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The Alien Observatory --"The Vast Majority of Fossils Discovered in the Universe Will Be Extinct Microbial Life, Not Dinosaurs or Humanoids" The Daily Galaxy January 14, 2018 http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2018/01/the-alien-observatory-the-vast-majority-of-fossils-discovered-in-the-universe-will-be-extinct-microb.html A paper is: Chopra, A. and Lineweaver, C.H., 2016. The case for a Gaian bottleneck: the biology of habitability. Astrobiology, 16(1), pp. 7-22. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291334824_The_Case_for_a_Gaian_Bottleneck_The_Biology_of_Habitability? https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charley_Lineweaver http://magonia.com/files/the-case-for-a-gaian-bottleneck.pdf http://www.nso.lt/science/content/bottleneck.pdf Another paper is: Lineweaver, C.H., 2009. Paleontological tests: human-like intelligence is not a convergent feature of evolution. In From fossils to astrobiology (pp. 353-368). Springer, Dordrecht. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241315068_Paleontological_Tests_HumanLike_Intelligence_Is_Not_a_Convergent_Feature_of_Evolution https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charley_Lineweaver Yours, Paul H.

Aron Ra's "Systematic Classification of Life" is up to the 19th episode and he's still in the Permian Period! There's lots of detail and just enough subtle humor thrown in to keep it fun while we learn which branches our own tree-sap comes from. Here is the newest video but don't skip ahead if you haven't been keeping up. It can be hard to keep track of all of our ancestors when there are so many. This just got published today and there's a new one every few days so start at episode 1 now and maybe number 20 will be done when you're finished.

Hi everyone, This animation is not meant to be accurate, otherwise I would not have drawn a generic lizard in the beginning and grow a mosasaurine snout much earlier in the sequence. Again, this was created on Adobe Animate CC 2018 using my Huion 1060PLUS tablet.

Are you finding cladistics and taxonomy confusing and complicated? Well, that's because they are, but to help you clear up some of that confusion and find your true place in the classification of life there is a new series of videos out that is still being produced but becoming available very rapidly. Episode 15 of "Systematic Classification of Life" is just out and if you start now watching the first 15 episodes maybe the next one will be available by the time you're done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXQP_R-yiuw&t=8s

The Colour of Fossils - Dr Maria McNama Geological Society, Sepember 6, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewa8vflfipo “Dr Maria McNamara (University College Cork) explains how the emerging field of fossil colour has revealed unprecedented insights into the ecology and behaviour of ancient animals, describing how colour is preserved in ancient animals and how it can shed light on what they looked like, how they communicated with each other, and how the functions of colour have evolved through deep time.” Yours, Paul H.

Leap onto land saves fish from being eaten University of New South Wales, March 14, 2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170314111116.htm "Fish on the South Pacific island of Rarotonga have evolved the ability to survive out of water and leap about on the rocky shoreline..." The paper is: Ord, T.J., Summers, T.C., Noble, M.M. and Fulton, C.J., 2017. Ecological Release from Aquatic Predation Is Associated with the Emergence of Marine Blenny Fishes onto Land. The American Naturalist, 189(5), pp.000-000. Abstract: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691155 PDF file: http://www.eerc.unsw.edu.au/ord/ord_etal2017.pdf Yours, Paul H.

Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows National Geographic, June 19,2017 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science/ Ancient DNA reveals role of Near East and Egypt in cat domestication, KU Leuven, June 19, 2017 http://nieuws.kuleuven.be/en/content/2017/domestication-of-the-cat-ancient-dna-reveals-significant-role-of-the-near-east-and-egypt https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170619125825.htm "DNA found at archaeological sites reveals that the origins of our domestic cat are in the Near East and ancient Egypt. Cats were domesticated by the first farmers some 10,000 years ago. They later spread across Europe and other parts of the world via trade hub Egypt. The DNA analysis also revealed that most of these ancient cats had stripes: spotted cats were uncommon until the Middle Ages." the paper is: Claudio Ottoni, Wim Van Neer, Bea De Cupere, Julien Daligault, Silvia Guimaraes, Joris Peters, Nikolai Spassov, Mary E. Prendergast, Nicole Boivin, Arturo Morales-Muñiz, Adrian Bălăşescu, Cornelia Becker, Norbert Benecke, Adina Boroneant, Hijlke Buitenhuis, Jwana Chahoud, Alison Crowther, Laura Llorente, Nina Manaseryan, Hervé Monchot, Vedat Onar, Marta Osypińska, Olivier Putelat, Eréndira M. Quintana Morales, Jacqueline Studer, Ursula Wierer, Ronny Decorte, Thierry Grange, Eva-Maria Geigl. The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2017; 1 (7): 0139 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0139 Online archive: http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/09/080028 PDF file: http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/10/09/080028.full.pdf Yours, Paul H.

