Scienceblogtwo

The mysterious microscopic species thought to be the origin of humans actually belongs to a separate family tree, according to a global research team. The Saccorhytus is a basic characteristic of the deuterostome group, from which our own deep ancestors arose. It is a spikey, wrinkled sack with a large mouth surrounded by spines and holes that were thought to be pores for gills. However, a careful examination of fossils from China that are 500 million years old revealed that the holes around the mouth are actually the bases of spines that split during fossil preservation, finally illuminating the evolutionary relationship between the microfossil Saccorhytus and its larger relatives. Saccorhytus is thought by the researchers to be an ecdysozoan. Thanks to Philip Donoghue and others. Yunhuan Liu, a professor of palaeobiology at Chang'an University in Xi'an, China, claims that some of the fossils are so wonderfully preserved that they almost appear to be living. Sacrohytus was an ...

A 380-million-year-old heart, the oldest ever found, coupled with a separate fossilized stomach, intestine, and liver were found in an ancient jawed fish, providing new insight into how our own bodies have changed through time. The newly discovered anatomy of arthrodires, a class of extinct armored fishes that flourished between 419.2 million years ago and 358.9 million years ago, is similar to that of modern sharks, according to new research that was just published in Science. This discovery provides crucial new evolutionary clues. Given the rarity of finding 3D preservation of soft tissues from ancient animals, lead researcher John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kate Trinajstic of Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences and the Western Australian Museum said the discovery was exceptional. As a palaeontologist with more than 20 years of experience studying fossils, Professor Trinajstic stated, "I was absolutely shocked to see a 3D and wonderfully preserved heart in a 3...

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have genetically sequenced the whipworm, one of the oldest human parasites, using stool samples from Viking latrines. The mapping depicts the parasite's global distribution and its complex interactions with people, which can both make us healthy and ill. Researchers from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Copenhagen and the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK) have performed the largest and most thorough genetic analysis of the whipworm, one of the oldest parasites found in humans, using fossilized eggs in up to 2500-year-old feces from Viking settlements in Denmark and other nations. The research, which was published in Nature Communications, offers brand-new information regarding the parasite's evolution and early dispersal. This information can be used to make efforts to stop the parasite's proliferation and development of drug resistance. According to the study, over thousands of years, the paras...

(UCC) paleontologists have discovered the reason that hundreds of ancient frogs died 45 million years ago while attempting to mate. The underwater death trap in the Geiseltal region of central Germany claimed the lives of over 50,000 prehistoric species, including hundreds of frogs, horses, birds, and bats. Because of its unusual geological features and abundance of fossils, the former coalfield of Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt is considered as a scientific treasure trove because it provides a unique perspective on how the Earth's plants and animals developed over millions of years. The Geiseltal region was a swampy subtropical forest over 50 million years ago, during the middle Eocene, when Earth was significantly warmer. Anurans, or frogs and toads, as well as giant crocodiles, enormous snakes, lizards, ground-dwelling birds, and ancestors of the horse lived there                                    ...

In a farmer's field in Gloucestershire, England, a remarkable ancient site with animal remains from a tropical sea has been found. The fossils were amazingly well preserved and were found beneath a field where an old breed of English Longhorn cattle formerly grazed. Although the fossils are about 183 million years old, they appear to have been frozen in time. The remnants of fish, ancient marine reptiles, squids, uncommon insects, and more have been discovered for the first time within three-dimensionally preserved limestone concretions by a team of paleontologists. The fossils were discovered in a stratum of inland rock that was last exposed in the UK more than a century ago. It offers a rare chance to unearth fossils from a time when this region of the nation was submerged in water. The newly discovered location is at Court Farm in Kings Stanley, Gloucestershire, not far from Stroud. Fossil collectors Sally and Neville Hollingworth made the find. The BBC One documentary "Att...

It turns out that the fossilized teeth discovered in the 1970s belonged to a new, sizable near cousin of the contemporary giant panda. Scientists have discovered a new species of panda, which they claim is now the last known and "most advanced" European giant panda. Around six million years ago, it lumbered through the Bulgarian swamps covered in forest. Two fossilized teeth, first found in the country of eastern Europe in the late 1970s, have been unearthed from the depths of the Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History, offering fresh proof of a big cousin of the contemporary giant panda. Contrary to the well-known black and white bear of today, it did not only eat bamboo. Professor Nikolai Spassov of the Museum says, "Although not a direct progenitor of the contemporary genus of the giant panda, it is its near relative." His results were just published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. This revelation underscores how little we still und...