Giant Amphibian Ruled Ancient Rivers

by Jeanna Bryner, Live Science Managing Editor   |   March 23, 2015 08:01pm ET

http://www.livescience.com/50225-giant-super-salamander-photos.html?cmpid=559229

Researchers have discovered a mass graveyard filled with the bones of a giant amphibian that lived between 220 million and 230 million years ago in what is today southern Portugal. Here’s a look at the dig site, bones and what the creature would have looked like so long ago. Images are courtesy of Steve Brusatte/Richard Butler/Octavio Mateus/Seb Steyer. [Read the full story on the super salamander]

Digging for treasure

 

The team uncovers fossils of the new amphibian, now called Metoposaurus algarvensis, from the Algarve region in southern Portugal, where a gradulate student, Thomas Schroeter, in the late 1970s to early 1980s found speciments possibly from the same group of amphibians. The researchers relocated this bonebed in 2009, where they have found nearly 10 different skulls and several other bones from this newfound species.

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From beyond the grave

 

Here, a model of the Metoposaurus algarvensis amphibian, a member of the metoposaurids, which had yet to be found on the Iberian Peninsula. The creature, which was equipped with hundreds of sharp teeth and a big, broad head (like other metoposaurids) would have filled crocodile-like predator niches when alive.

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A peak into the past

 

This artist’s conception highlights the flat “toilet-seat-shaped” head ofMetoposaurus algarvensis, as co-researcher Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh describes it. The beast would have swung its flat head around to snag fish in the rift valleys on the supercontinent Pangaea.

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Digging for history

 

Brusatte uncovers some of the bones of Metoposaurus algarvensis at their dig site. Hundreds of these creatures may have died at once when their lakebed dried up, leaving behind a jackpot of bones for paleontologists to discover. The rest of their kin, along with most metoposaurids and half of the planet’s species, went extinct around 201 million years ago. That mass extinction at the end of the Triassic is thought to have paved the way for the rise of dinosaurs.

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A strange sight

 

Here, the clavicle of a Metoposaurus algarvensis. The creature would have grown to about 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length, ruling the waterways where it lived. “This new amphibian looks like something out of a bad monster movie,” Brusatte said in a statement. “It was the type of fierce predator that the very first dinosaurs had to put up with if they strayed too close to the water, long before the glory days of T. rex andBrachiosaurus.”

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What a large mouth it had…

 

The lower jawbone of the recently uncovered Metoposaurus algarvensis. Various features distinguished this animal from other metoposaurids, including some differences in the brain region, the lower jaw and openings for nerves and the spinal cord. Though it would not have been any match for the larger dinosaurs and mammals, some of the smaller land dwellers likely stayed clear of the giant amphibian, the researchers speculated.

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More fossils

 

The shoulder girdle bones of the newly discovered Metoposaurus algarvensis. The animal’s puny limbs suggest that while it was a good swimmer, it was likely pretty awkward on land, Brusatte said.

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A huge find

 

The skull of the newfound amphibian Metoposaurus algarvensis. The researchers have excavated just a small portion of the bonebed and hope to continue digging there, where they expect to find even more bones like this one.

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Unusual bones

 

Part of the Metoposaurus algarvensis amphibian’s palate and skull.

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Evidence uncovered

 

Skulls of the Metoposaurus algarvensis discovered together at the site in Portugal.

Follow Jeanna Bryner on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience,Facebook & Google+.

SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: A Place Called Etruria (Ancient History)

A Place Called Etruria (Ancient History)
Published on Apr 6, 2014
SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: A Place Called Etruria (Ancient History Documentary)

Take a virtual reality tour of history’s most intriguing ancient civilizations. Uncover the secrets of the pyramids as the Pharaohs reach for immortality, walk the streets of the Eternal City of Rome, relive a step-by-step reconstruction of Pompeii under the shadow of mighty Vesuvius, experience life in bustling Baghdad and journey to Latin America to the mythical “El Dorado.” SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY makes history come alive!

A PLACE CALLED ETRURIA
Go on a journey to the ancient cities Volterra, Populonia and Cervetari and see why Etruscan civilization was famous for its extravagant wealth, fine ceramics, handicrafts and bustling trade, and how it was all lost in battles with the Greek colonies in southern Italy.

Enigma Of The Etruscans part 1 – Documentary

Published on Feb 4, 2014
They taught the French to make wine and the Romans to build roads, and they introduced writing to Europe, but the Etruscans have long been considered one of antiquity’s great enigmas. No one knew exactly where they came from. Their language was alien to their neighbors. Their religion included the practice of divination, performed by priests who examined animals’ entrails to predict the future.

