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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