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The great but grumpy biologist J.B.S. Haldane was once asked what evidence would disprove evolution, whereupon he growled: “Fossil rabbits in the Precambrian.” He was referring to the evolutionary fact that complex multicellular creatures came along later than simple, unicellular ones. A bit surprising, perhaps, that one of the foremost evolutionary geneticists of the 20th century immediately reached for a paleontological example, but Haldane’s reply was well-suited for public consumption, because then—as now—when most people thought of evolution, they were likely to conjure images of dinosaur fossils.

Donald Prothero is a research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. When I learned he had written a book that examined 25 different discoveries relating to evolution, I assumed that he, like Haldane, would deploy paleontology in making his case. Mr. Prothero’s book is indeed tilted toward examples from the world of ancestral creatures, but, refreshingly, also guides the reader through impressive discoveries in embryology and molecular genetics.

“The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries” is a parade of self-contained vignettes, often including biographical sketches of the scientists who made and interpreted each discovery. This particular story begins (like everything else) with the big bang, followed by the fascinating tale of how science gradually came to understand the age of the Earth: From biblical literalism; through Lord Kelvin’s famous underestimate, in the 1890s, of 20 million years; to our current understanding of 4.5 billion years. Then comes a whirlwind tour of evolutionary change as it occurs, in real time, among microbes, plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, obliterating the creationist canard that evolution hasn’t even been witnessed, let alone studied.

Some of the most impressive evolutionary stories involve common body plans, technically known as homologies. Thanks to Mr. Prothero, I now know that Aristotle first noticed this widespread phenomenon, of which Darwin wrote: “What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same pattern, and should include similar bones, in the same relative positions?” Curious indeed. And strongly suggestive of common descent—or, for anti-evolutionists, of a Creator’s insistence on sticking with the same divine blueprint, or “archetype,” even when other more direct routes should have been available. The Darwinian story provides scientific insight into why homologies occur, whereas the theological story simply reiterates that they occur.

And on we go, to the embryonic similarities of otherwise distantly related creatures (“ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”) and then biogeography (“the sinking of Noah’s Ark”), which shows, among other relevant findings, that the flora and fauna of islands resemble those of nearby continents—a phenomenon that wouldn’t necessarily be expected if each had been a special, independent creation. The story of life continues, detailing how living things within natural categories share those common body plans, or, as Darwin put it, how “organic beings have been found to resemble each other in descending degrees, so that they can be classed in groups under groups.” As a result, instead of being arbitrary, our system of biological classification conforms perfectly with the nested, branching patterns of evolutionary relationships demonstrated by anatomy, physiology and genetics. Moreover, as Mr. Prothero points out, “if life had been specially created rather than evolved, there would be no reason for the molecular systems to reflect this pattern of similarity seen in megascopic features . . . [and] not even Darwin could have dreamed that the genetic code of every cell in your body also shows the evidence of evolution.”

We meet various vestigial organs—“mute witnesses of the past,” Mr. Prothero calls them. These include such otherwise inexplicable ones as the pelvis and leg bones of whales and snakes, the wings of flightless birds, and the human coccyx (tailbone). He enumerates transitional forms galore, such as Ambulocetus (“walking whale”), Tiktaalik (a critical intermediate between fish and amphibians) and, of course, the many distinct species linking early apes and Homo sapiens—which should put to rest the assertion that such “links” are “missing.” (There will always be gaps, because whenever a made-to-order, in-between fossil form is discovered, this produces two new “missing links.”)

Mr. Prothero also provides an excellent account of how evolution produces highly complex adaptations—eyes, for example—as well as how, rather than being “intelligently designed,” many animal bodies are almost ludicrously jury-rigged, a phenomenon attributable to the historical and embryological constraints imposed by the evolutionary process. For example, only a thoroughly incompetent designer would have made the left laryngeal nerve of giraffes require 14 extra feet of length—looping from the upper neck down to the heart and then back up again—or pushed the human urethra through the prostate, or united eating and breathing in such a way as to cause death when people accidentally inhale while swallowing food.

This book accomplishes a nearly impossible double-task: it conveys enough information to serve as an introductory undergraduate text in evolution while also fascinating the general reader. Though Mr. Prothero will not change the mind of any creationists, his persuasive and accessible accounts will not only delight the scientifically literate reader but may influence open-minded fence-sitters, those teetering between religious dogma and empirical reality.

An epigraph for this book comes from the pioneering evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky : “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” We can make this wise observation more affirmative and no less true: Everything in biology makes sense in the light of evolution. Moreover, it may not be too optimistic to go further yet: In the light of Mr. Prothero’s fine book, the reading public is better equipped than ever before to make sense of evolution itself.

Source: www.wsj.com/

John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is the kindly owner of Jurassic Park in the original movie, but was the villain in its source novel, which director Steven Spielberg was right to change. His 1993 blockbuster introduced Hammond as a misguided businessman, though his gentle demeanor showed that his heart was always in the right place. He genuinely loved dinosaurs, but let his personal fascination with the creatures blind him to their disastrous potential. By the end of the film, he was left with the weight of the deaths he inadvertently caused, mourning his dream of a place where the prehistoric creatures could roam once more.

Though Jurassic Park ended in disaster, Hammond was optimistic in the beginning of the movie. He invited paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to preview the park, while his investors sent lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) to confirm its safety. Bringing along chaos theory mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Gennaro feigned concern with the park's security, but only truly cared about its profitability. The attorney proved to be a cowardly personification of corporate greed, and his irresponsible endangerment of Lex and Tim ultimately made him a villain.

Gennaro's moneygrubbing instincts, however, were an invention for the film. In Michael Crichton's 1990 novel the movie is based on, John Hammond is the main antagonist instead. However, Steven Spielberg was right to make Hammond sympathetic, as it streamlines the film and allows Genarro to serve as a foil to his guest Ian Malcolm.

