be world wide...
ramonmercado
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Found nearly 30 years ago but only recently identified.
Scientists have identified a new species of amphibian that occupied Australia some 247 million years ago.
The finding ends a mystery that has captivated researchers since the 90s, when the creature's fossilised remains were found by a retired chicken farmer in New South Wales. Less than 10 fossils of the lizard-like species have been identified globally.
Experts say the discovery may "rewrite the evolution of amphibians in Australia".
It was a broken garden wall at his home in Umina - a roughly 90-minute drive north of Sydney - that led to Mihail Mihaildis's discovery of the extraordinary fossil, almost three decades ago. The retired chicken farmer had purchased a 1.6 tonne sandstone slab to fix the problem. But as he sliced through the stone's outer layers, the immortalised outline of an unknown creature revealed itself.
Mr Mihaildis contacted the Australian Museum in Sydney about his discovery, and in 1997 he handed the fossil over. It was there in a climate-controlled display room that Lachlan Hart - the palaeontologist who would ultimately decode its petrified remains - first encountered it as a child.
"I was obsessed with dinosaurs... and so 12-year-old me saw that fossil on display back in 1997. And then 25 years later it became part of my PhD, which is insane," Mr Hart says.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66446925
Scientists have identified a new species of amphibian that occupied Australia some 247 million years ago.
The finding ends a mystery that has captivated researchers since the 90s, when the creature's fossilised remains were found by a retired chicken farmer in New South Wales. Less than 10 fossils of the lizard-like species have been identified globally.
Experts say the discovery may "rewrite the evolution of amphibians in Australia".
It was a broken garden wall at his home in Umina - a roughly 90-minute drive north of Sydney - that led to Mihail Mihaildis's discovery of the extraordinary fossil, almost three decades ago. The retired chicken farmer had purchased a 1.6 tonne sandstone slab to fix the problem. But as he sliced through the stone's outer layers, the immortalised outline of an unknown creature revealed itself.
Mr Mihaildis contacted the Australian Museum in Sydney about his discovery, and in 1997 he handed the fossil over. It was there in a climate-controlled display room that Lachlan Hart - the palaeontologist who would ultimately decode its petrified remains - first encountered it as a child.
"I was obsessed with dinosaurs... and so 12-year-old me saw that fossil on display back in 1997. And then 25 years later it became part of my PhD, which is insane," Mr Hart says.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66446925
ramonmercado
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More finds in Fossilized feces.
Fossilized feces preserve evidence of ancient parasites that infected an aquatic predator over 200 million years ago, according to a study published August 9, 2023, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Thanit Nonsrirach of Mahasarakham University, Thailand, and colleagues.
Parasites are a common and important component of ecosystems, but ancient parasites are difficult to study due to a poor fossil record. Parasites often inhabit the soft tissues of their host, which rarely preserve as fossils. There are, however, cases where traces of parasites can be identified within fossilized feces (coprolites). In this study, Nonsrirach and colleagues describe evidence of parasites in a Late Triassic coprolite from the Huai Hin Lat Formation of Thailand, which is more than 200 million years old.
The coprolite is cylindrical in shape and more than 7cm long. Based on its shape and contents, the researchers suggest it was likely produced by some species of phytosaur, crocodile-like predators which are also known from this fossil locality. Microscopic analysis of thin sections of the coprolite revealed six small, round, organic structures between 50 and 150 micrometers long. One of these, an oval-shaped structure with a thick shell, is identified as the egg of a parasitic nematode worm, while the others appear to represent additional worm eggs or protozoan cysts of unclear identity.
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-fossi...&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
ramonmercado
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What the trilobite had for dinner.
For roughly 250 million years, some 20,000-odd species of trilobite scuttled across Earth's ocean floor. Despite the huge abundance these diverse animals in our fossil records, much of their basic biology is still unclear, like what they ate.
Until now, trilobite diets have only been inferred from indirect clues, but researchers have just discovered the first trilobite specimen that still has signs of its final meals frozen in time within.
The complete Bohemolichas incola trilobite was preserved in fine 3D details within encasing siliceous pebbles called Rokycany Balls. Inside this specimen's staggering 465 million-year-old digestive system paleontologist Petr Kraft from Charles University in the Czech Republic and colleagues found tightly packed fragments of shell.
