253-Million-Year-Old Murder Mystery
Bone collectors: Nick Fordyce with Prof Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan of the University of Cape Town (UCT) have made some eye-catching discoveries about some of South Africa’s prehistoric creatures. Murder site: A picture of a dicynodont’s final resting place, its bones and associated remains providing clues to its death.
Credit: UCT
Palaeontologists in UCT’s new Department of Biological Sciences have recently been applying their sleuthing skills to two fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years. In the first of two studies, published online in the US-based Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, honours student Tobias Nasterlack, working with postdoctoral research fellow Aurore Canoville and palaeobiologist and head of department Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, picked and prodded at the skeletal remains of a toothless mammal-like reptile known as Cistecephalus.
In so doing, the team hoped to glimpse insights into the lifestyle habits of the 40cm-long creatures, which lived 255 million years ago in the area now known as the Karoo. Was it, as has been debated, aquatic, amphibious, a tree climber or, the more popular theory, a burrower?
“Bone microstructure is a powerful tool that enables deductions about the lifestyle of extinct animals,” explains Canoville.
What they have been able to glean from the adults’ thick-walled bones, for example, is that it is similar to that of many digging animals of today, suggesting that Cistecephalus was not a tree climber but rather a burrower.
In a second study, published in the South African Journal of Science, honours student Nicholas Fordyce, working with Chinsamy-Turan and Roger Smith of the Iziko South Africa Museum, has cast a light on a 253-million-year-old murder mystery. His research pointed the finger for the killing of a plant-eating reptile known as a dicynodont – specifically one named Mamafura, whose partial skeleton was discovered in 1984 – to a suitably vicious-looking carnivore known as Aelurognathus.
The researchers came to this conclusion based on the smoking gun found near the scene of the crime, namely a 3.5cm long, sharply pointed, curved and serrated carnivore canine. In the defence of theAelurognathus, other forensic evidence – notably the belly-up posture of the skeleton and the mudrock around it – would suggest that the Aelurognathus had merely come across Mamafura’s carcass after it had drowned, and opportunistically fed on it, losing the tooth in the process.
“Fossils provide us with a unique opportunity to learn about how the world and its fauna and flora have changed through time,” says Fordyce.
2012-11-17 06:43:28
Source: http://nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com/2012/11/253-million-year-old-murder-mystery.html
Source:
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
LION'S MANE PRODUCT
Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules
Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.
Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.