Instead of being a grandfatherly presence, the book's version of Hammond is a dark version of Walt Disney who was only worried about his theme park's bottom line. He introduced drastic cost-cutting measures to the park, resulting in a sub-par security system and an underpaid staff. His treatment of Dennis Nedry was especially poor, resulting in the programmer spilling the park's secrets to a rival company. Even as Jurassic Park fell into chaos around him, Hammond blamed everyone but himself, and vowed to start another park with the same dangerously cut corners. His plans were thwarted when he fell down a hill, broke his ankle, and was eaten by a pack of dinosaurs.

John Hammond's insatiable greed and lonely death were dark elements of the Jurassic Park novel that were thankfully left out of the movie. Filling InGen's leadership entirely with avaricious individuals would make the film much bleaker. Although the park's creation was a mistake, there are still moments of pure wonder within it. Knowing that the park was made entirely to make money from the very beginning would ruin scenes like Alan Grant and the kids' sweet encounter with a brachiosaurus. Making Donald Genarro the primary voice of corporate greed against the scientists' rationality straightens the film's moral compass. The characters collectively represent the best and worst motivations behind the park: advancing science and making money. The film's version of Hammond seems caught between these two motives instead of being driven by just one, making him more complex.

Although they change from film to film, the human villains in the Jurassic Park (and World) movies have consistently motivated by money. This created a somewhat repetitive "greedy human+scary dinosaur" combination when it came to antagonists. While the trend has resulted in some lackluster bad guys, the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion has a chance to go against this trope. With dinosaurs loose in the world, they are no longer a rare commodity for enterprising villains to seek out. The film will have to get creative with its own antagonists, which could help make Jurassic World: Dominion a memorable final installment of the Jurassic Park franchise.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

From giant parrots and feathered dinosaurs to really old poop and The Bone Wars to the difference between body fossils and trace fossils, here are some fun facts about fossils, adapted from an episode of The List Show on YouTube.

1. A FOSSIL SHOWED THAT PARROTS USED TO BE 3 FEET TALL.

In 2019, a paper published in the journal Biology Letters described the fossil of a parrot that lived somewhere around 16 to 19 million years ago. The bones were originally found in 2008, but they were misidentified as an eagle because no one assumed there would be a parrot that big. The bird, believed to be about 15 pounds, is now affectionately referred to as “squakzilla.”

2. THERE ARE REQUIREMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MET FOR SOMETHING TO BE CONSIDERED A FOSSIL.

Fossils are generally defined as the preserved remains, traces, or imprints from an organism. The common definition also requires that it be 10,000 years or older.

3. THERE ARE A FEW TYPES OF FOSSILS.

When we think of fossils, most of us probably picture animal bones or teeth. These are known as body fossils. But there are also trace fossils, which are evidence of an animal’s behavior: things like footprints, nests, eggs, and even poop.

4. THE MEANING OF THE WORD FOSSIL HAS CHANGED.

The word fossil can be traced to the Latin term fossus, which means “dug up.” That was also fossil’s original meaning when it emerged around the 1600s. It began to mean “preserved remains” in 1736.

5. THERE'S SUCH A THING AS "MICROFOSSILS."

It’s not always easy to determine what a fossil used to be. Microfossils are fossils of bacteria or pollen, or other things that you can’t study with the naked eye. In 2017, paleobiologist J. William Schopf and a team published a paper about the microfossil microbes he found in the early '90s. Schopf claimed these rocks showed evidence of microbes from 3.46 billion years ago, which would have made them, at that time, some of the oldest fossils ever found. Not everyone was convinced; some said the so-called fossils were just minerals that happened to look like biological specimens. Schopf and his collaborators worked for almost 25 years to prove that the rocks contained the right carbon isotopes to have once been microbes, and their 2017 paper provided what some in the field felt was compelling evidence, using raman spectroscopy to analyze the specimens in question.

Skeptics remain, though, including scientist David Wacey, who had issues with both the accuracy of the methods Schopf used and with the peer review process which led to the paper’s publication. Wacey, for his part, was part of the team that discovered evidence for a different microfossil that once claimed the title of oldest discovered fossil.

6. IT CAN TAKE A LONG TIME TO DIG UP FOSSILS.

Procuring the fossils can feel endless. For example, in 1989, William Zinsmeister found the fossil of an estimated 15-ton, 40-foot-long elasmosaur, which is a Plesiosaur that basically looks like a sea monster. But he found it on Seymour Island in the Antarctic, where excavating isn’t easy. Teams could only work for a few weeks out of the year and only when they had the financial resources. Excavation wasn’t complete until 2017.

7. WE'VE BEEN FINDING FOSSILS FOR A LONG TIME.

Humans have been discovering fossils—and even using them—since very early in our history. At least one member of the Homo heidelbergensis species (one of our ancestors from hundreds of thousands of years ago) created an axe that prominently featured a fossilized sea urchin.

8. FOSSILS MIGHT HELP EXPLAIN ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY.

People found fossils throughout history and didn’t really know what they were, which might help explain some ancient mythology. The Ancient Greeks believed in Cyclopes. One popular explanation why? Ancient elephants once roamed the area. The empty space in their skull where the trunk would go, when found by an ancient person, might have looked like the perfect spot for a single eye.

9. WE ONCE BELIEVED MAMMOTH AND MASTODON FOSSILS WERE THE BONES OF GIANTS.

There are many stories of people finding the large bones from creatures like mammoths and interpreting them as having once belonged to giant humans. In 1712, Puritan minister Cotton Mather (of Salem Witch Trial fame) professed in a letter to the Royal Society of London that parts of a mastodon skeleton were evidence that there were giants in the Americas, and that those giants were taken out by the flood described in the Bible.

