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Sea stars... ok, starfish... have radial symmetry. It was always assumed "legs" grew from the centre. Genetic evidence shows that they're not legs at all. They're heads. The genes that create them are the genes that create heads, not legs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

submitted 74 days ago • 0 comments

In Dorset, England, a 145 million year old Sauropod trackway runs across a quarry.

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

The Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin has a marvellous Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen called Tristan-Otto after the sons of the owner and his friend, or specimen number MB.R.91216 as it's known in the museum.

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

The chytrid fungus has taken a terrible toll on amphibian species. New approaches help the surviving populations. scitechdaily.com/saunas-save-...

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

Molecular evidence shows that ctenophores are older than sponges, first appearing 700 million years ago www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

The Met12 archaeon, an ancient domain of organisms once classified as bacteria, uses a unique chemical pathway to produce energy. It converts carbon dioxide to acetate without releasing methane. Archaeans are able to survive in hostile environments. scitechdaily.com/newly-discov...

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

About forty years ago, an Orca was observed wearing a dead salmon on its head. The fashion spread and the pod started doing the same. The same thing happened again, perhaps related to the original fashion. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 97 days ago • 0 comments

Ankylosaurs had keratin armour on top of bony armour, the equivalent of a bullet-proof vest on top of body armour. www.livescience.com/animals/dino...

submitted 97 days ago • 0 comments

Ta Prom in Siem Reap, Cambodia, was built in the 12th and 13th centuries without mortar. Thousands of people lived in and around the temple. After it fell out of use, trees took root in the stone.

submitted 100 days ago • 0 comments

The patagotitan mayorum was a Titanosaur, a type of Sauropod. There was enough room to park a car inside its ribcage. As moving such an enormous body was energy intensive, it had an extremely long neck so it could stand in one place and still graze a huge amount of foliage.

submitted 104 days ago • 0 comments

The evacuation of Pripyat after the Chernobyl nuclear accident froze a thriving city in time.

submitted 105 days ago • 0 comments

The Messel Pit in Darmstadt, Germany is an extinct volcano that held a lake in the Eocene epoch. Animals that fell in the water did not decay or get scavenged, so it became a Lagerstätte or collection of well preserved remains. A 50 million years old beetle from the site still shows its colours.

submitted 105 days ago • 0 comments

The Natural History Museum in London has an amazing collection of ancient aquatic reptiles. Because much of England was covered by a shallow sea back in the Jurassic, areas like the Dorset coast have a rich palaeontological heritage.

submitted 105 days ago • 0 comments

This is the holotype, or specimen that defines a species, of Charnia Masoni. It looks like a simple plant, but it's actually one of the earliest animals, 562 million years old. Tina Negus, the teenager who discovered it, was told it couldn't be a fossil because the rock dated before animals evolved

submitted 106 days ago • 0 comments

The Bernissart Iguanodons on display in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences were discovered in 1878 in a coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium. Miners found bones in a pocket of clay and alerted scientists. Over 30 nearly complete skeletons were excavated over three years.

submitted 106 days ago • 0 comments

This amazing museum in Brussels, Belgium has the biggest collection of dinosaurs in Europe, as well as galleries of other fossils. It features the Bernissart Iguanodons, a trove of Iguanodons discovered in a Belgian coal mine. www.naturalsciences.be/en/museum/ex...

submitted 106 days ago • 0 comments

The Etches Collection in Kimmeridge, England is well worth a visit. It has some excellent specimens including the Pliosaur featured in "Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster".

Sea stars... ok, starfish... have radial symmetry. It was always assumed "legs" grew from the centre. Genetic evidence shows that they're not legs at all. They're heads. The genes that create them are the genes that create heads, not legs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In Dorset, England, a 145 million year old Sauropod trackway runs across a quarry.

The Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin has a marvellous Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen called Tristan-Otto after the sons of the owner and his friend, or specimen number MB.R.91216 as it's known in the museum.

The chytrid fungus has taken a terrible toll on amphibian species. New approaches help the surviving populations. scitechdaily.com/saunas-save-...

Molecular evidence shows that ctenophores are older than sponges, first appearing 700 million years ago www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...

The Met12 archaeon, an ancient domain of organisms once classified as bacteria, uses a unique chemical pathway to produce energy. It converts carbon dioxide to acetate without releasing methane. Archaeans are able to survive in hostile environments. scitechdaily.com/newly-discov...

About forty years ago, an Orca was observed wearing a dead salmon on its head. The fashion spread and the pod started doing the same. The same thing happened again, perhaps related to the original fashion. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Ankylosaurs had keratin armour on top of bony armour, the equivalent of a bullet-proof vest on top of body armour. www.livescience.com/animals/dino...

Ta Prom in Siem Reap, Cambodia, was built in the 12th and 13th centuries without mortar. Thousands of people lived in and around the temple. After it fell out of use, trees took root in the stone.

The patagotitan mayorum was a Titanosaur, a type of Sauropod. There was enough room to park a car inside its ribcage. As moving such an enormous body was energy intensive, it had an extremely long neck so it could stand in one place and still graze a huge amount of foliage.

The evacuation of Pripyat after the Chernobyl nuclear accident froze a thriving city in time.

The Messel Pit in Darmstadt, Germany is an extinct volcano that held a lake in the Eocene epoch. Animals that fell in the water did not decay or get scavenged, so it became a Lagerstätte or collection of well preserved remains. A 50 million years old beetle from the site still shows its colours.

The Natural History Museum in London has an amazing collection of ancient aquatic reptiles. Because much of England was covered by a shallow sea back in the Jurassic, areas like the Dorset coast have a rich palaeontological heritage.

This is the holotype, or specimen that defines a species, of Charnia Masoni. It looks like a simple plant, but it's actually one of the earliest animals, 562 million years old. Tina Negus, the teenager who discovered it, was told it couldn't be a fossil because the rock dated before animals evolved

The Bernissart Iguanodons on display in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences were discovered in 1878 in a coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium. Miners found bones in a pocket of clay and alerted scientists. Over 30 nearly complete skeletons were excavated over three years.

This amazing museum in Brussels, Belgium has the biggest collection of dinosaurs in Europe, as well as galleries of other fossils. It features the Bernissart Iguanodons, a trove of Iguanodons discovered in a Belgian coal mine. www.naturalsciences.be/en/museum/ex...

The Etches Collection in Kimmeridge, England is well worth a visit. It has some excellent specimens including the Pliosaur featured in "Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster".

Interesting find in the Nilpena Ediacara National Park phys.org/news/2024-11...

Loving my Natural History Museum Xmas jumper