A fossil thought to be key to turtle evolution turns out to be something else - which clarifies where our shelly friends came from.
Today’s free newsletter is out (short article + my latest writing + upcoming events + ear perks from the week).
New paper. Modern hagfishes (Myxiniformes) have radically reduced eyes. When did these reductions happen, and how? Leveraging the diverse hagfish fauna from Mazon Creek, we show this happened gradually in animals occupying shallow marine environments
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...
Led by the incomparable Sanaa El-Sayed, a study out today in Science Advances throws open an important new window on marine fish diversity during the critical few million years following the K-Pg mass extinction. Below: artistic vision of the new fauna by Ian Baylatry.
J Pardo
Riley Black 🏳️⚧️ 🦕
Matt Friedman
Turns out a proposed turtle ancestor isn't, but that makes the origins of our shelly friends clearer.
