Posted on 11/17/2005 4:01:41 PM PST by Nasty McPhilthy
Grass existed on Earth at least 10 million years earlier than was known, based on a new discovery in fossilized dinosaur dung.
It's also the first solid evidence that some dinosaurs ate grass.
While dissecting fossilized droppings, known as coprolites, researchers found tiny silica structures called phytoliths. They are short, rigid cells that provide support to a plant. This type is found exclusively in grasses.
The discovery shows that five types of grass related to modern varieties were present in the Gondwana region of the Indian subcontinent during the late Cretaceous period about 71 to 65 million years ago.
Museum redux
Before this discovery, 55 million-year-old grass reproductive structures discovered in Tennessee were the oldest grass fossils on record. 70 million-year-old grass pollen has been discovered in Egypt.
“But pollen are somewhat ambiguous,” study co-author Caroline Stromberg of the Swedish Museum of Natural History told LiveScience. “They could also be from a plant closely related to grasses.”
This discovery could also cause a major shake-up in dinosaur dioramas around the world.
Until now there was no firm evidence that dinosaurs and grasses coexisted, so scientists assumed that herbivorous dinosaurs ate mostly trees, ferns, flowering plants and cycads.
The droppings most likely came from titanosaur sauropods which weighed more than 100 tons and were the heaviest creatures to ever walk the Earth. Although scientists knew from the shape of their teeth that titanosaurs were plant eaters, this is the first proof that dinosaurs snacked on grass.
Other grass eaters?
Not only does this finding call for a reconsideration of dinosaur diets, but for early mammals as well. Many fossilized mammals from the Gondwana region had teeth that could have been used for grazing on grass.
Most grasses grow in dry upland areas where plants seldom fossilize because of degrading chemical processes in the soil. However, based on this new finding, Stromberg believes that grass had spread to the Gondwana region before India became geographically isolated 80 million years ago.
Examinations on the distribution of living grasses around the world point to South American origin, although many scientists believe that grasses may have been widespread before the continents split apart.
The discovery is detailed in the Nov. 18 issue of the journal Science.
Oh, another anti-Christian. Ho hum.
Who's Dung?
Jimma Carter of course.
Damm sure a dinosaur thats totally full of it.
Reason his eyes are brown.
But he's right, "anti-Christian" or not. Science is self correcting, religions are not.
big difference. Not necessarily anti-Christian (or anti religion), just true.
That is exactly what science is. Theories/hypothesis/estimates are constantly proven or disproven through the introduction of new data and findings through the scientific process.
and I thought that digging up and finding worthless sh!t was something that only Democraps did!
Former leader of Red China. 
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Creationists have advocated this for years.
I know that. That's what makes it so undependable.
"different from theology, where no one ever learns anything."
So you don't think anyone ever learns anything from theology?
Was Dung related to Hu Plung Poo, author of "Brown Spots On The Wall?"
The grass is always greener...at least 10 million years earlier.
LVM
God loves you, too.
It won't effect my life, but I can see you're excited.
;-)
I learned never to follow any "ministers" named Jim Jones, or move to Guyana.
You say it like it's a bad thing.
So one is more "dependable" to the extent that they refrain from revising their knowledge and understanding in light of the results of criticism and crucial tests?
I was going to say that this suggests a rather eccentric definition of "dependable," but from a creationist maybe not.
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