Fossil Stories of 2016
As the field of paleontogy advances, newly-discovered fossils offer us stories about life in the ancient times. At times, the development of new technology allows us to uncover new tales not only from under the ground but from the drawers in our museums. Here is a selection of scenes illustrated for stories published in 2016 on the site Earth Archives.
DIRECTION · Nick Garland
ILLUSTRATION · Andrey Atuchin, Fabrizio De Rossi, Joschua Knüppe, Julio Lacerda, Nathan E. Rogers
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Aquilonifer spinosus
This 430 million year old fossil animal was an arthropod related to crustaceans and insects. It had a unique way of caring for its young: they were attached to the body of the mother by thin tethers. This method of brood care has given Aquilonifer the nickname the kite runner.
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Atopodentatus unicus
When it was published in 2014, this marine reptile was thought to have had a bizarre zipper-like mouth. Two fossils from 2016, however, proved that the first one was badly crushed and its face actually resembled a handheld vacuum cleaner instead.
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Dollocaris ingens
Dollocaris was a predatory marine arthropod from Jurassic rocks of France. It’s notable for its huge compound eyes, making up nearly a quarter of the animal’s body length.
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Liaoningosaurus paradoxus
This Chinese dinosaur is a relative of the armored dinosaur Ankylosaurus from North America. Unlike its heavy-duty cousin, fossils suggest that it was probably semi-aquatic, giving the animal a "paradox" status.
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Litorosuchus was an armored aquatic predator from Triassic-aged rocks in China. Although it resembled a crocodile, it was not part of the crocodilian radiation, but part of an early radiation related to both crocodilians and birds.
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It is named after the Greek word machairis meaning “bent sword” and the sickle or scythe-wielding Greek titan Cronus. In life, it likely reached 6-8 m (20-26 ft) in length and weighed 1-2 tons, half the weight of Triceratops.
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Murusraptor, or "wall robber," is named after the Argentinian ravine wall it was discovered in. For a 7.5 meter (25 ft) long animal, its teeth are unusually small at less than 3 cm (1 in) tall.
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Ozimek was a tree-dwelling, gliding reptile that lived in Poland during the Triassic, around 230 million years ago. It is a relative of the better-known Sharovipteryx, the hindlimb-winged reptile from Russia.
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Platybelodon, or “Flat-spear tusk,” was an elephant relative from the Miocene Epoch. Despite its shovel-like appearance, its jaw was likely used to cut vegetation like a scythe.
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Hesperornis was a flightless marine bird, similar to a loon or grebe, that lived in Late Cretaceous North America and Russia. A leg bone of this bird found in 1960 shows signs of being bitten by a plesiosaur and developing an infection later, meaning the bird survived the attack.
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Sarmientosaurus had a small brain compared to its body, but its massive eyeballs indicated sharp vision, a unique discovery among the gigantic sauropods. Due to their size, sauropods were often scavenged before burial and fossilization and rarely found as a complete animal.
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It was the first non-bird dinosaur to be found with evidence of feathers. The first Sinosauropteryx fossil found shows the typical “dinosaur death pose,” caused by contraction of muscles and ligaments after death.
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Therizinosaurs were a group of herbivorous theropods taller than a giraffe, that mostly lived in what is now Asia. Some members of this group somehow migrated as far north as Alaska, likely through the Bering Land Bridge.
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Previously known as Das Monster von Minden, it took almost two decades for this German theropod to finally get a name. It is notable for being one of Europe's largest predatory dinosaurs at 9 m (30 ft) long.
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