Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Topic

trace fossils

Wanneria_sp.,_Early_Cambrian,_Eager_Formation,_Cranbrook,_BC,_Canada_-_Houston_Museum_of_Natural_Science_-_DSC01398
Photo credit: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Dodging the Main Issue in the Cambrian Explosion

In three papers, scientists babble about irrelevant details but ignore the main question: the origin of new genetic information for new body plans and organs. Read More ›
Cyclomedusa_Muséum_Grenoble_03082017
Photo credit: Vassil, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fossil Friday: An Ediacaran Animal with a Question Mark

To claim that such undefinable blobs in sandstone represent fossils of the oldest motile animals is massively overselling the evidence to say the least. Read More ›
Dickinsonia
Photo: Dickinsonia, by Smith609 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fossil Friday: Dickinsonia, the Ediacaran Animal that Wasn’t

Gregory Retallack is a kind of maverick paleontologist, who endorses a fringe hypothesis that Ediacaran organisms were not marine but terrestrial lichens. Read More ›
Dubautia menziesii
Photo: Dubautia menziesii, by Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fact Check: Hawaiian Silverswords Fail the Species Pair Challenge

Even though the differences appear superficially striking, they do not involve any novel body plans (i.e., no new proteins, new tissues, or new organs). Read More ›
Kimberella quadrata
Kimberella quadrata
Image: Kimberella quadrata, by MUSE / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0).

Kimberella — The Oldest Radula (Not)

There is a strange fact that shows that any interpretation of these trace fossils has to be taken with a grain of salt. Read More ›
Ventral death-mask of Kimberella quadrata
Ventral death-mask of Kimberella quadrata
Kimberella quadrata, an Edicaran organism, by Masahiro miyasaka / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Kimberella — Traces and a Trace-maker

The body fossils are generally positioned at the focal points of the fan-shaped scratch marks. Read More ›
Kimberella quadrata with associated scratch marks
Kimberella quadrata with associated scratch marks
Photo: Kimberella quadrata with associated scratch marks as putative feeding traces, by Masahiro miyasaka / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Kimberella — Controversial Scratch Marks

A former teacher of mine was the late Adolf Seilacher, who was a leading authority on trace fossils and who for obvious reasons preferred to be called "Dolf." Read More ›
Kimberella quadrata
Kimberella quadrata
Photo: Kimberella quadrata, by Ghedoghedo / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0).

Kimberella — Interpreting the Fossils

One of the few features that are uncontroversial is the body size: The fossils measure usually 1-5 cm in length. Read More ›
Kimberella
Kimberella
Masahiro miyasaka / CC Photo: Kimberella fossil, BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Kimberella — Conflicting Evidence from Taphonomy

The fossilization of Kimberella specimens was most likely based on rapid burial with sand during storm events. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute