This mystery haunted paleontologists for 150 years. Something called Prototaxites could not be confidently assigned not only to a family or genus, but to any biological kingdom. Only in our days has the analysis of fossils made it possible, it seems, to decide on this giant creature. ancient earth, which, however, did not cease to be extremely surprising.

The history of Prototaxites is a great example of what to see and understand - what do you see, as they say, two big differences. The American scientist J.W. Dawson, who first described this mysterious creature (in 1859), believed that these were fossils of rotten wood, somehow related to the current yews (Taxus), and therefore gave them the name Prototaxites. Only now, before real yews, this creature had to "stomp and stomp", because Prototaxites was distributed, though throughout the Earth, but only 420-350 million years ago.

At the end of the nineteenth century, scientists began to think that it was a seaweed, more precisely, a brown seaweed, and this opinion was strengthened, getting into encyclopedias and textbooks for a long time. Although it is difficult to imagine something similar to an algae (or a colony of algae?), which has grown in the form of a "trunk" of six, and sometimes nine meters in height, is difficult.

Incidentally, the Prototaxites were largest organism on land at that time: vertebrates had just begun to appear, so wingless insects, centipedes, and worms crawled around the strange high "pillar".

The very first vascular plants, the distant ancestors of conifers and ferns, although they appeared 40 million years earlier, nevertheless, at the time when Prototaxites settled on Earth (in the early Devonian), they did not yet rise above a meter.

By the way, about the size. IN Saudi Arabia a specimen of Prototaxites was found 5.3 meters long, which has a diameter of 1.37 meters at the base and 1.02 meters at the other end. In the state of New York, they dug up a trunk 8.83 meters long with a diameter of 34 centimeters at one end and 21 centimeters at the other. Dawson himself described a specimen from Canada - 2.13 meters long and with a maximum diameter of 91 centimeters.

What else is important to note regarding the structure of Prototaxites. It doesn't have cells like plants have. But there are very thin capillaries (tubes) with a diameter of 2 to 50 micrometers.

Nowadays, scientists, based on the results of many years of research on this representative of the ancient living world, have put forward new versions. Some specialists, starting with Francis Hueber from the American national museum natural sciences (Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History), inclined to believe that Prototaxites is the fruiting body of a huge mushroom; others - to the fact that it is a huge lichen. latest version, with his arguments, put forward Marc-Andre Selosse from the University of Montpellier (Universite de Montpellier II).

One of the ardent proponents of the mushroom version is Charles Kevin Boyce, now at the University of Chicago. He published several papers on detailed study Prototaxites

Boyce never ceases to be amazed by this creature. “No matter what arguments you put forward, something crazy still comes out,” says the researcher. “A mushroom 20 feet tall does not make any sense. No seaweed will give 20 feet tall. us".

Francis Hueber recently completed a titanic task: he collected many copies of Prototaxites from different countries and made hundreds of the finest cuts, taking thousands of photographs of them. Analysis internal structure showed that it was a fungus. However, the scientist was disappointed that he could not find characteristic reproductive structures that would clearly indicate to everyone that, they say, this is really a mushroom (which gave confidence to Huber's opponents from the "lichen camp").

The latest (in time, but clearly not the last in the history of Prototaxites) proof of the fungal nature of the strange organism of the Devonian period is an article by Hueber, Beuys and their colleagues in the journal Geology.

"The large range of isotopes found is difficult to reconcile with autotrophic metabolism, but it is consistent with the anatomy indicating a fungus and with the suggestion that Prototaxites was heterotrophic organism that lived on a substrate rich in various isotopes," the authors of the article write.

Simply put, plants get their carbon from the air (from carbon dioxide), while fungi get their carbon from the soil. And if all plants of the same species and of the same era show the same isotope ratio, in mushrooms it will depend on the place where they grow, that is, on the diet.

By the way, the analysis of the ratio of carbon isotopes in different specimens of Prototaxites is now helping scientists to recreate the native ecosystems of this ancient creature. Since some of its specimens seem to "ate" plants, others used the microbial community of the soil as food, others may have received nutrients from mosses.

The mystery of the great growth of the Paleozoic fungus is discussed by the co-author of this study, Carol Hotton (Carol Hotton), from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: she believes that big sizes helped the fungus further spread its spores - through scattered swamps, randomly scattered across the landscape.

Well, when asked how this mushroom grew to such a monstrous size, scientists simply answer: "Slowly." After all, there was no one to eat this mushroom at that time.

But what to do? Sections of fossils stubbornly "did not want" to resemble sections of trees, and in general - they did not look like a plant. Rings on sections, by the way, are observed there, but these are not annual rings of trees.

In the book "Reptiles and Amphibians" by the publishing house "World of Books" for 2007, you can see a spread with a "remarkable" in its informativeness genealogical tree of modern and prehistoric amphibians and reptiles.

