GeoBlog |
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September 26, 2001
From Science News Online: New Fossils Resolve Whale's Origin. "Recent fossil finds from Pakistan overturn the picture of whale evolution long championed by paleontologists, bringing them closer to agreement with an alternative view proposed by molecular biologists. The discoveries establish a close evolutionary link between cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and a group of mammals known as artiodactyls. These hoofed animals with an even number of toes include cows, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, and hippopotamuses." Cool!
September 21, 2001
From the New York Times: Experts Dissect a Primordial Banquet. "Extending their knowledge of some of the earliest life on earth, scientists believe they have figured out what one group of bacteria was feasting on 3.5 billion years ago.
Analyzing rocks from western Australia, the researchers did not find any fossils of the bacteria, but they said the chemical composition of sulfur compounds in the rock could only be the byproduct of living organisms — the leftovers of an ancient microbial meal." Check it out. |