* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, September 15, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

    Entertainment Community Fund Launches Program Supporting Entrepreneurs – Playbill

    Entertainment Community Fund Unveils Exciting New Program to Empower Entrepreneurs

    Behind the turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s story of perseverance – yahoo.com

    Behind the Turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s Inspiring Journey of Perseverance

    The other WWE star James Gunn wanted for Peacemaker instead of John Cena – yahoo.com

    The WWE Star James Gunn Originally Wanted for Peacemaker Instead of John Cena

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Aston Martin to integrate Pirelli’s cyber tyre technology in future models – Just Auto

    Aston Martin to Revolutionize Future Models with Pirelli’s Cutting-Edge Cyber Tyre Technology

    Figure Technology’s stock sizzles after IPO, as investors stay hungry for crypto deals – MarketWatch

    Figure Technology’s Stock Skyrockets After IPO Amid Surging Crypto Investor Excitement

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

    Ryan Reynolds reveals he called a journalist who said mean things about John Candy – yahoo.com

    Ryan Reynolds Reveals the Moment He Stood Up to a Journalist Who Insulted John Candy

    Entertainment Community Fund Launches Program Supporting Entrepreneurs – Playbill

    Entertainment Community Fund Unveils Exciting New Program to Empower Entrepreneurs

    Behind the turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s story of perseverance – yahoo.com

    Behind the Turntables: DJ Johnny Kage’s Inspiring Journey of Perseverance

    The other WWE star James Gunn wanted for Peacemaker instead of John Cena – yahoo.com

    The WWE Star James Gunn Originally Wanted for Peacemaker Instead of John Cena

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Lincoln Trail College Receives $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation for Technology Center – wwbl.com

    Lincoln Trail College Lands $100,000 Grant from Marathon Petroleum to Elevate Technology Center

    Aston Martin to integrate Pirelli’s cyber tyre technology in future models – Just Auto

    Aston Martin to Revolutionize Future Models with Pirelli’s Cutting-Edge Cyber Tyre Technology

    Figure Technology’s stock sizzles after IPO, as investors stay hungry for crypto deals – MarketWatch

    Figure Technology’s Stock Skyrockets After IPO Amid Surging Crypto Investor Excitement

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

New fossils provide evidence for an ‘Age of Monotremes’

May 26, 2024
in Science
New fossils provide evidence for an ‘Age of Monotremes’
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Echidnapus identified from an 'Age of Monotremes'

Six monotremes living in the same place at the same time, 100 million years ago at Lightning Ridge, NSW. Clockwise from lower left: Opalios splendens, a newly described species dubbed an ‘echidnapus’; Stirtodon elizabethae, the largest monotreme of the time; Kollikodon ritchiei, with hot-cross-bun shaped molars; Steropodon galmani, now known from additional opalised fossils; Parvopalus clytiei, the smallest monotreme of the time; and Dharragarra aurora, the earliest known species of platypus. Credit: Peter Shouten

Published today in the Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, evidence of an “Age of Monotremes” has been unearthed by a team of Australian scientists at the Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria and Australian Opal Centre.

The findings were led by two mammalogists, Honorary Associate of the Australian Museum, Professor Tim Flannery; and Professor Kris Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

Found in the Lightning Ridge opal fields, NSW, the opalized jaws date back to the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period, between 102 million to 96.6 million years ago.

Professor Flannery said the research reveals that 100 million years ago, Australia was home to a diversity of monotremes, of which the platypus and the echidna are the only surviving descendants.

“Today, Australia is known as a land of marsupials, but discovering these new fossils is the first indication that Australia was previously home to a diversity of monotremes. It’s like discovering a whole new civilization,” Professor Flannery said.

Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute, Professor Helgen, said the three new species demonstrate combinations of features not previously seen before in other living or fossil monotremes. One of the most striking of the new monotremes, Opalios splendens, retains characteristics of the earliest known monotremes, but also some that foreshadow adaptations in the living monotremes, the echidnas and platypus.

“Opalios splendens sits on a place in the evolutionary tree prior to the evolution of the common ancestor of the monotremes we have today. Its overall anatomy is probably quite like the platypus, but with features of the jaw and snout a bit more like an echidna—you might call it an ‘echidnapus,'” Professor Helgen said.

“The story of how our egg-laying mammals evolved is ‘toothy to toothless’ on the oldest monotreme, Teinolophos trusleri, which dates back to Victoria 130 million years ago. What we see at Lightning Ridge is that by 100 million years ago, some of the monotremes still have five molars but some of them are down to three,” Professor Helgen said.

Professor Flannery highlighted that today, echidnas have no teeth, and platypuses too are essentially toothless.

“Adult platypus have no teeth, though juveniles have rudimentary molars. Just when and why adult platypus lost their teeth after nearly 100 million years is a mystery we think we have solved. It may have been competition with the Australian water rat, which arrived in Australia within the last 2 million years, which caused platypus to seek out softer, slipperier food best processed with the leathery pads that adults use today,” Professor Flannery said.

Echidnapus identified from an 'Age of Monotremes'

Portrait of Paleontologist Professor Tim Flannery holding a tiny tooth fragment dated at one hundred million years old (and projected at scale in background) on site at the Australian Museum in Sydney where much of the academic work about the finding was made. May 22, 2024. Credit: James Alcock / Australian Museum

“What is so unusual about this uniquely Australian story is that in one snapshot we see six different egg-laying mammals living together in Lightning Ridge over 100 million years ago. All of them are holding potential evolutionary destinies that can go off in different directions, and all of them are deep distant ancestors and relatives of the current living monotremes.”

