Posted on 07/31/2021 10:17:36 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Soft tissues that make up brains are very prone to rapid decay, Bicknell said. "In order for them to be preserved, either very special geological conditions, or amber, are needed."
In this case, geology helped to keep the soft tissue in tip-top condition over the years and preserve the brain — or at least a copy of the brain. "We have a mold of the brain, not the brain itself, so to speak," Bicknell said.
The deposits at Mazon Creek are made of an iron carbonate mineral called siderite, which forms concretions — mineral precipitations — that can quickly encase a dead body and fossilize it. Although such concretions preserved the horseshoe crab's body, the brain tissue still decomposed and eventually disappeared. However, as the brain rotted away it was replaced by a clay mineral called kaolinite, which created a cast of the brain.
Kaolite is white in color, whereas siderite is dark gray. This color contrast meant the brain fossil "stood out more than it would have normally" from the rest of the fossil, Bicknell said.
The hunt is now on for more ancient brains that might have been fossilized in the unique geological conditions that preserved this horseshoe crab.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
So they don’t have a 300 million year old brain they have the mold of a 300 million year old brain!!! Say what?
Truth is they have no clue how old this thing is..
Point on
Gee whiz...that was quick.
I could not even get in quickly enough to make a similar astute observation.
Well, that’s definitely a plus. Stay forever young! Like all of us here…
Well, since it was a brain, we know it wasn’t a democrat.
took them long enough to announce this... how long has ruth bader ginsburg been dead?...
True, perhaps I’ve assumed too much - but that’s for BereanBrain to say.
Maybe he doesn’t believe in far-fetched creationist fantasies, and his dismissal of evolution theory was based on something rational.
In which case, I’ll gladly stand corrected. :-)
Bkmk
Pelosi forgot where she left it.
This is where I get lost in the whole “man evolved from apes” thing. So, wouldn’t you think — after 310 million years — a horseshoe crab would have evolved into some higher species? If evolution is a real thing, why did it stop?
…310 million years ago…
Did it just get comfortable and decide: This is it for me. I’ve reached the pinnacle of my development?
Nah, the one inside the Speaker of the House.
Yeah: 3 billion years ago, the most-advanced forms of life on Earth were Cyanobacteria. Your question (essentially): Why didn't all of those Cyanobacteria evolve into human beings? Why are there (still) any lower forms of live on Earth? Why not just humans?
Regards,
... wait a minute. I know an entire political party whose members all have rocks in their heads. So maybe the headline isn't wrong after all (at least for some of us).
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