Being only 2000 years old this isn’t exactly a “Fossil Find” since it’s actually a sub-fossil, but it is nevertheless an interesting discovery of an extinct type of lemur. A partial skeleton of the creature was found back in 2003 at Andrahomana Cave in southeastern Madagascar, the island off the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It was of Hadropithecus stenognathus, a type of lemur thought to be related to the sifaka, a modern lemur known for its acrobatic jumping abilities.

The remains, from a single sub-adult, included many previously undiscovered parts including the sacrum, some of the vertebrae, the distal epiphysis of the femur (which serves as origin of part of the gastrocnemius muscle) and several bones from its hands, and it’s the hand bones that are raising most of the commotion. Analysis of these tiny bones reveals an unexpected hand joint configuration, an arch, on the side of the little finger. This joint structure is straight on all other known primates, including Archaeolemur, an extinct close relative of Hadropithecus.

“Our analysis showed a mosaic of lemurid-like, monkey-like and very unique morphological traits,” remarked Dr. Pierre Lemelin, an assistant professor of anatomy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who led the team that made the discovery. “Because the joint was present on both hands, it’s likely not an anomaly, but because there are no other Hadropithecus hand bones for comparison, we don’t know for certain.”

Furthermore, the team also discovered that, unlike its close living relatives, the hand of Hadropithecus lacked anatomical qualities associated with wrist mobility and strong finger flexion that typify primate species that climb or cling to trees. For instance, the scaphoid tubercle does not project palmarly as seen in climbing mammals, and the hamate bone lacks a hook (just a small tubercle), which also points to a weak carpal tunnel. Also, the hand bones demonstrated that Hadropithecus had very short thumbs and was thus almost certainly a quadrupedal species, walking on all fours, much like many primates, such as baboons, do today. What all these means is that Hadropithecus didn’t lead an arboreal existence like those in existence today do.

The discovery underscores the incredible diversity of lemurs that lived on Madagascar some two millennia ago, ranging in size from 30gms (slightly more than an ounce) up to 240kg (almost 530lbs), of which only the small tree-dwelling varieties still survive.

Further Reading:

Ancient Lemur's Little Finger Poses Mystery

New hand bones of Hadropithecus stenognathus: implications for the paleobiology of the Archaeolemuridae

New discoveries of skeletal elements of Hadropithecus stenognathus from Andrahomana Cave, southeastern Madagascar

Anybody caught this one?

Fossil hunters think they may have found the earliest known creature to engage in sexual activity - a rope type worm that lived on the seabed in what is now the Australian outback.

Apparently these beasties were at it a cool 30 million years before any other known living organism. (Daily Mirror UK printed edition Saturday 22nd March)

Originally posted by MooseOnTheLoose

Anybody caught this one?

Fossil hunters think they may have found the earliest known creature to engage in sexual activity - a rope type worm that lived on the seabed in what is now the Australian outback.

What gave it away MOTL - the cigarette in its mouth?

Originally posted by MOTL

Apparently these beasties were at it a cool 30 million years before any other known living organism. (Daily Mirror UK printed edition Saturday 22nd March)

Not sure what you are trying to say here MOTL. Can you clarify?


Regards, Roland

Sorry for the kerfufflement....

"...before any other organism was known to have utilised sex as a means of reproduction."

Better I hope.

First known communication between living organisms:

Q. "Did you feel the earth move, darling?"
A. "I thought it was continental drift."

Originally posted by MooseOnTheLoose

Anybody caught this one?

Fossil hunters think they may have found the earliest known creature to engage in sexual activity - a rope type worm that lived on the seabed in what is now the Australian outback.

Apparently these beasties were at it a cool 30 million years before any other known living organism. (Daily Mirror UK printed edition Saturday 22nd March)

Yes. Planned on posting something on it after returning from Easter diner. Here's the short version...

Funisia dorothea, the 30cm (1 foot) long, 570 myo beastie in question, was discovered in 2005 near Edicara in the southern Australian outback and was a thin, rope-like tubular creature that lived in large, dense groupings on shallow seabeds and appears to have led an existence that is similar to modern corals and sponges.

