EARLIEST SAUROPOD
The September 7 Nature reports on the earliest sauropod that was found in Thailand. Eric Buffetaut et al found bones including several vertebrae, 2 chevrons, fragmentary ribs, scapula, and femur that are dated to the late Triassic (200 MYA). Up to now the earliest bones were Early Jurassic. They indicate that the animal is different enough from prosauropods to indicate that there was a long period of evolution for the sauropods. The name is Isanosaurus attavipachi named for ‘Thailand lizard’ and after a local supporter. They estimate that it was not fully grown because of unfused centras and that it may have been about 21 feet (6.5 meters) long. Because Thailand was linked to China at this time, they are considered of Asian origin. Triassic footprints from Lesotho were thought to be of a sauropod origin and Vulcanodon from Africa is known from the early Jurassic. All this indicates that sauropods must have had a wide distribution in the late Triassic/ early Jurassic throughout Pangea.
DO PARASITES RULE THE WORLD ?
An article in the August Discover Magazine by Carl Zimmer is a section from his new book Parasite Rex to be published soon. Through the use of several dramatic examples he makes the point that parasites may rule the world. They do make up the majority of species on Earth and are amazingly adept at surviving at the expense of others. Every living thing has at least one parasite living within and in the case of many (including man) there are many. Indeed, some of the parasites have parasites. One example he cites is the lancet fluke which in part of its life cycle actually changes the behavior of one of its hosts in order to assure its future. The fluke eggs are found in cow droppings which are picked up by scavenging snails. Within the intestines of the snail, the eggs hatch and mature to produce offspring that migrate through the body of the snail. The snail separates them in slime balls which it coughs up into the grass. Ants then pick up the slime balls and the flukes migrate throughout their bodies including into the brains. They so affect the brain that they cause the ants to climb up to the top of blades of grass in the cool evenings so that they can be picked up by grazing cows, and so the cycle continues. How they can cause the ants behavior to change from staying on the ground with its cohorts is unknown. Some scientists are coming to believe that the parasites may be actually driving forces in nature rather than passive hangers-on. In another case, this time involving a life cycle within fish and birds, scientists discovered that flukes could affect the behavior of killifish. The flukes entered the brains and caused the killifish to swim jerkily near the surface exposing themselves to the birds that fished there. This then infected the birds whose droppings then cycled the flukes back to the fish. The flukes seem to be assuring their bird hosts of food by driving the strange behavior of the infected fish. This is a startling and scary thought to anyone who thinks that we are in control. I for one look forward to reading the rest of this fascinating book when it is printed.
ANASAZI EATING HABITS
In a September issue of Nature, there is a report from the University of Colorado on studies at Cowboy Wash ( in southwest Colorado) showing that the Anasazi may have practiced cannibalism. This was determined by the analysis of an 850 year old human coprolite found at the site. It contained a human protein that could only be there after ingestion. In other sites in the area, human bones have been found disarticulated, cut, burned and in patterns similar to other food animals. At this site there were two pit houses where the remains of seven mutilated bodies were found. In a third pit house there was a hearth where the coprolite was found. Myoglobin, an oxygen-transporting molecule found in skeletal and heart muscles, is not found in the gut and was found in this coprolite. In tests, the myoglobin from many prey animals was compared with human myoglobin. There were no traces of the other myoglobins in the Cowboy Wash sample. In further tests, beef myoblobin was found in feces of people that had just eaten cooked beef. Not everyone agrees with the results of this study, although the authors feel that they can rule out one of the other suggested sources of the coprolite. Some suggest it was a coyote, but their coprolites usually also contain bone chunks and their own hair from grooming. There were also no canine tooth marks on the seven bodies.
MUDSTONE REINTERPRETED
Mudstone in the past has been interpreted with the understanding that the silica quartz in it was from the land. It was interpreted as indicating paleoclimate conditions of drought. Now a study in the August 31 issue of Nature, Jurgen Schieber et al relate a detailed analysis of the quartz that showed it to have been formed in the mudstone, not imported. It appears different and does not have the dented mottled texture of quartz from metamorphic rock. The study was done on Devonian (370MYA) black shale from the eastern US. What is the source of the quartz? The authors believe it is from the dissolved remains of silica-bearing animals like diatoms. This in itself may solve another puzzle. There have been no sign of diatoms between the molecular evidence of them in the Permian (266 MYA) and the earliest fossil evidence in the early Cretaceous (120 MYA). This study suggests that they have been preserved as this quartz. So now it will be interesting to study other mudstones to discover the source of the quartz in it to see if it is from land or was fomed in situ. The findings may then call for a reanalysis of the conditions and weather of the time periods.
BITS & PIECES
Good News!! The Icarosaurus fossil I reported last month was up for auction was sold for $167,500 to an individual who will donate it back to the New York Museum of Natural History. That is where it was for many years and where it really belongs.
Germany reports on an exciting new Neanderthal find near where the first one was found in 1865. They found 3 dozen fragments from 2 caves. In addition, the site includes fragments from another skeleton of an anatomically modern man dated at 44,000 years ago. There were thousand of tools and chips found from both Neaderthal (50,000 to 40,000 years ago) and Cro Magnon (30,000 years ago) times. There were also bones of animals that had been cut and burned.
Karen Nordquist, ESCONI Paleontology Study Group
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