To begin with, the fossil fish Eustenopteron is called "coelacanth", although it is completely different in shape. In addition, coelacanth is a modern genus of lobe-finned fish, which, if only for this reason, could not stand at the base of the family tree of prehistoric tetrapods. In addition, it belongs to a completely different order of fish, which has an extremely indirect relationship to the ancestors of vertebrates.
By “labyrinth toothed” they clearly mean labyrinthodonts (this is “tracing paper”, the literal translation of the name), but the names of other groups of amphibians cannot be comprehended by a simple mind.


Here is a page from the original German edition.
Hulsenwirbler- so called in German thin vertebral, or lepospondyls (representative - diplocaulus);
Schnittwirbler- temnospondyls (representative - mastodonsaurus).
And instead of the translated coelacanth, at the base of the evolutionary tree of vertebrates are lobe-finned fish - Quastenflosser.

In the same way, the names of the orders of dinosaurs belong to the "verbal freaks" - lizard and ornithischian. Why the clarification “living in water bodies” is completely incomprehensible, if only because most dinosaurs were frankly land animals. Also, the name of the beakhead detachment was subjected to “scandal” - the term “lizards” was outdated long ago, it was still in the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron for 1907.
And to publish in our century a book with outdated images of dinosaurs dragging their tails, without correction, is simply a shame.


Again, the original text brings clarity.
On German pelvis (part of the skeleton) is called Becken. But this word also has another meaning, for example, a pool or a sink in which they wash their hands. So the translator got water "pool" dinosaurs.

The dramatic increase in biodiversity that occurred during the Cambrian period for a long time prepared by molecular evolution, which eventually led to the Cambrian explosion of species diversity.

Trilobite is one of the ancient arthropods, whose appearance fell on the Cambrian period (photo by mattheaton).

In biology, there is a well-known paradox of the Cambrian explosion. Its essence is that from some point life on earth begins to demonstrate an enormous variety of forms, traces of which can be found in prehistoric fossils. This moment happened in the Cambrian period - but before that, no signs of future life forms could be found. Revolutionary leaps in nature are relatively rare, and if we talk about a planetary scale, they are completely incredible. Meanwhile, one gets the feeling that the organisms acquired at once, as if at a mass sale, an incredible number of new features and began to quickly disperse into systematic groups.

Of course, one can assume divine intervention or that some aliens have shaken out a bag of new species onto Earth. Scientists, however, did not stop trying to find at least some scientific explanation paleontological mystery. Charles Darwin thought about the problem of the sudden "emergence" of new fossil species - and came to the conclusion that in such cases, archaeologists and paleontologists need to "dig better" in every sense.

A group of evolutionary biologists from several American universities published an article in the journal Science, which presents the results of another rethinking of the mystery of the Cambrian explosion. Scientists have revised the relationship between the remains of ancient creatures, taking into account the latest finds, as well as the archaeological age of these finds. The genealogical relationships of fossil species with their modern descendants. In addition, data were used molecular genetics: Researchers have reconstructed the genealogy of several genes found in 118 modern species. All together, it made it possible to clarify the branching points on the family tree and determine exactly when a particular group began its own evolutionary path.

In general, the conclusions of the researchers boil down to the fact that the Cambrian revolution was preceded by a long invisible evolution. Over millions of years, organisms accumulated genetic and biochemical changes that in the Cambrian led to the appearance of different forms life: the accumulated internal changes finally resulted in external changes. The authors compare this to the industrial revolution: inventions, small technological innovations accumulated for a long time without much change in the means of production, until finally they led to a global technological shift.

Accumulated genetic changes until some time were balanced external environment and relationships between species. And from a biochemical point of view different organisms even before the Cambrian, they could differ significantly from each other, demonstrating great biodiversity. Subsequently, the slightest ecological shifts should have been enough to allow the accumulated changes to manifest themselves from the outside. By the way, one of the very bold, albeit rather controversial hypotheses put forward in the article is the assertion that Precambrian animals ate each other more intensively: this may be one of the reasons for the scarcity of Precambrian fossil remains.

It cannot be said that new hypothesis did not attract the attention of critics. Thus, one of the claims against the authors is that they did not take into account the so-called orphan genes, which make up approximately 30% of all animal genes. These genes have no homologue "relatives", and many believe that it was their sudden appearance that could have caused the Cambrian explosion of biodiversity. However, in this hypothesis, alas, there is the word "suddenly", from which science always tries to get rid of by all means.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

STATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

EDUCATION CENTER No. 000

PROJECT WORK ON THE TOPIC:

"PALEONTOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF THE MOSCOW REGION"

Completed:

student 4 "A" class

Kharitonov Vladimir

Scientific adviser:

Moscow, 2010

1. Introduction p.3

2. The main part. Gather additional types of fossils. page 4

2.1 Research methodology. page 5

3. Conclusion page 7

4. References p. 8

1. Introduction.

For several years, vacationing in the summer in the Ruzsky district in the west of the Moscow region, I found many fossils. Some of them looked like modern sea shells, others looked like corals, the rest were unknown to me.

