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Spider 'is 20 million years old'
BBCNews ^ | 9/30/05 | BBCNEWS

Posted on 09/30/2005 9:17:27 AM PDT by bigmac0707

A scientist has described a spider that was trapped and preserved in amber 20 million years ago.

Palaeontologist Dr David Penney, of the University of Manchester, found the 4cm long by 2cm wide fossil during a visit to a museum in the Dominican Republic.

Since the discovery two years ago, he has used droplets of blood in the amber to reveal the age of the specimen.

It is thought to be the first time spider blood has been found in amber and scientists hope to extract its DNA.

Dr Penney, of the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, said he had used the blood droplets to trace how, when and where the spider died.

It is a new species from the Filistatidae family commonly found in South America and the Caribbean.

Dr Penney believes it was climbing up a tree 20 million years ago when it was hit on the head by fast flowing resin, became engulfed in the resin and died.

He claims the shape and position of the blood droplets revealed which direction the spider was travelling in and which of its legs broke first.

"It's amazing to think that a single piece of amber with a single spider in it can open up a window into what was going on 20 million years ago," he said.

"By analysing the position of the spider's body in relation to the droplets of blood in the amber we are able to determine how it died, which direction it was travelling in and even how fast it was moving."

He first saw the fossil during a visit to the Museo del Ambar Dominicano, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

Dr Penney reports his findings in the latest issue of the journal Palaeontology.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: amber; archeology; crevolist; fossils; godsgravesglyphs; lookbackinamber; palaeontology; paleontology; science
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To: mlc9852

You were right. It also doesn't work on things that are too young. Live clams have been dating as having been dead for years. So basically, the whole dating system is crap.


41 posted on 09/30/2005 9:41:48 AM PDT by Tim Long (No, Christine Todd Whitman, it's not your party too.)
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To: Alter Kaker

True dat.


42 posted on 09/30/2005 9:42:01 AM PDT by Tim Long (No, Christine Todd Whitman, it's not your party too.)
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To: exile
Was it Helen Thomas' childhood pet?


Not outside the realm of possibility...


ROTFLMAO!
43 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:10 AM PDT by StoneGiant (Power without morality is disaster. Morality without power is useless.)
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To: bigmac0707

There's a spider who builds webs in the rose bush near our front door. One day I ran outside very fast and the spider landed on me. I brushed it off. Today my wife opened the door and the spider had built its web directly in front of the front door. The fairly large spider was in the center of the web at eye level. I was about to kill it but my wife insisted that as it was outside we should let it live. I expect that it is rebuilding the web right now.


44 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:10 AM PDT by wideminded
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To: GreenLanternCorps

Hehehe ... but Gwen Stacy's clone lives on ...


45 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:28 AM PDT by so_real ("The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: Alter Kaker

I believe the universe was created by GOD in Six Days.

WHO knows what a day is to GOD? And maybe his last day WAS only 4004 BC (What is this BCE? leftist atheist terms?) I would say near 10,000BC by all of traceable history of man.

It is very odd that for some strange reason, a monkey became a man instantaneously by chance and was suddenly smart enough to have language and record his history.

So saith the "evolutionists" that decry the "creationists"

Moi? Like I said WHO can say how long was GOD's Day?


46 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:36 AM PDT by hombre_sincero (www.spadata.com)
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To: mlc9852
And how would they determine how old the strata was?

Happy reading, FRiend...

47 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:44 AM PDT by Prime Choice (E=mc^3. Don't drink and derive.)
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To: Tim Long

That's what I've read. But saying they aren't sure doesn't make headlines I suppose.


48 posted on 09/30/2005 9:43:50 AM PDT by mlc9852
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To: mlc9852
How do you suppose he came to the conclusion it was 20 million years old?

I think he probably used scientific dating techniques. Not having read the study, I have no idea which techniques he used, but if you're interested, your local university library probably subscribes to Paleontology and I'm sure the study goes over its methodology quite sufficiently.

49 posted on 09/30/2005 9:44:19 AM PDT by Alter Kaker (Whatever tears one may shed, in the end one always blows one’s nose.-Heine)
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To: Prime Choice; mlc9852

Probably not carbon dating, but probably a wide range of other radioactive elements. You don't do dating with just one set of elements, but you use a set of elements with overlapping ranges to reduce error if one of the elements is wonky from contamination. The layer is a good visual estimate, but I believe they never trust that estimate.


50 posted on 09/30/2005 9:44:31 AM PDT by ThinkPlease (Fortune Favors the Bold!)
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To: bigmac0707

"As I understand it, C-14 half life is about 5,700 yrs. It seems that that would make it impossible to date something over 11,400 yrs old using this method."

No. Let's say baseline C-14 is 10,000 parts/million.

5000 parts = 5700 years
2500 parts = 11400 years
1250 parts = 22800
625 parts = 45,500

and so on.


51 posted on 09/30/2005 9:45:16 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (A good friend helps you move. A great friend helps you move a body.)
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To: TexasGreg
If some scientist things it would be great to clone a T-rex, show him the scene from Jurassic Park where the T-rex eats the lawyer sitting on the john.

A dinosaur that eats lawyers?

Hmmm...I'm not seeing a downside here.

52 posted on 09/30/2005 9:46:16 AM PDT by Prime Choice (E=mc^3. Don't drink and derive.)
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To: Alter Kaker
"But that's not possible, because Bishop Ussher tells us the world was formed as it is in the year 4004 BCE."

It's true! All those fossils were put there by Satan to confuse the faithful.
53 posted on 09/30/2005 9:46:21 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: hombre_sincero
What is this BCE? leftist atheist terms?

"BCE - Before the Common Era. Christians refer to it as BC: Before Christ." Non-Christians, whether "leftist" or "rightist," don't generally set their calendars by Jesus.

54 posted on 09/30/2005 9:47:33 AM PDT by TheGhostOfTomPaine
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To: bigmac0707
Spider 'is 20 million years old'

just as old but probably not as ugly


55 posted on 09/30/2005 9:47:53 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: wideminded

"the spider had built its web directly in front of the front door."

The fellow is going for the one that got away, apparently.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.


56 posted on 09/30/2005 9:48:09 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (A good friend helps you move. A great friend helps you move a body.)
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To: mlc9852
Just because you believe them doesn't make them true.

And just because you do not believe them, does not make them false.
57 posted on 09/30/2005 9:48:41 AM PDT by newcats
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To: NutCrackerBoy; bigmac0707
OJ says spider may prove to have been Nicole's real killer...That is, as long as the 8 minature spider gloves fit

LOL! ..and Scott Peterson carrying OJ's Golf bag.

58 posted on 09/30/2005 9:48:48 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
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To: wideminded

LOL! Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where the two spiders weave a web at the bottom of a child's slide. One says to the other: "If we pull this off we're gonna' eat like KINGS!"


59 posted on 09/30/2005 9:49:40 AM PDT by manwiththehands
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Comment #60 Removed by Moderator


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