Much of our knowledge about Etruscan civilization comes from ancient literary sources and from tomb excavations, many of which were carried out decades ago. But all across Italy, archaeologists are now creating a much richer picture of Etruscan social structure, trade relationships, economy, daily lives, religion, and language than has ever been possible.

Excavations at sites including the first monumental tomb to be explored in over two decades, a rural sanctuary filled with gold artifacts, the only Etruscan house with intact walls and construction materials still preserved, and an entire seventh-century B.C. miner’s town, are revealing that the Etruscans left behind more than enough evidence to show that perhaps, they aren’t such a mystery after all.

Enigma Of The Etruscans part 2 – Documentary

Ancient Sea Monster Was One of Largest Arthropods

http://www.livescience.com/50111-photos-anomalocaridids-morocco-fossil.html

by Laura Geggel, Staff Writer
Filter feeder

Photos_ Ancient Sea Monster Was One of Largest Arthropods

A remarkably well-preserved fossil of a 480-million-year-old sea monster is helping researchers understand the evolution of arthropods. The creature, an anomalocaridid, has not one but two sets of legs on each of its body segments, showing that it’s an ancestor of modern-day arthropods, which include arachnids, insects and crustaceans. [Read the full story on the ancient anomalocaridid found in modern-day Morocco]

Side view with dorsal fins sticking up

Photos_ Ancient Sea Monster Was One of Largest Arthropods- Fossil

Here’s an illustration of the anomalocaridid (Aegirocassis benmoulae), a giant filter feeder that ate plankton and lived in the Early Ordovician period about 480 million years ago. The animal measured about 7 feet (2 meters) long, and is one of the largest arthropods that ever lived.
http://www.livescience.com/50112-anomalocaridid-detailed-fossil.html

Neanderthals Wore Jewelry?

Neanderthals Wore Eagle Talons As Jewelry 130,000 Years Ago

http://www.livescience.com/50114-neanderthals-wore-eagle-talon-jewelry.html?cmpid= 559237

http://www.livescience.com

 

Long before they shared the landscape with modern humans, Neanderthals in Europe developed a sharp sense of style, wearing eagle claws as jewelry, new evidence suggests.

Researchers identified eight talons from white-tailed eagles — including four that had distinct notches and cut marks — from a 130,000-year-old Neanderthal cave in Croatia. They suspect the claws were once strung together as part of a necklace or bracelet.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk
jewelery

 

“It really is absolutely stunning,” study author David Frayer, an anthropology professor at the University of Kansas, told Live Science. “It fits in with this general picture that’s emerging that Neanderthals were much more modern in their behavior.” [Top 10 Mysteries of the First Humans] http://www.livescience.com/12937-10-mysteries-humans-evolution.html
(Roughly 24,000 years ago, our species, Homo sapiens, was not alone in the world — our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, (Homo Neanderthalensis ) were still alive. The so-called ‘hobbit’ found in Indonesia might also have been a member of the genus Homo, and it apparently survived until as recently as 12,000 years ago. So why did they die and we survive? Did infections or radical shifts in their environments kill them off? Or did our species do away with them? Some evidence exists for both scenarios, but no conclusion is agreed upon.)

http://www.livescience.com

 

The talons were first excavated more than 100 years ago at a famous sandstone rock-shelter site called Krapina in Croatia. There, archaeologists found more than 900 Neanderthal bones dating back to a relatively warm, interglacial period about 120,000 to 130,000 years ago.

http://www.kidspast.com stone tools

They also found Mousterian stone tools (a telltale sign of Neanderthal occupation), a hearth and the bones of rhinos and cave bears, but no signs of modern human occupation. Homo sapiens didn’t spread into Europe until about 40,000 years ago.

http://www.livescience.com

 

The eagle talons were all found in the same archaeological layer, Frayer said, and they had been studied a few times before. But no one noticed the cut marks until last year, when Davorka Radovčić, curator of the Croatian Natural History Museum, was reassessing some of the Krapina objects in the collection.

The researchers don’t know exactly how the talons would have been assembled into jewelry. But Frayer said some facets on the claws look quite polished — perhaps made smooth from being wrapped in some kind of fiber, or from rubbing against the surface of the other talons. There were also nicks in three of the talons that wouldn’t have been created during an eagle’s life, Frayer said.