10. THE FIRST DINOSAUR FOSSIL WAS FOUND AROUND 1815.

The first identified dino fossil belonged to a Megalosaurus. An array of its bones, including a large lower jawbone, were found around 1815, but it wasn’t until 1824 that William Buckland published an article describing their previous owner as a reptile or “great fossil lizard.”

11. ONE FOSSIL WAS BELIEVED TO BE A HOAX.

A few decades later, an Archaeopteryx fossil was found, which contained both feathers and teeth—an unusual combination. Thomas Henry Huxley, certainly inspired by Charles Darwin’s recently published On the Origin of Species, was the first to claim that dinosaurs and birds were relatives. In 1985, this fossil made headlines again when British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle and five other scientists claimed that the fossil, then sitting in the British Museum of Natural History, was a fake—that the feathers were pressed into stone in modern times. But the museum has since proven those accusations false. Because the fossil was preserved inside of limestone, there are two matching halves to it. Technology can help show that the halves are identical, which wouldn’t be possible if it were human-made.

12. A FOSSIL OF A NON-AVIAN DINOSAUR WITH FEATHERS WAS FOUND IN 1996.

The dino was Sinosauropteryx. The feather impressions—also called dinosaur fuzz—contain preserved melanosomes, which helps determine what colors certain dinosaurs were. Experts believe that Sinosauropteryx had a red and white tail.

13. SOME FEATHER FOSSIL COLORS ARE HARD TO IDENTIFY.

We've also discovered that the Anchiornis had black and white feathers with some red on its head, and the Ichthyosaur had dark skin. Unfortunately, this method can’t be used for all dinosaurs. Some colors, like yellow, are produced through different pathways, and they’re harder to identify.

14. IN 2019, SOME PALEONTOLOGISTS PUBLISHED A PAPER ABOUT THE DAY THE DINOSAURS WENT EXTINCT.

Working in Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota, they discovered fossils of fish, who were part of the 75 percent of the earth’s plant and animal species wiped out that day. Hell Creek is about 2000 miles from where the asteroid struck that caused this destruction. And yet the researchers claimed that it led to big enough waves in this particular river valley that many fish became buried under sediment. Some even had rock, which had supposedly rained down from the sky, in their gills. This research isn’t a sure thing, though, and some geologists argue that Hell Creek could have experienced these geological changes without it necessarily having to do with that asteroid.

15. FOSSILIZED POOP CAN BE PRICEY.

Trace fossils are a great way to learn about how extinct animals behaved. Studying fossilized feces, also known as coprolite, is an important part of paleontology. And some people are just fascinated by it. For instance in 2014, a collector bought a 40-inch coprolite at an auction for over $10,000. That may have been a mistake: It came from a formation in Washington State where similar items have been studied and were actually just the mineral siderite.

16. SOME FOSSIL-FINDERS HAVE FUN NAMING THEIR DISCOVERIES.

In 1985, Australian scientists discovered the fossil of an ancient python in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia, which they named Montypythonoides riversleighensis. Despite the apparent connection to the British comedy legends, the official explanation for the name claimed that it was because “it was found on a small hill or monti” and was broadly like present-day pythons. Sadly for us comedy fans, it was later renamed Morelia riversleighensis.

17. ONE ANCIENT MAMMAL WAS NAMED FOR A ROCKER.

In 2014, a species from 19 million years ago was discovered. It was a mammal, related to the hippopotamus we know today, and it had large lips—so one of its discoverers, Ellen Miller, named it the Jaggermeryx naida, or “Jagger’s water nymph,” after none other than Mick Jagger.

18. LUCY WAS NAMED AFTER A BEATLES SONG.

Lucy lived 3.2 million years ago and was found in 1974. At the time of her discovery she was the earliest and most complete skeleton of an ancient hominin. Donald Johanson was the first to see her bones in Ethiopia and that night, his team was listening to a Beatles cassette when one of them suggested her name, inspired by the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” (For the record, we now have remains of much older hominins than Lucy.)

19. ONE FOSSIL WAS DISCOVERED WITH 38 OFFSPRING.

In 2018, we learned about an exciting mammalian relative that reproduced more like a reptile than a modern mammal. Researchers Eva Hoffman and Timothy Rowe found the skeleton of a K. wellesi that was buried with at least 38 offspring, which is considerably more than modern mammals have in a litter. 

20. A FOSSIL SKULL BELONGING TO A BIG CAT WAS DISCOVERED IN 2010.

Another exciting fill-in-the-gap discovery was the Panthera blytheae in 2010. This was the skull of a big cat, a relative of the snow leopard, which showed that big cats actually lived around 6 million years ago, earlier than previous fossil evidence had indicated. It also showed that big cats evolved in Asia when it had been thought that they evolved exclusively in Africa.

21. WE KNOW ABOUT ANCIENT TICKS THANKS TO FOSSILIZED RESIN.

Another interesting type of fossil is fossilized resin or amber. Many trees contain resin, which can turn into fossils, and when there are critters inside, we can learn about their ancient lives too. For instance, in 2017, a paper was published showing that ticks used to suck the blood of dinosaurs. Scientists already knew that ticks existed back then, but figured they went after other animals. But fossilized amber was found containing a tick from 99 million years ago holding onto a dinosaur feather.

22. THANKS TO FOSSILS, WE KNOW THAT SOME CROCODILE RELATIVES WERE HERBIVORES.

Fossil records can demonstrate the incredible diversity of life on our planet, like the fact that some crocodile relatives were actually herbivores. A different crocodilian was only 20 inches long, and so mammal-like that it was named "cat crocodile."

