In the years that the Malapa Cave has been producing archaeological finds for the scientific community, it has once again provided another fossil for scientists to ponder. News about the earliest baboon specimen that was found in Malapa Cave came to light on the 19th of August.
WHAT LIES IN THE MALAPA CAVE?
The press release on this discovery discusses that the fossil specimen was the earliest baboon species found to date. The earliest baboon specimen dated as far back as around two million years ago.
Previous finds within the Malapa Cave include the Australopithecus sediba which marked a new species of human ancestry. Although this new earliest baboon specimen does not contribute to what is known about the human ancestry and evolution, it marks another find in the cave’s book.
THE EARLIEST BABOON SPECIES
The earliest baboon fossil specimen was a partial cranium that was described in the paper released in the PLOS journal as the only non-hominin fossil to be recovered in the Malapa Cave location as of yet. But the finding of this fossil in a cave where only hominin fossils had been found previously is not much of a surprise to researchers of the study. One researcher noted that baboons and hominin species have co-existed at various points in history and are evident in several fossil finds in Africa.
This little interesting nugget contributes greatly to the overall baboon evolution in South Africa and helps science gauge when the modern baboon began to mark its appearance with a better timeline. Researchers also mentioned that the divergent of the baboons of the bygone era began to the modern baboons of today began around 1.8 to 2.2 million years ago, around the same time the new fossil was estimated to be.
Also, the paper also mentions that the earliest baboon specimen had some indications of similarities in the anatomy to the modern baboon. The find is also exceedingly fortunate as previous finds were brittle or heavily fragmented, preventing intense study on the fossils.
It is the hope of the researchers that future fossils of the earliest baboon specimen will be found.
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Spanish researchers in East Africa have found a nearly 2 million year old fossil that they consider to be the oldest “modern” hand bone ever discovered.
The remains, which were found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge, are a phalanx in the left hand pinky finger of a human’s evolutionary ancestor. The ancestor was probably about six feet tall, according to researchers, who have named it “OH 86.”
LARGER THAN CONTEMPORARIES
“Our discovery not only shows that a creature with a modern-looking hand bone
existed 1.85 million years ago, it also shows that OH 86 was bigger sized than any other prior and contemporary hominin,” said the study’s lead scientist, Manual Dominguez-Rodrigo.
The first biped hominids existed 6 million years ago. Like modern monkeys, they often climbed trees during their first four million years of existence, but walked upright as humans do today. The use of both methods of traveling is called “double locomotion”. However OH 86’s hand bone indicates that he traveled differently.
EVOLUTION AND THE ANCESTOR’S HAND BONE
“This bone belongs to somebody who’s not spending any time in the trees at all,” Dominguez Rodrigo in a statement to the New Scientist. He is a scholar at the Africa Evolution Institute in Madrid.
Could our hand bones really be considered primitive?
“Our hand evolved to make possible a vast variety of grips and enough pressing force to allow the broadest range of manipulations” Dominguez Rodrigo said. Stone tools were first used by human ancestors 2.6 million years ago, about seven after OH 86 is thought to have lived.
According to Dominguez Rodrigo, these hand bone changes occurred to increase the bipeds’ ability with manipulating objects. “It is precisely this ability to manipulate which interacted with the brain in the development of our intelligence through the invention and use of tools,” the scientist said.
MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED
Though the fact that “several key aspects of modern human body morphology emerged very early in human evolution” is indicated by the discovery, the scientists acknowledged that a corresponding skull would be necessary to match with the ancestor’s pinky.
Currently, the team is searching for more of the specimen’s bones to confirm theoretical speculation that the hand bone has inspired, the Press Examiner reported.
Researchers believe we will soon be able to use DNA to encapsulate our most precious digital data, meaning that the building blocks of our bodies may soon be the very thing that will become the hard drives of the future.
The Challenge of Preserving Digital Data
Digital data has become so prevalent in our lives, it is almost hard to remember the times when we didn’t require usernames and passwords to access our memories, our friends, and our social lives. However, with the added convenience of modern technology has come a very real problem in the relatively short shelf-life of these very devices that we rely on to store all our information.
This week, a team of researchers presented their work of using DNA in digital data at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The novel research has been able to alleviate the issues of longevity in regards to modern technologies, like the hard drive, which always inevitably fails (especially when we need it the most, it seems).
