May, 2010 | Everything Dinosaur Blog

11 05, 2010

New Archaeopteryx Study Reveals Chemical Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds

By Mike|2023-01-05T13:51:15+00:00May 11th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Archaeopteryx Reveals Chemical Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds

A team of Anglo/American researchers have published a new study on one of the most famous of all the creatures in the fossil record, Archaeopteryx. Thanks to the use of some very sophisticated technology; the team have revealed a chemical link between this primitive Jurassic bird and modern birds.

This crow-sized bird displays an unambiguous mix of characteristics from two linked groups of animals – Theropod dinosaurs and Aves (birds). The skeleton, beautifully preserved in a number of specimens from Solnhofen (Germany) shows many features of small, meat-eating, cursorial dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx had a three-fingered hand like that of a theropod dinosaur but a four-toed foot with the first toe potentially reversed to the other three to help it perch in trees like a bird. Earlier specimens of Archaeopteryx had been interpreted as having a perching adaptation, but the specimen used in the chemical analysis shows evidence of Archaeopteryx not having a reversed first toe. The jaws were lined with fine, needle-like teeth and Archaeopteryx had a long, bony reptilian tail. However, the most strikingly birdlike feature of Archaeopteryx is the feathers, exquisitely preserved in the fine-grained, lithographic limestone in a number of specimens.

A Model of the Jurassic Bird Archaeopteryx

Papo prehistoric animal models (Papo Archaeopteryx).

Papo Archaeopteryx “ancient wing” by Papo. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The model in the photograph (above) is the Papo Archaeopteryx figure. To view the Papo model range: Papo Prehistoric Animals.

In the study, published in the scientific journal “The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” new light is shed (literally one of the fossils was exposed to powerful X-rays), on the chemical relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

Extremely strong X-ray beams and other high tech equipment reveal that in the Archaeopteryx fossil studied, (The Thermopolis specimen, described in 2005 and on display at the Thermopolis museum in Wyoming, USA), chemical components of feathers, the residues of decayed organic materials remain in association with the fossilised bones. Such residues would not be apparent in a visual inspection and the traces of feathers would remain undetected in a conventional analysis.

The use of such powerful x-ray equipment and sophisticated technology is helping to provide palaeontologists with new data on long extinct creatures. The research, led by scientists at the University of Manchester and the U. S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has led to the chemical mapping of the fossil and elements of the surrounding matrix. Using powerful computer programmes, the X-ray data and chemical analysis has helped the team map out the chemical signature of the Archaeopteryx specimen used in the study.

The feathers contain phosphorous (P) and sulphur (S), these same chemical elements are found in the feathers of Neornithes (modern birds). Trace amounts of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were also found in the fossilised bones. Like birds today, Archaeopteryx may have required those elements to stay healthy.

Commenting on the research work, University of Manchester palaeontologist Phil Manning said:

“Archaeopteryx is to palaeontology what Tutankhamen is to the science of archaeology. It’s simply one of the icons of our field. You would think that after 150 years of study, we would know everything we need to know about this animal, but guess what – we were wrong.”

Lead author geochemist Roy Wogelius from The University of Manchester added:

“We talk about the physical link between birds and dinosaurs, and now we have found a chemical link between them. In the fields of palaeontology and geology, people have studied bones for decades. But this whole idea of the preservation of trace metals and the chemical remains of soft tissue is quite exciting.”

The researchers found significantly different concentrations of elements in the fossil than in the surrounding rock matrix, confirming that the chemicals are remnants of the animal and not minerals leached from the surrounding rock into the fossil.

A Cast of a Famous Archaeopteryx Fossil

Archaeopteryx fossil cast. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

SLAC physicist Uwe Bergmann, who led the X-ray scanning experiment, stated:

“People have never used a technique this sensitive on Archaeopteryx before. Because the SSRL beam is so bright, we were able to see the teeniest chemical traces that nobody thought were there.”

Sophisticated technology such as the synchrotron are becoming as important to palaeontologists as the trusty geological hammer. The use of such equipment is helping scientists to learn fresh insights and to gain new data about the organisms that make up our fossil record. It is not really surprising to see the same “chemical fingerprint” of feathers in a fossil of an ancient bird as you would expect to find in a modern bird. This X-ray scanning technique may have more significant implications when studying less well preserved theropod fossils. The lithographic limestones in which the feathers of Archaeopteryx are preserved have enabled exquisite details of the specimen to be studied. Other theropod fossils, perhaps those preserved in coarser grained sandstones may not show the presence of feathers. Under X-ray scanning, a different picture may emerge, the chemical fingerprint of feathers could be inferred from the analysis of elements within the fossil matrix. Scientists may be able to infer the existence of other feathered dinosaurs, even though no trace of the delicate feathers themselves have been preserved.