Ventral (belly) view of the trilobite mould, with mouthparts in gold and food particles in various colors (Kraft et al., Nature, 2023)
The shells did not show signs of being dissolved with their sharp edges still intact, suggesting the trilobite's digestive system isn't acidic but rather neutral or basic along its entire length, the researchers explain. This is how modern crustaceans and spiders do their digesting too – animals belonging to the two different modern groups in contention for the closest trilobite relatives.
https://www.sciencealert.com/fossil...vered-with-its-last-meal-still-visible-inside
For roughly 250 million years, some 20,000-odd species of trilobite scuttled across Earth's ocean floor. Despite the huge abundance these diverse animals in our fossil records, much of their basic biology is still unclear, like what they ate.
Until now, trilobite diets have only been inferred from indirect clues, but researchers have just discovered the first trilobite specimen that still has signs of its final meals frozen in time within.
The complete Bohemolichas incola trilobite was preserved in fine 3D details within encasing siliceous pebbles called Rokycany Balls. Inside this specimen's staggering 465 million-year-old digestive system paleontologist Petr Kraft from Charles University in the Czech Republic and colleagues found tightly packed fragments of shell.
Ventral (belly) view of the trilobite mould, with mouthparts in gold and food particles in various colors (Kraft et al., Nature, 2023)
The shells did not show signs of being dissolved with their sharp edges still intact, suggesting the trilobite's digestive system isn't acidic but rather neutral or basic along its entire length, the researchers explain. This is how modern crustaceans and spiders do their digesting too – animals belonging to the two different modern groups in contention for the closest trilobite relatives.
https://www.sciencealert.com/fossil...vered-with-its-last-meal-still-visible-inside
I suppose if there was/is, a todays version of the trilobites, then this amazing 'scan' would illustrate something of the finer details of the amounts of coloured plastics within - not tiny bits of shells?What the trilobite had for dinner.
For roughly 250 million years, some 20,000-odd species of trilobite scuttled across Earth's ocean floor. Despite the huge abundance these diverse animals in our fossil records, much of their basic biology is still unclear, like what they ate.
Until now, trilobite diets have only been inferred from indirect clues, but researchers have just discovered the first trilobite specimen that still has signs of its final meals frozen in time within.
The complete Bohemolichas incola trilobite was preserved in fine 3D details within encasing siliceous pebbles called Rokycany Balls. Inside this specimen's staggering 465 million-year-old digestive system paleontologist Petr Kraft from Charles University in the Czech Republic and colleagues found tightly packed fragments of shell.
Ventral (belly) view of the trilobite mould, with mouthparts in gold and food particles in various colors (Kraft et al., Nature, 2023)
The shells did not show signs of being dissolved with their sharp edges still intact, suggesting the trilobite's digestive system isn't acidic but rather neutral or basic along its entire length, the researchers explain. This is how modern crustaceans and spiders do their digesting too – animals belonging to the two different modern groups in contention for the closest trilobite relatives.
https://www.sciencealert.com/fossil...vered-with-its-last-meal-still-visible-inside
ramonmercado
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Lamprey fossils
Scientists have described two lamprey fossils with "extensively toothed" mouths from the Jurassic period, shining a light on how this group has evolved into its modern forms since the Devonian.
These Jurassic lampreys have the most powerful "biting structures" among known fossil lampreys and suggest an ancestral flesh-eating habit of living lampreys. (Image credit: Heming Zhang)
Scientists in China have unearthed two superbly preserved, 160 million-year-old lamprey fossils — including the largest found to date — shining a light on this group's obscure evolutionary history.
Lampreys are one of two living jawless vertebrate groups that first appear in the fossil record around 360 million years ago, during the Devonian period (419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago). These ancient fish, including 31 species alive today, typically have teeth-filled sucker mouths that they use to latch onto prey to extract blood and other body fluids.
The newly described fossils date to the Jurassic period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago) and bridge a gap between early fossil discoveries and extant lineages. Researchers unearthed the specimens from a fossil bed in northeast China and named them Yanliaomyzon occisor and Y. ingensdentes — their species names meaning "killer" in Latin and "large teeth" in Greek, respectively.
"These fossil lampreys were exquisitely preserved with a complete suite of feeding structures," researchers wrote in a study published Tuesday (Oct. 31) in the journal Nature Communications.
