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Paleontologists Redescribe Enigmatic Dwarf Pareiasaur, South Africa
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Paleontologists Redescribe Enigmatic Dwarf Pareiasaur Enrico de Lazaro, Science News, April 8, 2024 Yours, Paul H. -
Did Allosaurus survive up to the earliest Cretaceous
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Questions & Answers
The Theropod Dinosaurs of the genus Allosaurus since their discovery in 1877 are perhaps one the most recognizable theropods of the whole Jurassic period (201.4 ± 0.2-145.0 Million Years ago) despite emerging only in the late Kimmeridgian stage of the Jurassic period. Growing up to 9.7 meters (32 feet) in length fully grown, Allosaurus (also known as the Lions of Jurassic) were the apex predators of most of the terrestrial ecosystems they inhabited. The only theropods from these time that were higher in the food chain were some European non-Allosauroid Theropods and other members of Allosauroidea including the much rarer Epanterias (validity debated, possibly grew fully grown up to 12 meters (40 feet) in length) and Saurophaganax (validity confirmed, fully grown reached 10.5 meters (34 feet) in length). Digital Reconstruction of an adult Allosaurus sp. By artist Frederic Wierum Image Source: https://fredthedinosaurman.artstation.com/projects/Qg0WB The Allosauroids eventually gave rise to some of the largest theropod dinosaurs known in the fossil record currently including the closely related South American genus Giganotosaurus from the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period (99.6-95 Million Years ago) in what is now Argentina (which fully grown grew up to 12-13 meters (39-43 feet) in length). But Allosaurus itself has largely been considered to have lived only in the latest stages in Jurassic period (155-145 Million Years ago). I have found some records that might challenge this assumption!!! Digital Reconstruction of an adult Allosaurus sp. By artist Frederic Wierum Image Source: https://fredthedinosaurman.artstation.com/projects/Qg0WB- 2 replies
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Earth's most ancient impact craters are disappearing by Rebecca Dzombak, PhysOrg, August 1, 2023 Earth Oldest Impact Craters Are Disappearing By MichealStarr, ScienceAlert, August 2, 2023 The open access paper is: M. S. Huber et al, 2023, Can Archean Impact Structures Be Discovered? A Case Study From Earth's Largest, Most Deeply Eroded Impact Structure, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. DOI: 10.1029/2022JE007721 Yours, Paul H.
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What came first: birds or bird like tracks? @Auspex Birdlike tracks predate birds by 50 million years. https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-bird-like-footprints-in-africa-predate-the-existence-of-birds https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293021 Abrahams M, Bordy EM (2023) The oldest fossil bird-like footprints from the upper Triassic of southern Africa. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0293021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0293021
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Tracking the extinct giant Cape zebra (Equus capensis) on the Cape south coast of South Africa
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
New discovery: fossilised giant zebra tracks found in South Africa. by Charles Helm, The Conversation, March 16, 2023 Experts flabbergasted after discovering fossils of giant zebras in ancient dunes The researchers also found a "zebra crossing", where two equid trackways intersected each other. By Ian Randall, Daily Express, March 20, 2023 The open accesss paer is: Helm, C., Carr, A., Cawthra, H., De Vynck, J., and others (2023). Tracking the extinct giant Cape zebra (Equus capensis) on the Cape south coast of South Africa. Quaternary Research, 1-13. doi:10.1017/qua.2023.1 Yours, Paul H.-
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So I'm visiting Canada(Alberta) for a while and came across this store that sold gemstones and fossils. I decided to buy a few fossils(chambered ammonites, orthoceras, trilobite elrathia kingii, Trilobite proetus) but when I got to my rental place I came to the realisation that these might be illegal to take with me back home. I'm from South Africa. Will it be a problem if I take them home with me or do I require some kind of permit to bring them with me on the flight home?
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Good day, Please could someone help with identifying this item, it was found on a beach in South Africa about 15+ years ago Dimensions: 6cm x 4cm x 4cm Any help would be appreciated.