Robert Grass and the researchers at ETH Zurich have been able to store and translate digital data using DNA, touting a remarkable preservation life of over 2,000 years for the data their transferred.
For some of us, we wouldn’t mind losing digital data from our past (I’m looking at you, Myspace and old Xanga blogs from middle school); much of the information we do save that may be necessary in the future can really benefit from this new technology.
How ETH Zurich Will Evolutionize the Save Button for Digital Data in the Future
Grass and the other researchers from ETH Zurich noticed a major flaw in how we save our digital data. Our hard drives wear out and not in hundreds of years, but just a few decades. Meanwhile, archaeologists are unearthing books written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago with perfectly preserved information.
The researchers realized that the key to preserving the old relics was in the DNA. It proved a worthy technology as it used a four code sequence (remember biology class when you learned A-T-C-G bases in DNA?) whereas our computer systems use a similar structure called binary, which is comprised of 0’s and 1’s to encode data. But more than that, DNA had two major factors.
The first factor is the extremely small size of DNA, which is definitely needed if all the information in this digital age is going to be stored for thousands of years. Think of the average external hard drive, which is similar in size to John Green’s latest paperback book. That one hard drive can only store approximately 5 terabytes of information. In comparison, DNA can store over 300,000 terabytes, in only a fraction of an ounce of DNA.
While size does matter in this context, durability is the second factor and probably just as important to ensure the safe encoding and storage of digital data. That external hard drive you have may last about 50 years, but DNA has been able to be analyzed from thousands of years ago. What’s more is that the ancient DNA from archaeology and paleontology digs proves that this same DNA can still be sequenced thousands of years later.
Digital Data Technology May Use DNA-Based Hard Drives
Grass’ researchers have already encoded DNA with text from the Swiss Federal Charter and the Method of Archimedes, which comes out to be around 83 kilobytes of information.
Their findings revealed that after encapsulating the DNA, warming it to 160-degrees Fahrenheit for a week to replicate the conditions of 2,000 years passing by, they were still able to decode the information without any errors. Since that was a success, they are moving on to the next issue with DNA preservation of digital data: a filing system. Rather than having to decode the entire strand of DNA, the researchers want to be able to pinpoint the specific location of one file.
Though the project has ensured the technology is available, whether or not it is within your price range will vary. With just a few megabytes of digital data encoding and storing costing upwards over thousands of dollars, unless you’re part of the elite upper class, the “old-fashioned” save button may be your only option for now.
Two sets of footprints in the sand of a beach in Germany have been found to belong to two dinosaurs from over 142 million years ago. The findings may reveal that these specific dinosaurs, as well as perhaps many others, were actually social creatures.
Two Theropod Dinosaurs Left Footprints on A German Beach
Two dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago enjoyed eating meat and long walks on the beach in Münchehagen, Germany according to the findings of biologist Pernille Venø Troelsen of the University of Southern Denmark.
The biologist presented his findings in July at the annual meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists, which included pictures of the nearly 50 fossilized footprints that belonged to a large dinosaur and a smaller one, both believed to be theropods. The larger one was around 1.6 meters at its hip, while the smaller stood around 1.1 meters at the hip.
Troelsen noted that the speeds of the creatures, which are similar to velociraptors, were well below the speeds of up to 40 kilometers an hour that they are known to have been able to reach. Paleontologists in Opole, Poland listened to the biologist’s interpretation of the extinct hunters as they strolled along the beach at between 6 to 10 kilometers an hour, possibly looking for food, but in no hurry to find their dinners.
50 Footprints of Dinosaurs Tracked to Reveal Their Walking Path, Gait
The 50 footprints had been found in the Bückeberg formation, a popular place for dinosaurs obviously as dinosaur footprints and tracks have been found there for over 2 centuries. These particular tracks had been uncovered in an excavation between 2009 and 2011.
The tracks not only revealed the walking path of the two dinos, but also the gait. With the larger one, an average speed of around 6 kilometers was recorded. But for the smaller dinosaur, the poor thing had to keep up by walking a pace of around 10 kilometers.
What does this reveal, exactly? Well, for starters, Troelsen’s perspective as a biologist is uniquely different than how geologists and paleontologists may interpret the results. Troelsen believes the animals were of the carnivorous species Megalosauripus that may have been related, such as a parent and its offspring.