Looking at early fossils, it has long been clear that lampreys have undergone major changes since the Devonian, the authors wrote. But until now, huge gaps in the fossil record meant scientists didn't know when these changes occurred.
Y. occisor, the larger of the two newfound fossils, measured 25.3 inches (64.2 centimeters) long and is the largest lamprey fossil ever found, according to the study.
Living lamprey species can get much bigger than this, however; sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) grow up to 4 feet (120 cm) long, and Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) reach up to 2.8 feet (85 cm).
https://www.livescience.com/animals...ived-160-million-years-ago-unearthed-in-china
Scientists have described two lamprey fossils with "extensively toothed" mouths from the Jurassic period, shining a light on how this group has evolved into its modern forms since the Devonian.
These Jurassic lampreys have the most powerful "biting structures" among known fossil lampreys and suggest an ancestral flesh-eating habit of living lampreys. (Image credit: Heming Zhang)
Scientists in China have unearthed two superbly preserved, 160 million-year-old lamprey fossils — including the largest found to date — shining a light on this group's obscure evolutionary history.
Lampreys are one of two living jawless vertebrate groups that first appear in the fossil record around 360 million years ago, during the Devonian period (419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago). These ancient fish, including 31 species alive today, typically have teeth-filled sucker mouths that they use to latch onto prey to extract blood and other body fluids.
The newly described fossils date to the Jurassic period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago) and bridge a gap between early fossil discoveries and extant lineages. Researchers unearthed the specimens from a fossil bed in northeast China and named them Yanliaomyzon occisor and Y. ingensdentes — their species names meaning "killer" in Latin and "large teeth" in Greek, respectively.
"These fossil lampreys were exquisitely preserved with a complete suite of feeding structures," researchers wrote in a study published Tuesday (Oct. 31) in the journal Nature Communications.
Looking at early fossils, it has long been clear that lampreys have undergone major changes since the Devonian, the authors wrote. But until now, huge gaps in the fossil record meant scientists didn't know when these changes occurred.
Y. occisor, the larger of the two newfound fossils, measured 25.3 inches (64.2 centimeters) long and is the largest lamprey fossil ever found, according to the study.
Living lamprey species can get much bigger than this, however; sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) grow up to 4 feet (120 cm) long, and Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) reach up to 2.8 feet (85 cm).
https://www.livescience.com/animals...ived-160-million-years-ago-unearthed-in-china
ramonmercado
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Hiya head!
Steve Etches has the skull. Now he wants the rest of the animal's body
The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago. The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
"Oh wow!"
There are gasps as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time.
It's immediately obvious that this pliosaur is huge and beautifully preserved. There isn't a specimen anywhere else to match it, believes local palaeontologist Steve Etches.
"It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete," he tells BBC News. "The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted - it's got every bone present."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67650247
Steve Etches has the skull. Now he wants the rest of the animal's body
The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago. The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
"Oh wow!"
There are gasps as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time.
It's immediately obvious that this pliosaur is huge and beautifully preserved. There isn't a specimen anywhere else to match it, believes local palaeontologist Steve Etches.
"It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete," he tells BBC News. "The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted - it's got every bone present."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67650247
Those teeth are very impressive - no doubt, I expect there'll be a few more surprises when the rest of it (hopefully) gets uncovered?Hiya head!
Steve Etches has the skull. Now he wants the rest of the animal's body
The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago. The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
"Oh wow!"
There are gasps as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time.
It's immediately obvious that this pliosaur is huge and beautifully preserved. There isn't a specimen anywhere else to match it, believes local palaeontologist Steve Etches.
"It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete," he tells BBC News. "The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted - it's got every bone present."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67650247
Mungoman
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So where is the cranium? I can see the zygomatic arches but as for the brain box..? Is it that little thing following the mid line?Hiya head!
Steve Etches has the skull. Now he wants the rest of the animal's body
The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago. The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
"Oh wow!"
There are gasps as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time.
It's immediately obvious that this pliosaur is huge and beautifully preserved. There isn't a specimen anywhere else to match it, believes local palaeontologist Steve Etches.
