2009-07-02 – Germania: Flauto preistorico (Germany, Prehistoric Flute)

GERMANIA: TROVATO UN FLAUTO PREISTORICO DI 35. 000 ANNI

(AGI) – Parigi, 24 giu. – La Germania si sta rivelando una miniera di reperti preistorici. Un flauto risalente a 35.000 anni fa e’ stato ritrovato vicino Ulm nella valle di Ach, nel Sud del Paese nello stesso sito dove e’ stata rinvenuta la cosiddetta ‘Venere di Hohle Fels’ una statuina di avorio raffigurante una donna appena abbozzata. La scoperta’ e’ frutto del lavoro di un’equipe di archeologi guidati da Nicholas Conard. Secondo quanto riferisce Nature il flauto, realizzato con un osso di avvoltoio ha cinque buchi, e’ lungo 22 centimetri e si puo’ suonare come uno strumento attuale.

fonte: http://www.agi.it/estero/notizie/200906242311-est-rt11367-germania_trovato_un_flauto_preistorico_di_35_000_anni

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Prehistoric flute in Germany is oldest known

June 24th, 2009

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–>EnlargeThe flute. Foto: H. Jensen. Copyright: Universität Tübingen.

Excavations in the summer of 2008 at the sites of Hohle Fels and Vogelherd produced new evidence for Paleolithic music in the form of the remains of one nearly complete bone flute and isolated small fragments of three ivory flutes.

 

 

 

 

 

The most significant of these finds, a nearly complete bone flute, was recovered in the basal Aurignacian deposits at Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley, 20 km west of Ulm. The flute was found in 12 pieces. The fragments were distributed over a vertical distance of 3 cm over a horizontal area of about 10 x 20 cm. This flute is by far the most complete of all of the musical instruments thus far recovered from the caves of Swabia.

The preserved portion of the bone flute from Hohle Fels has a length of 21.8 cm and a diameter of about 8 mm. The flute preserves five finger holes. The surfaces of the flute and the structure of the bone are in excellent condition and reveal many details about the manufacture of the flute. The maker carved two deep, V-shaped notches into one end of the instrument, presumably to form the proximal end of the flute into which the musician blew. The find density in this stratum is moderately high with much flint knapping debris, worked bone and ivory, bones of horse, reindeer, mammoth, cave bear, ibex, as well as burnt bone. No diagnostic human bones have been found in deposits of the Swabian Aurignacian, but we assume that modern humans produced the artifacts from the basal Aurignacian deposits shortly after their arrival in the region following a migration up the Danube Corridor.

The maker of the flute carved the instrument from the radius of a griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus). This species has a wingspan between 230 and 265 cm and provides bones ideal for large flutes. Griffon vultures and other vultures are documented in the Upper Paleolithic sediments of the Swabian caves.

The 2008 excavations at Hohle Fels also recovered two small fragments of what are almost certainly two ivory flutes from the basal Aurignacian. The different dimensions of the fragments indicate that the two finds are not from the same instrument. Excavators at Vogelherd in the Lone Valley 25 km northwest of Ulm recovered another isolated fragment of another ivory flute.

The technology for making an ivory flute is much more complicated than making a flute from a bird bone. This process requires forming the rough shape along the long axis of a naturally curved piece of ivory, splitting it open along one of the bedding plains in the ivory, carefully hollowing out the halves, carving the holes, and then rejoining the halves of the flute with an air-tight seal. Given the tendency of delicate ivory artifacts to break into many pieces, it is not unusual to find isolated pieces of such artifacts.

The 10 radiocarbon dates from the basal Aurignacian fall between 31 and 40 ka BP. Available calibrations and independent controls using other methods indicate that the flutes from Hohle Fels predate 35,000 calendar years ago. Apart from the caves of the Swabian Jura there is no convincing evidence for musical instruments predating 30 ka BP.