23. A CONSTRUCTION WORKER FOUND A 110-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSIL AT A WORK SITE.

In 2011, construction worker Shawn Funk found the skeleton of a 110-million-year-old dinosaur at a work site in Alberta, Canada. This Borealopelta was a victim of what experts call “bloat and float.” The animal dies, which causes it to bloat with gases, then it floats through water until it loses that gas and sinks. But 1.5 tons of dinosaur sinking causes quite the disturbance, so this Borealopelta got covered in sediment, preserving it amazingly.

24. FOSSILS LAUNCHED WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE BONE WARS.

The Bone Wars took place in the late 19th century. Many paleontologists were rushing to identify and name a bunch of dinosaur species, including notably Edward Cope and Othniel Marsh. Marsh named the Apatosaurus in 1877 and the Brontosaurus in 1879. Then in 1903, paleontologist Elmer Riggs officially stated that this was the same genus, so the Brontosaurus was an Apatosaurus (because the first to be named keeps its name). But then, in 2015, a 300-page study was published that examined 81 sauropods. Though it wasn’t the original intention of the study, it concluded that the Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are indeed different enough to be considered separate animals. It claimed, amongst other differences, that the Brontosaurus has a higher, thinner neck. Not every paleontologist subscribes to this distinction, though.

25. ONE ANCIENT PENGUIN PREDECESSOR WAS OVER 5 FEET TALL.

In 2018, a fossil of the Crossvallia waiparensis was discovered in New Zealand. This prehistoric penguin lived between around 56 and 66 million years ago, and based on the skeleton, researchers determined that it was about 5 foot 3 inches tall. It's one big bird, but it's not the tallest penguin predecessor in history: Palaeeudyptes klekowskii could have been 6 foot 5.

Source: www.mentalfloss.com/

Some movies are about history, but others deal with matters that predate history. There’s something fascinating about prehistoric times, and it gets even more intriguing when you bring those ancient matters into our own world. Many movies deal with prehistory one way or another, even if they aren’t all set entirely in a time before we started keeping a record of what was going on. This is a collection of films that are at least partially prehistoric.

“10,000 BC” (2008)

We’re not starting with a big movie, but with one that has a year from prehistory as its title. “10,000 BC” is a Roland Emmerich film, so it’s basically a big, sloppy action movie but only set in ancient times. There are mammoths instead of aliens. Many consider this to be Emmerich’s worst film, which is saying something.

“The Flintstones” (1994)

No, “The Flintstones” is not accurate. Humans didn’t live alongside dinosaurs, much less have bird can openers. However, the Flintstones truly is the modern Stone Age family. It’s basically “The Honeymooners” in prehistoric times, but with a lot of added modern flavor. That’s the TV show, of course. The film isn’t animated but instead stars the likes of John Goodman in a live-action adaptation of the iconic cartoon.

“One Million Years B.C.” (1966)

Years before Emmerich made his film, another movie went way further into prehistory. “One Million Years B.C.” is actually a remake of a 1940 film, but this is the one people remember because it starred Raquel Welch and had stop-motion animation from the legendary Ray Harryhausen.

“Caveman” (1981)

A broad caveman comedy starring Ringo Starr and directed by the co-writer of “Jaws?” It happened! “Caveman” is kind of a crazy slice of film history for its weirdness. Most of the movie is done in a made-up caveman language. One good thing came out of this film, at least. Ringo Starr met Barbara Bach on “Caveman,” and the two got married a year later.

“The Clan of the Cave Bear” (1986)

“The Clan of the Cave Bear” stars Daryl Hannah as a Cro-Magnon woman raised by, and living with, a Neanderthal clan. There is little dialogue and characters mostly use sign language. The film was based on the first book in a five-book series, but it was a major flop. It made a mere $2 million against an $18 million budget.

“The Croods” (2013)

“The Croods” is one of those animated family films that feels totally forgettable if you don’t have kids but made a shocking amount of money. The film also has a really impressive cast, including Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and Nicolas Cage. “The Croods” was successful enough to receive a Netflix spinoff and a sequel movie that hit in 2020.

“The Good Dinosaur” (2015)

It’s fair to call “The Good Dinosaur” the least-remembered Pixar movie, right? Are we reminding you it exists right now? Do you remember the moves it came out between? Can you name one thing that happens in it? “The Good Dinosaur,” which by the way came out the same year as “Inside Out,” is set in a world where the dinosaurs never go extinct and are around when humans arise. It’s arguably the only financial flop Pixar has ever produced.

“Early Man” (2017)

You either like Nick Parks’ animation style (and low-key comedy) or you don’t. Have you enjoyed the “Wallace & Gromit” films? Then you should check out “Early Man.” If not, though, it probably won’t be up your alley, unless you really like stories about prehistoric people living in the Stone Age.

“Ice Age” (2002)

We know there have been several “Ice Age” sequels, but we don’t want to just list a bunch of sequels in this article. As such, consider this an entry for every “Ice Age” film. The movies, which focus on talking animals voiced by the likes of Ray Romano and Denis Leary, have proven quite popular. And shout out to Scrat and his endless quest for acorns.

“The Land Before Time” (1988)

Speaking of sequels, there have been so many “The Land Before Time” movies at this point. There have actually been a whopping 14 movies in this series, but all of them save for the first one have been direct-to-video. Hey, there will always be kids who want to watch movies about kid dinosaurs going on adventures, right?

“Brother Bear” (2003)

“Brother Bear” is quite notable, as it is the final animated movie Disney made at its studios down in Orlando, Florida before they moved to making exclusively computer-animated films. It also features Rick Moranis’ last role in a theatrically-released film, and his last role to date was the 2006 direct-to-DVD sequel “Brother Bear 2.” All that yielded an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, even if “Brother Bear” has certainly not entered the Disney canon at this point.

“Quest for Fire” (1981)

“Quest for Fire” is about a tribe of cavemen on, well, a quest for fire. Hey, the control of fire was huge for human civilization. While the movie uses an invented language, the movie is a Canadian-French co-production, which is how it was eligible to win Best Picture at the Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. “Quest for Fire” also won an Academy Award for Best Makeup.