Carefully examining my finds, I became interested in how the fossils marine life found themselves on dry land, away from all existing seas. I had an assumption that there was once a warm sea on the site of the Moscow region, since similar organisms live in modern warm seas.

Purpose of the study:

to prove that there was a sea on the site of Moscow and the Moscow region, to determine the time of its existence and climatic conditions.

Object of study: paleontological finds.

Subject of study: fossils of plants and animals

Methodology and research methods: work on a geochronological scale, observation, analysis, synthesis, classification, generalization

Hypothesis: in place of Moscow and the Moscow region was the sea.

2. Main part. Gather additional types of fossils.


In order to answer the question posed, I had to study the fossils found. The science of paleontology is engaged in the study of fossil remains of plants and animals, reconstructing their appearance, biological features and habitat.

To confirm my hypothesis, I needed to identify the found fossils and collect additional types of fossils found on the territory of the Moscow region. Since September of this year, I have been a member of the circle of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. With the circle, we went to the locations of fossils in the Ramensky, Domodedovo and Lukhovitsky districts of the Moscow region. I was lucky - from every trip I brought back fossils of corals, brachiopods, ammonites, gastropods, sea lilies. Three times my finds were chosen as the leader of the circle for the collection of the Paleontological Museum.

2.1. Research methodology

What were the fossils I found, how long ago did they live? To answer these questions, I used special literature.

The age of fossils in paleontology is determined by the geochronological scale - the chronicle of the emergence and development of life on Earth. According to this scale, the time of the existence of the Earth is divided into two main intervals (eons): Phanerozoic and Precambrian (Cryptozoic). Cryptozoic - the time of hidden life, when only soft-bodied organisms existed, leaving no traces in sedimentary rocks. Phanerozoic began with the appearance of mollusks and other organisms, the remains of which are preserved to this day.

The corals I found belong to the Carboniferous, Middle and Early Carboniferous eras. Their age is from 354 to 300 million years. The habitat of corals is warm tropical seas, where the water temperature is not lower than 20 °C.

Brachiopods found in the Domodedovo region also belong to the Middle Carboniferous era. Brachiopods or brachiopods are invertebrate marine animals that live on the bottom. They are widely distributed up to the present in marine shallow waters from tropical to polar regions.

Ammonites are cephalopods with spirally twisted shells. They named the ammonites in memory of the Egyptian god Ammon, who was depicted with the head and horns of a ram. The ammonites found by me in the Lukhovitsky region belong to the Middle Jurassic and have an age of 165 to 170 million years. It is known that there were giant ammonites that would hardly fit in a modern apartment. Ammonites - relatives of the living cephalopods, such as squids and nautiluses, which still live in warm seas.

Sea lilies - contrary to their name, they are bottom animals from the class of echinoderms, resembling a flower in shape. Surprisingly, these are predators! Now in the world there are about 700 species of sea lilies. The most diverse crinoids are found in the shallow waters of tropical seas.

The stalks of sea lilies that I found belong to the Carboniferous, Middle and Early Carboniferous eras. Their age is from 354 to 300 million years.

In the Ramensky district, not far from the village of Gzhel, I found shells of scallops, oysters, gastropods (or snails). All of them belong to the middle-upper Jurassic and have an age of about 160 million years. Such mollusks still live in warm seas.

3. Conclusion.

Thus, marine organisms living in little changing conditions and leading a similar way of life for millions of years allow us to confirm the hypothesis of the existence of warm sea in the early and middle Carboniferous epochs and in the middle and upper Jurassic epochs, that is, 360-300 and 180-150 million years ago.

Solving paleontological riddles is a very exciting activity and I'm not going to stop. My plans include continuing research fossil flora and fauna of the Moscow region.

Literature

1. In the darkness of time: Popular science essay. - M.: Bustard, 2002. - 112 p.

2. Morozov manual on the collection and identification of the fossil fauna of the Mesozoic of the Moscow region. - M.: Moscow city station young naturalists. 2003

3. Morozov sponges, coelenterates, molluscs and bryozoans of the Carboniferous of the Russian platform. Guidelines for the collection and identification of the fossil fauna of the Moscow region. - M.: Moscow city station for young naturalists. 2006

5. Amazing paleontology: the history of the earth and life on it /. - M.: ENAS, 20s.

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Since their discovery in Patagonia in 1891, Necrolestes have been a mystery.

An international team of researchers, including scientist John Wible of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, has made an incredible discovery about Necrolestes patagonensis, whose name translates to "tomb raider" because of its underground lifestyle. This most talked about fossil mammal from South America has been a paleontological mystery for over 100 years.

