microrobert
11-06-2014, 04:31 AM
New fossil is missing link in ichthyosaur evolution
http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/24589/ichthyosaur-missing-link.png?w=600
Researchers say they've discovered a missing link between an ancient dolphin-like aquatic predator and some ancestors that lived on land.
Known as Ichthyosaurs, the reptiles that lived in the world's seas in the time of the dinosaurs evolved from land creatures that returned to the water over a long period of time, scientists say.
Although paleontologists had long suspected a lineage existed between the land creatures and their ocean-going descendants, the fossil record had been unclear -- until now.
The clear link -- the until-now missing stage in the ichthyosaurs' evolution -- was found in China in 2011 by a team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and dubbed Cartorhynchus lenticarpus, the university reported.
Read more: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19561/20141105/new-fossil-is-missing-link-in-ichthyosaur-evolution.htm#ixzz3IGNzlL4g
http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/24589/ichthyosaur-missing-link.png?w=600
Researchers say they've discovered a missing link between an ancient dolphin-like aquatic predator and some ancestors that lived on land.
Known as Ichthyosaurs, the reptiles that lived in the world's seas in the time of the dinosaurs evolved from land creatures that returned to the water over a long period of time, scientists say.
Although paleontologists had long suspected a lineage existed between the land creatures and their ocean-going descendants, the fossil record had been unclear -- until now.
The clear link -- the until-now missing stage in the ichthyosaurs' evolution -- was found in China in 2011 by a team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and dubbed Cartorhynchus lenticarpus, the university reported.
Read more: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19561/20141105/new-fossil-is-missing-link-in-ichthyosaur-evolution.htm#ixzz3IGNzlL4g