The paleontologist who led the excavations which discovered Funisia, Professor Mary Droser of the University of California, Riverside, noted that, “We are seeing possibly the very first instance of sexual reproduction in animals on our planet.” The reason that Droser and her team concluded that they reproduced sexually rather than asexually is that they were found in clusters that all seem to be the same age and since they established a foothold on the sandy seafloor at the same time, the evidence points toward this having resulted from a simultaneous spawning rather than from uncoordinated asexual births. Their dense clustering would have made it easier for eggs and sperm released in the water to easily get together. If their conclusions are correct, this discovery pushes back the first known instance of sexual reproduction back some 30 million years and demonstrates that Earth’s ecosystem was more complex during the Neoproterozoic era than was previously believed.

While Funisia dorothea's name comes from the Latin word for rope and dorothea after Dorothy, Droser's 80 year old mother who would accompany her on digs doing the cooking and watching the kids, I just love the fact that the first creature to reproduce sexually has the name Funisia.

Further Reading (and much more info):

Fossil sheds light on the history of sex

Rethinking Early Evolution: Earth's Earliest Animal Ecosystem Was Complex And Included Sexual Reproduction

Early life on Earth - no predators, plenty of sex

Originally posted by MooseOnTheLoose

Sorry for the kerfufflement....

"...before any other organism was known to have utilised sex as a means of reproduction."

Better I hope.

First known communication between living organisms:

Q. "Did you feel the earth move, darling?"
A. "I thought it was continental drift."

Another new dinosaur species has been uncovered in the Coahuila Desert located in the northern part of Mexico, which was a jungle-filled beach some 72 mya when it was roaming around this area. It is a new ceratopsian, an herbivore, which was similar in appearance to Triceratops but was slightly smaller at 7 meters (23’), although it’s nearly meter long (3’) horns were the same size as its famous relative’s. It also possessed holes in the frill that protected its neck, a characteristic that would make it fairly easy to distinguish from other
ceratopsians.

Paleontologist think that it used its massive three horns to fend off attacks from carnivorous predators like the local relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex as well as demonstrating dominance in head-butting clashes with other males much like many horned animals do today. The flamboyant frill was probably also used in courtship rituals to attract mates besides making a superb defensive shield. The scientific name of this new dinosaur hasn’t been decided upon yet and is expected to be made public at the end of this year, said Scott Sampson, a curator from Utah Museum of Natural History who helped make the discovery along with Mexican investigators.

This will be the second species discovered and named from Mexico following the announcement last month of a new duck-billed dinosaur from the same area called Velafrons coahuilensis, which roamed the ancient beaches in large herds. Scientists expect to discover many more new species of dinosaurs as well as plants buried in the Coahuila desert in the next few years.

These new dinosaur discoveries are serving to shed light on the life in the Late Cretaceous period on the southern tip of western North America, a time during which the continent was divided by a large inland sea that stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. "The land mass these animals lived on was less than one-fifth the size of present-day North America yet we have all of these different elephant-sized animals," noted Samson.

The reason that this area of Mexico is of special interest is that is evidence that the sea levels rose and receded over thousands of years forcing the animals existing there to either adapt to new environments or face extinction. Clues from this time can help us understand how nature could react to rising sea levels today since currently knowledge about how land animals respond to rising sea levels is scarce.

Further Reading:

Dinosaur lured mates with giant horns

New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Mexican Desert

Analysis of a 2” long section of an ancient lower jaw and teeth excavated in a cave known as Sima del Elefante at Atapuerca in northern Spain have been dated at approximately 1.2 million years, making it the oldest human fossil so far discovered in Western Europe. The fossil, along with 32 stone tools and some herbivore limb bones that show strong indications of having been butchered, demonstrate that humans inhabited at least this part of the continent about half a million years earlier than previously thought. The remains have been tentatively attributed to a species known as Homo antecessor (or “Pioneer Man”), a possible ancestor of Neanderthals and maybe even modern humans (though the age of this new fossil makes the latter possibility more doubtful). Before this discovery the earliest fossil remains of Homo antecessor, which were found in the same region, were around 800,000 years old although artifacts of similar ages as the mandible have been uncovered in sites elsewhere in Europe, including a skull from Ceprano in Italy.