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Hi, so I live close to an area with lots of fossils. We find stuff every day. I would love to become more knowledgeable on what I’m finding. I’ve been told it’s mostly whale bone vertebrae? I have many more, but these were the most interesting shapes That’s about as much as I can say so far, hoping to learn more…
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- milnerton beach
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Oldest known archaea microbes? (Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa)
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
3.42-billion-year-old fossil threads may be the oldest known archaea microbes. The structure and chemistry of the filaments hints that they may be ancient cells. By Carolyn Wilke, Science News, July 26, 2021 Cavalazzi, B., Lemelle, L., Simionovici, A., Cady, S.L., Russell, M.J., Bailo, E., Canteri, R., Enrico, E., Manceau, A., Maris, A. and Salomé, M., 2021. Cellular remains in a~ 3.42-billion-year-old subseafloor hydrothermal environment. Science Advances, 7(29), p.eabf3963. Yours, Paul H. -
Just thought I’d share something from South Africa for a change. I found these while on holiday in a very rural and remote part of South Africa called the Wild Coast. They are very fragmented fossils, most likely Dicynodonts, from the Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group (part of the Karoo Supergroup). The rock is incredibly hard and the fossils so fragmented that they will likely remain there for many more years, to delight the next fossil enthusiast who wanders past. Picture 1 is the most intriguing. It looks more or less intact and I really want to know how much is still hidden beneath the rock. Any guesses? Or maybe I’ll just return in a 100,000 years or so and see if it’s eroded out yet.... pic1 Looks interesting, any ideas? Pic2 Femur pic3 Fragment pic4 Could be anything Pic5 More fragments pic6+7 Nice scenery too
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Not an expert in fossil verification. I am a fisherman and found this in the nets. Can anybody tell me whether this is a whale fossil or perhaps something else and what species of whale.
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Hi there I’m new to this site ..... could this possibly be a Hadrosaur Egg? I found it down a long coastal track on the Wild Coast in Transkei South Africa. It’s extremely heavy! Many thanks in advance . Cheers. Kevin.
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Hi everyone, Found these two on Milnerton beach, Cape Town. I’m hazarding a guess that it’s cetacea, possibly flipper phalange? I did find a paper on pliocene cetacea found about 10km further up the coast (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331004600_Fossil_cetaceans_from_Duinefontein_Koeberg_an_early_Pliocene_site_on_the_southwestern_Cape_South_Africa). Tried to contact the author but no answer yet. I don’t know much about fossils so anything you can tell me about these would be greatly appreciated!
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This was washed up by the sea, where shark teeth, pieces of bone, sperm whale teeth, whale inner ear bones and several other common vertebrate fossils can be seen. Location is South Africa, West Coast. Does anybody know the correct I.D. for this particular piece? I thought I had I.D.'d it but i'm not convinced any more. Thanking you in advance.
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Please help wit ID - tooth or tusk and if not elephant/mammoth, who did it belong to?
hahnewald posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hello to All. Any help and input on a correct ID will be awesome. Spotted on the high tide line amongst shell and other debris. The location has seen significant fluctuations in sea levels and has produced Pleistocene material, such as horse teeth, mammoth teeth, even Rhino and Hippo teeth but also Miocene fossils like Megalodon teeth, cetacean teeth and inner ear periotic bones as well as bulla, Great White and Mako shark teeth, just to name a few. All washed ashore by tidal movement. The specimen in question was photographed alongside a horse incisor and a mammoth tooth fragment. Its cross section seems to show cross hatching patterns of ivory but I fail to see how it can be part of elephant or mammoth tusk. It measures 5 cm in length and 1,1 cm at its widest point. Would love to hear from the TFF experts. Thanks a lot.- 5 replies
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New find nearby another famous discovery hints at even more human ancestors! https://www.newscientist.com/article/2263973-treasure-trove-of-ancient-human-remains-hint-at-undiscovered-species/ A related story from 2019 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219742-lee-berger-we-have-made-another-major-discovery-about-early-humans/
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Borrowed this original museum replica of Australopithecus africanus otherwise known as the beautiful Mrs Ples. I'm planning on making a ceramic replica of this positive foam cast. The detail on this replica is pretty amazing, it has the bone texture, cracks and the reconstruction of the missing pieces of the skull. Looking forward to sharing this project with the forum.
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I live in the Western Cape South Africa. I have found a few fossils that I cannot ID. I'm new at fossil hunting and identifying what I have found, so all help is really appreciated. I have managed to ID some of the fossils, sometimes rocks I have found. Found this particular fossil in a quarry site, the area in which I found it has a grey, clay hardend shale. I split the rock, both rock sections have an impression. The fossil is 45mm H x 1.5mm W. Help with ID please?