“Jurassic Park” (1993)

Welcome to Jurassic Park. As we said, all of these movies aren’t taking place in prehistory. They just involve prehistory elements. “Jurassic Park” certainly is that kind of film. As you surely know, it’s about dinosaurs being brought back at a planned amusement park. It doesn’t go well. Jeff Goldblum is involved. “Jurassic Park” is one of the biggest blockbusters and most-beloved movies ever. It has inspired four sequels.

“Conan the Barbarian” (1982)

Technically, “Conan the Barbarian” takes place in a fantasy world in the fictional Hyborian Age of Earth’s history. However, it’s clearly prehistory, even if it is not entirely real. Just take one look at Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Conan garb and you get clear prehistoric vibes.

“Encino Man” (1992)

Brendan Fraser must like playing a man out of time. He starred in “Blast From the Past,” where he plays a guy who went into a bomb shelter in the ‘50s and emerged decades later. In “Encino Man,” he spends even more time away from the world. Fraser plays a caveman who is frozen during the Ice Age and thawed out in 1990s Los Angeles. Then, he gets to hang out with Sean Astin and Pauly Shore. It’s a really wacky comedy.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)

A bunch of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Stanley Kubrick’s epic movie, takes place in what was then the future. Of course, there’s also the films famous opening. A bunch of early humanlike being basically discover tools, and quickly tools become weapons. A bone is thrown into the sky, it is match cut into a spaceship, and “2001” goes from there.

“History of the World, Part I” (1981)

This is basically a sketch movie set in different historical eras, starting with the Stone Age. It’s a Mel Brooks movie, and not the best one, so there are some funny bits and some that don’t really work. You see the invention of fire, the invention of art, the invention of art criticism, and so on. Nothing stands out like the big Spanish Inquisition musical number from later in the movie, but “History of the World, Part I” begins with prehistory.

“Year One” (2009)

Unfortunately, “Year One” was Harold Ramis’ last film. It’s not exactly the most glamorous way to go out. The movie is about two cavemen (Jack Black and Michael Cera) heading out into the world. There’s a lot of religious stuff in there, but we’re talking Cain and Abel and things of that ilk, so it is technically still prehistory since the Bible isn’t pretending that those things were written down as they happened.

“Land of the Lost” (2009)

Speaking of flops, “Land of the Lost” showed the limits of Will Ferrell’s star power. A goofy comedy based on an old ‘70s show about a family that falls into a world of dinosaurs? That could work. Just look at those “Brady Bunch” movies. Alas, “Land of the Lost” was a total flop, both critically and commercially. Just stick to the TV show.

“We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story” (1993)

“We’re Back!” kind of gives away the premise in its title. It’s about dinosaurs, fun, talking cartoon dinosaurs, arriving in 1990s New York. They are a bit smaller than most dinosaurs, though, and this movie is also slimmer than most at a mere 71 minutes. Also, it was produced by Stephen Spielberg’s animation company. Apparently, Spielberg had dinosaurs on the brain in 1993.

“Lost Continent” (1951)

There are many movies about people, scientists usually, finding some uncharted space on the planet Earth where dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures still roam the land. “Lost Continent” is one of those films, but it is noteworthy for two reasons. One, the stop-motion dinosaurs. Two, the movie stars Cesar Romero, aka Joker on the ‘60s version of “Batman.”

“Night at the Museum” (2006)

The “Night of the Museum” movies are basically about Ben Stiller being a harried watchman at a museum dealing with exhibits coming to life. Sure, Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt or Owen Wilson as a random cowboy gets more love. However, there are also Neanderthals in the mix, as well as a talking Easter Island head voiced by Brad Garrett. That counts.

“Iceman” (1984)

No, this isn’t about Val Kilmer’s character from “Top Gun.” It’s another movie about a caveman frozen in ice that is revived in modern times. “Iceman” is no “Encino Man,” though. It’s a dark and serious drama with a lot on its mind, which is not what you would say about any Pauly Shore film.

“Eegah” (1962)

If you are wondering if “Eegah” is any good, just know that it is the centerpiece of one of the best episodes of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” Richard Kiel, best known as Jaws in a couple of James Bond movies, plays Eegah, a caveman in modern times. The movie is truly awful. Watch out for snakes!

“Alpha” (2018)

We end, oddly enough, with a movie named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Kind of like a prehistoric “Call of the Wild,” “Alpha” is about a teenage boy who befriends an injured wolf during a hunt around the time of the last Ice Age. Unlike that “Call of the Wild” movie, they used an actual dog instead of a bizarre animated dog.

Source: www.yardbarker.com/

An early mammal called Priacodon fruitaensis was well adapted for powerful and precise biting, and had a varied faunivorous diet that likely included insects and small vertebrates, according to a University of Bonn-led study.

Priacodon fruitaensis lived approximately 150 million years ago (Jurassic period) in what is now Colorado, the United States.

The prehistoric animal was less than 20 cm (8 inches) in length and had a mass between 41 and 61 g.

Priacodon fruitaensis was first described in 1981 from a fossilized jaw found in rocks of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation.

It belongs to Triconodontidae, an extinct family of early crown mammals with a fossil record from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous epoch.

In new research, Dr. Kai Jäger and his colleagues from the Institute for Geosciences at the University of Bonn and Oklahoma’s Museum of Natural History examined the molar occlusion, jaw movement and morphology of Priacodon fruitaensis.

“Until now, it was unclear exactly how the teeth in the upper and lower jaws of Priacodon fruitaensis fit together. We have now been able to answer that question,” said co-author Professor Thomas Martin, a paleontologist in the Institute for Geosciences at the University of Bonn.