The peculiar gait of the little one’s footprints reveal that it had crossed its legs several times on the walk. Troelsen says it can be either the tiny dino had lost its balance in the sand or thanks to a gust of wind or maybe it was in a hurry to keep up with the bigger one. Think of it as a child tagging along behind its parent, who has considerably slowed their pace to help out the young one.
Footprints Reveal Dinosaurs Weren’t Always So Feared, They Did Have Friends
If the biologist’s theories are true, it points to dinosaurs being much more social than what we usually give them credit for.
More studies have shown that dinosaurs have hunted together, taken care of their offspring, as well as even had a similar set of social rules regarding our concept of babysitting.
Though Troelsen was careful to explain that these tracks cannot be definitively analyzed as being created by two dinosaurs that roamed together. The area was a high traffic spot for dinosaurs as many footprints have been found.
But the coincidence of two sets of footprints from the same species of dinosaurs along the exact same path at different times doesn’t seem as plausible as dinos hanging out together and possibly being more than just fearsome creatures.
A five-year controversy between archaeologists and paleontologists has finally been resolved over whether marks found on 3.4 million-year-old bones were made from stone tools or trampling. A new analysis confirms that stone tools were used to create the marks, effectively ending the debate and starting a new perspective on tool-use in early hominins.
Stone Tools Responsible for Marks on Fossil Bones in Dikika
After extensive analysis using statistical methods and experimental data to recreate trampling on bones, a new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution has concluded that the marks on two animal bones were made by stone tools in a form of butchery rather than by trampling.
The fossil bones that are over 3.4 million years old were found in Dikika, Ethiopia in 2010 and had started a heated debate regarding the origins of stone tool use in our early hominin ancestors that has had scientists butting heads for 5 years.
The study conducted by Emory University assistant professor of anthropology Jessica Thompson has not only confirmed the use of stone tools, but has also developed novel methods of analysis in fieldwork for paleoanthropology.
The Beginning and End to the Stone Tool Versus Trampling Controversy
The newest analysis of the two fossils bones has ended the controversy of the origin of the 12 marks scraped into the specimens. One specimen is a long bone believed to come from a medium-sized animal such as an antelope, while the other is a rib bone from a considerably larger animal, maybe similar to a buffalo.
The study says the marks were made with a combination of cutting and hitting. Thompson believes the bones were hit multiple times with a tremendous force. Imagine you had a crude tool, a sharpened stone perhaps, and needed to hack off meat from the bone. You’d get marks that resemble the ones found on the ancient bones.
The findings support the original study published in the journal Nature in June 2010. It also refutes the belief that the bones were trampled, as suggested by a rebuttal study published in December 2010 in the Proceedings of National Sciences (PNAS).
While the original interpretation was groundbreaking as it had effectively pushed back the understanding of stone tool use by early hominins by 800,000 years, this study has fueled the flames to the radical discovery that our genus Homo may have not been the first to use butchery tools.
Homo wasn’t the first hominid to use stone tools
The importance of these 12 marks on the two bones over 3 million years old is that they will change our current views of stone tool use and human evolution.
Previously, the earliest evidence of stone tool use has been found to be only 2.6 million years ago, which coincides so well with the emergence of our genus nearly 2.8 million years ago. It is believed that as we evolved, our diets and our brain size evolved simultaneously, possibly from the use of stone tools to allow us to eat more meat.
However, the bones from Dikika come from the same area and same time frame as the hominid species fossils of Australopithecus afarensis. This finding can completely set back human evolutionary studies by over one million years in regards to stone tool use and the origins of meat-eating in early hominids.
Stone Tools Used on Fossil Bones at Dikika Represent Turning Point in Paleoanthropology
In order to examine the effects of trampling, the researchers analyzed over 4,000 bones from the same area. Some of these bones’ surfaces revealed evidence of trampling, while the researchers used experimental techniques to make trampling marks to compare them to the original specimens.
The two bones’ marks were unique to the trampling marks of the others from a number of factors, including something as tiny as the angularity of sand grains against the bones. It was found, conclusively, that these bones had not been trampled.
Though these are only two bones out of thousands that have yet to be studied or even found, this study and the proceeding, original one represents a huge milestone for paleoanthropology. Whether the use of stone tools was still rare at the time or whether there is more evidence to find, our understanding of stone tool use in hominin evolution has already started to evolve.