Interesting..... https://www.seeker.com/earth/animals/whales-only-recently-evolved-into-giants

I've noticed that a lot of clades that first appear in the early Paleozoic seem to immediately be present across the globe, even though the continents at the time were mostly disconnected and separated by oceans. For example, (calcified) trilobites suddenly appear in Cambrian Stage 3, but are already present in Laurentia, Siberia and parts of Gondwana, despite the vast distance and oceanic separation of the landmasses. Similarly, Rugose corals appear in the late Middle Ordovician, but already seem to present across the equatorial regions of the globe. How did these benthic/sessile clades(so I'm not referring to pelagic trilobites) manage to spread geographically wide so fast? Is there any way we could know what landmass was the actual "birthplace" of some of them?

Vision, not limbs, led fish onto land 385 million years ago Northwestern University, March 7, 2017 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170307152509.htm https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2017/march/vision-not-limbs-led-fish-onto-land-385-million-years-ago/ The paper is: MacIver, M. A., L. Schmitzd, U. Mugan, T. D. Murphey, and C. D. Mobley, 2017, Massive increase in visual range preceded the origin of terrestrial vertebrates. PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1615563114 http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/09/1615563114 Yours, Paul H.

Hey all! Sorry to bother you again with my Megalodon questions, but I'm very curious about this fascinating beast. So I found this picture on Google. In my previous topic about Megalodon, we discussed about the genus of the species, and Otodus came as the answer. Now this picture (which still represents Megalodon as Carcharocles) shows the succession of species till Megalodon. Seeing that it starts with Otodus obliquus, and then goes on with the Carcharocles genuses, I was wondering something: if Megalodon is actually considered as Otodus, should auriculatus, angustidens and chubutensis also be considered as Otodus? Best regards to all, Max

Hello Folks, I've been looking for resources or information concerning the origins of the Otodus genus ? Everywhere I look folks are obsessed with how it spawned the Carcharocles genus, but what were its ancestors ? I'm aware of Cretolamna and it's possible connection .. but there is debate about how it might be connected to the Great White. Is there a location where that evolutionary timeline is laid out more in depth ? It's mostly just out of curiosity, I like to have some historical context so to speak for the teeth that I find and I'm possibly just not looking in the right spots online. Book recommendations would be cool as well. Thanks in advance as always. Cheers, Brett

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for at least 165 million years. During this period they evolved into a whole menagerie of wonderful and fantastical forms, and are survived today by the birds that flit from branch to branch in your garden. But when they first emerged from the evolutionary tree is a murkier story. It now seems that they may have evolved up to 20 million years earlier than thought. The results come from a study published in Biology Letters, in which researchers from the Natural History Museum, London, have created the most detailed dinosaur tree ever formed. Using two separate methods, they created a massive phylogenetic tree that includes close to 1,000 different species of dinosaurs, enabling them to trace the animals right back to their roots. Both methods came up with strikingly similar results, indicating the validity of the outcome. They both showed that while the oldest dinosaur fossil to have ever been dated, known as Nyasasaurus, is thought to be 240 million years old, the data from the trees suggest that dinosaurs may have evolved at least 10 million years earlier, and potentially up to 20 million years earlier. This is possibly not too surprising. The dating of such ancient fossils comes with some leeway, as well as considering just how patchy the fossil record from this long ago for dinosaurs is. For example, while Nyasasurus is the best contender for the oldest dinosaur discovered so far, there is a full 12-million-year gap before the next one pops up. What is interesting, however, is how researchers are able to use phylogenetics to help fill in these blanks, and predict where there are fossils to be found that could potentially predate the known one. It also means that if the dates are to be believed, the direct early ancestors to dinosaurs may already have been around before the dramatic Permian extinction event that occurred 252 million years ago, and so were one of the few lineages that managed to survive. Also known as the Great Dying, it is thought that up to a staggering 95 percent of all species alive at the time bit the dust, in what was the largest mass extinction event that has ever occurred. Not only that, but the data also shows that the branch that includes all known birds may have split off between 108 and 69 million years ago, meaning that they may have already been flying, or at the very least gliding, around before the asteroid that killed off all their other relatives hit. http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/dinosaurs-may-have-evolved-up-to-20-million-years-earlier-than-thought/

From the article... "Snakes lost their limbs over 100 million years ago, but scientists have struggled to identify the genetic changes involved. A Cell paper publishing October 20 sheds some light on the process, describing a stretch of DNA involved in limb formation that is mutated in snakes. " http://phys.org/news/2016-10-snakes-lost-blueprint-limbs.html