The researchers used a special tomography method to produce high-resolution 3D images of Priacodon fruitaensis’ molars.

“The upper and lower jaws each contain several molars,” they said.

“In the predecessors of mammals, molar 1 of the upper jaw would bite down precisely on molar 1 of the lower jaw when chewing.”

“In more developed mammals, however, the rows of teeth are shifted against each other.”

“Molar 1 at the top therefore hits exactly between molar 1 and molar 2 when biting down, so that it comes into contact with two molars instead of one.”

“We compared both options on the computer. This showed that the animal bit down like a modern mammal,” Dr. Jäger said.

“Its dentition must have made it easy for Priacodon fruitaensis to cut the flesh of its prey. However, the animal was probably not a pure carnivore: its molars have cone-shaped elevations, similar to the peaks of a mountain.”

“Such cusps are particularly useful for perforating and crushing insect carapaces.”

“They are therefore also found in today’s insectivores. However, the combination of carnivore and insectivore teeth is probably unique in this form.”

“The cusps are also noticeable in other ways. They are practically the same size in all molars. This made the dentition extremely precise and efficient.”

“However, these advantages came at a price: small changes in the structure of the cusps would probably have dramatically worsened the chewing performance.”

“This potentially made it more difficult for the dental apparatus to evolve,” Dr. Jäger said.

“This type of dentition has in fact survived almost unchanged in certain lineages of evolutionary history over a period of 80 million years.”

“At some point, however, its owners became extinct — perhaps because their teeth could not adapt to changing food conditions.”

The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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K.R.K. Jäger et al. 2020. Molar occlusion and jaw roll in early crown mammals. Sci Rep 10, 22378; doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79159-4

Source: www.sci-news.com/

Jurassic Park may not be as complex as some sci-fi, but there are layers to the dino-thriller's ending that not all fans caught on first viewing.

The ending of Jurassic Park may not be as complicated as some sci-fi blockbusters, but there are layers to Spielberg’s “theme park gone wrong” disaster thriller that not all fans caught on first viewing. Released in 1993, Jurassic Park was a massive hit for Jaws director Steven Spielberg and became a rare blockbuster to earn both critical acclaim and commercial success. The simple story of a theme park populated with cloned dinosaurs that soon turns into a nightmare, the movie fused commentary on scientific experimentation with mile-a-minute action to great effect.

Author Michael Crichton had previously explored similar territory with the earlier hit Westworld. However, Jurassic Park’s movie adaptation was a more family-friendly blockbuster with engaging characters and some all-time great tense set-pieces. But beneath the movie's tense, fun action, there is plentiful symbolism and commentary on science, technology, and humanity's hubris coming from both the original author and Spielberg.

The ending of Jurassic Park ties its loose ends together neatly and repeatedly revisits the recurring idea that “life finds a way.” The movie’s ending suggests that the park may have been a disastrous failure for humans, but the dinosaurs are still majestic creatures who survived despite the odds. As such, it’s the individual flaws of characters like John Hammond and Denis Nedry that Jurassic Park’s ending condemns while celebrating the dinosaur’s survival and Grant’s character growth, both of which illustrate that life will always find a way.

Why The T-Rex Saves The Humans In Jurassic Park's Ending

The T-Rex’s surprise reappearance at the close of Jurassic Park makes for a deeply satisfying bit of blockbuster action as the music swells and the movie’s main monster ends up accidentally saving the remaining humans from the raptors. It’s a great bit of subverted expectation, as the viewer has by now likely forgotten about the T-Rex, thanks to the tense raptor chase through the visitor's center. But the scene serves more than just a narrative purpose. In thematic terms, the image of the T-Rex standing in the destroyed remnants of the visitors’ center as the welcome banner falls is symbolically significant, as it displays that life will indeed “find a way,” with the T-Rex surviving even as the theme park it was created for crumbles. The life created for Jurassic Park thrives, but the hubris and arrogance that tried to contain this life fall asunder.

Alan Grant's Jurassic Park Ending Is His Greatest Find

Dr. Alan Grant’s character arc in the first Jurassic Park (unfortunately undone in Jurassic Park III and hopefully soon to be fixed by Jurassic World: Dominion) mirrors what the film is trying to say about "life finding a way." The shot of Sattler looking approvingly at a sleepy Grant as the kids rest on his shoulder is the representative of his growth as a character. In the film’s opening, Grant terrifying a kid visiting the archaeological dig proves he’s not good with children, but during the action of Jurassic Park the kids come to rely on him and Grant rises to this challenge. Their sleeping on his shoulder shows he’s a stable father figure now, and Neill’s previously stand-offish character has shown a lot of skill in the parental caregiving role he was forced into. As the movie leaves Jurassic Park's islands behind, life has found a way to mature and develop Grant’s character.

What Happens To Ray Arnold In Jurassic Park

Although his death isn’t seen onscreen, Ray Arnold is very much dead by the end of Jurassic Park’s action. The reason he isn’t seen after leaving to reboot the island’s system manually is that the raptors managed to hunt him down and kill him, a fate heavily implied by Sattler’s discovery of his severed arm. In an odd coincidence, a real-life tropical storm stopped the production from being able to film the death scene of Samuel L Jackson’s character, leaving some viewers to wonder about his fate. Although his dismemberment was never staged, the character is still canonically deceased according to the Jurassic Park/World franchise.

Jurassic Park Was A Failure (But Still Has A Future)

The end of Jurassic Park leaves not only Grant, Sattler, Dr. Ian Malcolm, and the kids alive, but also park proprietor John Hammond (the eccentric billionaire who funded the entire endeavor). This is important, as the movie portrays the park’s failure being caused specifically by Dennis Nedry’s dangerous, malicious decision to compromise the internal systems, rather than because the entire idea of a dinosaur theme park is inherently lethal. Nedry is killed after he causes the park’s failure, and there’s no reason to think the park wouldn’t have worked if he hadn’t intervened. The actions of a handful of bad actors such as Dennis Nedry and Dodgson (soon to return in Jurassic World: Dominion) led to the failure of the eponymous park, so with Nedry neutralized, the ending sets up the possibility of returning to the islands to try fixing his failures in the sequels.

