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Irish Examiner
15-06-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Hidden in plain sight: join the search for Ireland's fossils
Lazing on the beach, a trip to the shops, or going for a hike… these activities don't normally remind us of fossils. But a new campaign from University College Cork is aiming to change that — and is urging us all to search for fossils in locations all around the country. This initiative, called 'The Great Irish Fossil Hunt', is calling on the public to discover and report any fossils they find across the island of Ireland. Simply make sure the fossil is publicly accessible (not in a private garden!) and is in solid rock (not loose). You can then send a photo of your fossil discovery to the UCC team using the instructions below. Gastropod conical on city street Few people in Ireland realise that fossils are all around us, in the natural rock outcrops at our beaches and on mountains. We are even less aware of the fossils that are locked inside the building stones that make up the footpaths, gutters, windowsills, doorsteps and paving stones of our towns and cities. Astonishingly, this means that many of us are walking past — or even walking on — fossils every day. The Great Irish Fossil Hunt is led by Professor Maria McNamara and her team of palaeontologists at UCC's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, as part of the nationwide 'Ireland's Fossil Heritage' project funded by Research Ireland and the European Research Council. The Great Irish Fossil Hunt continues until August 31 You can send photographs of your fossil finds to the UCC team using the form on the campaign website, including the Google maps location. The team will then travel the country checking and validating the submitted photographs during the summer months. The validated sites will be used to build a new fossil map of Ireland, that will be launched during Science Week. Prof. McNamara said: 'Here in Ireland we are really lucky to have a wonderful fossil heritage that includes amazing ancient sea creatures that lived in tropical ocean reefs, and huge ancient trees that lived in swampy forests, all preserved in our limestone, sandstone and mudstone rocks. We have even more fossils visible in the building stones of our towns and cities. For historical, social and scientific reasons, however, the fossils of Ireland have been overlooked and not given the prominence that they deserve. Through the Great Irish Fossil Hunt, we want to shine a spotlight on the fossils of Ireland, and get people hunting for the fossils that are right under our noses.' Crinoid ossicles Dr Jess Franklin, senior engagement officer with the project, explains how you can get involved: 'It's really easy to make a submission. If you spot a fossil when you're out and about, simply take a photo and upload it using the form on our website. Remember to include the Google maps location, and if you have a coin handy, you can include it in the photo for scale. You can even opt-in to have your name displayed with your submission, if it's chosen for inclusion on the new fossil map.' Dr Jess Franklin with Ann Francis of Cork Camera Club examining fossils on the facade of Eason on Patrick Street, Cork The fossil submissions should be from in-situ building stones or natural rocky outcrops — fossils that are loose, or in loose stones don't qualify. The fossils should also be located in areas that are accessible to the general public, so fossils in private gardens or private farms are not eligible. The campaign raises the prospect of exciting fossil discoveries. Prof. McNamara said: 'Despite the small size of the country, Ireland has some globally important fossils. Our Devonian sandstones and siltstones include some of the oldest plants on land — including the little moss-like plant Cooksonia, from the Devil's Bit Mountains in Tipperary — and the oldest accepted evidence of animals walking on land, at the Valentia Tetrapod Trackway in Kerry. Our Carboniferous limestones are famous for their marine fossils, that record life in ancient tropical seas (see panel). There are even fossils of dinosaurs and marine reptiles preserved in Jurassic rocks in County Antrim." Crinoid ossicles cross-section "There are far more rocks exposed along our coasts and in our building stones than all the palaeontologists in Ireland can examine, so the fossil hunt campaign raises the very real possibility that members of the public might discover fossils of scientific importance.' Much of the common building stone used in Irish towns and cities is from Ireland, especially carboniferous limestone. You can find pictures of the most common Irish fossils on the Ireland's Fossil Heritage website. There are fossils locked inside the building stones that make up the footpaths, gutters, windowsills, doorsteps and paving stones of our towns and cities — this means that many of us are walking past, or even walking on, fossils every day Some building stones, however, are from Britain and further afield, and preserve additional types of fossils, such as the large spiral ammonites of the Jura limestones and the cone-shaped gastropod shells in the Portland Roach limestones. All of these fossils will be captured for the first time in the new fossil map of Ireland, making fossils accessible to the public, no matter whether they live in a built-up area or a very rural area. If you're not sure if what you've found is indeed a fossil, feel free to email the team at UCC directly. The deadline for fossil submissions is 5pm on August 31. Further details are available here Common Irish fossils Brachiopod arc Brachiopods: Brachiopods are shellfish with two shells joined by a ligament on one side, but they are often preserved in rocks as only one shell. You can recognise fossil brachiopods in rocks as whole shells, or as white crescents or circles in cross section. Solitary coral (cross-section) Corals: Corals are marine animals that gather food particles from the surrounding water using soft tentacles. Some ancient corals lived alone (these are called solitary corals) but others lived in large groups and shared a common skeleton (colonial corals). Fossil corals have a distinctive pattern of radial lines inside their skeleton, which looks like spokes on a bicycle wheel in cross section. Crinoid stems Crinoids: Irish fossil crinoids were attached to the seafloor and had feathery arms that could open like an umbrella to collect food particles drifting by on ocean currents. Most of the crinoid's hard skeleton is made up of circular plates called ossicles joined together by ligaments. When crinoids die, the ligaments rot away and the ossicles are usually scattered by waves and currents. Sometimes the plates don't separate fully and instead, we can see a stack of the plates (like a stack of polo mints).