"It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete," he tells BBC News. "The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted - it's got every bone present."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67650247
Probably all mouth and not much brain then?
ramonmercado
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I wonder which skin cream brand it used.
Skin gives animals a sensitive, flexible, waterproof barrier to the world. But after death, it doesn’t hold up for long, so it’s hard to study how this remarkable organ evolved in ancient creatures. Now, a team of researchers has identified a fragment of fossilized reptile skin that is more than 20 million years older than previously described skin fossils from any animal. The fragment, reported today in Current Biology, dates back to the late Paleozoic Era, when many species began to emerge from the water to live on land.
How animal skin adapted to cope with this dramatic transition has long been a “blank spot,” in paleontological research, says Phil Bell, a paleontologist at the University of New England who wasn’t involved with the research. The new finding suggests the complex structure of reptile scales has gone “virtually unchanged” since they first evolved, he adds.
Fossils of skin are rare and prized. But in caves, fine sediment deposits and low oxygen conditions help delay decomposition, says lead study author Ethan Mooney, who is pursuing a master’s degree in paleontology at the University of Toronto (U of T). And the limestone caves of Richards Spur in Oklahoma contain some of the world’s most diverse and well-preserved fossils from the Paleozoic. At that time, the caves were filled with petroleum and tar from the nearby Woodford Shale, which saturated the fossils and further protected them from decay. ...
At nearly 300 million years old, this fragment is the oldest example of fossilized skin on record. Though a few pieces of mummified skin have been discovered at sites in Russia and South Africa, those specimens have not been closely analyzed and are at least 21 million years younger than those found in Richards Spur, says Robert Reisz, a paleontologist at U of T and corresponding author on the new study. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/fossilized-reptile-skin-oklahoma-cave-oldest-record
Skin gives animals a sensitive, flexible, waterproof barrier to the world. But after death, it doesn’t hold up for long, so it’s hard to study how this remarkable organ evolved in ancient creatures. Now, a team of researchers has identified a fragment of fossilized reptile skin that is more than 20 million years older than previously described skin fossils from any animal. The fragment, reported today in Current Biology, dates back to the late Paleozoic Era, when many species began to emerge from the water to live on land.
How animal skin adapted to cope with this dramatic transition has long been a “blank spot,” in paleontological research, says Phil Bell, a paleontologist at the University of New England who wasn’t involved with the research. The new finding suggests the complex structure of reptile scales has gone “virtually unchanged” since they first evolved, he adds.
Fossils of skin are rare and prized. But in caves, fine sediment deposits and low oxygen conditions help delay decomposition, says lead study author Ethan Mooney, who is pursuing a master’s degree in paleontology at the University of Toronto (U of T). And the limestone caves of Richards Spur in Oklahoma contain some of the world’s most diverse and well-preserved fossils from the Paleozoic. At that time, the caves were filled with petroleum and tar from the nearby Woodford Shale, which saturated the fossils and further protected them from decay. ...
At nearly 300 million years old, this fragment is the oldest example of fossilized skin on record. Though a few pieces of mummified skin have been discovered at sites in Russia and South Africa, those specimens have not been closely analyzed and are at least 21 million years younger than those found in Richards Spur, says Robert Reisz, a paleontologist at U of T and corresponding author on the new study. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/fossilized-reptile-skin-oklahoma-cave-oldest-record
ramonmercado
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Fossilized frog found.
A fossilized frog that lived alongside the dinosaurs 100 million years ago has been discovered with a belly full of eggs — the oldest such frog ever found, scientists have announced.
Researchers believe the frog was likely killed during mating, when the female may have been drowned by a male that was gripping her.
Frogs do not get pregnant. Instead, female frogs develop a batch of eggs that they are ready to lay, in what is known as a "gravid" state. The eggs are eventually laid and fertilized by a male.
https://www.livescience.com/animals...l-of-eggs-and-was-likely-killed-during-mating
A fossilized frog that lived alongside the dinosaurs 100 million years ago has been discovered with a belly full of eggs — the oldest such frog ever found, scientists have announced.
Researchers believe the frog was likely killed during mating, when the female may have been drowned by a male that was gripping her.
Frogs do not get pregnant. Instead, female frogs develop a batch of eggs that they are ready to lay, in what is known as a "gravid" state. The eggs are eventually laid and fertilized by a male.
https://www.livescience.com/animals...l-of-eggs-and-was-likely-killed-during-mating
ramonmercado
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Hiya head!
