Posted on 05/04/2007 9:08:32 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Oldest lobster fossil uncovered in Mexico
REUTERS
May 4, 2007
MEXICO CITY – Mexican scientists said they have identified the world's oldest lobster fossil, that of a creature alive when Africa was only just breaking apart from the Americas about 120 million years ago.
The fossil is 4.7 inches long, and its shell and legs are immaculately preserved by the mud in the southern state of Chiapas, where it was found. It is dated as 120 million years old, about 20 million years older than previous lobster fossils.
“This lobster that we found in Chiapas belongs to the genus that is in Africa today,” said geologist Francisco Javier Vega of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
“This isn't a surprise because at that time, 120 million years ago, Africa and America were relatively close,” he said.
South America and Africa are believed to have split into two continents around that time.
Species sometimes evolved differently on the two continents, explaining why American lobsters are different from their African cousins.
The juvenile Palinurus palaceosi fossil, dug up in 1995 along with the petrified remains of fish, crustaceans and insects, is one of the best-preserved lobster fossils in the world and the first found in the Americas, Vega said.
“Practically 90 percent of this specimen's body has been preserved. It was buried in this microscopic mud (and) has very fine morphological details,” he said.
After a decade of work, Vega and his team established the fossil's age in 2005, published their findings in November and began publicizing them in the past few weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
It wasn’t a rock..
It was a rock lobster!!
Amazingly, a fossilized dish of melted butter was found next to it.
How did the Grand Canyon get there?
What about Greenland?
Oh, never mind.
Considering that most of the lobsters I’ve had were fished out of the ocean last fall and have sat all winter in lobster pounds, probably about the same...
You mean "millions" of years ago. 120 million to be precise. Not 100 or 133 million, according to the researchers----precisely 120 million. Seriously, I don't think there is any organic substance that can exist for that long.
ya shoulda pinged him...
no big deal - i got some lobster at the Red Lobster that must have been 300 million years old
“Amazingly, a fossilized dish of melted butter was found next to it...”
Now that was funny.
Many thousands = millions.
My point is it only took slightly less than 2 generations to produce individuals who don’t have a clue about anything scientific.
Remember when it was cool to be a scientist or engineer?
Hey!
Not cool man, not cool!
lol
Okay...let’s get together to discuss this.
I’ll bring my fork, knife, lemon butter and lobster bib.
You can just bring yourself!
: )
If you do a Google search, dinosaur soft tissue has been found. Those so inclined use this discovery to refute the scientific estimates of the age of the Earth (in defense of strict Biblical Genesis interpretation). Even if you disagree with that, it’s still amazing:
Yes...you are a doctor, and a very DELICIOUS one at that!
: )
WOW, Dat's cool, man!.......
Hm.....
Madeleine Albright is in Mexico?
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