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The surprising evolution of the weirdest animals on Earth, according to a new study
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The story of two of the strangest animals on the planet just got a little stranger, thanks to clues revealed by a lone fossil specimen that scientists now say represents a long-extinct ancestor. The new research could upend what's known of the evolution of the most primitive mammals alive today. Found in Australia and New Guinea, the platypus and echidna are called monotremes, and they are unique for being the only mammals that lay eggs. The amphibious platypus has a bill and webbed feet, like a duck, and a beaver-esque tail. The small creature spends much of its time hunting for food in the water. The echidna — fittingly known as the spiny anteater — lives entirely on land, is covered in pointy quills and has rear feet that face backward, kicking up dirt as the animal burrows into the ground. Neither animal has teeth, and though they both produce milk, they secrete it through their skin for babies (often called puggles) to lap at, because they lack nipples. 'There's plenty of weirdness to go around on these little things,' said Dr. Guillermo W. Rougier, a professor in the department of anatomical sciences and neurobiology at Kentucky's University of Louisville who studies early mammalian evolution. 'They are one of the defining groups of mammals,' Rougier said. 'The typical mammal from the time of dinosaurs probably shared a lot more biology with a monotreme than with a horse, a dog, a cat or ourselves.' Therefore, he said, monotremes provide a window into the origins of mammals on Earth. A new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences opens that window a little further. Research led by paleontologist Suzanne Hand, a professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales' School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australia, reveals the internal structure of the only known fossil specimen of the monotreme ancestor Kryoryctes cadburyi, which lived more than 100 million years ago. The fossil, a humerus, or upper arm bone, was discovered in 1993 at Dinosaur Cove in southeastern Australia. From the outside, the specimen looked more like a bone from a land-dwelling echidna than a water-loving platypus. But when the researchers peered inside, they saw something different. 'By using advanced 3D imaging approaches, we have been able to illuminate previously unseen features of this ancient bone, and those have revealed a quite unexpected story,' said study coauthor Dr. Laura Wilson, a senior lecturer at the university's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. The team found that internally, the fossil had characteristics of the semiaquatic platypus: a thicker bone wall and smaller central cavity. Together, these traits make bones heavier, which is useful in aquatic animals because they reduce buoyancy, so it's easier for the creatures to dive underwater to forage for food. By contrast, echidnas, which live solely on land, have much thinner, lighter bones. The finding supports the popular, but unproven, hypothesis that Kryoryctes is a common ancestor of both the platypus and echidna, and that at the time of the dinosaurs, it may have lived at least partially in the water. 'Our study indicates that the amphibious lifestyle of the modern platypus had its origins at least 100 million years ago,' Hand said, 'and that echidnas made a much later reversion to a fully terrestrial lifestyle.' There are well-known examples of animals evolving from land to water — for example, it is believed that dolphins and whales evolved from land animals and share lineage with hippos. But there are few examples that show evolution from water to land. The transition requires 'substantial changes to the musculoskeletal system,' Wilson said, including new positioning of the limbs for life on land and lighter bones to make moving less energy-intensive. A land-to-water transition could explain the echidna's bizarre backward feet, which Hand said it may have inherited from a swimming ancestor that used its hind legs as rudders. 'I think that they very elegantly prove the suggestion that these animals were adapted to a semiaquatic life very early on,' said Rougier, who was not involved in the study, though he did have contact with the authors during their research. The primitive history of these unusual animals, he said, is 'truly crucial' to our understanding of how mammals (including humans) came to be. 'Monotremes are these living relics from a very long distant past. You and a platypus probably had the last common ancestor over 180 million years ago,' he said. 'There is no way to predict the biology of this last common ancestor without animals like monotremes.' Amanda Schupak is a science and health journalist in New York City.
