August 09, 2018
A mysterious, ancient organism with Leaf-like fronds once flourished in shallow waters. Now, after decades of debate as to whether these organisms were fungi, algae, protozoa or even from a lost kingdom of life, new Fossils suggest they were Animals.
Weird, 570-Million-Year-Old Leaf Fossil Is Actually from an Animal
If true, these organisms would be among the first animals in the fossil record, dating back to at least 571 million years ago — the age of the oldest frond fossils. That's about 30 million years before the Cambrian explosion, when many of today's animal groups first burst onto the scene. The date is consistent with other evidence that suggests animals appeared more than 635 million years ago.
The mysterious frond fossils, which have been found around the world, date to the Ediacaran period, which spanned from 635 million to 542 million years ago. The fossilized imprints suggest that the organisms were soft and squishy and that some sported fronds that branched outward like seaweed, study co-author Jennifer Hoyal Cuthill, a paleobiologist at the University of Cambridge in England, wrote on The Conversation. Even 60 years after the discovery of these organisms, researchers still didn't know what these fronds were.
Now, in a paper published Aug. 7 in the journal Paleontology, Cuthill and Jian Han, of Northwest University in Xi'an, China, describe the discovery of 206 fossils of a different animal called Stromatoveris psygmoglena that date to about 518 million years ago, during the Cambrian period. The fossils were found in Chengjiang County in southern China, and they add to the existing collection of eight S. psygmoglena fossils first discovered in 2006.
S. psygmoglena,which also had leaf-like fronds,looked a lot like the older, mysterious Ediacaran fossils. To see how similar they were, Cuthill and Han used a computer to compare the two groups, analyzing their evolutionary relationships and physical features, based on more than 80 photographs of the fossils. They found that both sets of fossils belonged to the same group on the tree of life called Petalonamae— meaning the Ediacaran organisms also had to be animals.
"This means animal species were diversifying well before the Cambrian explosion," Cuthill wrote on The Conversation.
Given that these creatures can be found across tens of millions of years of the fossil record, it's likely Petalonamae were evolutionarily successful. Because the fossil record for the Ediacaran organisms had seemed to disappear by the time the Cambrian began, researchers thought the organisms had gone extinct. But by linking them to Stromatoveris psygmoglena, the new analysis suggests they lived at least through the first 20 million years of the Cambrian.
And the fact that the researchers found more than 200 fossils means they were common. "This indicates that this species was an important member of its shallow marine ecosystem rather than a rare or marginal survivor," Cuthill said in The Conversation article.
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SkyPixel 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest Winners Announced
Mar 19, 2024
Competition Receives a Record Number of Submissions that Highlight the Power of Innovation SHENZHEN, China, March 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyPixel, one of the world's most popular online communities for aerial photography and videography, today announces the winners of the SkyPixel 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest. Co-organized with DJI, this year's competition attracted over 130,000 submissions – a 100% increase from the previous year. The contest welcomed submissions from across the creator community, which includes professionals, aerial enthusiasts, and creative newcomers, showcasing their personal histories through the art of visual innovation. A Contest Shaped by You The SkyPixel Annual Photo & Video Contest is a testament to the power of innovation led imagery, honoring stories that shape the art of image capture both on solid ground and amidst the clouds. SkyPixel has cultivated a community-driven platform that reflects the dreams and aspirations of creators worldwide, and the annual competition has been a conduit for people who love image creation to express themselves as it authentically reflects the desires and aspirations of creators worldwide. Industry-Leading Judges The 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest was assessed by a Judging Panel of incredible professionals in the industry. In photography, seasoned experts include Wen Huang, a World Press Photo judge and Senior Editor, and Anne Farrar, Assistant Photography Chief Editor at National Geographic, Nan Li, the Photo Director of Southern Weekly, and Daniel Kordan, a renowned landscape photographer. In the video category, the judges include Michael Fitzmaurice, the Aerial Director of Photography of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," and Xiaoshi Zhao, known for his award-winning work on "Forever Enthralled." Bing Xi, a prominent figure in the Chinese TVC industry, and celebrated filmmaker Brandon Li round out the panel. After careful deliberation, the panel proudly presents the final winners for the year. 9th Annual Best Work Prize – Video: "Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar" by Luke Bredar This year's video judging panel, which includes award-winning Cinematographers and Directors of Photography, chose Luke Bredar's video, "Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar." This short film mixes heart-pounding action shots of a skier racing down a snowy mountaintop landscapes with breathtaking shots of Alaska's mountainous, winter terrain. Luke Bredar details the thought process behind the short film, "The motivation behind creating this video was to evoke themes of otherworldliness, objective risk, the interplay between risk and the essence of human spirit, solitude, impermanence, self-sufficiency, and the journey of incomplete wandering intertwined with heartbreak." This short film is an epic story made in collaboration with Matchstick Productions. Bredar explains how he pursues a better visual presentation through his creative process "I think to myself. How would my child self want to see this filmed? And I almost always get a clear vision in response. There are a myriad of challenges shooting aerial cinematography in mountain environments, but they are all ...Full story available on Benzinga.com
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