These finds demonstrate that music played an important role in Aurignacian life in the Ach and Lone valleys of southwestern Germany. Most of these flutes are from archaeological contexts containing an abundance of organic and lithic artifacts, hunted fauna, and burnt bone. This evidence suggests that the inhabitants of the sites played musical instruments in diverse social and cultural contexts and that flutes were discarded with many other forms of occupational debris. In the case of Hohle Fels, the location of the bone flute in a thin archaeological horizon only 70 cm away from a female figurine of similar age suggests that a possible contextual link exists between these two finds.

The flutes from Hohle Fels, Vogelherd and previous finds from nearby Geißenklösterle Cave demonstrate that a musical tradition existed in the cultural repertoire of the Aurignacian around the time modern humans settled in the Upper Danube region. The development of a musical tradition in the Aurignacian accompanied the development of the early figurative art and numerous innovations, including a wide array of new forms of personal ornaments, as well as new lithic and organic technologies. The presence of music in the lives of Upper Paleolithic peoples did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy and greater reproductive success, but music seems to have contributed to improved social cohesion and new forms of communication, which indirectly contributed to demographic expansion of modern humans relative to the culturally more conservative Neanderthal populations.

The flutes from the caves of the Swabian Jura constitute a key part a major exhibit in Stuttgart entitled Ice Age Art and Culture, which will run from September 18, 2009 – January 10, 2010.

More information: The authors of the paper “New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany” are Nicholas J. Conard Maria Malina and Susanne C. Münzel. The paper will be published as Advance online publication in Nature, June 25, 2009.

Provided by Universitaet Tuebingen

source: http://www.physorg.com/news165069257.html

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2009-05-12 – Darwinius masillae: l’anello mancante dell’evoluzione umana? (missing link of human evolution?)

Trovato l’anello mancante dell’evoluzione: un Adapide di oltre 37 milioni di anni fa

LONDRA (10 maggio) – La Bbc ha preparato uno straordinario documentario, presentato da David Attenborough, in cui rivelerà la scoperta di uno scheletro fossilizzato che rappresenterebbe l’anello mancante dell’evoluzione umana. Secondo il Mail on Sunday il documentario è top secret, ma fonti negli Usa dicono che la rivoluzionaria scoperta verrà presentata il prossimo 19 maggio da un gruppo di scienziati e documentaristi a New York. In quell’occasione verrà presentato il primo scheletro intero mai trovato di un particolare tipo di un animale che si chiamava Adapide, battezzato Darwinius masillae: le ossa fossilizzate, che hanno dai 37 ai 47 milioni di anni, sono stati trovati nella cava Messel in Germania, un sito famoso per i suoi fossili.

L’animale, una femmina, somiglia a un lemure (il mammifero dalla lunga coda che vive in Madagascar). Attenborough spiegherà che i ricercatori hanno concluso che quell’animale non è semplicemente un antenato dei lemuri (mancano diverse caratteristiche), ma fa parte di un gruppo collegato di primati che si sarebbero evoluti in scimmie ed esseri umani.

Lo studio cui fa riferimento la Bbc verrà pubblicato dalla rivista angloamericana “Public library of science”. Philip Gingerich, presidente della Us paleontological society, co-autore dello studio, ha detto al Mail: «Ho esaminato questo scheletro, è incredibilmente completo e datato con precisione. Lo abbiamo tenuto nascosto perché non si può parlare di qualcosa finché non la capisci a fondo. Ora abbiamo capito, farà progredire la nostra conoscenza dell’evoluzione». Interpellato sul documentario Bbc, Sir David ha risposto: «Temo di non essere autorizzato a parlarne».

fonte: IlMessaggero.it

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Is David Attenborough set to reveal the Missing Link in human evolution?

By Sharon Churcher

The BBC has made an extraordinary new documentary, presented by Sir David Attenborough, which will reveal the discovery of a fossilised skeleton that may be a vital ‘missing link’ in human evolution.

The 90-minute programme is top secret but The Mail on Sunday has learned from sources in America that the results of the study on which it is based will be revealed by a team of scientists and broadcasters in New York on May 19.

The centrepiece of the programme is the unveiling of the first-ever complete skeleton of an extinct animal called an adapid.