Steve Etches has the skull. Now he wants the rest of the animal's body
The skull of a colossal sea monster has been extracted from the cliffs of Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
It belongs to a pliosaur, a ferocious marine reptile that terrorised the oceans about 150 million years ago. The 2m-long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered and is giving new insights into this ancient predator. The skull will be featured in a special David Attenborough programme on BBC One on New Year's Day.
"Oh wow!"
There are gasps as the sheet covering the fossil is pulled back and the skull is revealed for the first time.
It's immediately obvious that this pliosaur is huge and beautifully preserved. There isn't a specimen anywhere else to match it, believes local palaeontologist Steve Etches.
"It's one of the best fossils I've ever worked on. What makes it unique is it's complete," he tells BBC News. "The lower jaw and the upper skull are meshed together, as they would be in life. Worldwide, there's hardly any specimens ever found to that level of detail. And if they are, a lot of the bits are missing, whereas this, although it's slightly distorted - it's got every bone present."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67650247
Palaeontologists' Pliosaur Preservation Plea.
Palaeontologists say they are in a "race against time" to recover a huge prehistoric sea monster from eroding cliffs on the Jurassic Coast.
The 2m-long (6ft) skull of a pliosaur, excavated from high above a beach in Dorset, is on display at the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge. Now the museum is crowdfunding to recover the rest of the creature that remains embedded in the cliff face. Museum founder Dr Steve Etches said excavating the body was a "priority".
The snout of the pliosaur was discovered in 2022 by fossil enthusiast Philip Jacobs, prompting an excavation involving teams suspended by ropes high above the beach. Sir David Attenborough investigated the discovery of the skull in a BBC film broadcast on New Year's Day.
Dr Etches, who led the effort to remove and prepare the fossil, hopes to raise funds to excavate, preserve, study and display the remainder of the 150-million-year-old creature. ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-68349380
ramonmercado
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Chinese Dragon.
Scientists have revealed a new, remarkably complete fossil - a 16ft (5m)-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic period.
The creature dates back 240 million years and has been dubbed a "dragon" because of its extremely long neck. It is called Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a species that was originally identified back in 2003. This spectacular new fossil has allowed scientists to see the full anatomy of this bizarre prehistoric beast.
Dr Nick Fraser, from National Museums Scotland, who was part of the international team that studied the fossil, said this was the first time scientists had been able to see it in full. He described it as "a very strange animal".
"It had flipper-like limbs and its neck is longer than its body and tail combined," he said.
The researcher speculated that a "long, bendy and flexible neck", with its 32 separate vertebrae, might have provided a hunting advantage - allowing Dinocephalosaurus orientalis to search for food in crevices under the water.
The fossil was discovered in ancient limestone deposits in southern China.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68374520
Scientists have revealed a new, remarkably complete fossil - a 16ft (5m)-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic period.
The creature dates back 240 million years and has been dubbed a "dragon" because of its extremely long neck. It is called Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a species that was originally identified back in 2003. This spectacular new fossil has allowed scientists to see the full anatomy of this bizarre prehistoric beast.
Dr Nick Fraser, from National Museums Scotland, who was part of the international team that studied the fossil, said this was the first time scientists had been able to see it in full. He described it as "a very strange animal".
"It had flipper-like limbs and its neck is longer than its body and tail combined," he said.
The researcher speculated that a "long, bendy and flexible neck", with its 32 separate vertebrae, might have provided a hunting advantage - allowing Dinocephalosaurus orientalis to search for food in crevices under the water.
The fossil was discovered in ancient limestone deposits in southern China.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68374520
ramonmercado
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Will we get a Stephen King story about a relict population of Peltocephalus maturin?
An international research team led by Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen has described a new species of giant turtle from the late Pleistocene.
Peltocephalus maturin is between 40,000 and 9,000 years old and comes from the Brazilian Amazon. With a shell length of about 180 centimeters, the species is one of the largest known freshwater turtles in the world. The armored reptile was named after the giant turtle "Maturin," a fictional character created by best-selling author Stephen King.
With a maximum shell length of 140 centimeters, the Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra chitra) together with the approximately 110-centimeter-long South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) is one of the largest freshwater turtles alive today.