10 05, 2010

The Little Dinosaur Sticker Activity Book

By Mike|2023-01-05T13:47:00+00:00May 10th, 2010|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

The Little Dinosaur Sticker Activity Book from Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are very popular with young children (even older children and adults), sticker books are also popular and with this new addition to the Everything Dinosaur product range, you get the best of both.

Introducing the little dinosaur sticker activity book, an inexpensive gift for young dinosaur fans, a stocking filler or a great little gift for a party goody bag.

The Little Dinosaur Sticker Activity Book

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

This colourful little book contains 21 reuse-able dinosaur and prehistoric animal stickers. There are stickers of T. rex, pterosaurs, Stegosaurus, Triceratops and even one of Archaeopteryx the first bird. Simply take out the staples to reveal a scene from the age of dinosaurs on the inside covers. Then you can position the stickers to create your own dinosaur scene. The stickers can be peeled off and repositioned so young palaeontologists can make pictures time and time again.

The Symbol of Quality Products

Everything Dinosaur logo – a symbol of quality products and top customer service.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Everything Dinosaur

A great little gift and a good idea for a school project or a party favour.

To view the extensive range of dinosaur and prehistoric animal themed toys and gifts available from Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Visit Everything Dinosaur.

9 05, 2010

The 21st Century – A Mass Extinction Event

By Mike|2023-02-28T09:58:32+00:00May 9th, 2010|Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

United Nations Report set to Declare that 30% of all Fauna and Flora Faces Extinction

The economic expansion of countries such as China and India, with the Western World’s inability to deal effectively with environmental threats could lead to the extinction of a third of all the plant’s species before the end of this century. We could be heading for a mass extinction event.

That is one of the conclusions of a United Nations report due to be published next week. It focuses on the huge growth in the human population and consumption and provides a stark warning about the future diversity of life on Earth. The report will link economic growth and extinction rates and provide one of the most critical evaluations on the current state of humanity and our relationship with the natural world.

Mass Extinction Event

2009 has been designated the International Year of Biodiversity, a number of events and activities are being held world wide to highlight the rich and varied ecosystems of our planet, this new report paints a very different picture regarding the state of the natural world.

This new United Nations sponsored report uses research from 120 countries and it will show that no country has succeeded in halting the loss of biodiversity and that 89% of those countries that had submitted data identified climate change as a cause for the extinctions.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, the UN’s leading figure on biological diversification states:

“If the nine billion people predicted to be with us by 2050 were to have the same lifestyle as Americans, we would need five planets.”

The UN report will attract a great deal of debate, but many countries will be reluctant to take action as they will be unwilling to fore go economic growth for the sake of the natural world. The extinction threat extends across all the main ecosystems of the planet, from rain forests to coral reefs, species as different as tree frogs, large mammals, tuna and river dolphins face extinction.

River dolphins and other large freshwater animals are particularly threatened. It is not just climate change but loss of habitat and also pollution that is causing their demise. The Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), fore example is believed to virtually extinct. No specimens were recorded in a six week survey of the Yangtze river in 2006. To read more about the decline and potential extinction of this unique species:

Yangtze River Dolphin: The Yangtze River Dolphin – How to Define an Epoch.

There is always a certain “background” rate of extinction, as species fail to compete and die out. The fossil record identifies five major extinction events when global biodiversity was significantly reduced, but there have been many other smaller extinction events recorded in the fossil record. However, some scientists have declared the Holocene as the site of the “sixth great mass extinction”, with huge numbers of species threatened with extinction.

The most recent study by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) found that more than 17,200 species of the 47,677 species studied were classified as being threatened by extinction. The IUCN compiles a red list of species (first prepared in 1948), this catalogues species and rates them along a spectrum to indicate their threatened status. Species can be classified as LC (least concern) down to EW (extinct in the wild) and ET (extinct). Of the worlds 5, 490 mammal species 79 are classified as extinct. The IUCN has estimated that approximately 30% of all amphibian species, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates are threatened with extinction.

Nine Billion People

It has been estimated that by 2050 the human population will have soared to over 9 billion and the increasing human population will increase the pressure on limited resources thus leading to the extinction of many more species. The reduction of diversity and habitat in conjunction with global warning may have dire consequences for our own species.

We at Everything Dinosaur, are trying to do our bit. One of our team members has become our “Environmental Officer” and to date we have fitted energy saving light bulbs, reduced our fossil fuel consumption and introduced a new policy on packaging recycling. In addition, we have been slowly converting the area behind our offices into a wildlife friendly habitat by cleaning out and restoring a pond, planting bee friendly plants and putting in some new trees.

Team members have also been encouraged to consider where the food they eat comes from. Vegetable and fruit seeds have been provided and we are all being encouraged to “grow our own”. So far, crops of carrots, beetroot, rhubarb, onions and a series of herbs have been successfully harvested.

We have also been involved in a number of other projects too, we recognise that whilst we cannot make a huge impact on our own we can make a small difference, other plans for this summer include monitoring the grass meadow we helped to establish and creating a fernery and rockery to increase the number of wildlife habitats the area behind the offices has.

