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☆ Ancient reptile fossil shines new light on early marine evolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Amarachi Orie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Scientists have discovered a 246 million-year-old marine reptile fossil, the oldest of its kind to be found in the Southern Hemisphere, shining a new light on the early evolution of marine mammals. Sauropterygians were ancient aquatic reptiles that existed for around 180 million years during the Mesozoic era, 251 to 66 million years ago. However, their early evolution had only been known from fossils found in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the study published in the journal Current Biology Monday. Many fossils are being found all the time, and this material was deposited in New Zealand’s National Paleontological Collection, Kear said. The study suggests these ancient marine reptiles were going around Earth’s poles, swimming all the way around the supercontinent as a continuous coastal highway, Kear said.

Persons: Benjamin Kear, ” Kear, Earth’s, Mount, Kear, Robert Ewan Fordyce, …, Nothosaurs, sauropterygians, ”, “ Organizations: CNN —, Southern, Northern, Uppsala University’s Museum, Evolution, CNN, Mount Harper Locations: Europe, China, Wyoming, United States, British Colombia, Canada, Uppsala, Sweden, New Zealand, New, Southern, Svalbard, Norwegian

☆ The Oldest Plant-Eating Dinosaur Has Been Found in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Meenakshi J | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Thar Desert today is a scorching region in western India’s Rajasthan state. It is the first of that group discovered in India, and the oldest ever found in the world’s fossil record. The all-Indian team that discovered the species named it Tharosaurus indicus, referencing the Thar Desert, and its country of origin. Dicraeosaurids like Tharosaurus indicus are part of a larger group called diplodocoid sauropods. Earlier theories suggested that India was inhabited only by the predecessors of diplodocoids.

Persons: Sunil Bajpai Organizations: Indian Institute of Technology Locations: India’s Rajasthan, India, Africa, Americas, China, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

☆ There's an enormous gravity hole in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Scientists say they've finally worked out what's causing it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There's a gravity hole in the Indian Ocean, where ocean levels are about 300 feet lower than surrounding areas. The gravity hole may have been caused by an ancient ocean bed that sank millions of years ago. But a new study suggests researchers should have been looking around, not under, the gravity hole to solve the mystery of how it formed. The blue dot over the Indian Ocean is a gravity 'hole' that has scientists baffled. But scientists have struggled to explain the gravity hole in the Indian Ocean, known as the Indian Ocean geoid low.

Persons: Attreyee Ghosh, Debanjan Pal, Steinberger, Himangshu Paul Organizations: Service, ESA, Research, of Geosciences, NASA, Goddard Space, Indian Institute of Science, National Geophysical Research Institute, New Locations: Bangalore, Africa, Australia, India, Eastern Africa

☆ NASA’s Webb telescope image shows details of Saturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Astronomers have discovered surprising details about Saturn’s atmosphere, using a new image captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. In the image, Saturn itself appears extremely dark due to the near-total absorption of sunlight by methane gas. The image was taken with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, known as NIRCam, as part of a Webb program that involves several exceptionally deep exposures of Saturn, according to NASA. This latest detailed image comes just weeks after the Webb telescope spotted a record-breaking water plume erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which feeds Saturn’s diffuse E ring, according to NASA. In the future, additional and deeper exposures from Webb will help astronomers examine fainter rings around Saturn, according to NASA.

Persons: NASA’s James Webb, Webb, “, ” Organizations: CNN —, NASA’s James Webb Space, NASA, Cassini, Webb, Saturn, Hubble

☆ New dinosaur found in Spain illuminates history of meat-eating group
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Living about 126 to 127 million years ago, the bipedal dinosaur, named Protathlitis cinctorrensis, was about 33 to 36 feet (10 to 11 meters) long and weighed about 2 tons. It was part of a group called spinosaurs whose biggest member, Spinosaurus, was among the largest meat-eating dinosaurs on record. Spinosaurs lived in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America during the Cretaceous - the last of the three chapters of the age of dinosaurs. Spinosaurus, about 50 feet (15 meters) long and weighing seven tons, lived 95 million years ago in Africa. Unlike Protathlitis, Spinosaurus possessed unserrated teeth - better to capture slippery aquatic prey.

☆ Fossils of car-sized dinosaur-era sea turtle unearthed in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It dwarfed today's largest turtle - the leatherback, which can reach 7 feet (2 meters) long and is known for marathon marine migrations. Other large turtles from Earth's past include Protostega and Stupendemys, both reaching about 13 feet (4 meters) long. Protostega was a Cretaceous sea turtle that lived about 85 million years ago and, like its later cousin Archelon, inhabited the large inland sea that at the time split North America in two. The presence of a couple of bony bulges on the front side of the pelvis differs from any other known sea turtle, indicating that Leviathanochelys represents a newly discovered lineage. It shows that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in separate Cretaceous lineages in North America and Europe.

(foto) Unde s-ar situa țările și continentele de azi pe Supercontinentul PangeeaDesignerul italian Massimo Pietrobon a creat o hartă a supercontinentului Pangeea, plasând pe ea granițele politice a statelor din secolul XXI. Supercontinentul Pangeea era înconjurat de către superoceanul Panthalassa, iar majoritatea continentului era în emisfera sudică. Se consideră că acest continent ar fi existat acum 200 milioane de ani și din cauza mișcării plăcilor tectonice acesta s-a separat și a dus la ceea ce avem noi astăzi. Dovezi ale existenței Pangeei au fost găsite recent prin fosilele Lystrosaurus, care au fost descoperite în India, Africa de Sud și Australia. Moldova s-ar fi găsit la o margine de continent, foarte aproape de Marea Tethys.

Persons: Massimo Pietrobon, Tethys Locations: India, Africa de Sud, Australia, Moldova

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