All articles tagged with #fossil preservation
A Nature Communications study shows the Turkana Rift’s crust has thinned dramatically (to about 12.7 km near the axis), marking necking—the advanced stage of continental breakup. While not imminent on human timescales, this process helps explain the region’s unusually rich fossil record of early humans and highlights how tectonics can shape both landscapes and the preservation of ancient life.
A Montreal museum specimen of the Ordovician crinoid Dendrocrinus simcoensis, about 450 million years old, preserves the second-ever and oldest-known soft tissue in a crinoid fossil: tube feet along the arms mineralized in place. Discovered by University of Oklahoma paleontologists Lena Cole and David Wright after a student spotted pinhead-sized structures, the find suggests the ancient crab-like filter-feeding could differ from modern relatives and provides a crucial data point rather than a full rewrite of crinoid ecology. The fossil’s exceptional preservation arose from a rare Konservat-Lagerstätten-like sequence, and the study, published in Royal Society Open Science, highlights how discoveries can hide in museum drawers just waiting to be noticed.
A crinoid fossil of Dendrocrinus simcoensis preserves soft tissues, including tube feet, dating back more than 450 million years—making it the oldest known crinoid with soft tissue and the second ever; this rare discovery informs how crinoids fed, interacted with ancient reef ecosystems, and evolved, and underlines the importance of museum collections in enabling such breakthroughs.
A University of Oklahoma team reports a 450-million-year-old crinoid fossil (Dendrocrinus simcoensis) that preserves soft tissue—the oldest crinoid fossil with soft tissue and only the second example overall—offering rare insights into early reef life and crinoid feeding via tube feet, well before dinosaurs, and highlighting the enduring value of museum collections for new discoveries.
Geologists find the Turkana Rift in East Africa is thinner than expected and has entered the necking phase, signaling that Africa will keep splitting and eventually form a new ocean over millions of years, a process linked to unusually rich fossil preservation in the region.
Researchers at McGraths Flat in New South Wales found exquisitely preserved soft-bodied fossils embedded in ferricrete—an iron cement from the Miocene—reconstructing a rainforest ecosystem and overturning the idea that fine details only survive in limestone or fine sediments; the study also provides a practical checklist for locating similar fossil deposits in ferricrete and basalt regions.
Scientists scanned a skin-preserved 289-million-year-old Captorhinus aguti fossil from Oklahoma with neutron CT, revealing the oldest known rib-based breathing system in amniotes and offering key insight into how early land-dwelling vertebrates evolved more efficient respiration.
At a coastal cliff in Santa Cruz, Portugal, researchers uncovered a block containing 10 Upper Jurassic dinosaur eggs (~150 million years old) preserved in three dimensions within granular sandstone, arranged in a natural nest pattern that suggests a genuine nesting site and limited disturbance. The team suspects carnivorous dinosaurs may have laid them, with potential embryonic remains to be confirmed by planned CT scans and microscopic analyses.
The Carreras Pampa site in Bolivia, the largest dinosaur tracksite ever found, contains nearly 18,000 tracks from around 70 million years ago, offering unique insights into dinosaur behavior and preservation due to exceptional environmental conditions that captured footprints, tail marks, and swimming traces of theropods, making it a significant paleontological discovery.
Researchers from the University of Chicago discovered remarkably detailed dinosaur mummies of Edmontosaurus, preserved through a process called clay templating that captured soft tissues, skin, and even hooves, providing unprecedented insights into the dinosaur's appearance and anatomy.
Scientists have discovered a 'mummy zone' near Lusk, Wyoming, where exceptionally preserved dinosaur fossils, including Edmontosaurus with soft tissue, suggest the potential for finding complete T. rex or Triceratops specimens, offering unprecedented insights into dinosaur appearance and evolution.
Researchers reexamined 100-year-old dinosaur fossils from Wyoming and discovered they are exceptionally well-preserved, retaining skin, spikes, and hooves, providing the most complete view of a large dinosaur to date and offering new insights into their appearance and soft tissue preservation.
Scientists have discovered exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur 'mummies' of Edmontosaurus annectens in Wyoming, revealing detailed skin, spikes, hooves, and soft tissue structures through clay templating, which offers new insights into dinosaur anatomy and preservation processes.
Scientists have discovered well-preserved dinosaur mummies from Wyoming that reveal some had hooves, a first in paleontology, providing new insights into dinosaur anatomy and appearance.
Researchers discovered rare dinosaur mummies in Wyoming, including a juvenile duck-billed dinosaur, preserved without skin but with skin impressions on clay, providing new insights into dinosaur appearance and preservation methods.