Thanks ETL.
Posted on 04/18/2018 4:47:04 AM PDT by ETL
Here's a brainteaser: Do the 520-million-year-old fossils of an ancient, bug-like creature actually show a silhouette of its brains? Or are these blobby shapes in its head merely fossilized bacteria?
According to a new study, the fossilized structures in the Cambrian-period creature's head aren't brainy remains, but rather fossilized bacterial mats, called biofilms.
However, not everyone is on board with this interpretation. The researchers who originally discovered the brains are standing by their results, and other paleontologists Live Science interviewed agree with them. [Fabulous Fossils: Gallery of Earliest Animal Organs]
The creature in question, Fuxianhuia protensa, is an early arthropod, a group that includes modern-day insects, spiders and crabs. The roughly 3-inch-long (7.6 centimeters) segmented critter lived in what is now southern China during the Cambrian, a period that lasted from about 542 million to 488 million years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
LOL….can you imagine that some poor tax-paying shlubs have their hard-earned wages confiscated by government so that “experts” can argue over stains in rocks? Hey, “experts”: NO ONE CARES.
Thanks ETL.
I saw that movie as a kid. Scared the hell outta me.
Now it just looks stupid....................
The attached bacteria are symbiotes that fasten themselves to the primary organism to obtain movement capability. The symbiotes have sensors that can provide direction toward nourishment sources but can not easily move to gain access.
The primary organism allows the symbiotes to provide enhanced guidance to also gain access to the food.
Both organisms were unable to adapt and thus died out as did tens of thousands of other such evolutionary dead ends
(bert’s analysis based on actual findings in the study of the Burgess Shale)
I expect brains came and went a number of times.
US Senators? :)
Blobs, not “Boobs”. Lol!
Syfy to Air Hypnotoad-Centric Futurama Marathon on 4/20
All glory to the Hypnotoad!
To be honest, I’d never heard of a “Hypnotoad” until now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