What The Birds At The End Of Jurassic Park Mean

The flock of pelicans seen by the survivors sitting in the helicopter at the end of Jurassic Park serves two metaphorical purposes. They’re the first normal animals the group has seen since the goat devoured by an offscreen T-Rex early on in the movie, so their presence is a comforting reminder that the characters are returning to normality from the madness of the eponymous park. However, earlier in the film, a comparison was also drawn between dinosaurs and birds that evolved from them, so Jurassic Park is also using this shot to illustrate that like the pelicans, the dinosaurs aren’t necessarily monsters but rather just another of nature’s majestic creations (albeit one of the more dangerous ones), and with the humans gone and the island to themselves, they'll soon be returning to "normality" too. Also in terms of practical storytelling, seeing the birds fly away from the island reminds viewers that the helicopter is not the only thing able to leave Isla Nublar, thus setting up the sequels.

What Jurassic Park's Ending Really Means

Jurassic Park touches on the dangers of people trying to play God, but in Spielberg’s movie, the experimentation Hammond does isn't explicitly condemned as much as his profit-spinning is. His decision to trust embittered, underpaid staffers such as Dennis Nedry leads to the theme park's failure rather than the act of cloning dinosaurs itself, and his choice to clone more "exciting" (read: profitable) predators such as the T-rex endangers the park's occupants. The survival of Jurassic Park's dinosaurs suggests that life will “find a way,” regardless of whether Nedry's malicious intent or Hammond's money-spinning compromises the experiments. The dinosaurs themselves are frequently described as beautiful by Sattler, Grant, and the rest of the cast, who have a real reverence for them and are awed by their presence. Thus, Jurassic Park suggests that the dinosaurs aren't monsters but the humans cloning them must be careful, as life will always survive even if the humans trying to control it aren't so lucky. Hammond’s attempts to profit off the majesty of the dinosaurs are punished through the destruction of his park, while Nedry’s attempts to steal the dinosaur DNA are more directly punished with his gruesome death.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

Looking to add a little dinosaur terror and mayhem to your life? Apparently lots of folks are judging by the reception a new sale price for the Jurassic World 5-Movie Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray box set has received at Amazon.

Earlier today Amazon dropped the price on this popular box set under $60 to $49.96. That’s 33% off the $75 list price and the lowest we’ve spotted it yet.

Though the set won’t likely arrive until after Christmas, even for Amazon Prime members, sales has been strong. The Jurassic World 5-Movie Collection 4K set has jumped up to the number one position on Amazon’s Blu-ray Bestsellers chart. That’s no small feat when there are other titles on sale for the holidays as well.

The Jurassic World 5-Movie Collection 4K box set includes Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in glorious 4K video.

Grab the Jurassic World 5-Movie Collection 4K set at Amazon on sale, while supplies last.

We may be paid a small commission for any services or products ordered through select links on this page.

A team of paleontologists from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found a new genus and species of fossil angiosperm in the mid-Cretaceous amber deposits of Myanmar.

The new fossil flower, named Valviloculus pleristaminis, belongs to the order Laurales, its closest affinities being with the families Monimiaceae and Atherospermataceae.

“This isn’t quite a Christmas flower but it is a beauty, especially considering it was part of a forest that existed almost 100 million years ago,” said lead author Professor George Poinar Jr., a paleontologist in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University.

“The male flower is tiny, about 2 mm across, but it has some 50 stamens arranged like a spiral, with anthers pointing toward the sky.”

“A stamen consists of an anther (pollen-producing head) and a filament (stalk that connects the anther to the flower).”

“Despite being so small, the detail still remaining is amazing.”

“Our specimen was probably part of a cluster on the plant that contained many similar flowers, some possibly female.”

The specimen of Valviloculus pleristaminis has an egg-shaped, hollow floral cup (part of the flower from which the stamens emanate); an outer layer consisting of six petal-like components known as tepals; and two-chamber anthers, with pollen sacs that split open via laterally hinged valves.

It became encased in amber on the supercontinent of Gondwana and rafted on a continental plate some 6,450 km (4,000 miles) across the ocean from Australia to Southeast Asia.

Geologists have been debating just when this chunk of land — known as the West Burma Block — broke away from Gondwana.

Some scientists believe it was 200 million years ago; others claim it was more like 500 million years ago.

“Since angiosperms only evolved and diversified about 100 million years ago, the West Burma Block could not have broken off from Gondwana before then, which is much later than dates that have been suggested by geologists,” Professor Poinar said.

The discovery is described in a paper in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

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G.O. Poinar, Jr. et al. 2020. Valviloculus pleristaminis gen. et sp. nov., a Lauralean fossil flower with valvate anthers from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 14 (2): 359-366; doi: 10.17348/jbrit.v14.i2.1014

Source: www.sci-news.com/

Earth can be ruthlessly temperamental. Archaeologists found that out when the entire city of Pompeii emerged from volcanic ash, but millions of years before the fateful Mt. Vesuvius eruption, could the same thing have happened to dinosaurs on the other side of the planet?

Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis fossils that were unearthed from the Lujitan outcropping of China’s Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, seem to suggest that. These creatures are basically what you would get if you Frankensteined the head of a parrot onto the body of an oversized lizard. Many dinosaurs that perished in this area were found to have met their end from pyroclastic flows or lahar, which (as if lava wasn’t bad enough) is a deadly gloop of volcano vomit and mud. While volcanic tantrums in this “Cretaceous Pompeii” froze many dinosaurs in time, it wasn’t the case for the two impeccably preserved psittacosaurs.

