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All articles tagged with #fossils

Oldest Eukaryotes Found in 1.7-Billion-Year Ocean Cores Point to Oxygen-Driven Life
science-paleontology2 days ago

Oldest Eukaryotes Found in 1.7-Billion-Year Ocean Cores Point to Oxygen-Driven Life

Fossils from 1.75–1.4 billion-year-old mudstone cores in Darwin, Australia, include more than 12,000 microscopic remains of the oldest known eukaryotes. Analysis shows these early complex cells lived in oxygenated bottom waters, suggesting oxygen was functionally necessary for their evolution. The fossils mostly occur in oxic, benthic settings, with fewer in anoxic layers, implying a seafloor lifestyle and a delayed transition to open-water, planktonic life during the Neoproterozoic.

via Indian Defence Review|
#benthic#eukaryotes#fossils
Deep-Sea Origins Reframe Early Animal Evolution with New Canadian Fossils
science4 days ago

Deep-Sea Origins Reframe Early Animal Evolution with New Canadian Fossils

A Mackenzie Mountains fossil site in Canada has yielded 100+ Ediacaran specimens, including six taxa not previously found in North America, dating roughly 567–575 million years ago. Sediment analysis suggests these organisms lived in deeper water than previously thought, pushing the emergence of complex animal life back by five to ten million years and implying that deep-sea environments may have been the cradle of early multicellularity before life expanded into shallower seas. The finding complements other 2026 discoveries, such as deuterostome relatives from China, and signals a substantial revision of the traditional shallow-water origin narrative.

via Space Daily|
#deep-sea#ediacaran#evolution
Canadian fossil cache suggests complex animals began earlier than we thought
science4 days ago

Canadian fossil cache suggests complex animals began earlier than we thought

A fossil-rich site in Canada’s Northwest Territories yields over 100 Ediacaran specimens, including Dickinsonia, Funisia, and Kimberella, with six taxa not previously found in North America. Some fossils date to about 567 million years ago, pushing back the White Sea assemblage by roughly 5–10 million years compared with finds in Europe, Asia and Australia. The discovery implies complex, mobile animals evolved in North America earlier than once believed and may indicate a deep-water origin that reshapes late-Ediacaran Earth history.

via Live Science|
#ediacaran#evolution#fossils
Ireland's 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Remains Rewrite a Lost Prehistoric Ocean
science11 days ago

Ireland's 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Remains Rewrite a Lost Prehistoric Ocean

Researchers in Ireland’s Burren and Donegal uncovered Carboniferous-era shark fossils—Psephodus magnus teeth and an Oracanthus milleri fin spine—marking the first fossil fish records from these sites and offering new insights into ancient marine life and shark evolution, with citizen scientists helping the discovery and the findings shared in an open-access preprint.

via Indian Defence Review|
#carboniferous#fossils#ireland
Ancient Chinese Fossils Push Back the Emergence of Complex Life
science11 days ago

Ancient Chinese Fossils Push Back the Emergence of Complex Life

Fossils from the late Ediacaran Jiangchuan biota in eastern Yunnan reveal animal-precursors and Cambrian relatives, including a worm-like organism dubbed the 'bugle worm' and cambroernids, indicating that some complex animal lineages may have already existed before the Cambrian explosion and that the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition was a more gradual overlap than previously thought.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#cambrian-explosion#ediacaran#evolution
Thailand’s Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis: Southeast Asia’s biggest dinosaur unearthed
science12 days ago

Thailand’s Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis: Southeast Asia’s biggest dinosaur unearthed

A new giant long-necked sauropod, Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, has been identified from fossils found in northeastern Thailand. Dated to 100–120 million years ago, it weighed about 27 tonnes and measured roughly 27 meters, making it the largest dinosaur ever found in Southeast Asia and offering clues on how ancient climate changes may have fueled the rise of gigantic dinosaurs.

via BBC|
#fossils#nagatitan#paleontology
Thai fossil reveals Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, Southeast Asia's largest long-necked dinosaur
science12 days ago

Thai fossil reveals Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, Southeast Asia's largest long-necked dinosaur

Thai researchers announce Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, a ~27-ton, long-necked herbivorous dinosaur that lived 100–120 million years ago in what is now northeastern Thailand. Discovered in 2016 in Chaiyaphum and later studied with National Geographic funding, the fossils (including a front leg bone nearly six feet long) make it the largest known sauropod in Southeast Asia, and scientists say it could be the last giant of its kind to be found in the region.

via ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos|
#dinosaurs#fossils#paleontology
1.2-Meter Triassic Amphibian Preserved in Garden Wall
science19 days ago

1.2-Meter Triassic Amphibian Preserved in Garden Wall

A 240-million-year-old temnospondyl amphibian, Arenaerpeton supinatus, was identified from a near-complete skeleton with skin impressions found inside a Sydney garden wall; about 1.2 meters long, it lived in Triassic freshwater and bore fang-like teeth, with the preservation of soft tissue offering rare insights into ancient amphibians and Australia’s fossil heritage.

via ScienceDaily|
#amphibian#australia#fossils
Tiny 75-million-year-old mammal offers clues on how mammals outlived the dinosaurs
science28 days ago

Tiny 75-million-year-old mammal offers clues on how mammals outlived the dinosaurs

UW researchers describe Cimolodon desosai, a hamster-sized Late Cretaceous mammal from Baja California, as a new species of multituberculate. Its small size, omnivorous diet and arboreal habits likely helped its lineage survive the dinosaur extinction about 66 million years ago, contributing to later mammal diversity. The fossil includes a skull, jaws and limb bones and was analyzed with micro-CT imaging to confirm its distinct status, with the name honoring field assistant Michael de Sosa VI.

via ScienceDaily|
#cimolodon#extinction#fossils
Ancient Kraken Revealed: 60-Foot Octopus Dominated the Cretaceous Seas
science28 days ago

Ancient Kraken Revealed: 60-Foot Octopus Dominated the Cretaceous Seas

Using high‑resolution tomography and AI on Cretaceous rocks from Japan and Vancouver Island, researchers reconstruct Nanaimoteuthis haggarti as a colossal 60‑foot octopus that ground shells and bones with a massive beak, likely making it an apex predator in its ecosystem and possibly among the oldest finned octopuses; the study also suggests brain lateralization, though that claim will need more evidence.

via Good News Network|
#cephalopods#cretaceous#fossils