Download Largest Eurypterid Found

Largest Eurypterid Found – Jaekelopterus
Gigantic arthropods are always of interest and
so the finding of a gigantic claw of a eurypterid
(sea scorpion) is no exception. The claw
(chelicera) is 46 cm (18.1 in.) and was found in
the Early Devonian Willwerath Lagerstatte of
Germany. This would mean that the animal was
about 2.5 meters (8.2 ft.) long or the largest
arthropod ever to have evolved. The picture at
the left shows (a) Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, (b)
the trilobite Isotelus rex, Late Ordovician,
Manitoba, Canada, (c) the dragonfly Meganeura
monyi, Late Carboniferous, France, (d) the
millipede Arthropleura armata, Late
Carboniferous, Europe. Scale bar = 50 cm.
Included is the image of an average human
male. The higher oxygen level is the usual
explanation for the larger size for land animals, but it is harder to explain the larger sea
creatures. These predatory chelicerates have been known to have been the largest
extinct arthropods and are probably the aquatic sister group of scorpions or possible all
arachnids, including the largest extinct spider, Megarachne. Over 40 pterygotoid
species are known from all continents except Antarctica ranging from 428 to 391 MYA
and were most diverse in the Late Silurian. They were at the top of the food chain for
about 37 MY with their powerful first pair of appendages – their chelicerae – or prey
catching organs. Factors affecting their large size might include predation, courtship
behavior and competition. The authors believe that this large eurypterid is a derived
form because of its later appearance in the fossil record and its larger size therefore
would follow Cope’s Rule. (Braddy et al in Biology Letters 2007)
Deer-like Ancestor to Whale Found – Indohyus
A creature that looks like a raccoon sized deerlike long-tailed animal with features similar to
cetaceans like whales and dolphins has been
found. Many have thought that the hippo was the
leading candidate for the closest relative because
of similar DNA and features. But they live in the
wrong part of the world and are very recent.
Hans Thewisswen of Northeastern Ohio
University College of Medicine is studying the fossil of Indohyus found in mudstone in
the Kashmir region of India dated to 48 MYA. He has found hundreds of bones of the
creature and has made a composite of the creature. The key feature is its thickened
earbone, a feature only found in cetaceans. Its teeth show that it spent a lot of time in
the water and may have fed there like hippos. The early whales lost their legs about 40
MYA in India and Pakistan. It is an interesting hypothesis but has not convinced
everyone. (Thewissen et al in Nature)
Bird Eggshell in Dominican Amber - Hummingbird
This is the first report of a vertebrate eggshell in an amber
deposit which was compared to present day shells of lizards,
snails and birds. It has been determined that it is an avian shell
based on its surface structure and its breakage pattern. The
color and size and shape are similar to those of the Trochilidae,
the hummingbirds. If this is a hummingbird egg it would be the
first New World record of a fossil hummingbird. The specimen is
from the La Troca mine in the Cordillera Septentrional of the
Dominican Republic which is controversial but with a proposed
latest date of 15-20 MYA and earliest date of 30-45 MYA. The eggshell is empty and the
length of the portion left is 7.3 mm with an estimate of 9 mm for the entire shell. It is
white with plant debris on it which is similar to modern shells. (Poinar Jr. et al in
Palaeontology Vol. 50/6 2007)
New Glyptodont Named in Chile – Parapropalaehoplophorus
Former Field Museum researchers Darin
Croft (now at Case Western) and John
Flynn (now at the American Museum in New
York) have named a new glyptodont from
their work high in the Andes of Chile.
Based on a partial skeleton of the armadillolike mammal that lived 18 MYA they have
named Parapropalashoplophorus
septentrionalis. It probably weighed about
200 pounds, smaller than some of the larger members of the group that weighed up to
4,000 pounds. The glyptodonts were unlike armadillos of today that have jointed
movable plates because their armored plates were mostly immovable. This adds
another mammal to 18 other mammals of the Chucal Fauna discovered in Chile’s Salar
de Surire region. They suggest that the area was open grassland at the time when the
Andes were about 3,000 feet above sea level, about one-fourth as high as the area is
today. They are about 14,500 feet high today, giving an idea about the rate of uplift of
the Andes. (Croft & Flynn in JVP, December 2007)
New Species of Carcharodontosaurus Identified
Graduate student Steve Brusatte (who was a
student of Paul Sereno before he won a two year
award to Bristol in England) has determined that
fossils discovered in 1997 in Niger are a new
species of dinosaur named Carcharodontosaurus
iguidensis. It is 95 MY old and the first of its
species was found in the 1920’s but were lost.
Other parts were found in the 1930’s in Egypt but
were lost in the war in 1944 when they were destroyed in the bombing in Munich. This
new material consists of skull and neck material and is different from other material
found in the Sahara warranting a new species name. It probably weighed in at about 3.2
tons and would have been about 44 feet long. (Brusatte in JVP, December 2007)
Huge Dinosaur Graveyard Found In Spain
Thousands of dinosaur fossils have been found in eastern Spain including 8 different
species and 8,000 fossils. They found it while they were constructing a high-speed rail
line near the city of Cuenca. This may turn out to be the largest and most diverse
dinosaur site in all of Europe to date. It is dated to 70 MYA and has many titanosaurs
with three types identified so far. There is also a six foot long clawed dromaeosaur. A
small stocky Rhabdodon with large blunt teeth for grinding vegetation has been found.
There is an ankylosaur with a large bony tail club and a heavily built body. Other
animals such as turtles, crocodiles account for the bulk of the non-dinosaur fossils. They
are in clay and silt sediments indicating that it is a river environment, possibly caused by
flooding. This site seems to suggest that there was some diversity at this late date in the
Late Cretaceous close to the end Cretaceous. Of special interest are the skulls of the
titanosaurs that are rare as well as the osteoderms. It is hoped that there may be clues
about how they are distributed on the body. Work will continue on the large site into
2008. It is being studied by paleontologist Jose Luis Sanz of Autonomous University in
Madrid.
Rare Maya Death Vase Discovered
This is the first of its kind found in modern times and it opens a
window onto ancient rituals of ancestor worship including food
offerings, chocolate enemas, and hallucinations induced by
vomiting. The white marble vase was found along with parts of a
human skeleton during the excavation of a small palace in
Palmarejo Valley in Honduras in 2005. Studies of the soil in and
around the vase contained corn, cacao and false ipecac, a plant
that causes severe nausea when eaten. Anthropologists from the University of South
Florida believe that this analysis may mean that it was used in ancient rites the Maya
practiced to produce trancelike states through intense purging. They used visions to
communicate with ancestors during these rituals. The Ulua-style vase is ornamented
with sculpted scrolls and overlapping tiles like serpents scales. It has two handles
carved to resemble the heads of leaf-nosed bats. The puzzling thing is that it was found
in a residential relatively remote settlement in Honduras under a pyramid-like palace.
They suspect that the person buried beneath the palace was an important one, perhaps
the founder of the community who was buried about 650 AD. The vase was probably
added about 100 years after the burial to commemorate the death and added to the
grave after the ceremony. The dig was funded by The National Geographic Society.
Karen Nordquist, Paleontology