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Hi all, On my trip to South Africa, I went fossil hunting at some point (trip report hopefully coming soon). I went to a beach in Cape Town called Milnerton beach (famous for its extinct giant white (aka mako), great white and meg teeth). I also found a few other things, namely a few undefined bone pieces. Anyways in those bone pieces I found this one. It's kind of reminding me of some really thin mammoth tooth, maybe a piece of it? The third pic looks like a chewing surface. Have I really found something cool, or is my imagination just toying with me? Also, does anyone know what epoch the fossils from Milnerton come from? Best regards, Max
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Effect of apartheid on foreign paleontological work in South Africa
DD1991 posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Hi, I wanted to ask whether apartheid in South Africa deterred many American and non-British European paleontologists from prospecting Mesozoic deposits in South Africa for fossils of dinosaurs and mammal relatives, but also prehistoric mammals, because maybe many American paleontologists (including African Americans) were so self-conscious of their country having made strides in civil rights legislation for African Americans and other non-white Americans to become a racially inclusive democracy that they were extremely reluctant to do paleontologist fieldwork in South Africa as long as the South African government did not treat blacks in South Africa as politically equal to South African whites. Just like the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the Iron Curtain, apartheid in South Africa could be another example of politics getting in the way of American paleontological fieldwork abroad.- 3 replies
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No volcanic winter in East Africa from ancient Toba eruption.
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
No volcanic winter in East Africa from ancient Toba eruption. The supereruption 74,000 years ago did not trigger major environmental disruption that caused human populations in East Africa to decline, say geoscientists. University of Arizona, February 6, 2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180206151850.htm https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/no-volcanic-winter-east-africa-ancient-toba-eruption The paper is: Chad L. Yost, Lily J. Jackson, Jeffery R. Stone, Andrew S. Cohen. Subdecadal phytolith and charcoal records from Lake Malawi, East Africa imply minimal effects on human evolution from the ∼74 ka Toba supereruption. Journal of Human Evolution, 2018; 116: 75 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.005 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323019180_Subdecadal_phytolith_and_charcoal_records_from_Lake_Malawi_East_Africa_imply_minimal_effects_on_human_evolution_from_the_74_ka_Toba_supereruption https://www.geo.arizona.edu/sites/www.geo.arizona.edu/files/135 Yost et al 2018 Toba Malawi Jour Human Evol.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248417302750?via%3Dihub Also, there is: Modern humans flourished through ancient supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago. University of Cape Town, March 12, 2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180312132956.htm https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43377960 The paper is: Eugene I. Smith, Zenobia Jacobs, Racheal Johnsen, Minghua Ren, Erich C. Fisher, Simen Oestmo, Jayne Wilkins, Jacob A. Harris, Panagiotis Karkanas, Shelby Fitch, Amber Ciravolo, Deborah Keenan, Naomi Cleghorn, Christine S. Lane, Thalassa Matthews, Curtis W. Marean. Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago. Nature, 2018; DOI: 10.1038/nature25967 https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/geo_fac_articles/145/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25967 Yours, Paul H.-
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The dinosaur graveyards of the Eastern Cape Province. Karoo Supergroup, South Africa
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Exploring the dinosaur graveyards of the Eastern Cape A chance discovery by a local shepherd has lead to a major scientific research program involving palaeontologists from South Africa, the UK and the US in the Karoo Basin. The area is proving to be one of the richest localities for vertebrate fossils in South Africa. by David Paul Ford, Oct 03, 2019 https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/users/317374-david-paul-ford/posts/54340-exploring-the-dinosaur-graveyards-of-the-eastern-cape Yours, Paul H.-
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Scientific integrity in education and end Permian extinction
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Part 1 Scientific Integrity in Education; Part 2: “The Great Dying” – end Permian extinction John Geissman, University of Texas at Dallas Geologists of Jackson Hole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYTuDP54ZI Yours, Paul H.-
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South African artist-scientist breathes new life into ancient fossils
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Artist-scientist breathes new life into ancient fossils Johannesburg (AFP) Art Daily https://phys.org/news/2019-09-artist-scientist-life-ancient-fossils.html http://artdaily.com/news/117147/Artist-scientist-breathes-new-life-into-ancient-fossils https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/artist-scientist-breathes-new-life-into-ancient-dinosaur-fossils/story-3zNaGVvHXcXsFPPzfGj7mM.html Yours, Paul H.-
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