The new discovery is described in the most recent issue of Nature by a team of Spanish and American scientists co-led by Eudald Carbonell, director of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleo-Ecology and Social Evolution at Tarragona, Spain.

The timing of the earliest inhabitation of Europe by human ancestors has been highly controversial for quite some time and the dating of human remains in general is the subject of much debate. This would explain why the team used a variety of techniques to verify the antiquity of the fossils, including geologic studies of the bones and artifacts, magnetic dating and a relatively new method that measures the radioactive decay of sediments. In addition, the remains of other near-by animals (including bears, wolves, deer, bison and even rhinoceroses) were used in aiding to date the fossils.

The earliest known human remains discovered outside of Africa were uncovered back in 1983 in the Caucasus at Dmanisi, which is in the Republic of Georgia. These were identified as belonging to either Homo erectus or Homo ergaster and were dated at approximately 1.8 myo. Carbonell believes that the hominins that settled in the Caucasus eventually evolved into Homo antecessor and that they migrated into Europe at least 1.3 mya. Many other paleontologists disagree with this interpretation though, holding that attempting to trace the new Atapuerca fossil back to the finds in Dmanisi should be treated with extreme caution because it is based on just a section of the mandible and you still have a half a million year time lapse confronting you, which is a very long time to talk about continuity. Other researchers even have doubts that these remains should automatically be associated with the ones previously unearthed in the same region given the time difference between them. But if Carbonell’s team is correct then it would be safe to say that we can expect to find more human fossils in Europe that should be older than those of Sima del Elefante.

Further Reading:

The first hominin of Europe Abstract in Nature

"First European" Confirmed to Be 1.2 Million Years Old

Remains of Human Ancestors Found

Human ancestor fossil found in Europe

I've griped elsewhere about the poor headline-writing: while rogue's extensive quote makes it clear what's actually going on, the headlines have made it sound like an "oldest" hominid ancestor has been found, and the find--amazingly enough, given the consensus on "Out of Africa"!--is in Europe...

Instead, this (still cool!) find is of the oldest ancestor yet found within (a rather odd and limited definition of) "Europe." Not the oldest overall...

And, arguably, the older Gerogian-Dmanisi finds are also in "Europe," since they're on this side of the Urals.

Still, another interesting discovery! And, no, that's not an "ape" jaw (in the sense of non-hominid apes)--check out the smoothly curved architecture of the front of the lower jaw, which contrasts sharply with the typical "boxy" shape of an ape's lower front jaw.

Originally posted by Steviepinhead

I've griped elsewhere about the poor headline-writing: while rogue's extensive quote makes it clear what's actually going on, the headlines have made it sound like an "oldest" hominid ancestor has been found, and the find--amazingly enough, given the consensus on "Out of Africa"!--is in Europe...

Instead, this (still cool!) find is of the oldest ancestor yet found within (a rather odd and limited definition of) "Europe." Not the oldest overall...

And, arguably, the older Gerogian-Dmanisi finds are also in "Europe," since they're on this side of the Urals.

Still, another interesting discovery! And, no, that's not an "ape" jaw (in the sense of non-hominid apes)--check out the smoothly curved architecture of the front of the lower jaw, which contrasts sharply with the typical "boxy" shape of an ape's lower front jaw.

I completely agree. Headlines in the popular press tend to be sensationalistic rather than accurate and even the title of the Abstract in Nature was disappointing in this regard. This was why I tried to take care in my post to note that this was the earliest human find in Western Europe rather than in all of Europe and that it is our ancestor is a controversial view.

A fossil of a new species of marine crocodile has been unearthed in the coastal Mina Poty area of the northeastern state of Pernambuco, Brazil, and lived 62 mya. Researchers think that the 3 meter (10’) long pointy-nosed creature, which is part of the Dryosauridae group and was well-adapted to living in the ocean, replaced mosasaurus after they became extinct as the primary marine predator of the period along with sharks. The fossilized remains included a skull, jaw and vertebrae, which makes it one of the most complete examples of marine crocodylomorphs discovered in South America. Researchers think it is a new species based on anatomical dissimilarities in the skull that are unique to this animal. Named Guarinisuchus munizi, meaning “Sea Warrior” or “Warrior of the Seas.” Guarinisuchus is derived from the word "warrior" (“Guarani”) in Brazil's Tupi Indian language, while Munizi is a tribute to Brazilian paleontologist Geraldo da Costa Barro Muniz,* who has made several discoveries of dinosaurs in this region, and wasn’t involved in this find.

