Rock stars: The fossil record comes to life
By dating the rock in which a fossil is found, it is possible to tell when a particular animal or plant lived on the Earth. Unfortunately, this record has many gaps because very few organisms become fossilised.
Palaentologists are still scouring the world for new or better fossils, and have made some remarkable discoveries in recent years. Particularly important has been increased activity in China and surrounding regions. We could well be entering a new golden age of fossil analysis.
Among the discoveries in recent years:
- a fossil of a bird embryo inside an egg, with soft tissues such as feathers intact (121 million years old)
- a spider's web with insects trapped within it (110 million years ago)
- fossil embryos of early multicellular life forms (600 million years ago)
- a nearly modern duck (110 million years ago)
- half-fish, half-reptile, named Tiktaalik, one of the first land-dwelling animals (380 million years ago)
- fossil microbial mats (3.2 billion years)
- a Jurassic-era aquatic mammal with beaver-like tail and seal-like teeth (165 million years ago).