Title picture of bone marks analyzed from the Dikika site is credited to Zeresenay Alemseged.
Additional image of Australopithecus afarensis, Credit to Tim Evanson.
It isn’t every day that a new species of venomous pre-mammal is found, but scientists at The Field Museum have come across an ancient animal from Zambia that they have named Ichibengops, which literally translates to Scarface.
”Scarface” is a New Species of Pre-Mammal Ancient Relative
According to a press release from the The Field Museum in Chicago, the public can now say hello to our little friend: Scarface, a new species of a prehistoric mammal relative.
The researchers discovered the new animal species by a unique groove on the upper jaw. In a nod to the animal’s origins in Zambia, they named the animal Ichibengops, which is a combination of the Bemba word ichibenga (which means scar) and the Greek suffix ops (which, if you guessed correctly, means face).
While the researchers and media have dubbed the fossil by its informal name of Scarface, the connotations to the Al Pacino movie from the 80s doesn’t just end with the moniker. Both the movie and the prehistoric animal have a history of violence and drug use, albeit the latter for the animal was seen mostly in its venomous bite.
New Species Of Venomous Mammals Survived Largest Mass Extinction
The researchers believe Scarface may have had a deadly bite. Due to grooves above its teeth, the scientists concluded it could have been one of the few pre-mammal species that could transmit venom when they take a nibble of an animal.
Venomousness is so rare in ancient mammals and even modern mammals that only a few now still produce venom. One of these is the odd-looking platypus, but also a few species of shrews carry a toxic set of chompers.
Though a venomous bite may sound scary, the now-extinct animal is believed to be the size of a modern-day dachshund, AKA weiner dogs. So, though the name implies a hardcore gangster and the bite could very possibly kill its prey, the creature needed all the weapons at its disposal thanks to its relatively tiny size.
Scientists from the University of Washington and the Burke Museum, as well as the University of Utah assisted the Field Museum scientists in publishing their findings and the species description in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Paleontologists Say New Species “Scarface” Can Teach Us About Evolution and Extinction
The Ichibengops was a part of the suborder Therocephalia, a large group of mammal-like relatives that lived about 255 million years ago. They made a good evolutionary run, being one of the lucky few species that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction, otherwise known as the biggest mass extinction event in the history of the world. However, competition with reptiles and climate change may have done them in somewhere between 247 to 237 million years ago.
The discovery of the new animal is exciting for the field of paleomammalogy as it can provide a better picture in the evolutionary puzzle of our pre-mammal ancestors.
Kenneth Angielczyk, the Field Museum’s associate curator of paleomammalogy, believes that researching these ancient relatives of mammals will lead us to apply the lessons to the latest mass extinction event.
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Researchers analyzing over 2,000 fossils of felines and canines in Asia have come to the conclusion that when ancient cats arrived, they kind of took over, causing about 40 species of dogs to go into extinction.
Fossils of Cats and Dogs Prove Felines Rule In Evolutionary Studies
The new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed the fossil records of canines from three subfamilies of Canidae, or what we call dogs.
The researchers found that around 40 species of ancient dogs went extinct thanks to increased competition by none other than their natural sworn enemies: cats.
Well, technically, cats and other dogs were responsible for the competition that drove less successful breeds into the ground. The study results proved that competition among the same clades of animals was more important to extinction than other factors, including climate change and body size.
Competition, Not Climate Change or Body Size, Fuels Evolution Success
Although researchers studying evolutionary biology usually find a distinct change in the rise or fall of species due to climate change or body size, the researchers of this study found that competition among cats and dogs fueled the extinction of 40 canid species.
Between 40 million and 20 million years ago, canid species in North America had reached their evolutionary peak. But then, the feline species came around and proved to be a worthy carnivore adversary resulting in some dog species extinction, which is why we only have 9 native species in North America now.
Another common finding in evolution sciences is that a larger body size is better adapted to survival and thriving compared to smaller, less able bodies. However, as this study shows, ancient cats were smaller than their canid counterparts.
So how did these more diminutive carnivores win at the competition of survival?
Cats May Have Smaller Bodies, But More Warrior Like Prowess
Without the ability to use their size to overpower prey, ancient cats relied on their natural, warrior-like prowess, their cunning predatory hunting skills, and their sharp, retractable claws to take down their dinners.