"In the past, we only know of a few turtles living in fresh waters that had a shell length of more than 150 centimeters," explains Dr. Ferreira. "Such large animals are most recently known primarily from the Miocene, the period around 23 to 5 million years ago."
Ferreira and an international team have now discovered a giant representative of this order of reptiles from the end of the Pleistocene period, around 40,000 to 9,000 years ago, and described it as a new species. The fossil remains—part of the turtle's lower jaw—were collected by gold miners at the "Taquaras" quarry in Porto Velho, Brazil.
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-newly-fossil-giant-turtle-stephen.html
An international research team led by Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen has described a new species of giant turtle from the late Pleistocene.
Peltocephalus maturin is between 40,000 and 9,000 years old and comes from the Brazilian Amazon. With a shell length of about 180 centimeters, the species is one of the largest known freshwater turtles in the world. The armored reptile was named after the giant turtle "Maturin," a fictional character created by best-selling author Stephen King.
With a maximum shell length of 140 centimeters, the Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra chitra) together with the approximately 110-centimeter-long South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) is one of the largest freshwater turtles alive today.
"In the past, we only know of a few turtles living in fresh waters that had a shell length of more than 150 centimeters," explains Dr. Ferreira. "Such large animals are most recently known primarily from the Miocene, the period around 23 to 5 million years ago."
Ferreira and an international team have now discovered a giant representative of this order of reptiles from the end of the Pleistocene period, around 40,000 to 9,000 years ago, and described it as a new species. The fossil remains—part of the turtle's lower jaw—were collected by gold miners at the "Taquaras" quarry in Porto Velho, Brazil.
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-newly-fossil-giant-turtle-stephen.html
ramonmercado
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Porpoiseful Paleontologists find fossilized freshwater dolphin species,
Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia.
River dolphins are among the rarest modern cetaceans, with most extant species critically endangered. Despite their similar appearance, however, these animals are not directly related, but represent the late survivors of different cetacean groups that once inhabited our planet.
An international research team led by the University of Zurich (UZH) has now revealed the largest river dolphin ever found, measuring between 3 and 3.5 meters. The new species, named Pebanista yacuruna after a mythical aquatic people believed to inhabit the Amazon basin, was found in Peruvian Amazonia and is dated to be 16 million years old.
The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.
The new dolphin species belongs to the Platanistoidea, a group of dolphins that were common in the world's oceans between 24 and 16 million years ago. The researchers believe that their originally marine ancestors invaded the prey-rich freshwater ecosystems of proto-Amazonia and adapted to this new environment. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ancient-giant-dolphin-amazon.html
Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia.
River dolphins are among the rarest modern cetaceans, with most extant species critically endangered. Despite their similar appearance, however, these animals are not directly related, but represent the late survivors of different cetacean groups that once inhabited our planet.
An international research team led by the University of Zurich (UZH) has now revealed the largest river dolphin ever found, measuring between 3 and 3.5 meters. The new species, named Pebanista yacuruna after a mythical aquatic people believed to inhabit the Amazon basin, was found in Peruvian Amazonia and is dated to be 16 million years old.
The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.
The new dolphin species belongs to the Platanistoidea, a group of dolphins that were common in the world's oceans between 24 and 16 million years ago. The researchers believe that their originally marine ancestors invaded the prey-rich freshwater ecosystems of proto-Amazonia and adapted to this new environment. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ancient-giant-dolphin-amazon.html
ramonmercado
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- Eblana
Ancient anaconda.
A new ancient species of snake dubbed Vasuki Indicus, which lived around 47 million years ago in the state of Gujarat in India, may have been one of the largest snakes to have ever lived, suggests new research published in Scientific Reports. The new species, which reached an estimated length of between 11 and 15 meters, was part of the now extinct madtsoiidae snake family, but represented a distinct lineage that originated in India.
Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai describe a new specimen recovered from the Panandhro Lignite Mine, Kutch, Gujarat State, India, which dates to the Middle Eocene period, approximately 47 million years ago. The new species is named Vasuki Indicus after the mythical snake round the neck of the Hindu deity Shiva and in reference to its country of discovery, India. The authors describe 27 mostly well-preserved vertebra, some of which are articulated, which appear to be from a fully-grown animal.