“Famous for 3D Early Cretaceous dinosaurs and mammals, [Lujitan] has unresolved depositional, taphonomic and stratigraphic settings,” said Elaine Chen, who led a study recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical union. “LA- ICP-MS dating of zircons extracted from matrix of two Lujiatun blocks with articulated Psittacosaurus provide tests of competing hypotheses of taphonomy.”

What made this prehistoric mystery even more confusing was the level at which the skeletons were preserved. Dinosaurs drowned in lava have sometimes revealed fragments of feathers and soft tissue, some of which even retained coloration. Not unlike Changmaiania lianingensis, which was discovered earlier this year and believed to be a victim of lava or lahar, they appear to have just gone to sleep and never woken up.

The problem is that zircon in the sediment grains surrounding and on the skeleton showed they were 250 million to 2.5 billion years old. The petrified volcanic deposits of Lujitan are only around 150 million years old. Psittacosaurs were not roaming the Earth billions of years ago, but the older rock particles are indicative of mud rather than lava, and the mud could be a sign of something else. It is possible that the one thing P. lujiatunensis and C. lianingensis have in common is that they were both burrowing dinosaurs. Until now, there has been no evidence that any type of psittacosaur dug burrows, and while this theory has not been proven conclusively, it is plausible.

Burrowing could also explain how a mudslide engulfed the sleeping dinosaurs that ended up being fossilized in what appears to be an eternal sleep.

“Given the complete articulation of Psittacosaurus and most other dinosaurs and mammals, the simplest hypothesis for their burial is attrition in burrows,” Chen said.

So how did sediment even older than the dinosaurs even get there? It could have been carried by the flow of a river. If that river flooded and the burrow collapsed into a mud pit, that would explain why these skeletons are so incredibly articulated.

C. lianingensis was found to be a burrower because of certain morphological characteristics. Its short but sturdy neck and forearms, along with a shovel-shaped snout and shoulder blades that were not too different from extant burrowing vertebrates like moles and rabbits, suggested it liked to hide out underground. Psittacosaur snouts were shaped more like a parrot’s beak than a shovel. While most parrots do not burrow — with the exception of one bizarre species from Chile and Argentina — it is not completely out of the question for a psitaccosaur. While some paleontologists argue that their forelimbs were too short for this behavior, there is also an argument that they could have used their hindlimbs.

There are some parallels between the preservation of Pompeii and this “Cretaceous Pompeii.” What most tourists don’t know is that the human shapes in the ancient ruins are an eerie throwback to what happened that day; what they don’t know is that most preserved remains were skeletons. When archaeologists took a closer look at the city when it was still buried, they noticed human-shaped voids in the ash. The voids were perfect 3-D impressions of the people who had once lived in the ancient Roman city. Once bones were removed for study, plaster was poured into them, producing identical casts of the bodies that would be displayed in museums as well as the petrified disaster area.

Dinosaurs that were covered by pyroclasic flows of lava, ash, and volcanic gas are examples of a similar phenomenon. Their bones are then studied and displayed since there is no perceived ethical dilemma about showing off dinosaur remains in a museum as opposed to human remains.

Whether this or any other species of psittacosaur actually hid out from predators underground remains a mystery. Maybe a burrow frozen in time will someday come to the surface.

Source: www.syfy.com/

An ancient wolf pup, named Zhùr (means ‘wolf’ in the Hän language of the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people), lived approximately 57,000 years ago and died in her den during a collapse of the sediments; during her short life, she ate aquatic resources, and is related to ancient Beringian and Siberian gray wolves (Canis lupus), according to new research led by Des Moines University.

Zhùr, which measures 41.7 cm (16.4 inches) from snout to base of tail and weighs 670 g, is the most complete wolf mummy known.

She was discovered in July 2016 in thawing permafrost in the Klondike goldfields, near Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.

Her mummified carcass was recovered along a small tributary of Last Chance Creek during hydraulic thawing that exposed the permafrost sediment in which it was preserved.

Zhùr’s preservation was exceptional, from the papillae on her lips to her skin and fur.

“We think she was in her den and died instantaneously by den collapse,” said lead author Dr. Julie Meachen, a researcher in the Department of Anatomy at Des Moines University.

“Our data showed that she didn’t starve and was about 7 weeks old when she died, so we feel a bit better knowing the poor little girl didn’t suffer for too long.”

By studying stable isotopes from Zhùr’s hair and tooth samples, Dr. Meachen and colleagues were able to determine that her mother had a diet heavy in aquatic resources.

That probably meant seasonal consumption of fish from the Klondike River, which still has a modern-day spawning population of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

“Normally when you think of wolves in the Ice Age, you think of them eating bison or musk oxen or other large animals on land,” Dr. Meachen said.

“One thing that surprised us was that she was eating aquatic resources, particularly salmon.”

Through DNA testing of Zhùr and 29 other ancient and present-day wolves, the scientists were also able to connect her genetics to ancient Beringian and Siberian gray wolves, as well as modern gray wolves.

That includes individuals from both Eurasia and North America, highlighting the connections maintained between those continents as animals moved across the Bering Land Bridge.

“We’ve been asked why she was the only wolf found in the den, and what happened to her mom or siblings,” Dr. Meachen said.

“It could be that she was an only pup. Or the other wolves weren’t in the den during the collapse. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.”

“I feel a sense of privilege and gratitude for being able to work on a piece like this,” said co-author Dr. Matthew Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“A silver lining of climate change is that we may see more of them.”

The team’s paper was published in the journal Current Biology.

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Julie Meachen et al. 2020. A mummified Pleistocene gray wolf pup. Current Biology 30 (24): 1467-R1468; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.011

Source: www.sci-news.com/