The researchers believe that these attributes helped cats in terms of ambushing prey, whereas dogs did not have these advantages, most notably the retractable claws.
When supplies such as meat are limited and the number of carnivores is high, only the strongest, most adept hunters will live. With this new study, now the public will know what cat owners around the world have always suspected: cats were better at surviving than dogs and are most likely plotting to take over the world even now.
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The area of the Arago Cave is probably most well-known for the finding of the Tautavel Man fossil. The fossil was one of the oldest fossils found to date. Until this past week.
The cave was thought to be occupied around 700,000 to 35,000 years ago, as the findings have resulted in a variety animal, human bones, and tools. All a different age that suggests the cave was occupied at various points in the past.
It would make sense, as the cave is overlooking a valley which can make for a bird’s eye view below, and make watching the local game a lot easier. Also interesting in the finds is that the species of humans that lived here were capable of speaking as revealed by various skulls. Later experts agreed that the characteristics found were of a pre-Neanderthal Homo erectus, one group before the emergence of Neanderthals as we know it.
The finding of the 560,000-year-old tooth
Which is why the finding of the 560,000-year-old tooth was so significant. The tooth that was found completely isolated from any other fossil with no nearby skull it belonged to was dated to be 100,000 years older than the Tautavel Man.
This was found this past Thursday, when two young French archaeologists began working on the area. There, the 560,000-year-old tooth was found and revealed to be a worn down incisor.
Finding this ancient tooth was truly a great find and very fortuitous as most fossils that date from 500,000 to 800,000 are a rare commodity in Europe, especially since no burials were done then. The 560,000-year-old tooth helps to fill in the blanks for the archaeology community about that point in time. It can also tell a lot about the lifestyle existing during that time. The person that was supervising the excavation site was Amélie Vialet, a paleoanthropologist.
The site of the Arago Cave has been a point of interest for scientists and have turned up many interesting finds about that lost prehistoric era. At the moment–although it is highly doubtful–the team is hoping to find the body the 560,000-year-old tooth belonged to in order to get more information on the people who lived before the Neanderthals.
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In two separate events, archaeologists have revealed evidence that may suggest human cannibalism in China and in the Canadian Arctic — though the events occurred over thousands of years apart. With the 24th anniversary of Jeffrey Dahmer’s arrest today, it seems only appropriate that cannibalism makes headlines to commemorate the capture of the world’s most notoriously known cannibal.
Cannibalism Evidence in China: 100,000-year-old Human Thigh Bones
Chinese researchers have uncovered evidence of cannibalism on two thigh bones believed to belong to an early human child from 100,000 years ago. The bones belong to an extinct early species of humans that Chinese archaeologists refer to as Xuchang Man, named after the city in the Henan province in which it was found.
Lead archaeologist Li Zhanyang pointed out the evidence of cannibalism as marks that indicate bites and even gnawing of the bones. Though the researchers do not deny that animals could have possibly left the marks, they also cannot rule out that a member of the same species feasted on the hominid’s thigh meat.
Whether the researchers will be able to conclusively prove that cannibalism is evident in the thigh bones. The discovery of more bones from the Xuchang man species — a missing link in the human evolutionary timeline — in China is incredible in itself. Also, it’s slightly less morbid than knowing that the hominids that predated our ancestors may have enjoyed feasting on one other.
Trapped in Canadian Arctic Sea, 17th century British Navy Forced to be Cannibals
Over half the world away in the Canadian Arctic sea in 1845, sailors of the British navy met a brutal end as their expedition failed and they were forced to turn to cannibalism to survive. Although plenty of research exists on the 19th century shipwrecked sailors, a new study reveals just how grisly the cannibalism became as the sailors slowly starved to death.
Published in the Journal of Osteoarchaeology, the researchers have suggested that the crew took to a rather brutal and extreme form of cannibalism as the starving sailors not only cut their fellow crew members’ flesh away from the bones, but also snapped the bones, heated the bones in boiling water and sucked out the last bit of nutrition found in the marrow.
The expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, was expected to find a route to the Orient passing through the Canadian Arctic. However, as the seas froze during exceptionally cold winters and heavy sea ice remained for several summers, the crew abandoned the stuck ships, called the HMS Erebus, and perhaps prophetically, the HMS Terror.
The crew could not have expected that their abandonment would lead to one of the most startling, horrific acts of cannibalism for the British.
