Paleontology

Fossil evidence of a completely unknown prehistoric species of giant sand worm has been discovered in Devon, England. The giant worms would have lived 260 million years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, growing up to 3ft long and 6in wide. Large burrow holes were found indicating that the creatures would have travelled beneath the surface."Scientists have found evidence of a giant prehistoric sand worm in an English seaside resort.

Proof of the creatures" existence, which lived 260million years ago, has been found in Torbay, Devon. The worms, which grew up to 3ft long and 6in wide, are thought to have lived underground before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Experts at the English Riviera Geopark organisation have found large burrow holes that are said to have been made bythe creatures as they travelled beneath the surface. "

View: Full Article | Source: TheTelegraph

Two skulls originally found in 1967 have been shown to be about 195,000 years old, making them the oldest modern human remains known to science. The age estimate comes from a re-dating of Ethiopian rock layers close to those that yielded the remarkable fossils. The skulls, known as Omo I and II, push back the known presence of Homo sapiens in Africa by 40,000 years. The latest dating work is reported in the science journal Nature. It puts the specimens close to the time expected for the evolutionary emergence of our species. Genetic studies have indicated Homo sapiens arose in East Africa - possibly Ethiopia or Tanzania - just over 200,000 years ago.

"These are the earliest known examples of our own species and that suggests they lived earlier still," commented Nature senior editor Dr Henry Gee. "But I am not sure how much further back you could go and still have Homo sapiens - before they graded into some other, earlier species," he told the BBC News website. The skulls were first brought to the attention of the world by the famous fossil hunter Richard Leakey, whose team unearthed the specimens in sediments along the Omo River in southernmost Ethiopia, near the town of Kibish.

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A new species of dinosaur has been discovered that is believed to be an early relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex. The 2-meter long Tawa hallae would have lived in the late Triassic period and was foundin what is now New Mexico."Researchers have unveiled a new species of dinosaur from the late Triassic period - a small, early relative of T.rex and Velociraptor.

The 2m-long dinosaur, named Tawa hallae, was found in a "bone bed" on the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico,US."

View: Full Article | Source: BBC News

New research has suggested that ancient birds may have lost their teeth to lose enough weight to help them fly. The 150 million-year-old Archaeopteryx did have teeth but within 20 milion years some birds had none."Ina new research, scientists have suggested that ancient birds lost their teeth in order to shed some weight to get airborne.

Archaeopteryx, at 150 million years old still the oldest known bird, had an imposing set of teeth. But within 20 million years, at least some birds weretoothless."

View: Full Article | Source: Phenomenica