Now extinct, Neanderthals were the closest known relatives of modern humans. They lived in Eurasia from about 200,000 to 30,000 years ago. Recent research has uncovered evidence that Neanderthals may have engaged in some familiar behaviors, such as burying their dead, adorning themselves with feathers and even making art.

http://www.livescience.com

 

But scientists debate the extent to which Neanderthals were capable of abstract thinking. Deliberately making or wearing jewelry would suggest some degree of symbolic thought, as well as planning, Frayer explained. And the age of the talons suggests that if the Neanderthals were indeed wearing jewelry, they didn’t pick up on the trend from modern humans.

“Eagle talons are not easy to find,” Frayer said. “My guess is that they were catching the birds live — which also isn’t easy.”

The findings were published today (March 11) in the journal PLOS ONE.

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Hy Brasil: The Legend & Location FOUND!

I have a few long-winded writing projects going on, and thought y’all might like to just kick back, and enjoy more mysterious possibilities. Consider this a vacation, and no kleenex is needed.

This is actually a double feature today, to give you time to consider all of the possibilities. These clips are short, so there will be no need to pack a picnic lunch.

If you go sailing, please stop by these resorts, and tell them I sent you. ( I get 20%, for giving them the business )

Top 5 Strangest Islands

Hy Brasil: The Legend & Location FOUND!

Sphinx Once Submerged Under Sea Water?

Fossil Suggests Egyptian Pyramids and Sphinx Once Submerged Under Sea Water
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1274558-fossil-suggests-egyptian-pyramids-and-sphinx-once-submerged-under-sea-water/?utm_source=Epoch10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6

The entire landscape of the Giza Necropolis, including the pyramids and the Sphinx, shows erosion that some say suggests the area was once submerged by sea water. A unique fossil amplifies this theory.

*Image of the Great Sphinx of Giza via Shutterstock

http://www.theepochtimes.com-Shutterstock

Archaeologist Sherif El Morsi has worked extensively on the Giza Plateau for over two decades, and in 2013 he partnered with Giza for Humanity founder and fellow researcher Antoine Gigal to publish his controversial discovery of this fossil.

http://www.marinespecies.org

Dr. Robert M. Schloch was one of the first scientists to really tackle the subject of the plateau structures being older than previously thought. In the early 1990s, he suggested the Sphinx was thousands of years older than typically believed, going back to 5000–9000 B.C., based on water erosion patterns found both on the statue and the surrounding rock.

Morsi has been digging deeper into the mystery ever since. During one of his photo shoots documenting the erosion patterns of many of the megaliths in the area, he made a discovery that further suggests the area was submerged at one time.

bsgf.geoscienceworld.org

“During my photo shoot of this ancient seashore line, I nearly tripped off a second level temple block,” said Mr. Morsi in an article published on the Gigal Research website. “To my surprise, the bulge on the top surface of the block that nearly made me trip was a petrified exoskeleton of what seems to be an echinoid (sea urchin), which is a shallow sea marine creature.”

Morsi believes the Giza Plateau was once inundated by a sea surge. The Menkara temple site, in particular, may have once been an ancient lagoon when the high sea covered the Necropolis, the Sphinx, the temple complexes, and other sites.

Other scientists have suggested the echinoid in the limestone was exposed by erosion and the creature was part of the original limestone that formed 30 million years ago. But, Morsi countered those claims and suggested that the creature was cemented, or petrified, in a relatively more recent time, citing evidence that the creature is lying gravitationally flat, that it’s in pristine condition, that it is within the intertidal range of the lagoon, and that it is a large specimen unlike the tiny specimens typically found in limestone blocks.

en.wikipedia.org

“We can clearly see the pristine condition and minute details of the exoskeleton perforation,” continued Morsi, “which means that this marine creature must have petrified from recent times. It is not a body fossil as most fossils are that date back to 30 million years, but petrified by the sediment deposits that have filled its hollow.”

The inundation, Morsi believes, was rather significant, reaching a maximum of about 245 feet (75 meters) over the current sea level and creating a shoreline spanning the Khafra enclosure near the Sphinx to the Menkara temple. Pitting and tidal notches due to waves and tidal ebbing pepper the stones in this area showing a 6.5-foot (2-meter) intertidal range, according to Morsi.

Moreover, at sites such as the Sphinx, the Sphinx temple, and the first 20 courses of the Great Pyramid, the stones are said to exhibit erosion due to deeper water saturation. On temple blocks, there are sediment and alluvial, or material, deposits seen in shallow sea beds and lagoons. As water recedes, it creates an oozing spongy effect in the rock.

David Henderson iStock

For an echinoid to reach 3 inches (8 centimeters), the size of the fossil, it would take about 15 years. Furthermore the amount of sediments and alluvium deposits as well as the intertidal erosion on the shallower areas would takes centuries, suggesting the area was flooded for quite some time.