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You know how the new Jurassic World film was pretty much all about the raptors in the movie? What’s not to like? They’re pretty charismatic on screen, and Blue had some awesome coloration.
Chinese raptor fossil found in Liaoning Province
Well, if you like dinosaurs, be prepared to become stoked about a real one; this new find in China of a raptor has been named the Zhenyuanlong suni. This type of raptor lived around 125 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous era.
The fossil was unearthed in the Liaoning Province, by a man named Sun Zhenyuan, who helped to get the fossil to the researchers for study. This is why fossil was named after him.
What do we know about the new raptor fossil thus far?
The research conducted on the fossil was made available today in Scientific Reports. The report was filed last year in November before it was accepted in April, then published today. There are two authors on this study; Junchang Lü and Stephen L. Brusatte.
Like many of the dinosaur fossils found in this region, this raptor is the relative of the Velociraptor we all have come to know from the Jurassic Park franchise. But it is also a feathered one as well, evident by the fossilized feathers, and research suggest it is closely related to birds given the anatomy structure of the fossil. The fossil is almost a full body skeleton.
raptor had wings?
The raptor fossil shows that it has probably around the height of a human and short appendages that looked like wings but probably couldn’t fly. There has been some joking or commentary that it basically looks like a human sized chicken or turkey, which is slightly scary if you have ever had to deal with aggressive poultry before.
One of the authors thought it was interesting to see the raptor fossil have winglike appendages without the actual intent of flying. The question then became why this dinosaur has wings, why has it evolved to have these in the first place. Other questions such as what its behavioral characteristics were begin to come to mind as well.
Only further research can be done to find out more about the fossil. That, and finding more similar fossils for further study.
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It was during the Ordovician period that it was a rich time for Earth’s marine life, as it was teeming with sea creatures. All sorts of species swam the ocean depths until 400 million years later they were encased in Ordovician rocks, preserved, for scientists to find in the Moroccan desert.
Fossils of sea creatures add to recent flurry of prehistoric fossils
There have been a great many finds lately in the paleontology world, such as the worm with armor, or the arthropod that was recently found. This cluster of fossils will add to science’s growing catalogue of prehistoric species, and bolster our understanding of how early life adapted and evolved on our planet.
The fossils were found by fossil collector Mohamed Ben Moula at the Fezouata Biota in 2000. This area is known to have fossilized remains for more than fifty years, but it was only he that found a fossil with soft tissue, which is rare to find.
Sea creatures’ fossils are game-changing
When fossils are found, it’s a given that they sometimes cause us to reevaluate what we know about the prehistoric era that formed our planet as it is today. However, these have caused quite a stir in the science community because of how rare it is to find fossils from this very early period. Due to the environment of the time, fossilization wasn’t optimal at that time.
Yale professor Van Roy was shown the site by Ben Moula, and he collected a few specimens himself. He saw a variety of species from within the Ordovician period, some of which included fossils of known sea creatures, such as a horseshoe crab dated older than previously known. All of this data only serves to show that it’s very likely the species evolved earlier than we previously thought.
A lot of the research in this area was conducted by Van Roy and his team. They have other research on this particular era that can be found, such as their work on the faunas that was published in 2010.
It’s clear to all that this Ordovician period evidence is of great interest to this group of individuals, especially this Moroccan terrain where so many fossils of the period have begun to unveil themselves. Only time will tell what else the desert shows scientists about the sea from days so long ago.
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The jellyfish is arguably one of the more fascinating sea creatures to watch in the deep blue. What with its long flimsy tentacles propelling it to and fro and its bubble head, the frail-looking creature shows how even appearances can be deceiving, hiding its powerful stings in the weak-looking tentacles.
As we all know the jellyfish have to vertebrae, which is odd to think about, however lots of animals are invertebrates; some cuter-looking than others.
New jellyfish fossil points to skeletal origins
However, the latest news in the archeology world is that scientists in China have found a fossil that suggest jellyfishes once had a skeletal structure, making them vertebrate at that point in time. The find was shared in the Science Advances journal just yesterday.
The find is as interesting as it is enlightening, as the fossil was dated back to the Cambrian period a significant time period for life as we know it. Furthermore, what is else is interesting that some fossils that have been recovered from this historic era is that the fossils of older animal species had skeletal structures whereas the distant relatives and descendants today have none.