Everything Dinosaur Has Built a Wildlife Pond

More frogspawn laid in the office pond (16th March 2022).

Everything Dinosaur has created a wildlife pond which has encouraged amphibians to spawn. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

8 05, 2010

British Columbia Proposes Provincial Fossil (Four Contenders in the Running)

By Mike|2023-03-05T13:22:59+00:00May 8th, 2010|Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

British Columbia wants a Provincial Fossil – Four Candidates in Contention

British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province is looking for its own provincial fossil, to join the list of natural fauna and flora that represent this part of Canada. A number of American states and Canadian provinces have their own stated fossil representative, for example Alaska has a Woolly Mammoth and California has adopted the Sabre-toothed cat sub-species S. fatalis in respect to the large amounts of Smilodon material found at La Brea tar pits.

Alberta has fossilised trees (petrified wood) as their provincial stone, but surprisingly this fossil rich area has no official fossil to represent it. Only Nova Scotia in Canada has a provincial fossil – Hylonomus lyelli. This primitive reptile, the oldest known true egg-laying (amniote). Forty of the U.S. states have a state fossil and following this trend, British Columbia has drawn up a shortlist of four candidates.

The British Columbia Palaeontological Association (BCPA) in conjunction with a number of Canadian universities has selected the four candidates from the huge range of extinct fauna and flora in the British Columbia fossil record. All thirteen of Earth’s major, life-bearing geological systems, from Vendian to Quaternary, are represented in the province, spanning the last 600 million years. Examples of British Columbia fossils range from trilobites, conodonts (early relatives of back-boned animals), gastropods and bivalves, corals, early fish, ammonites, dinosaurs and prehistoric animal tracks, huge sea reptiles from the Mesozoic and sharks.

The fossil record of plants in British Columbia is equally impressive with ferns, cycads, ancient conifers and early angiosperms. The BCPA state in their press release that the province has “spectacular samples of the diversity of ancient life that has walked across British Columbia’s varied landscapes and lived in its oceans”.

Provincial Fossil

British Columbia has a number of provincial symbols and has celebrated its rich natural heritage through designation of a Provincial Flower (Pacific Dogwood), a Provincial Bird (Stellar Jay), a Provincial Tree (Western Red Cedar), and a Provincial Gemstone (BC Jade). Government officials now want to add a provincial fossil to this list, a recognition of the importance of British Columbia to the Earth sciences.

Discussions amongst the membership and individual palaeontological societies of the BCPA have resulted in the short-list of four fossils. The four candidate fossils represent a variety of animal types, each group of which has had a significant impact on the development of life on Earth and in British Columbia.

Four Candidate Fossil Specimens

Here is the short-list:

1). The Permian Fusulinid (Yabeina columbiana)

Not the most widely known type of fossil, but a very important fossil from an extremely important group of animals in the fossil record. Fusulinids are an extinct type of sea creature, that lived in ancient oceans from about 440 million years ago to approximately 250 million years ago. Yabeina columbiana was one of the last types of this animal to evolve. Individual Yabeina specimens probably lived like tiny snails, crawling along the shallow, warm sea bottom – an epifaunal lifestyle. These animals were extremely numerous as the accumulation of shells form entire strata of blue limestone.

As the British Columbia Provincial Fossil, Yabeina columbiana would represent an exciting period in the history of the formation of the west coast of North America. It is also abundant enough that everyone could collect a specimen, the strata in which this particular fossil is found is studied by palaeontologists and geologists from all over the world.

Pictures show a small sample of blue limestone with a number of Yabeina fossils, the rock looks like it has been pock-mocked and it is these marks that represent the fossil. Under a powerful microscope, the fine detail of the tiny fossil shells can be made out and it is differences in the shell structure that is used to determine individual species.

2). The Cretaceous Ammonite (Canadoceras yokoyamai)

Ammonites were cephalopods, extinct relatives of squid and cuttlefish. They are important world wide as zonal fossils and there are many genera known from British Columbia. Ammonite fossils are relatively common in British Columbia, especially in the Cretaceous aged rocks on the west coast as well as in the northeastern part of the province.

The ammonite selected for the shortlist is Canadoceras yokoyamai, sometimes called the “Canadian horn”. It is known from rocks about 80 million years old that are preserved along the eastern side of Vancouver Island. This genus of ammonite was named after Canada, the species name, yokoyamai, is named after the Japanese palaeontologist Yokoyama and examples of the species are also known from Japan.

This fossil is also known from many other regions of the Pacific Rim, including California, Alaska, and Far East Russia. This ammonite fossil demonstrates the strong geological links between western British Columbia and other countries that border the modern Pacific ocean.Picture Credit: BCPA

The strong rib lines can clearly be seen on specimens. Ammonites are important to palaeontologists and geologists as they can help establish the relative ages of widely separated outcrops of rock using the fossils that they contain.