However, it’s difficult to determine the exact year of the flooding. Over the past 140,000 years, the sea levels have fluctuated by more than 400 feet (120 meters), as major ice-sheets have grown and receded during glacial cycles, according to CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.

 

Earth as Our Easter Island

Earth as Our Easter Island

Look, it’s another two for the price of one. Actually the last clip will just keep going if you are encouraging. All of the stories are short. Feel free to bring a thermos and popcorn. no kleeenex is needed here today.

Top 5 Mysterious Lost Worlds

This clip has a whole series, and will play a pile of great questionable articles. I don’t know what is real. and what is B.S. The narrater sounds intelligent, so there is always hope we can at least enjoy the mysteries.

Photos: 1st-Century House from Jesus’ Hometown

http://www.livescience.com/49941-jesus-home-photos.html

Photos: 1st-Century House from Jesus’ Hometown
by Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | March 01, 2015 10:31am ET

A home built into a rocky hillside in Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, was regarded as the place where Jesus was brought up by Mary and Joseph. Archaeologists can’t say this structure was indeed Jesus’ home, but that is possible, they say. Here are images of the archaeological remains. [Read the full story on the first-century house in Nazareth]

Celebrated as Jesus’ home

Celebrated as Jesus’ home

People in the Middle Ages believed Jesus grew up in this first-century house in Nazareth, according to research.

The house seen here is one of two houses in Nazareth that date to the first century AD. Research reveals that people in the Middle Ages believed that Jesus grew up in this home. Centuries after Jesus’s time the house was decorated with mosaics and a church was built over it. The house was discovered in the 1880’s by the nuns of the Sisters of Nazareth convent. More recently the Nazareth Archaeological Project has been conducting work at the site. (Photo copyright Ken Dark.)

An honored tomb

Celebrated as Jesus’ home

 

 

Tomb attributed to Joseph, Mary’s husband

After the house was abandoned the area was used for quarrying. Then, later in the first century, two tombs were built beside it. The forecourt of the tomb seen here cuts through the abandoned home. Today archaeologists know that this tomb was built sometime after the house was abandoned. However in the Middle Ages people thought that this tomb belonged to Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. It was decorated with mosaics and venerated along with the house. (Photo copyright Ken Dark.)

Nahal Zippori

Nahal Zippori

nahal zippori, nazareth, jesus home

The Nazareth Archaeological Project (which ran from 2004-2010) surveyed the hinterland of Nazareth, investigating a wide valley called Nahal Zippori, which is seen here. The archaeologists discovered several new sites which date to the early period of Roman rule. Archaeologists found that Nazareth, and the sites near it, had more locally made pottery as well as limestone vessels allowed under Jewish purity laws. The archaeologists found that sites closer to the town of Sepphoris had more imported pottery. (Photo copyright Ken Dark.)

A city of rebels

A city of rebels

 

A scene from Nazareth, Israel.
It appears that during the first century A.D. Nazareth, and its environs, was a conservative Jewish community that rejected Roman culture. Sepphoris, on the other hand, was more willing to embrace Roman culture including its imported goods. This image shows modern-day Nazareth.

Close proximity

Close proximity

The Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel.
Today archaeologists know of two houses at Nazareth that date to the first century AD. One was discovered by the nuns in the 1880’s and people in the Middle Ages believed that it was the home where Jesus grew up. The second house was discovered in 2009 during a rescue operation carried out by Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists. Both houses are located near the Basilica of the Annunciation seen here.

Mary’s Spring

Mary’s Spring

Mary’s Spring, Jesus of Nazareth home

A number of water sources, which would have been accessed in ancient times, have also been found at Nazareth. This image shows a particularly famous source known today as “Mary’s Spring.” This image shows how it looked in 1916. (Image in public domain, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.)

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+.

giant skull discovered in 1932

Hey y’all, here is a no brainer. Someone just brought me a post! It must have slipped out of their

notebook, when they weren’t looking! At Least they had the decency to give me everything I needed

for it, so the workload is truly minimal. I thank HJJ for the great post, and he’s always welcome to

do more such.

Old newspapers

Here is a giant skull discovered in 1932 by the University of Texas at Austin Anthropology

department at Morhiss Mound seven miles south of Victoria, Texas. The skull was later stolen by

Ales Hrdlicka of the Smithsonian, and the skull was listed as missing to this day.
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/morhiss/images/VT1-article.html
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/morhiss/
http://www.sydhav.no/giants/victoria_texas.htm

IT’S THE LIEBSTER AWARD!