The Jellyfish had no arms
Say what? Why did it have no arms? Well that’s because researchers identified this fossil, one of six, as belonging to the early comb jellies species, otherwise known as ctenophores, which have pretty similar tentacles to other jellies, but without the sting (cue sigh of relief for).
Also what’s different about this early jellyfish is that it wasn’t soft-bodied like today
No – instead, these ancient animals had hard plates and small spikes that made them little armored vertebrates and helped them to survive early life on Earth.
Finding fossils is a hard enough job, but finding this kind of fossil is pretty much a needle in the haystack, with you mistaking the needle for hay. What the heck does that mean? It means the fossil is really rare and it was a very lucky find.
As it starts to become more studied and perhaps the search for more fossils start going underway, more will be revealed about the jellyfish that was a vertebrate.
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According to recent findings, the fierce teeth of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis grew long and sharp but not so early, with the permanent upper canines reaching full development at around 3 years. Paleontologists believe the techniques applied may be useful in understanding the growth rate and development of other extinct species.
Saber-toothed Fossil Analysis Shows Fast Growth, Long Development
The saber-toothed cat is known for its long, sharp canines that grew to be about 7 inches long (18 centimeters). However, a recent study shows that those fierce teeth only fully developed after three years, which is notably later than modern cats. However, what’s truly remarkable is that the saber-tooth’s teeth grew an estimated 6 millimeters a month. In comparison to modern cats, including African lions, this was a growth rate that was twice as fast.
Researchers used a novel technique that was a combination of isotopic analysis and x-ray imaging. With the new approach, they became the first to reveal the specific developmental ages of Smilodon with particular regard to the cat’s notable teeth.
The paper was published in the journal PLOS ONE co-authored by Z. Jack Tseng from the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Paleontology and Robert Feranec of the New York State Museum.
The Science Behind Giving Saber-Tooth Development Ages
About 10,000 years ago, the saber-tooth cats of S. fatalis that lived in North and South America went extinct, though they live on in the general public’s memory for their massive teeth. However, little else was known about when exactly the animals grew such exaggerated chompers even though researchers had access to several well-preserved S. fatalis fossils.
Robert Feranec, co-author of the study pointed out the importance of understanding the growth of the saber-tooth’s trademark characteristic.
“Changes in the timing of life-history events can have major effects on an organism’s adult features and final appearance,” said Feranec, who is also New York State Museum’s curator of Pleistocene vertebrate paleontology.
In order to find out the timeline of the teeth, the researchers gathered specimens from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. They then applied the new combination technique of stable oxygen isotope analyses and micro-computed tomography. With help from Clemson University and the Neural Stem Cell Institute, the researchers were able to calculate the specific eruption rate of the saber teeth.
Previous research on these cats only gave relative dates, but this special technique was able to accurately date the distinct developmental ages. The research can now be applied to other extinct species as well.
The importance of their saber teeth and Other Saber-tooth Cat Facts
When a prehistoric animal such as the saber-toothed cat lives in a rough age of predator versus prey, the time it takes for the cat to develop its teeth is quite important. As their main weapon against predators and one of their only tools to tear open prey, the saber-tooth’s teeth were vital.
Like other mammals, the saber-tooth cat had two sets of teeth similar to humans where the first set of “baby” teeth grow in and subsequently fall out to make room for the second set or permanent teeth. For the saber-tooth, the first set stopped erupting at about one-and-a-half years, when the cub was still a small creature. Then about 11 months after the first set stopped growing, the second set would squeeze in with the first set.
The researchers noted that even though the first set were not the permanent, more lethal teeth, the saber-toothed cubs had jaw muscles that were already fully developed, enabling them to hunt prey with what we would consider their baby teeth. After nearly 2 years, those baby teeth would fall out while the permanent ones continued growing for the next year to year-and-a-half.
During this time, the cubs would have been extremely vulnerable to the many predators that awaited a tasty cub sandwich. Researchers theorized that during the time it took for the full emergence of permanent teeth, the adults likely took care of the cubs by hunting for their food.
New techniques can help research other extinct animals’ development
With this recent, cutting-edge technique used to research the saber-tooth cats, other extinct animals now have a greater chance of having the secrets of their development revealed too.
Combine transportation, exercise, and fun with the Australian Penny skateboard.