3). The Cambrian Lace Crab – Marrella splendens

Tucked along a precipitous mountain face in Yoho National Park in southeastern British Columbia, is an excavated pit which has produced some of the most important fossils the world has ever seen. This is the famous Burgess Shale quarry pit, which exposes sedimentary rocks that accumulated during the Cambrian Period early in the Palaeozoic Era, approximately 530 million years ago.

The animal life preserved in the Burgess Shale pit, called the “Burgess Shale Fauna,” is important as it documents an abundance of soft-bodied life-forms (that is, animals lacking shells) that represent a veritable explosion of evolutionary activity early in the history of large-scale life on Earth. Prior to this “Cambrian Explosion,” the world’s seas were seemingly the domain of simple life-forms, such as jellyfish and sponges. But around the time of the Burgess Shale, an abundance of new, unusual, and unique life forms appeared.

One of the most abundant and fascinating of these Burgess Shale forms is the “Lace Crab,” or Marrella splendens. Marrella has wispy appendages and unusual morphologic features which led palaeontologists starting in the 1970s to question the identification of many of the Burgess Shale fossils with the traditional arthropod groups to which they had been assigned. In fact, many of these forms were found to represent life forms which have no modern counterpart in the modern Earth biota, that is no extant relatives. It was only then that the true importance of the Burgess Shale fauna became clear.

The site preserves a record of many experimental life-forms that evolved early in the Palaeozoic Era, in the early beginnings of multicellular life, many of which proved to be evolutionary dead-ends which soon went extinct. Given its importance for the history of Life on Earth, the Burgess Shale quarry has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In the wonderfully well preserved fossil in the pictures, antennae, legs and even the delicate gills are clearly visible. Named the “Lace Crab” by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the famous American palaeontologist who discovered the first “Burgess Shale” fossils in 1909, Marrella is in fact believed to be a primitive nektonic (animal that swims actively) shrimp.

4. The Cretaceous Elasmosaur from Puntledge River

A superbly preserved, almost complete fossil of a Late Cretaceous marine reptile makes up this quartet of potential British Columbia provincial fossils. Elasmosaurs were long-necked plesiosaurs that lived world wide and survived until the very end of the Cretaceous period.

While individual pieces of elasmosaur specimens have been found at various localities in British Columbia, the most complete elasmosaur ever found in Canada, is the specimen on display in the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre on Vancouver Island. This elasmosaur specimen was found by an amateur paleontologist Mike Trask and his daughter Heather, who were looking for fossils along the Puntledge River one fine autumn afternoon in 1988.

Expecting to find the usual ammonites and clam fossils that are mostly found in these rocks, the father and daughter team was surprised to find what appeared to be fragments of vertebrae sticking out of the strata in a rock wall along the river. Subsequent collecting over the next several weekends turned up numerous teeth and bone fragments which eventually were found to be part of a complete jaw and skull.

Once the significance of the find was established, the Courtenay Museum organised a major scientific excavation of the fossil specimen, which galvanised local community attention. Many hundreds of volunteers turned out to help with the excavation work, firing the interest of many in the science of palaeontology. As a result of all this activity, one of British Columbia’s first palaeontological societies was formed, in Courtenay.

The 12-metre-long elasmosaur is one of the best preserved of all vertebrate Late Cretaceous fossils, ever found in North America. A replica of the specimen, is the star exhibit in the Courtenay and District Museum. The elasmosaurid is even used as the logo for this museum.

A Model of an Elasmosaurid

Provincial fossil candidate an elasmosaurid.

An elasmosaurid is a candidate for the Provincial fossil of British Columbia. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To see a replica model of an elasmosaurid and other prehistoric animal models, take a look at the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Model range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Age of Dinosaurs Models.

These four specimens represent the diversity of the Canadian fossil record. British Columbia can be very proud of its fossils, all four candidates are strong contenders and the BCPA is inviting comments and feedback before a winner is selected.

After some debate amongst Everything Dinosaur team members, we have agreed to support the Marrella specimen. Not only is the degree of preservation exquisite but the Burgess Shale has yielded thousands of Cambrian fossils, many of which have their soft parts preserved and as such it is one of the most remarkable fossil sites in the world.

7 05, 2010

Shedding Light on our Closest Relative – The Neanderthal In All of Us

By Mike|2023-01-05T13:22:15+00:00May 7th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Main Page|0 Comments

The Neanderthal Genome Shedding Light on Human Evolution

A ten year project led by an international team of anthropologists and geneticists is shedding light on the H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis relationship as more information about the Neanderthal genome, the genetic make up of this extinct species of human is revealed.

Scientists involved in the project say the findings, published today in the journal “Science”, provide important information on the origin of our own species and the inter-relationships with the other hominid species with whom modern humans shared the world up to around 28,000 years ago – the Neanderthal.

Although earlier studies had cast doubt over whether modern humans interbred with Neanderthals, this study indicates that modern humans migrating out of Africa did interbreed with Neanderthals. This interbreeding could be one of the reasons why the Neanderthal is no longer with us (unless we count this DNA evidence that is), the Neanderthal could simply have been absorbed into the modern human genome.

