Fossils
Pharyngula
Category archives for Fossils
Ardipithecus ramidus
Posted by PZ Myers on October 2, 2009 What a day to be stuck in airplanes for hours on end; I had to slurp in a bunch of files on my iPhone and then look at them on that itty-bitty screen, just to catch up on the story of Ardipithecus. Fortunately, you can just read Carl Zimmer’s excellent summary to find out what’s…
I want my mini-T. rex!
Posted by PZ Myers on September 18, 2009 This is a very cool fossil, a tiny T. rex cousin called Raptorex. Well, tiny is relative — it was still as big as a human being — but it has the same proportions, the oversized fanged head, the tiny forelimbs, etc., as it’s later relative, T. rex. It’s simply adorable, in a viciously evil…
Happy Anniversary, Burgess Shale!
Posted by PZ Myers on August 19, 2009 It’s the 100th anniversary (we can’t say “birthday” for a deposit laid down half a billion years ago, I don’t think) of Walcott’s discovery of the Burgess Shale formation in British Columbia. I’m not quite sure what one does to celebrate on such a momentous occasion…maybe someone has a suggestion.
Arthrodires got penises!
Posted by PZ Myers on August 18, 2009 This is the skull of an arthrodire, an armored placoderm from the Devonian. Somehow, 20 foot long predatory fish with a mouth lined with razor-edged bony shears has never made me think of sexy time…until I ran across this comparison image. Oh, schwiiing. It really doesn’t take much to get a mammal to associate just…
There is a family resemblance
Posted by PZ Myers on July 15, 2009 Here’s an interesting use of tweening: take 5 fossil skulls, use the computer to interpolate between them, and animate the results. 3.5 million years just fly by in 5 minutes. (The sound track is a bit superfluous though—turn the sound down if you’re at work)
Big love among the ostracods
Posted by PZ Myers on June 19, 2009 How can anyone resist an article titled “Sexual Intercourse Involving Giant Sperm in Cretaceous Ostracode”? You can’t, I tell you. It’s like a giant brain magnet, you open the journal to the index, and there’s that title, and you must read it before you can even consider continuing on to anything else. Some organisms have…
Limusaurus inextricabilis
Posted by PZ Myers on June 18, 2009 My previous repost was made to give the background on a recent discovery of Jurassic ceratosaur, Limusaurus inextricabilis, and what it tells us about digit evolution. Here’s Limusaurus—beautiful little beastie, isn’t it? (Click for larger image)Photograph (a) and line drawing (b) of IVPP V 15923. Arrows in a point to a nearly complete and fully…
Darwinius masillae
Posted by PZ Myers on May 19, 2009 This is an important new fossil, a 47 million year old primate nicknamed Ida. She’s a female juvenile who was probably caught in a toxic gas cloud from a volcanic lake, and her body settled into the soft sediments of the lake, where she was buried undisturbed. What’s so cool about it? Age. It’s 47…
Local fossil hunting
Posted by PZ Myers on May 11, 2009 Here’s a great opportunity for Minnesota fossil freaks: Minnesota Atheists is organizing a fossil hunting trip to Lilydale park on Saturday, 20 June. Sign up and go collect 440-480 million year old marine fossils. Maybe I’ll have to rummage around and find my old rock hammer.
Puijila darwini
Posted by PZ Myers on April 23, 2009 It’s yet another transitional fossil, everyone! Oooh and aaah over it, and laugh when the creationists scramble to pave it over with excuses. What we have is a 23 million year old mammal from the Canadian arctic that would have looked rather like a seal in life…with a prominent exception. No flippers, instead having very…