Cave Near Chicago Full of Ancient Wonders

Yahoo | LiveScience ^ | 5/18/07 | Corey Binns

[LibWhacker]

North America's oldest conifer tree and some ancient scorpion parts are among the fossil treasures found in a newly discovered cave in Illinois.

The new discovery also unearthed fossils of plants that may be new to science and revealed evidence of prehistoric forest fires.

Scientists date the specimens to nearly 315 million years ago, according to initial findings presented last month at the regional meeting of the Geological Society of America in Lawrence, Kan.

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Roy Plotnick, a paleontologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago who discovered the cave with students on a field trip to a site two hours outside of Chicago. "The limestone that forms the cave is 450 million years old, but that's not the interesting part of the cave. The preservation inside the cave is what's fascinating."

[LibWhacker]

Holy cow, another one.

[blam]

Amazing.

[Larry Lucido]

Any voter registration lists down there?

[knarf]

How does Chi get a cave millions of years old and China only gets a thousands year old one?

People like me want to know.

[nwrep]

That is because China is an ancient civilization, and people there have been living on that land for hundreds of thousands of years, exploiting it for their benefit.

On the other hand, North America was unpopulated up until about 10,000-15,000 years ago, and even then by savage tribes who did not possess the tools of civilization. They were unable to exploit the land the same way a superior civilization would have. The presence of civilized people on this continent is less than 500 years old.

[Lurker]

FYI.

I'll bet there are hoards of Dem voters contained therein.

L

[Fighting Irish]

I just had too ...

[mtbopfuyn]

Much of the biological treasure is preserved as charcoal, which researchers assume is a sign that the ancient trees were burned in fires.

Gee, ya think? That or God was having a few friends over for a bbq.

[Tinian]

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Roy Plotnick, a paleontologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago who discovered the cave with students on a field trip...

I call BS. The odds are 1,000 to one one of his students wandered off to smoke a joint or take a whizz and found it. Donald Johanson didn't find Lucy, a grad student of his did.

Professors rarely discover anything. They're really good, however, at taking credit for the discoveries made by their gradasses.

[blam]

Calico: A 200,000-year Old Site In The Americas?

[RobinOfKingston]

Professors rarely discover anything. They're really good, however, at taking credit for the discoveries made by their gradasses.

The good professor was just evening the accounts, for when HIS professor took credit for something he discovered.

[RightWhale]

The recent wildfire news on Santa Catalina brings that puzzling site to memory.

[litehaus]

Any voter registration lists down there?

Just a list of folks who were giving out the Dem. Walking Around Money!....LOL//

[TennTuxedo]

Did they find Geraldo Rivera inside, looking for Al Capone’s secret vaults?

[Tinian]

The good professor was just evening the accounts, for when HIS professor took credit for something he discovered.

You're probably right.

And so it goes--an academic circle (jerk) that, unfortunately, will never be broken.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Lurker. "Scientists date the specimens to nearly 315 million years ago" -- luckily there weren't any accidents with the contraceptives in a time machine. [Douglas Adams rimshot!]

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

I just had two...

[endthematrix]

Al Capone's’s vault?

[TChad]

I just had too

Next time you feel that urge coming on, please step away from the computer for a few minutes until it passes.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·