The vertebrae measure between 37.5 and 62.7 millimeters in length and 62.4 and 111.4 millimeters in width, suggesting a broad, cylindrical body. Extrapolating from this, the authors estimate that V. Indicus may have reached between 10.9 and 15.2 meters in length. This is comparable in size to the longest known snake to have ever lived, the extinct Titanoboa, although the authors highlight the uncertainty around these estimates. They further speculate that V. Indicus's large size made it a slow-moving, ambush predator akin to an anaconda. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-discovery-ancient-giant-snake-india.html
A new ancient species of snake dubbed Vasuki Indicus, which lived around 47 million years ago in the state of Gujarat in India, may have been one of the largest snakes to have ever lived, suggests new research published in Scientific Reports. The new species, which reached an estimated length of between 11 and 15 meters, was part of the now extinct madtsoiidae snake family, but represented a distinct lineage that originated in India.
Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai describe a new specimen recovered from the Panandhro Lignite Mine, Kutch, Gujarat State, India, which dates to the Middle Eocene period, approximately 47 million years ago. The new species is named Vasuki Indicus after the mythical snake round the neck of the Hindu deity Shiva and in reference to its country of discovery, India. The authors describe 27 mostly well-preserved vertebra, some of which are articulated, which appear to be from a fully-grown animal.
The vertebrae measure between 37.5 and 62.7 millimeters in length and 62.4 and 111.4 millimeters in width, suggesting a broad, cylindrical body. Extrapolating from this, the authors estimate that V. Indicus may have reached between 10.9 and 15.2 meters in length. This is comparable in size to the longest known snake to have ever lived, the extinct Titanoboa, although the authors highlight the uncertainty around these estimates. They further speculate that V. Indicus's large size made it a slow-moving, ambush predator akin to an anaconda. ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-discovery-ancient-giant-snake-india.html
Mungoman
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A vertebra measuring 111mm (nearly 5 inches across?), and 62.7mm (2 inches in length) indicates a bloody big snake. I've seen pythons as long as a road is wide and as thick as a mans thigh but this fella must've been 'uge!
lordmongrove
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Giant, predatory ichthyosaur may have been 300 tons, bigger by far than a blue whale.
ramonmercado
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Tusk-toothed salmon!
Oncorhynchus rastrosus. (A) CT model of Holotype, UO F-26799, skull in right lateral view with a stylized drawing of the originally proposed "sabertoothed" position of the isolated premaxilla; (B) UO_A in anterior view of skull, prior to complete preparation and CT scan; (C) Artist's rendering skull of male iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration; (D) Artist's rendering of complete female iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration. Scale bar blocks = 1 cm each. Credit: PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300252
Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks, according to a study published April 24 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kerin Claeson from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, U.S., and colleagues.
O. rastrosus, first described in the 1970s, has been estimated to reach up to 2.7 meters (8.9 feet) long, making it the largest member of the Salmonidae family ever discovered. Initially, researchers thought its oversized front teeth pointed backward into the mouth like fangs, in large part because fossils of the teeth were found apart from the rest of the skull. This led to the common name "saber-toothed salmon."
But through new CT scans and analysis of various O. rastrosus fossils collected over the years, researchers have now been able to confirm that the teeth actually pointed sideways out of the fish's mouth, similar to those of a warthog. As a result, the authors say, the species should be renamed the "spike-toothed salmon." ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-giant-prehistoric-salmon-tusk-teeth.html
These giant, prehistoric salmon had tusk-like teeth
by Public Library of Science
Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks, according to a study published April 24 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kerin Claeson from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, U.S., and colleagues.
O. rastrosus, first described in the 1970s, has been estimated to reach up to 2.7 meters (8.9 feet) long, making it the largest member of the Salmonidae family ever discovered. Initially, researchers thought its oversized front teeth pointed backward into the mouth like fangs, in large part because fossils of the teeth were found apart from the rest of the skull. This led to the common name "saber-toothed salmon."
But through new CT scans and analysis of various O. rastrosus fossils collected over the years, researchers have now been able to confirm that the teeth actually pointed sideways out of the fish's mouth, similar to those of a warthog. As a result, the authors say, the species should be renamed the "spike-toothed salmon." ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-giant-prehistoric-salmon-tusk-teeth.html