The lead researcher, Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany commentated:

“Having a first version of the Neanderthal genome fulfils a long-standing dream. For the first time we can now identify genetic features that set us apart from all other organisms, including our closest evolutionary relative.”

Neanderthal

The findings are based on bone samples of three female Neanderthals excavated from Croatia’s Vindija Cave, a site famous for its well preserved Neanderthal remains and artefacts. The fossilised bones of the individuals have been estimated by scientists to be approximately 38,000 years old. It is at around this time that Neanderthal remains and artefacts start to disappear from the fossil and archaeological record of Europe, with evidence of modern humans becoming far more common.

A Model of a Neanderthal Man

A CollectA Neanderthal man figure.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture shows a model of a Neanderthal man, to see this model range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Range.

The scientists state that they have mapped sixty percent of the genome so far. They will continue their efforts to complete the sequence, to map the entire genetic code of the Neanderthal species, a project that they anticipate will take years.

The researchers compared the Neanderthal genetic material, with the genomes of five present-day humans from different regions of the world: China, France, Papua New Guinea and southern and western Africa.

Human Migration

The findings suggest that modern humans, after migrating out of Africa 80,000 to 45,000 years ago, bred with Neanderthals then in the Middle East before spreading further into Asia. In the scientific paper, the team conclude that between 1 to 4 percent of the modern human genetic make up of non-Africans can be traced back to a Neanderthal ancestor.

Over recent years, our understanding of Neanderthal stone tool technology and Neanderthal culture has changed and the slow witted, ape man image associated with Neanderthals in the past has been fully refuted.

To read an article about Anglo/American research into Neanderthal tool technology: Neanderthals not as Stupid as We Thought.

David Reich, a geneticist and associate professor at the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, commented on the paper stating:

“The main finding is that there was gene flow from Neanderthals into the ancestors of modern non-Africans.”

Neanderthals first appeared in the European fossil record about 400,000 years ago. The species persisted until approximately 28,000 years ago when the last Neanderthal enclaves (in the Iberian peninsula) died out.

Extracting DNA from the ancient bone samples was a daunting feat. Using a delicate dental drill, researchers collected tiny fragments of bone powder (500 milligrammes), roughly the size of a small asprin, from which to analyse and isolate Neanderthal DNA.

Svante Paabo stated:

“Six or seven years ago, I thought it would be impossible, at least my lifetime, to sequence the entire nuclear genome of Neanderthals.”

The bone samples contained very little preserved Neanderthal DNA. According to researchers, 95 to 97 percent of the DNA extracted was bacterial or from other organisms that had colonised the bone. The DNA fragments that were recovered were extremely small and contained chemical modifications that could have yielded false data.

Researchers also had to take special measures to extract the Neanderthal DNA without contaminating it with their own human DNA. Employing new computer technologies and software the team were able to map out the majority of the 4 billion-nucleotide Neanderthal genome.

Scientists are hoping that over the next few years more of the Neanderthal genome will be plotted.

To view the extensive range of prehistoric animal themed gifts and toys available from the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Visit Everything Dinosaur.

6 05, 2010

Lobster Fisherman “catches” 300-million-year-old Lobster

By Mike|2023-03-05T13:24:05+00:00May 6th, 2010|Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Canadian Fisherman Hauls up 300-million-year-old Lobster Claw

We have all heard stories of fishermen who tell of the “one that got away”, tall tales are as much a part of fishing as bait and boats, but for one Canadian fisherman, a remarkable stroke of luck whilst setting pot traps for lobster on the seabed led to the discovery of a 300-million-year-old lobster fossil.

For Canadian fisherman Colin Dandy a routine trip to set traps to catch shell fish and lobster of Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) turned out to be a red letter day for the history of crustacean palaeontology. Last year, Colin was fishing off the east coast of the isle of Cape Breton, close to the small islands known as the Bird Islands, when the fossil containing rock became hooked to the back of his boat’s scallop rack.

For Colin, a fisherman with over 30 years experience, he was able to recognise the strange object as the claw of a lobster but he did not know its age and importance.

Recalling the moment he first saw the rock containing fossil stuck on his scallop rack; Colin stated:

“I picked it up and hosed it off. I saw it was a lobster claw but I didn’t think it was that old.”

Once the fossil had been shown to an expert, at the local natural history museum, the true age and importance of this fossil was determined.

Dr Stuart Critchley, the Curator at the Cape Breton Fossil Centre stated:

“I looked at the fossil. It was surrounded by a thin layer of carbon. It is the same as the carbon we see on our plant fossils here. So as an educated guess, it was formed 300 million years ago, the same time as the Carboniferous era.”