The discovery of Guarinisuchus has given rise to speculation on the migration of prehistoric crocodiles from Africa, where they are thought to have originated 200 mya, to the Americas. "It's a very rare find and it gives rise to several new theories," said Alexander Kellner, of the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who co-authored an article on the find that was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B. "Based on the discovery, we know that's what happened near the Brazilian coast. Now the question is whether the same happened worldwide. We believe it did."

Kellner’s team thinks that this group originated in Africa and took advantage of the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, which wiped out the dinosaurs and large marine lizards like mosasaurus, to migrate across the Atlantic (Africa was considerably closer to the northeastern section of Brazil back then). From there they later spread out into the waters off North America. The fact that Guarinisuchus appears to be closely related to oceanic crocodylomorphs found in Africa supports their theory. Even so, the researchers urged caution and said that further study and fossil correlation were needed to substantiate this hypothesis.

This discovery is the third important find of a crocodile ancestor that has been recently unearthed in Brazil in recent years. Two years ago a 70 myo crocodile fossil called Uberabasuchus Terrificus, or "Terrible Crocodile of Uberaba" was announced. And just two months ago scientists unveiled Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, an 80 myo land-bound reptile that appears to be a link between prefistoric and modern crocodiles. Here’s hoping that there are more new discoveries to follow.

* Some sources list him as “Deraldo da Costa Barros Muniz,” but since he’s published his findings under G.C.B. Muniz, this appears incorrect.

Further Reading:

Brazil finds prehistoric "Sea Warrior" crocodile

New sea crocodile fossil hints at transatlantic migration

Prehistoric Crocodile Fossils Unveiled At Brazil Museum

Scientists Unveil Prehistoric Crocodile

Brazil unveils 62-million-year-old crocodile

rogue06:

This was why I tried to take care in my post to note that this was the earliest human find in Western Europe rather than in all of Europe and that it is our ancestor is a controversial view.

Your care is appreciated, and should not have been overlooked in my little rant!

I'm still trying--without actually working for an answer--to figure a better way to express the front of the--dental arch? dental palisade?--anybody know the correct anatomical/paleontological term off the top of your head?

Police in Peru have found a fossilized jawbone while investigating a suspicious looking package stuffed in a cardboard box located in the luggage department of a bus that was traveling north to Lima from the southern Moquegua Department during a routine search. While it isn’t unusual for them to uncover various forms of contraband ranging from pre-Columbian artifacts, colonial era religious works of art and of course cocaine during such stops, this seems to be a first for them. The 8.5kg (nearly 19lbs) jaw has been described as possibly belonging to a Triceratops based on pictures of it. This would be exciting news since these Cretaceous period dinosaurs have never been uncovered in this area, but there are strong reasons to doubt this identification. As Michael J. Ryan, head of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, has pointed out it seems to have had molars – something never found in dinosaurs being a characteristic found in mammals instead. He also pointed out that the picture of the confiscated jaw shows that it was fused both on the left and right, and that the “massive shape and articulation mean it's definitely a mammal.” Ryan believes that it probably belonged to a proboscidean, or elephant relative instead of being from a dinosaur. I’m sure we’ll have a better idea of what type of animal it came from before long.

Further Reading:

Dinosaur fossil found on bus in Peru

Mystery Bone Found on Peruvian Bus

Prehistoric fossil found on bus during routine police check

'Triceratops jawbone' is found in the luggage compartment of a bus

Originally posted by rogue06

Police in Peru have found a fossilized jawbone while investigating a suspicious looking package stuffed in a cardboard box located in the luggage department of a bus that was traveling north to Lima from the southern Moquegua Department during a routine search. While it isn’t unusual for them to uncover various forms of contraband ranging from pre-Columbian artifacts, colonial era religious works of art and of course cocaine during such stops, this seems to be a first for them. The 8.5kg (nearly 19lbs) jaw has been described as possibly belonging to a Triceratops based on pictures of it. This would be exciting news since these Cretaceous period dinosaurs have never been uncovered in this area, but there are strong reasons to doubt this identification. As Michael J. Ryan, head of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, has pointed out it seems to have had molars – something never found in dinosaurs being a characteristic found in mammals instead. He also pointed out that the picture of the confiscated jaw shows that it was fused both on the left and right, and that the “massive shape and articulation mean it's definitely a mammal.” Ryan believes that it probably belonged to a proboscidean, or elephant relative instead of being from a dinosaur. I’m sure we’ll have a better idea of what type of animal it came from before long.

