Posted on 01/27/2003 5:49:29 AM PST by vannrox
Shell-Shock: Three University Of Arkansas Students Find World's Longest Nautiloid FossilFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Three undergraduate students from the University of Arkansas made a world-class discovery this week when they uncovered a 325-million-year-old nautiloid fossil just yards from two of Fayetteville's busiest roads. At exactly eight feet in length, their find represents the longest actinoceratoid nautiloid fossil in the world. On Jan. 20, while the University community observed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, freshman geology major Sarah Kee and senior Kevin Morgan set out to hunt for fossils. Their excursion led them to a culvert near Interstate 540, where dime-sized ammonoid fossils were known to be abundant. "We were actually looking for a three-foot nautiloid that was supposedly located there. Kevin was digging. I wandered a few feet off and started digging for ammonoids, and that's when I noticed the calcite," Kee said. Calling Morgan over, the pair began to dig... and dig and dig and dig. "It just kept going and going, and that's when we called Jonathan because we knew we'd need more help," Kee said. Manger's initial skepticism can be understood, considering the fact that only one other comparable nautiloid fossil is known to exist. Not coincidentally, that specimen was also discovered in Fayetteville in 1963 by University of Arkansas students and geology professor Doy Zachry. Measuring seven feet, two inches, the 1963 fossil was believed to be the largest in existence until Monday's discovery. The specimen uncovered by Kee, Morgan and Gillip represents what Manger calls a pathological giant. Its discovery lends credence to a theory that Manger first proposed to the scientific community in 1999 -- that these nautiloids exhibited semalparous reproductive behavior. Like modern-day squid, these creatures would have mated and laid eggs within three to four years and then died. The similarity of the two giant fossils provides evidence about the reproductive patterns of these prehistoric creatures, but their differences may prove even more enlightening. In modern nautiloids, males and females show a difference in the diameter of their apertures -- the open end of the shell, where the organisms reside. According to Manger, the fossil giants show similar signs of sexual dimorphism. Against all odds, the only portion missing from the fossil is the thicker, pointed end of its shell. That's no accident of excavation or result of erosion, Manger states. The fossil discovered in 1963 also exhibited a broken end. Manger believes the damage occurred while the organisms were still living -- the effect of parasitic organisms that could have bored through the shell. As he and the students begin to examine the fossil, they will look for evidence to support that theory. Lifted from the culvert where it had rested for 325 million years, the giant nautiloid has been relocated to the University Museum. Manger believes the students will choose to use the fossil as the subject of their undergraduate honors theses.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote any part of this story, please credit University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville as the original source. You may also wish to include the following link in any citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/01/030127075642.htm |
Was it bent?
Ain't that the truth. . . .
On, this most sacred of all holidays in Arkansas, these disrespectful students were out digging in the dirt?
What is the relevance of this insertion? Should the students feel guilty because they were out hunting for fossils while they should have been observing King Day?
A plaster cast of the ugly bugger.
University of Arkansas students prepare to transport the
squid-like creature. "We think we've just found a female,"
Professor Walter Manger (right) said.
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