A Stunning Fossil of a Sea Scorpion Claw

A stunning fossil of a sea scorpion (eurypterid) claw housed at the National Museum Cardiff (Wales) photographed in 2019 when team members at Everything Dinosaur visited. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters are members of the phylum Arthropoda, the largest phylum of all in the Kingdom Animalia. This phylum consists of insects, spiders, mites and several extinct groups such as the trilobites. The hard outer coating (exoskeleton) of arthropods usually consists of chitin, but it may be further strengthened by calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate, increasing the preservation potential of the hard outer shells of these animals. Some Arthropoda genera are important zonal fossils for palaeontologists, helping to establish the age of different rock strata.

For crustaceans like lobsters, growth occurs during periodic moulting when the exoskeleton is shed and a new larger exoskeleton formed. This means that a lobster may shed its hard outer shell on many occasions during its lifetime. The moulting of the exoskeleton leads to many fossils of cast and shed elements of shell in the fossil record as well as fossils of the dead animals.

It’s not the first time Dandy has seen a fossil like this. He said his father unearthed two similar fossils about 50 years ago. They are now at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. It is likely that the fisherman are placing their pot traps on a part of the seabed that consists of exposed fossil bearing rock. As pot traps tend to get set in the same area of seabed then the chances of a rigging on a pot bringing up a fossil increase, although the chances of finding a fossil using this method, no matter how fossiliferous the strata, are still remote.

Dandy’s recent find has been donated to the Cape Breton Fossil Centre, he said, so local children will be able to view it.

For models of ancient Palaeozoic creatures: Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

5 05, 2010

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival 2010

By Mike|2023-03-04T22:33:55+00:00May 5th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Lyme Regis Welcomes Fossil Fanatics

The annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival took place over the weekend (April 29th until May 2nd) and despite the unsettled weather, thousands of fossil fans, collectors and enthusiastic amateur palaeontologists descended on the Dorset town. This year’s festival theme “Dead or Alive”; celebrating the international year of biodiversity, was very appropriate as this part of the “Jurassic coast” is perhaps the best place to explore the ancient biodiversity of a prehistoric Mesozoic marine environment.

Some of the Beautiful Ammonite Fossils on Display at the Festival

Picture credit: Brandon Lennon (www.lymeregisfossilwalks.com)

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival

This part of Dorset is not just known for its spectacular fossils. To the east of the town of Lyme Regis, stretching out from Chesil beach is the Isle of Portland, a remote and beautiful part of the Dorset coast. The island is famous for its Portland stone, robust limestone that has been used in the construction industry since Roman times. Some of Britain’s most famous landmarks are made from Portland stone, iconic buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Cenotaph and Buckingham Palace in London. Although regarded as an island, it is not surrounded by water, as Portland is linked to the mainland via Chesil beach. The quarries at Portland have revealed dinosaur trackways and many fossil invertebrates and at the fossil festival sculptors put on a display of their craft using the famous Portland limestone.

Sculpting Portland Stone at the Fossil Festival

Carving away at the Fossil Festival.

Picture credit: Brandon Lennon (www.lymeregisfossilwalks.com)

Of course, with so many local fossil experts on hand, there was plenty of opportunity to pick up a souvenir of the visit. Perhaps a fossil ammonite to call your own, or something a little more unusual such as fossil brachiopods or an ichthyosaurus vertebrae. A particularly wide selection of fossils for sale was seen at the Mike’s Minerals and Fossils with a number of local ammonite specimens plus other fossil curios such as preserved prehistoric fish from the Western United States.

Thanks to all the event organisers for helping to make the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival such a success this year and our thanks to Brandon Lennon for sending us some pictures.

To visit Brandon’s Fossil Shop: Lyme Regis Fossils for Sale.

4 05, 2010

What is a Fossil?

By Mike|2023-01-05T10:34:59+00:00May 4th, 2010|Educational Activities, Geology, Main Page|1 Comment

Fossils – A Definition

One question that Everything Dinosaur team members get asked when they visit schools is what are fossils? This seemingly innocuous question is actually quite difficult to answer when the different types of fossil are considered. What is a fossil?

Essentially if we were to say that a fossil is the preserved remains of a once-living organism that has been buried in sediment that has over time become rock, this would not be entirely correct. This particular definition fails to encompass the many and varied different types of fossil that can be found.

What is a Fossil?

A more fundamental definition is required, for example, it would be true to say that a fossil is simply any evidence of ancient organisms, naturally preserved within the materials that make up the Earth. Usually, such evidence is found within sedimentary rock, the muds, silts and sands that are deposited in layers and over time form rock, but not all fossils are formed in this way small creatures, fungi and plant material can be preserved in tree resin that hardens into amber, Pleistocene animals and plants can be preserved frozen; such as Mammoths in the Arctic wastes of the Siberian Tundra. Occasionally, organisms may be trapped in fine volcanic ash and preserved in amazing detail and at Starunia in Poland, a complete rhinoceros was discovered pickled in a mixture of brine and tar. This specimen was over 100,000 years old, but it was so well preserved that its stomach contents could be studied.