CNN
30-04-2025
- Science
- CNN
The surprising evolution of the weirdest animals on Earth, according to a new study
The story of two of the strangest animals on the planet just got a little stranger, thanks to clues revealed by a lone fossil specimen that scientists now say represents a long-extinct ancestor. The new research could upend what's known of the evolution of the most primitive mammals alive today. Found in Australia and New Guinea, the platypus and echidna are called monotremes, and they are unique for being the only mammals that lay eggs. The amphibious platypus has a bill and webbed feet, like a duck, and a beaver-esque tail. The small creature spends much of its time hunting for food in the water. The echidna — fittingly known as the spiny anteater — lives entirely on land, is covered in pointy quills and has rear feet that face backward, kicking up dirt as the animal burrows into the ground. Neither animal has teeth, and though they both produce milk, they secrete it through their skin for babies (often called puggles) to lap at, because they lack nipples. 'There's plenty of weirdness to go around on these little things,' said Dr. Guillermo W. Rougier, a professor in the department of anatomical sciences and neurobiology at Kentucky's University of Louisville who studies early mammalian evolution. 'They are one of the defining groups of mammals,' Rougier said. 'The typical mammal from the time of dinosaurs probably shared a lot more biology with a monotreme than with a horse, a dog, a cat or ourselves.' Therefore, he said, monotremes provide a window into the origins of mammals on Earth. A new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences opens that window a little further. Research led by paleontologist Suzanne Hand, a professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales' School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australia, reveals the internal structure of the only known fossil specimen of the monotreme ancestor Kryoryctes cadburyi, which lived more than 100 million years ago. The fossil, a humerus, or upper arm bone, was discovered in 1993 at Dinosaur Cove in southeastern Australia. From the outside, the specimen looked more like a bone from a land-dwelling echidna than a water-loving platypus. But when the researchers peered inside, they saw something different. 'By using advanced 3D imaging approaches, we have been able to illuminate previously unseen features of this ancient bone, and those have revealed a quite unexpected story,' said study coauthor Dr. Laura Wilson, a senior lecturer at the university's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. The team found that internally, the fossil had characteristics of the semiaquatic platypus: a thicker bone wall and smaller central cavity. Together, these traits make bones heavier, which is useful in aquatic animals because they reduce buoyancy, so it's easier for the creatures to dive underwater to forage for food. By contrast, echidnas, which live solely on land, have much thinner, lighter bones. The finding supports the popular, but unproven, hypothesis that Kryoryctes is a common ancestor of both the platypus and echidna, and that at the time of the dinosaurs, it may have lived at least partially in the water. 'Our study indicates that the amphibious lifestyle of the modern platypus had its origins at least 100 million years ago,' Hand said, 'and that echidnas made a much later reversion to a fully terrestrial lifestyle.' There are well-known examples of animals evolving from land to water — for example, it is believed that dolphins and whales evolved from land animals and share lineage with hippos. But there are few examples that show evolution from water to land. The transition requires 'substantial changes to the musculoskeletal system,' Wilson said, including new positioning of the limbs for life on land and lighter bones to make moving less energy-intensive. A land-to-water transition could explain the echidna's bizarre backward feet, which Hand said it may have inherited from a swimming ancestor that used its hind legs as rudders. Related video Platypus released in Australian national park for the first time in 50 years 'I think that they very elegantly prove the suggestion that these animals were adapted to a semiaquatic life very early on,' said Rougier, who was not involved in the study, though he did have contact with the authors during their research. The primitive history of these unusual animals, he said, is 'truly crucial' to our understanding of how mammals (including humans) came to be. 'Monotremes are these living relics from a very long distant past. You and a platypus probably had the last common ancestor over 180 million years ago,' he said. 'There is no way to predict the biology of this last common ancestor without animals like monotremes.'
