X-Nico

unusual facts about fossil record



Dichocoenia stokesi

The fossil record shows that this species grew in the Caribbean region as long ago as the Oligocene Era (34 to 23 million years ago).

Diving petrel

The prehistoric fossil record was long limited to very fragmentary remains described as P. cymatotrypetes found in Early Pliocene deposits of Langebaanweg, South Africa; while this bird apparently was close to the Common Diving Petrel, no members of the genus are known from South African waters today.


see also

Aracanidae

The family is represented in the fossil record by the extinct genus Proaracana with the single species P. dubia known from the Middle Eocene of Italy.

Asian swamp eel

It arose from the Osteichthyes, the first bony fish, whose fossil record dates back to the Triassic period.

Bourgueticrinida

Bourgueticrinids first appeared in the fossil record during the Triassic period, although other crinoid groups, now extinct, originated in the Ordovician.

Cyatheaceae

They are also very ancient plants, appearing in the fossil record in the late Jurassic, though the modern genera likely appeared in the Cenozoic.

Dissacus

The fossil record of this species is fragmentary; remains in Cernay, France, include a mandible, a complete radius, and fragments of a humerus.

Dryptosaurus

Although largely unknown now outside of academic circles, a famous painting of the genus by Charles R. Knight made it one of the more widely known dinosaurs of its time, in spite of its poor fossil record.

Evaniidae

The fossil record, in particular from fossil amber, is quite comprehensive, with about 10 genera and twice as many species known from the Late Jurassic up to a few million years ago.

Evolution of fungi

In contrast to plants and animals, the early fossil record of the fungi is meager.

Fish egg fossil

A less likely candidate mother would be the genus Scyliorhinus, which also has a fossil record stretching back to the Eocene.

Gonostomatidae

The fossil record of this family dates back to the Miocene epoch, and was discovered by L. S. Berg in 1958.

Guadeloupe Ameiva

The fossil record shows that it once ranged across Guadeloupe, La Désirade, Marie-Galante, and Îles des Saintes, but in most recent times it was restricted to Grand Ilet, just offshore of Petit-Bourg.

Helicoprion

Author of the 1994 book, “Planet Ocean: A Story of Life, the Sea, and Dancing to the Fossil Record”, author Brad Matsen and artist Ray Troll describe and depict an example.

Hydrobiidae

The fossil record of this family extends back to the Early Carboniferous.

Las Hoyas

Las Hoyas Formation has been studied for more than two decades by researchers from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the National University of Distance Education, in collaboration with the Museo de las Ciencias de Castilla-La Mancha, which is responsible for the fossil record from the area.

Noeggerathia

Several well-preserved specimens of Noeggerathia and related plants have been discovered in the Bohemian Massif, with N. foliosa having the most complete fossil record in that area.

Palaeoloxodon naumanni

In 1860, the first fossil record was found at Yokosuka and the bottom of Seto Inland Sea, Japan.

Psephophorus terrypratchetti

Psephophorus terrypratchetti is a species of Eocene turtle identified from the fossil record.

Rhinodoras

Rhinodoras has been identified in the fossil record from the late Miocene Urumaco Formation (about 9 million years of age), Falcón State, Venezuela.

Signor–Lipps effect

The Signor–Lipps effect is a paleontological principle proposed by Philip W. Signor and Jere H. Lipps which states that, since the fossil record of organisms is never complete, neither the first nor the last organism in a given taxon will be recorded as a fossil.

Spinyfin

This family is represented in the fossil record by the extinct Absalomichthys velifer Whitley 1933 from the Late Miocene of Southern California.

Spirorbis

Spirorbis was once thought to have a fossil record extending back into the Early Paleozoic, but now all pre-Cretaceous spirorbins are known to be microconchids.

Todea

So far the fossil record of the genus Todea consists only of the permineralized rhizome Todea tidwellii from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada and the species Todea amissa, known from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentinia.

Toothcomb

The lack of a distinct toothcomb in the fossil record prior to 40 mya has created a conflict with molecular clock studies that suggest an older divergence between lemurs and lorisoids, and the existence of a ghost lineage of lemuriform primates in Africa.