The word “fossil” is derived from the Latin word “fossa” meaning “dug up”. In the 17th Century academics thought fossils consisted of both organic and inorganic matter, but by 1800 most agreed that fossils were purely of organic origin. However, how fossils came to exist was still hotly debated (indeed, the debate continues today).

Broadly there are three types of fossil; body, trace and chemical fossils the table below provides a brief description and some examples.

Different Types of Fossil

Table credit: Everything Dinosaur

Finding Fossils at Lyme Regis

Team members at Everything Dinosaur enjoy hunting for fossils. They try to visit Lyme Regis once or twice a year to hunt for fossils.

Fossils Found at Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis full of fossils.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For replicas of iconic animals from the fossil record: Fossil Replicas and Educational Toys.

3 05, 2010

Filling the Gap in the North American Ornithocheiridae

By Mike|2023-01-05T10:27:48+00:00May 3rd, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Pterosaur Jawbone Hints at Greater Diversification of Ornithocheirids in North America

The fossilised mandible of a flying reptile (pterosaur) is helping scientists to piece together a puzzle that has confused palaeontologists for generations. Pterosaurs, those winged reptiles, the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, ruled the skies for much of the Mesozoic. From their Triassic origins; this group of reptiles rapidly diversified and although they began to decline in numbers towards the end of the Cretaceous, the last of their kind persisted to the very end of the Mesozoic.

Flying Reptile

However, one particular family of pterosaurs, the Ornithocheiridae (the name means bird hand), despite being widespread and numerous were almost absent from the fossil record of Cretaceous North America. This omission had puzzled scientists. The Ornithocheiridae consist of a number of genera, fossils of which have been found in England, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia but to date only one fragmentary pterosaur fossil from the whole of North America has been ascribed to this particular family of flying reptiles. Most of these fossils date from the Early Cretaceous and some specimens represent species that may have rivalled the later Azhdarchidae as being the largest flying creatures ever. Ornithocheirus for example, a genus that represents ten species, may have had a wingspan in excess of 13 metres. However, the true size and diversity of this genus is difficult to assign accurately as the vast majority of pterosaur fossils relating to Ornithocheirus are fragmentary and poorly preserved.

However, the fossil finds of Ornithocheiridae in the whole of North America has just been doubled, thanks to the discovery of a 95-million-year-old jawbone. In a paper published in the scientific publication “The Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology”, the jawbone, discovered in Texas, four years ago is formerly described and a new genus of ornithocheirid announced. Enter Aetodactylus halli (the name means Hall’s eagle finger – after Lance Hall the amateur fossil hunter who found the fossil in 2006).

This pterosaur was very probably a fish-eater (indicated by dentition in the jawbone), it soared over what is now Dallas, approximately 95 million years ago (Cenomanian faunal stage). For much of the Cretaceous, North America was divided in two by a shallow sea (the Western Interior Seaway). It is likely that there were many ornithocheirids living at the time, but the geological conditions and their delicate, air-filled bones reduce the likelihood of fossil preservation. The jawbone indicates that this animal may have had a wingspan in excess of 3 metres.

A Scale Drawing of an Ornithocheirus

Ornithocheirus “bird hand” a scale drawing.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For replicas of ornithocheirids and other flying reptiles: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Range.

The fossil jawbone is compelling scientists to review the evidence for ornithocheirids in North America, commenting on the discovery Timothy Myers of Southern Methodist University’s Huffington Dept. of Earth Sciences stated:

“The fossil hints at a diversity of pterosaurs in the Cretaceous of North America that wasn’t previously realised.”

The only other North American pterosaur fossil ascribed to the Ornithocheiridae was discovered here, too, suggesting that the dearth of other ornithocheirids in North America might be more a function of geography and geology than actual biological distribution.

The press release describing the discovery of this new genus of flying reptile states:

“The ancient sea that covered Dallas provided the right conditions to preserve… the delicate bones of flying reptiles that fell from their flight to the waters below. The rocks and fossils here [Texas] record a time not well represented elsewhere in North America. That’s why two species of ornithocheirids have been found here but nowhere else, and that’s why discoveries of other new fossils are sure to be made….”

Lance Hall the amateur fossil collector who found the jawbone, discovered the specimen eroding out of an exposed piece of shale near a road southwest of Dallas. It seems likely that this animal’s body was swept out to sea, or perhaps it fell from the sky into the sea, sunk and was rapidly buried at the bottom in soft mud.

American scientists are hopeful that more fossils will be found in the strata, helping to shed further light on the diversity of Pterosaur genera in the region.

2 05, 2010

Mediterranean Fossils may help Scientists find Proof of Life on Mars

By Mike|2023-01-05T10:21:37+00:00May 2nd, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Fossils in Ancient Seabed may Shape the Search for Life on Mars

Microscopic fossils of primitive lifeforms found in what was a dried up part of the Mediterranean could help NASA scientists to determine where to look for fossils of primitive life on Mars. Mediterranean fossils could help NASA researchers find proof of life on Mars.

