Fossils turn out to be a rich source of information

Posted: 09 Feb 2016 06:06 AM PST
For more than 70 years, fossilized arthropods from Quercy, France, were almost completely neglected because they appeared to be poorly preserved. Experts have now been able to X-ray the 30-million-year-old beetle fossils. The internal structures are shown in such detail that the scientists were able to create an extensive description and an evolutionary analysis of the beetles.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on February 10, 2016 at 5:10pm

Its fantastic what is and can be fossilized, we are able to realise smaller and smaller creatures from further back in time than we could ever imagined just a short few years ago. Wonderful.

Permalink Reply by TJ on February 10, 2016 at 7:06pm

They add new capabilities all the time, its amazing.

One that made me smile was being able to resolve chromataphores in fossilized dinosaur feathers, and be able to tell what color the feathers were, even if striped,, etc, from their imprint.

Permalink Reply by Pope Beanie on February 10, 2016 at 9:16pm