Tag

Ordovician

All articles tagged with #ordovician

science25 days ago•12 min saved

Oldest Crinoid Soft Tissue Found, Hidden in a Montreal Drawer

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.

via Space Daily|

#crinoid #fossil-preservation #ordovician

science1 month ago•111 min saved

Ancient English eruption sparks debate over 'supervolcano' label

Geologists traced a 454-million-year-old eruption beneath England’s east coast to the Ordovician period, linking it to the Kinnekulle tephra ash that spread as far as Scandinavia. The event was colossal and likely produced long-lasting ash clouds and pyroclastic flows, but many scientists caution that the term “supervolcano” is vague; instead, they describe eruptions by volume (ultraplinian) and note evidence is insufficient to label this as a true supervolcano.

via Live Science|

#geology #kinnekulle-tephra #ordovician

science3 months ago•13 min saved

Sharks trace back to a pre-forest Earth, about 450 million years ago

New fossil and geological evidence place the shark lineage around 450 million years ago in the Middle Ordovician, predating the first broad leaves and forests on land, showing that modern sharks are the result of a long marine evolution rather than unchanged fossils, with land plants and forests arising much later in Earth’s history.

via Space Daily|

#evolution #forests #ordovician

science8 months ago•4 min saved

Kentucky Amateur Uncovers 7-Foot Fossil, Dubbed 'Godzillus'

An amateur fossil hunter near Covington, Kentucky, unearthed a nearly seven-foot-long fossil dating to about 450 million years ago, nicknamed 'Godzillus.' The discovery in the Kope Formation near Cincinnati is unlike any known local specimen, puzzling scientists who have found trilobites on its underside. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne are studying its biology, surroundings, and burial to determine what it was and how it formed.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#fossil #godzillus #kentucky

paleontology3 years ago•3 min saved

Ancient Seafloor Communities Unearthed through Fossil Discovery

Researchers have discovered a 480-million-year-old fossil in Morocco that provides evidence of an ancient interspecies interaction. The fossil is a cephalopod that was posthumously colonized by a colony of tiny filter-feeders called pterobranchs. This discovery sheds light on the early Paleozoic era and the transitionary period between the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. It also highlights the long history of animals building their homes on top of other animals, a behavior that has persisted for millions of years.

via The New York Times|

#cephalopod #fossil #ordovician