Squid-like creature that looked like a giant paperclip lived 200 years
An ancient squid-like animal with a shell that looked like a 1.5-metre-long paperclip may have typically lived for 200 years. Image: Linda Invany
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Tag: fossils
Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest forest—and its radical impact on life
Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest forest in an abandoned quarry near Cairo, New York. The 385-million-year-old rocks contain the fossilized woody roots of dozens of ancient trees. The find marks a turning point in Earth’s history. Image: Charles Ver Straeten
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Traces in rock may be the oldest evidence of life on Earth ever
Are we closing in on life’s cradle? What is claimed to be the oldest evidence of life on Earth yet found backs the idea that the first microbes originated around hydrothermal vents on the seafloor – but the work is already proving controversial. Image: Matthew Dodd
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Russian hot springs point to rocky origins for life
Where on Earth is the cradle of life? The widespread view is that life began in the oceans, in the water that surrounds deep-sea hydrothermal vents. But that story is being challenged by new evidence that life began on land, which is deepening a rift between origin-of-life biologists. Image: Anna S. Karyagina
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