The question whether there is or has been life on Mars has been hotly debated. Certainly, there is evidence to indicate that in pre-history Mars was seismically active and perhaps it had a thicker atmosphere than it has today. There is also plenty of evidence of water on the red planet and indeed despite the fact that what water on the planet is frozen solid, pictures taken from the Martian surface indicates geological features that may have been caused by rivers and flowing water.

The NASA Martian rover, known as Opportunity is currently traversing a relatively flat area of the planet called Meridiani Planum and this particular region of Mars is littered with rocks made from calcium sulphate (gypsum) the same rocky material in which scientists have found fossils of primitive life here on planet Earth.

Mediterranean Fossils

The scientists said they are impressed by the unexpected discovery of 6-million-year-old fossils in rocks from a time when the Mediterranean Sea was known to have dried up completely. The fossil life forms include organisms very much like those found at the bottom of Ocean food chains today, phytoplankton, diatoms and cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria (sometimes referred to as blue-green algae), evolved on Earth sometime during either the Archean Eon or the Proterozoic Eon, a period of time that covers the Earth from around 4 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian Period. Evidence of ancient microscopic life is extremely rare, especially in the earliest part of the Proterozoic Eon, (known as the Palaeoproterozoic), but some scientists have put forward fossil evidence to indicate that photosynthesising single-celled, micro-organisms without nucleii – prokaryotes evolved around 2.4 billion years ago. It was the action of micro-organisms that radically changed the Earth’s atmosphere as they converted sunlight into food with oxygen as a bi-product.

A Comparison of Living and Fossil Bacteria

Picture credit: Open University

The picture above shows six electron microscope studies of cyanobacteria, each with a scale in microns. The pictures labelled (a), (c) and (e) are from cyanobacteria colonies found today in Mexico (stromatolites). Pictures labelled (b), (d) and (f) are from rocks in the former Soviet Union, showing micro fossils of bacteria. Picture (b) is approximately 950 million years old (Neoproterozoic), picture (d) has been dated to approximately 850 million years ago (Neoproterozoic) and picture (f) is the oldest specimen dating from the middle of the Proterozoic (Mesoproterozoic), approximately 1550 millon years ago. The fossil bacteria resembles very closely the modern forms, indicating how little change has occurred in these organisms since they first evolved. These relatively unchanging lifeforms that evolved in the in the Cryptozoic (the immense amount of time from the Earth’s formation to the first fossils of complex life forms), give credence to that often used phrase by palaeontologists that life on Earth was “on a long fuse to the Cambrian explosion”.

NASA Briefing

During a NASA phone briefing Wednesday, J. William Schopf, director of the Centre for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life at UCLA, said the fossil life forms found in the calcium sulphate rocks on Earth, present the intriguing possibility of the Martian rover finding similar fossil on the calcium sulphate rocks that are scattered across the part of Mars the rover is currently exploring.

Commenting on the discovery of micro-fossils in the gypsum rocks, Schopf stated that the scientists never expected to find signs of life.

“We all assumed there wouldn’t be anything like life there, and we were wrong.”

Gypsum is made of calcium sulfate, and Steven Squyres, chief scientist of the Mars Rover mission, noted that Opportunity’s six wheels are now carrying it across portions

Steven Squyres the chief scientist on the NASA Mars rover mission said that the rocks that Opportunity was now passing by would be “a fine target for intense investigation”.

Squyres is a member of a National Research Council task force weighing up future concepts for space missions that would seek evidence of life – past or present – on planets or other bodies in the solar system like the larger asteroids that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter.

After all, it is not just the planets such as Mars or a moon such as Europa that may harbour life, a recent study of a large asteroid in the main debris belt between Mars and Jupiter (24 Themis) has shown that asteroids too, may also contain water and have organic compounds.

To read more about the research on this asteroid: Scientist find Evidence of Water on an Asteroid.

There are a number of missions currently being considered, each one with the aim of helping to prove that Earth is not alone in the solar system in terms of life, that once there was life, albeit primitive life, in other parts of our solar system.

Collecting Samples

One of particularly strong scientific interest would revive a 20-year-old plan to collect samples of Martian soil and return them to Earth for scientists to analyse in the best laboratories in the world.

Explaining how this mission would be carried out, Squyres stated that this mission would involve three spacecraft launched over six years.

The first would be a rover that would trundle across a selected Martian site, collect a variety of soil samples, and then “park in a nice, safe spot” to await a second spacecraft from Earth that would pick up the samples, blast off from the planet’s surface, and remain in Mars orbit until a third ship from Earth arrived to carry the priceless cargo back home.

The entire project, which Squyres described as “complex and hellishly difficult to complete,” has no price tag yet, but NASA planners say the concept is being studied as a potential joint venture by teams at the European Space Agency’s headquarters in Paris.

For prehistoric animal toys and games at down to Earth prices: Everything Dinosaur.