Oxygen levels were key to early animal evolution, strongest evidence now shows, University College London, September 23, 2016 http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2016/ocean-oxygen-is-key-to-animal-evolution https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160923100751.htm http://phys.org/news/2016-09-ocean-oxygen-key-animal-evolution.html Tostevin, R., R. A. Wood, G. A. Shields, S. W. Poulton, R. Guilbaud, F. Bowyer, A. M. Penny, T. He, A. Curtis, K. H. Hoffmann, M. O. Clarkson. Low-oxygen waters limited habitable space for early animals. Nature Communications, 2016; 7: 12818 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12818 http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160923/ncomms12818/full/ncomms12818.html Other papers are: Chen, X.; H. F. Ling, D. Vance, G. A. Shields-Zhou, M. Zhu, S. W. Poulton, L. M. Och, S. Y. Jiang, D. Li, L. Cremonese, and C. Archer, 2015, Rise to modern levels of ocean oxygenation coincided with the Cambrian radiation of animals., Nature Communications, 6. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8142 http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/86399/1/Nature communications 2015.pdf and http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/people/s.poulton Lyons, T. W., C. T. Reinhard, and N. J. Planavsky, 2015, The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere. (review article). Nature. Vol. 506, pp. 307–315. doi:10.1038/nature13068 http://earthscience.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nature-2015-Lyons.pdf http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v506/n7488/abs/nature13068.htm Yours, Paul H.

What came first the chicken or the egg? Kind of a hard question to answer. But thanks to the intelligent mind of Pterodactyl () he has figured out the answer! The answer: the egg came first. Here's why: The theory of evolution says that first an animal must be mutated in order to "make" a new species. So two birds had an egg with a mutated version of the two parents in the egg. So that mutated bird, or in our case the chicken, hatched out of the egg which came first. Ta-Da!

Hi guys. I'm back after more than 14 months and with more questions. If there is a paleontologist on board, I can't ask for any better. If not, then please redirect me to sources where I can find the answers for my queries. I seek to ask general paleobiology information about Nimravids and Barbourofelids right now. I have researched the internet about the origin of Nimravids and I get contradictory results. Whereas most sources claim that this ancient group originated in North America, there is THIS ARTICLE stating that the family most probably originated in Europe. The same site (bioone.org) claims in THIS ARTICLE that the oldest nimravid fossils have been discovered in Thailand (Asia). THIS ARTICLE from another weisite (researchgate) also chants the same claim that the oldest Nimravid fossils belong to Thailand. I don't know if either of these articles is a spin of the other one Contrary to all this, wikipedia implies that this family originated in North America. Any guidance?

Hello! My name is Manuel and I am interested in meeting folks that hunt for fossils, search for interesting rocks and geological formations, and who share my interest in the evolution of our planet. Please contact me soon if you are in Nevada or Utah, I am leaving soon for a fossil hunting roadtrip with my buddies along Highway 50 in Nevada to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, into Utah to Arches National Park, down to the four-corners area then back into the Las Vegas Area with side trips to Pahrump, Pioche, and Cathedral Gorge. Any other suggestions?

Hi folks, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a fossil and evolutionary biologist enthusiast from Toronto. I've designed hands-on presentations and workshops for elementary students on human evolution, as well the history of life. I've given a talks so far for 7th and 8th graders and want to expand the workshops to half day events. Any ideas on fun and informative activities would be appreciated I'm most fascinated with fossil arthropods - and amazed at the diversity of body plans. The overarching academic subject that interests me most is the science of complexity - evolution, emergence, self-organization, and systems biology. It's a framework that enables me to synthesize my interests in paleobiology, neuroscience, psychology (and more...) - I'd be happen to discuss how fossils enter the equation in these related fields. Look forward to interacting with everyone and learning more about fossils, paleontology, and the interesting folks who share some of my interests! Peter

So I've been doing a lot of research about specie extinction lately, and the overriding trend seems to be a group overspecializes in something that makes them successful. If you look post-mass extinction animals, they are always basic/primitive organisms. This really gives me doubts about the future of man. It seems we have over-specialized in technology and complex governing systems. Anyone who understands chaos theory knows complex systems ALWAYS fail. Is mankind to suffer the same fate at the dinosaurs? Just something that kind of scared the heck out me. Has our reliance on social order and modern living doomed us to extinction? Not even the Dinosaurs were "too big to fail".

Though it has nothing to do with fossils, this is a really interesting article on how nutrition plays a role in the size of modern rhino beetles horns, suggesting that perhaps: I wonder if this sort of physiological response had anything to do with trilobite ornamentation.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18955652