 

 

 

Thank You For The Cool Trophy, Really!

Well looky here, I have been nominated for the prestigious, much coveted and fought over, LIEBSTER AWARD! I truly have to give my thanks and appreciation to Shruti of Shruti Insights, for offering me this unexpected and awkwardly wonderful opportunity. She has offered me a chance to experience a shot at the Golden Ring, the Kewpie Doll, the Final frontier of Fame and Glory in the ” Blogosphere “. I certainly would never have attempted, or volunteered for Honors such as these, on my own, so again Thank you for the inspiration, and privilege, only using my fear of shotguns or Wrathful, and thoroughly disappointed Friends, to make a man of me, and Accept this One Giant Leap For Mankind Test. Shruti, you’re the best!
So there are rules to all of this. Apparently in order to be a big shot around these parts, I have to play by THESE RULES.
Put the Liebster Award logo on your blog.
Thank and tag the blog who nominated you.
Answer their questions and come up with 10 new ones for you nominees.
Nominate 8 blogs with less than 200 followers, let them know you’ve nominated them and link them in your post.
No tag-back.

 

So Shruti, with much pounding of heart, I will under take this feat, and I Thank You sincerely for your having Faith and Belief in my abilities!

These are the Ten questions I get to answer!
1.Among your blog posts, which one is your favourite?
Well thank you for asking! My favorite post was a story I wrote a couple of years ago, called ” The Waiting Game”, and It was basically a true story about circumstances I had no control over. I only embellished it a tad.

2.At what time of the day do you usually write a blog post?
That is tricky because I post whenever I am either inspired by an idea, or feel like I’m not delivering enough, or not giving people what they want.

3.What is your favourite word in your native language?
Wow, I wish you hadn’t asked me that. I don’t believe I have a singular favorite word. My favorite phrase is ” Papa, I love you! ”

 

4.What do you like to eat in the morning?
That is an easy one, as I don’t eat in the early day. Usually I start getting hungry about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and I’m a guy so it really doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it can be wolfed down easily.

 

5.Choose one: tea, coffee, milk, hot chocolate. Why do you choose it?
Coffee with cream and sugar. But again, I drink freshly ground dark French Roast. Oh I’m sorry, you asked why? I grew up with good coffee in the S.F. bay area, and I’ve learned coffee really is the cheapest beverage, aside from water, and I don’t like water as fish do things in it.

 

6.Do you have a close friend? Is there one thing that you can only do with that friend?
I am married to my bestest, closest friend, and the thing we do together, I am not allowed to publicly speak about!

 

7.What is your favourite book and why do you like it?
That’s a hard one, but I can safely say my nearly favorite book, if I can only name one is BattleField Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard. I like that it’s long and involved, even though some of it is rather childish, I enjoy humanity taking back their home, and making a difference out in the cosmos.

 

8.What do you really want to learn but you haven’t got the time to do it?
Everything! I want my education to always continue. Right now I want to learn how to make my site work for me. The part about not enough time, unfortunately takes presidence over everything.

 

9.What do you miss from your childhood?
I miss my mommy! She died when I was 9, and I had to grow up because of that.

 

10.Where will you go if you just feel bored at home?
I am not at home at present. In December, I had to come down here to Reno Nevada to help take care of my family. I don’t get bored at home, as I live on 20 acres, in the mountains, and if the trailer feels cramped I just go outside.

 

Now it’s time to make my own nominations for the LIEBSTER AWARD, so I hope I don’t lose any friends over this!
Random Musings And Wanderlust 
Bittersweet Sensations  babyruthbeer
https://girlonstreamblog.wordpress.com/

Dr. J M Landin @ RedNewtGallery

LIZZIE BRIGHT  @  http://lizziebright.com/
Victoria Iskak   @  Raindrops & Fireflies
Margaret  @  Suds & Kisses
mboki_m  @  learning web development

 

And now, finally I get to ask my nominees their most dreaded and difficult to answer, questions.

1) Now that you are here in the magical realm of the blogosphere, what do you want?

2) What is your inner animal?

3) On your blog, are you public, or private, in regard to your personal self?

4) Are you happy in your present place in this life?

5) If I could give you one wish, what would that be?

6) What would be your ideal job?

7) Do you have a favorite kind of pet?

8) Are you able to discuss, religion, politics, or feelings openly, with strangers?

9) Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently, and of course, why?

10) How many fingers am I holding up?

I told you these would be formidable questions, even though I didn’t word it that way. I didn’t want to scare you away. And in advance, Thank You for playing, now take your dang football and go home!