Eight surprising fossil finds
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Fossils help scientists peel back the layers of time to reveal stories of life from eras long past. Sometimes the story goes in an unforeseen direction; other fossils have a "wow" factor simply because they were discovered at all. The scientist in this image, for instance, is unearthing a 250 million-year-old crocodile species in northern Niger that was much different from any other of its time, suggesting that the animal world of that era was more diverse than previously thought.
Hobbit discovery could rewrite human historyThe discovery of the fossilized skeleton of a diminutive humanlike creature on the Indonesian island of Flores, publicized at the 2004 press conference shown here, could rewrite the history of human evolution. Some scientists say the creature, dubbed the "hobbit," represent a new species called Homo floresiensis. If so, it would mean the hobbit species, which dates to about 18,000 years ago, was marooned on the island as humans were spreading around the world. Other scientists, however, dispute the claim of a new species. Instead, they propose theories about island dwarfing or a range of genetic diseases that might explain why the fossils are actually from modern humans even though they look different.
Tropical turtle found in the Arctic
Tropical turtle found in the ArcticThe discovery of the Asian freshwater tropical turtle fossil in the Canadian Arctic raised the question of how exactly it wound up there. After all, a saltwater ocean separates Asia from North America. The scientists who made the discovery said the fossil dates to about 90 million years ago, a time when massive volcanic eruptions appear to have triggered a bout of super greenhouse warming. The rapid warming, the scientists suspect, allowed meltwater to pour off the continents into the Arctic Ocean. Because fresh water is less dense than salt water, it may have rested on top of the marine water, creating a freshwater pathway for the turtle's migration.
'Unexpected' hummingbird found in Europe
'Unexpected' hummingbird found in EuropeMore than 30 million years ago in Europe, a hummingbird-like creature hovered over flowering plants, feeding on their nectar. The scientists who discovered the bird named it Eurotrochilius inexpectatus, which roughly translates to "unexpected European hummingbird." The surprise is that the fossils, shown here, are the first modern hummingbird-type fossils known from outside the Americas and are millions of years older than those in the New World. The Old World birds were about an inch and a half from head to tail, with beaks and wings ideal for feeding while hovering.
Single-celled giant upends fossil trail theory
Single-celled giant upends fossil trail theoryA giant, single-celled creature, shown here laying down a track as it slowly rolls across the ocean floor off the coast of the Bahamas, has upended theories about what type of creature left similar tracks, or traces, on the ocean floor 1.8 billion years ago. Scientists have long thought that only multicellular animals with symmetrical left and right sides could leave the fossil traces. If so, that would suggest multicellular life forms existed before the Cambrian explosion - a period of rapid evolution and diversification about 550 million years ago, when the first multicellular organisms appear in the fossil record. The new find suggests massive single-celled protists such as Gromia sphaerica could have made the fossil tracks.
Birdlike dinosaur was unexpectedly massive
Birdlike dinosaur was unexpectedly massiveA birdlike dinosaur discovered in the Erlian Basin of Inner Mongolia, China, weighed 35 times more than its contemporaries did 70 million years ago. The dinosaur, still an adolescent when it died at age 11, weighed more than 3,000 pounds. Scientists named it Gigantoraptor erlianensis. Xing Xu, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and co-author of the study describing the dinosaur, told journalists that the dinosaur's outsized appearance would be like seeing a mouse as big as a pig. It would have towered over its relatives, as depicted in this artist's impression.
Fish reshapes tale of landlubbers
Fish reshapes tale of landlubbersThe discovery of an ancient fossil fish that swam along a primitive tropical reef in Australia 380 million years ago is reshuffling the story of how life first clambered out of the ocean onto land. The fossil fish, named Gogonasus, had a breathing structure on its head, and joints in its fins that scientists say were precursors to the middle ear and limbs of modern-day landlubbers. The ancient age of Gogonasus pushes the first appearance of these features much further back in the fossil record.
Fossil paradise found under a parking lot
Fossil paradise found under a parking lotUnderneath an old parking lot in the middle of Los Angeles, construction crews found a nearly intact mammoth skeleton as well as the bones of American lions, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, bison, horses, ground sloths and other Ice Age mammals. The fossil trove is located near the famed La Brea Tar Pits, where Ice Age beasts were trapped in asphalt that oozed up from fissures and cracks in the ground. The bones were unearthed when the parking lot was dug up to make room for a new, underground parking garage as part of an expansion for an art museum. Project paleontologists say the finds should shed new light on the wildlife that roamed around the area between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago. The jawbone of Zed, the mammoth, is shown here.
credited to msnbc.msn.com
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