Dr. Matthew McCurry, Curator of Palaeontology, Australian Museum, said the discovery of three new genera of monotremes helps to piece together their remarkable evolutionary story.

“There are six species of monotremes, including the three newly described here, within the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales making it the most diverse monotreme assemblage on record. Four species are known from a single specimen, suggesting that diversity remains underrepresented. This discovery adds more than 20% to the previously known diversity of monotremes,” Dr. McCurry said.

“We have very few monotreme fossils, and so finding new fossils can tell us more about where they lived, what they looked like and how changes in the environment influenced their evolution. Every significant monotreme fossil currently known fits into this evolutionary story, from Teinolophos, the tiny shrew-like creature in Antarctica 130 million years ago to the present day,” Dr. McCurry said.

Co-authors from Museums Victoria Research Institute, Dr. Thomas Rich, Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology, and Honorary Associate Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich AO said these curious, unique and ancient Australian animals still have the power to interest the scientific world.

“The platypus and echidna are iconic Australian species. The discovery of these several new species in one small area suggest that the family tree of the egg laying monotremes is far more complicated than the living platypus and echidna alone suggest,” Dr. Rich said.

“As the fieldwork continues in the Mesozoic of Australia, we continue to increase our understanding of how life changed over time. This, to me, is what makes science so exciting,” Professor Vickers-Rich AO said.

The fossils were found by Elizabeth Smith and her daughter Clytie of the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge, who have spent decades working and searching over the opal fields.

“Opal fossils are rare, but opalized monotreme fossils are infinitely more rare, as there’s one monotreme fragment to a million other pieces. We don’t know when, or exactly where, they’ll turn up,” Smith said.

“These specimens are a revelation. They show the world that long before Australia became the land of pouched mammals, marsupials, this was a land of furry egg-layers—monotremes. It seems that 100 million years ago, there were more monotremes at Lightning Ridge than anywhere else on earth, past or present,” Smith said.

More information:
A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna, New South Wales, Australia, Alcheringa An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology (2024). DOI: 10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1 … 3115518.2024.2348753

Citation:
New fossils provide evidence for an ‘Age of Monotremes’ (2024, May 26)
retrieved 26 May 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-05-fossils-evidence-age-monotremes.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2024-05-fossils-evidence-age-monotremes.html

Tags: fossilsProvidescience
Previous Post

TESS finds intriguing world sized between Earth and Venus

Next Post

Two orphaned Black bears released back into wild after rehabilitation by San Diego Humane Society

Underdogs Czechia take out Serbia in straight sets at Men’s Volleyball World Championship – Volleyball World

Underdogs Czechia take out Serbia in straight sets at Men’s Volleyball World Championship – Volleyball World

September 15, 2025
The Market Isn’t Lagging – It’s Distorted: Why Investors Must Stop Treating the S&P as the Economy’s Crystal Ball – MSN

The Market Isn’t Lagging – It’s Distorted: Why Investors Must Stop Treating the S&P as the Economy’s Crystal Ball – MSN

September 15, 2025

From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

September 15, 2025
A multibillion-dollar oil project is impacting locals’ health and livelihood in Uganda – NPR

Multibillion-Dollar Oil Project Threatens Health and Livelihoods of Ugandan Communities

September 15, 2025
Politics chat: Assassination of Charlie Kirk and the rise of political violence – NPR

The Alarming Rise in Political Violence and the Threat Facing Charlie Kirk

September 15, 2025
Washington takes on flawed federal climate report – NewsRadio 560 KPQ

Washington Challenges Key Flaws in Federal Climate Report

September 14, 2025
James Webb telescope’s ‘starlit mountaintop’ could be the observatory’s best image yet — Space photo of the week – Live Science

James Webb Telescope Unveils Stunning ‘Starlit Mountaintop’ – Perhaps Its Most Breathtaking Image Yet

September 14, 2025

Colby College Announces Exciting New $150 Million Science Facility Funded by Anonymous Donor

September 14, 2025
Maine Coon Cat’s Sweet Love Story With Tiny Sphynx Kitty Is Touching Hearts – yahoo.com

Adorable Maine Coon and Tiny Sphynx Share a Heartwarming Love Story

September 14, 2025

Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

September 14, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (820)
  • Economy (840)
  • Entertainment (21,718)
  • General (17,042)
  • Health (9,884)
  • Lifestyle (855)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (843)
  • Politics (849)
  • Science (16,050)
  • Sports (21,340)
  • Technology (15,822)
  • World (823)

Recent News

Underdogs Czechia take out Serbia in straight sets at Men’s Volleyball World Championship – Volleyball World

Underdogs Czechia take out Serbia in straight sets at Men’s Volleyball World Championship – Volleyball World

September 15, 2025
The Market Isn’t Lagging – It’s Distorted: Why Investors Must Stop Treating the S&P as the Economy’s Crystal Ball – MSN

The Market Isn’t Lagging – It’s Distorted: Why Investors Must Stop Treating the S&P as the Economy’s Crystal Ball – MSN

September 15, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version