fossilized

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth between 800 million and 1.6 billion years ago. Fossilized fat compounds were identified in rocks all over the world, likely produced by our ancient ancestors called the "Protosterol Biota."There are three main domains of life on Earth: the single-celled bacteria and archaea, and the more complex eukaryota. Despite having the fewest members, that last group is the one we’re most familiar with – it includes us humans…

Image composition of the materials. (A) Black mark (dating number 33). (B) Micro-charcoal inside fixed lamp (dating number 43). (C) Scattered charcoals (dating number 54). (D) GN16-08 stalagmite section. The red arrows point to one of the samples, analyzed both by TEM–EDX and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32544-1 A new study reveals that Nerja is the European cave…

During a summer thunderstorm in 2012, lightning struck a tree in New Port Richey, Florida. The strike released its energy into the tree and the soil and sand around it, creating fulgurite, also known as “fossilized lightning.” This fulgurite was later studied and found to contain a never-before-seen mineral. Fulgurite can be a treasure trove of interesting minerals, mostly in part because of how the extreme energy from the lightning interacts with the minerals already found in their target. This petrified…

In what sounds like a superhero’s origin story, scientists have discovered a new type of material created after lightning struck a tree. This particular form of crystalline phosphorus has never been seen on Earth, and could belong to a new mineral group.During a thunderstorm in the summer of 2012, lightning struck a tree in New Port Richey, Florida, which flash-melted soil and sand around the roots to form a structure called a fulgurite, or “fossilized lightning.” The owners of the property found and sold the fulgurite to…

Researchers have now uncovered proof of an ancient giant amphibian that predates the time of the dinosaurs, existing over 250 million years ago. The new fossils were discovered at Dave Green palaeosurface, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. They were discovered in a rock surface and provide a ton of insight into an ancient creature that acted very similarly to crocodiles. The evidence comes in the form of fossilized footprints that show the giant creature responsible for the footprints used to swim…

Fossil STM 15-36, photographed by Xuwei Yin at the Shangdong Tianyu Museum of Natural History. Credit: Xuwei Yin, Shangdong Tianyu Museum of Natural HistoryThe early Cretaceous bird fossils hold key information about the ancient ecosystem of Jehol Biota.Jehol Biota in China is renowned for its exceptional fossils that retain soft tissue such as skin, feathers, organs, and fur. These fossils offer a unique perspective on the evolution of traits like flight, but require careful interpretation to understand the appearance…

A team of paleontologists in India have given 256 fossilized dinosaur eggs a close look, in hopes of better understanding how some of the largest known dinosaurs bred and hatched.The eggs were found across 92 titanosaur nesting sites in India’s Narmada Valley, north and east of Mumbai, with the first clutches discovered in 2012. Now, researchers have published insights about the types of fossilized eggs found in these nests, along with inferences about the dinosaurs that laid them. The team’s research is published today…

Scientists uncovered something unexpected in the fossilized embryo of a worm-like creature from the Cambrian period: the remains of a tiny, doughnut-shaped brain in the primordial animal’s head. The roughly 500 million-year-old fossil is an example of the marine species Markuelia hunanensis, an ancient cousin of penis worms (priapulids) and mud dragons (Kinorhyncha). To date, scientists haven’t found fossils of the worm-like weirdos in their adult form, but researchers have uncovered hundreds of pristine embryos that…

Bits of a fossil discovered jutting out from a Canadian cliff in 2021 could be attached to a rare complete dinosaur skeleton, complete with fossilized skin.A volunteer field scout, Teri Kaskie, noticed a strange protrusion on a hillside in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, and University of Reading paleoecologist Brian Pickles, who was leading the search, identified it as a hadrosaur."This is a very exciting discovery, and we hope to complete the excavation over the next two field seasons," Pickles says. "Based on the…

Stanleycaris hirpex. Credit: Sabrina Cappelli © Royal Ontario MuseumAn ancient radiodont predator with three eyes reveals key information about the evolution of the arthropod body plan.New research based on a cache of fossils that contains the brain and nervous system of a half-billion-year-old marine predator from the Burgess Shale called Stanleycaris has been revealed by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Belonging to an ancient, extinct offshoot of the arthropod evolutionary tree called Radiodonta, Stanleycaris is…