Perseverance in research, recent discoveries of fossils and comparative analysis anatomy has helped researchers correctly place the 16-million-year-old strange Necrolestes, with its high-turned snout and large burrowing limbs, in the mammalian evolutionary tree. This discovery shifted the bottom of the evolutionary origin of fossils to 45 million years ago, proving that the mammal family survived the extinction event that ended the age of the dinosaurs. This fact is an example of the Lazarus effect, where a group of organisms is found to have lived much longer than expected. The assignment of Necrolestes to their relatives in the fossil record answers one long-standing question, but raises new questions, reminding us that there is still much we do not know about the global consequences of the mass extinction 65 million years ago, a discovery that challenges the assumption that the well-studied and documented phenomena that occurred in the western part North America have taken place all over the world. Research Article on the discovery of the Necrolestes mystery will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Paleontological mysteries

Since their discovery in Patagonia in 1891, Necrolestes have been a mystery. "Necrolestes is one of those animals whose photos, if they appeared in textbooks, would be accompanied by the caption: 'We don't know what it is,'" says co-author John Wible of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, a mammologist and member of the scientific team that also includes researchers from Australia and Argentina. Weebl is known for his work on the origins and evolutionary relationships between three groups of modern mammals: placentals (viviparous mammals such as humans), marsupials ( marsupials, such as opossums) and egg-laying mammals (such as platypuses).

The Miocene mammal Necrolestes patagonensis appeared in this world 16 million years ago in Patagonia, present-day Argentina. Necrolestes are currently classified as species that were thought to have become extinct shortly after their extinction. large dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous. Photo from phys.org

Despite excellent preservation, the mysterious fossils move from one institution to another and from explorer to explorer, and the classification of Necrolestes changes with each new move. As recently as a few years ago, Necrolestes still could not be definitively assigned to the group of mammals. A CAT scan of the ear area in 2008 led to a hypothesis put forward by another research group that classified Necrolestes as a marsupial. This discovery intrigued Weebl, co-author of the work, and Guillermo Rugier of the University of Louisville, Kentucky. As a specialist in South American mammals, Rougière was not convinced that "marsupial" identification was accurate and set about his own attempts to classify the animals. “This project scared me a little, because we had to challenge an interpretation that had existed for 100 years,” admits Rougière.

In preparing the fossils for further study, Rougière uncovered the characteristics of the skull and anatomical characteristics that have not been seen before. Based on these newly discovered facts research group concluded that Necrolestes belonged neither to the marsupials nor to the placentals, to which it has always been assigned. Most likely, in fact, the Necrolestes belonged to a completely unexpected branch of the evolutionary tree, which was believed to have become extinct 45 million years before the appearance of the Necrolestes.

Mysterious anatomy

Part of the mystery of the Necrolestes was the impossibility of attributing them anatomical features to any one type of classification. Given the body features in the form of a highly raised muzzle, a solid body structure and short, wide feet, researchers have always believed that they must be classified as burrowing mammals. Burrowing mammals have a broad humerus (upper arm bone) that is adapted for burrowing and tunneling. The humerus of Necrolestes is wider than that of any other burrowing mammal and indicates that Necrolestes are especially specialized in burrowing, perhaps even more so than any other known burrowing mammal, but this trait does not make the task of classification any easier. The simple triangular teeth of Necrolestes served it well for feeding on subterranean invertebrates. However, until recently, the features of the teeth have been of little help in classifying Necrolestes because their teeth are so simple that it is impossible to state their unambiguous resemblance to any other mammals.

The secret is revealed

In 2012 again open to the world the extinct mammal Necrolestes was the key that unlocked the mystery of the "earth diggers". Discovered by co-author Rougière in South America Necrolestes belongs to the Meridiolestida, a little-known group of extinct mammals that lived in the late Cretaceous and at the beginning of the Paleocene (100 million years ago) in South America.

Evolutionary Consequences

The mass extinction that ended the age of the dinosaurs wiped out thousands of animal species. Among those who disappeared were the Meridiolestida, a group of mammals to which the Necrolestes belong, interrupting their evolutionary line, as scientists used to think. Until the final identification of Necrolestes, only one member of Meridiolestida was known to have survived extinction, and this species also became extinct soon after, at the beginning of the Tertiary period (65.8 million years ago). Therefore, Necrolestes is the only remaining representative of supposedly extinct groups. “This is the clearest example of the Lazarus effect,” Weebl comments. “Is it possible that a species has existed on Earth for so long without anyone knowing about it?”

Rougière says: “In some ways, Necrolestes are similar to modern platypuses, although apart from general characteristics they have nothing more in common. There are few platypuses, they are found only in Australia and occupy a certain niche among modern mammals, so Necrolestes were an isolated line living only in South America, and there were few representatives of their genus compared to big amount marsupials."