Latest articles by Vasika Udurawane

fossils
almost 5 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Crocodile fossils reveal parallel evolution in India and Amazon

The highly endangered and long-snouted gharial lives in the Indian Subcontinent. But millions of years ago, these creatures ruled the waterways of the world, including the Amazonian region. And it is here that we can further unravel the secrets behind their long evolution. Enter “the storyteller.”
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fossils
almost 5 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Trapped in time: The top 10 amber fossils

Every so often, something incredibly beautiful and delicate comes out of the fossil record. It can be the microscopic fossil of extinct plankton or the near-complete skeleton of a massive dinosaur. Then there are those fossils which show a surprising degree of completeness, presenting real snapshots of a long-lost age. They are the top 10 finest amber fossils ever.
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fossils
almost 5 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Tully Monster's eyes prove it was a vertebrate

The most recent addition to the ranks of the vertebrates is the famed “Tully Monster”, state fossil of Illinois. This oddly-shaped aquatic beast, with its squid-like body and pincered mouth-on-a-trunk also had another secret. This time, it was its stalk-like “blobs.”
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fossils
almost 5 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Dinosaur relatives lived life in the fast lane

Many of the ancestors of the earliest dinosaurs were small, active and lizard-like animals. Yet their growth patterns have been somewhat of a mystery. Recent studies of their bones suggest that size is not always a good determinant of skeletal maturity.
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fossils
almost 5 years ago by Vasika Udurawane

Extinct sea creature's fragile babies hung on by a thread

One of the best mothers in nature was not a devoted mammal or bird but rather a spineless, hard-shelled and somewhat spiky ancient arthropod that swam the oceans 430 million years ago. Nicknamed the “Kite Runner”, the odd beast held onto its young with thread-like bodily tendrils.
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Vasika
Udurawane

Writer