Further Reading:

Dinosaur fossil found on bus in Peru

Mystery Bone Found on Peruvian Bus

Prehistoric fossil found on bus during routine police check

'Triceratops jawbone' is found in the luggage compartment of a bus

It looks like others are noticing that there are problems with the identification of the bone found on the Peruvian bus as having belonged to a Triceratops:

Proboscidean jaw found on Peruvian bus

…if you look at the photo in the article, you'll see that the mandible is stout, u-shaped, and there is only one badly worn molar on each side. These are hallmarks of proboscideans (especially having only one large molar on each side of the lower jaw), while a Triceratops jaw would be longer, curve upwards towards the anterior end, and have a battery of many teeth that would shear through plant material like a pair of scissors with the tooth battery in the upper jaw.

---

© source where applicable

Source

Here is the picture of the jaw found on the Peruvian bus

Here is the jaw of an African elephant

Here is a skull and jaw from a Triceratops

And here is what a Triceratops shed tooth looks like.

Notice any differences?

<Xevo mode>But it's not a whole skeleton!

And, fer cryin' out loud, it's just a toof!</Xevo mode>

Paleontologists from the University of Rennes in France and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), in Grenoble, France, have discovered the existence of 356 animal inclusions in 2kg (slightly less than 4.5lbs,) of completely opaque amber that has been dated as being approximately 100 myo coming from a mid-Cretaceous site in the Charentes region in southwestern France. Opaque amber has long been a problem for paleontologists since it is impossible to see any inclusions in it with the naked eye. But the team employed a synchrotron x-ray imaging technique known as “propagation contrast microradiography,” which produces an intense, high-energy light that can penetrate just about any material, revealing what’s inside. But since techniques involving synchrotron radiation tends to make the surface features of amber, like cracks, more prominent than what is inside, the researchers had to soak the pieces of amber in water before the tests could be conducted. Since amber and water have similar densities this made the cracks all but disappear while simultaneously increasing inclusion visibility.

So what exactly did the researchers find in the 640 pieces of fossilized tree resin that they tested? Besides small fragments of plant material, they found the remains of such animals as acarians (mites and ticks), ants, flies, spiders, and wasps, of which they were able to identify the families of 53% of them. Not surprisingly, most of the organisms discovered are very tiny, as paleontologist Malvina Lak of the University of Rennes explains: “The small size of the organisms is probably due to the fact that bigger animals would be able to escape from the resin before getting stuck, whereas little ones would be captured more easily.” One of the discovered mites was a mere 0.8mm (0.0315”) across, which makes a 4mm (0.157”) long wasp also found seem large in comparison.

After the organisms were located on the radiographs they were then subjected to x-ray microtomography, which takes multiple pictures of the sample as it is rotated allowing for three dimensional images of the trapped insects to be created. Computer could then virtually extract the specimen from the amber allowing them to be studied in fine detail. With resolution on the micron scale (that’s a millionth of a meter, or 0.000039” long), minuscule details are incredibly clear. But wait, it gets even better. Now all this information can be fed into a 3D plastic printer in order to create a physical model that you can hold in your hand which has been enlarged from the less than a millimeter original size up to a 30cm-long (11.8”) exact replica. This has granted us a tremendous insight into the ecosystem of Charantes back in the Cretaceous. Many of these animals are water-related, indicating the region was an esturine environment. This was previously suspected from the examination of the little bit of translucent amber found in the area (nearly 80% of amber gathered here is opaque), but now this view has gained strong support.

The success of this experiment shows the high value of this technique for the future study of fossils, though at present it is a rather time-consuming method

Further Reading:

Scientists discover 356 animal inclusions trapped in 100 million years old opaque amber

Secret 'dino bugs' revealed