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that fish diversity increased after the mass extinction of dinosaurs. This research has concluded that the end of an era for dinosaurs and most marine reptiles signified the dawn of the “new age of fish” resulting in the wide variety of fish species today.
Fish Diversity Expanded at the end of the Mass Extinction
Marine paleontologist researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography combed the seafloor of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to find evidence of when fish diversity expanded so rapidly.
Their conclusions, published at the end of June in PNAS, revealed that sometime after the mass extinction event between 75 million and 45 million years ago, ray-finned fishes exploded in terms of diversity. They did so to fill different ecological niches that were left vacant from the many species that had died off.
Mass Extinction Said Goodbye Dinosaurs, Hello Fish Diversity
At the end of the Cretaceous period, a mass extinction decimated the dinosaur population, also knocking off many large marine reptiles and ammonites. However, it was the same event that allowed a new opportunity for other species to flourish, expanding their evolutionary success to reach great diversity.
One such group that made the most of the opportunity was ray-finned fishes. What’s a ray-finned fish? Basically any fish in the ocean with the exception of sharks and rays. Ray-finned fishes are so diverse, they make up half of all vertebrate species today.
Though it was a devastating event for the hundreds of species that were picked off the Earth, for ray-finned fishes, the end-Cretaceous mass extinction led the way for them to become major players in the evolutionary chain of events.
Fish Teeth Compared to Scale Count Shows Fish Diversity Explode
Led by Elizabeth Sibert and Richard Norris, marine paleontologists from the research team drilled into Italian limestone in two oceans to gather fossils of fish teeth and scales for analysis.
The samples of teeth from ray-finned fishes and scales from sharks and rays spanned from the late Cretaceous period to the mid-Eocene period. The researchers noted that scale count and teeth count were consistent before the mass extinction, but only the teeth count increased after the event.
Although less than a third of sharks and rays went extinct during the event, their numbers seemed to keep at a base level. In contrast, the ray-finned fishes population grew rapidly. The researchers theorized that many ecological niches needed to be filled after so many species of dinosaurs and over 90 percent of plankton species died off.
One Fish, Two Fish, Extinct Fish, New Fish – Diversity Thrives
Researchers also showed that right after the extinction, there were changes in teeth sizes with larger teeth increasing in a spike for a few million years before vanishing. Theories indicate that these probably belonged to animals that didn’t stick around too long, a sort of evolutionary experiment.
However, what did stick around was the ray-finned group. They have established their place in evolutionary history thanks to the mass extinction that allowed the huge fish diversity to continue to thrive even today.
In the Black Hills region of South Dakota, a cave never before explored is currently being excavated. A National Park Service worker first located the cave, dubbed “Persistence,” in 2004 on Wind Cave National Park land. Now, a team also working for the National Park Service will begin opening up its entrance. A group of Eastern Tennessee University scientists will conduct thorough analysis of the bags of sediment and animal fossil that are set to be removed from the untouched cave.
Persistence Cave excavation already paid off.
Bones dating back about 11,000 years have already been found. Maybe even more interestingly, fossils of at least three species (pika, pine marten, and platygonus) that had never been seen in the Black Hills region before. Fossil findings from the dig are expected to clue scientists in on animal migration patterns and, from there, climate change in the region. For example, around forty years ago in Hot Springs, which is near the Black Hills area, a well-preserved wooly mammoth graveyard was discovered. Wooly mammoths died out around 26,000 years ago, while the oldest of the bones from Persistence’s entrance, as mentioned before, were found to be 11,000 years old. Scientists thus hope to use the data to better understand how the Ice Age changed over time. They expect to find at least a hundred thousand bones by the end of the dig, sometime this summer. Hopefully, the fossils will help paint a rich picture of the natural and climatic development of the area.
Untouched cave’s location is being kept a secret, for now.
In order to protect the cave and whatever it may contain, the National Park Service is keeping its location under wraps. All they would say was that the mouth of the cave is around a third of a mile away from the edge of the Wind Cave’s tunnel system.
Fossil research is only part of this untouched cave’s story.
The fossil and climate study is only a part of the secrets this cave may hold. Judging by the wind speed and direction inside the entrance of the cave, the scientists believe the cave is likely very large. In fact, they even acknowledge the possibility that Persistence Cave connects to Wind Cave, perhaps through a sediment-filled or otherwise inaccessible passage. This may be the reason the untouched cave was undiscovered for so long.