Relative values: Sir David Attenborough with a lemur – one of the creatures at the centre of the fossil debate

The fossilised bones, which are thought to be between 37 and 47million years old, were found in Germany’s Messel Shale Pit, a disused quarry near Frankfurt famous for its fossils.

The team who examined the young female animal say it has some resemblance to a lemur, a mammal with a distinctive tail that is found to this day in the forests of Madagascar.

But Sir David’s documentary will explain that the researchers have, controversially, concluded the fossil ‘is not simply a lemur’ but from a related group of primates which evolved into monkeys, apes and human beings.

The BBC programme is based on a scientific study to be published by the Public Library of Science, a leading academic journal with offices in Cambridge and San Francisco.

Last night, the study’s co-author, Philip Gingerich, the president-elect of the US Paleontological Society, said: ‘I examined this skeleton. It is exceptionally complete and it is well-dated.

We have kept it under wraps because you can’t blither about something until you understand it. We now understand it. It is going to advance our knowledge of evolution.’

Prof Gingerich confirmed he had spoken to Sir David.

The significance of the discovery, according to New York’s academic community, is that it could resolve the fierce debate about which kind of primates humans are descended from.

Some palaeontologists believe we evolved from the adapids – but that theory is hotly contested. The new skeleton appears to be a previously unknown type of adapid which would be the ‘missing link’ between small mammals and the apes which evolved into humans.

The study’s authors insist that the fossil can’t be a lemur because it lacks two features: the ‘toothcomb’, a set of lower front teeth used to groom fur; and ‘toilet claws’, toes on the hind feet used for scratching.

Half of the fossil was found a few years ago, but it was only when the rest of the body was discovered last year that scientists realised its importance.

The ground-breaking research was only possible after Norway’s National History Museum managed to buy the two parts of the fossil from private collectors.

The study, led by Norway’s Professor Jorn Hurum, says the fossil is so well-preserved that its soft tissues and stomach contents can be analysed.

Christened Darwinius masillae, it belonged to an extinct group of primates which lived in rainforests.

It was a female that was less than a year old but had been weaned and had developing teeth. It had nails rather than claws and would have weighed just 2lb when fully grown.

When asked about the BBC documentary, Sir David said: ‘I’m afraid I am not allowed to talk about it.’ Prof Hurum also refused to comment.
Why a wet nose could ruin research

While all the experts agree that the Messel fossil is an exciting discovery, some doubt that it will settle the debate about mankind’s ancestors.

Professor Matt Cartmill of Boston University, a leading authority on primates, said: ‘What remains to be shown is that this animal had features which link it decisively to higher primates.

If it turns out that it had a dry nose, like monkeys and people, rather than a wet nose like dog or a lemur, that could have a big impact on ideas about the origins of monkeys, apes and humans.’

Roger Thomas, secretary of the US Paleontological Society, said: ‘According to one group of thought, we are descended from the same primates as lemurs. Another argument is that hominids evolved from another small primate, the tarsiidae.’

Prof Cartmill added: ‘This specimen could settle that debate but, if I had to put my money on it, my expectation would be that they will not be able to tell one way or another.’

source: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1179926/Is-David-Attenborough-set-reveal-Missing-Link-human-evolution.html

2009-02-08 – L’origine delle chele (Schinderhannes bartelsi, Bundenbach) (Origin of claws)

Scoperto negli scisti devoniani di Bundenbach, Germania (Hunsrück Slate) un nuovo artropode chiamato Schinderhannes bartelsi. I ricercatori ritengono che le sue espansioni frontali rappresentano le “strutture progenitrici” delle omologhe chele di scorpioni e limuli attuali

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Origin of claws seen in 390-million-year-old fossil

February 5th, 2009 in General Science / Archaeology & Fossils

A missing link in the evolution of the front claw of living scorpions and horseshoe crabs was identified with the discovery of a 390 million-year-old fossil by researchers at Yale and the University of Bonn, Germany.

This is a photograph of Schinderhannes bartelsi. Credit: Steinmann Institute/University of Bonn

Reconstruction of Schinderhannes bartelsi. Credit: Elke Groening

The specimen, named Schinderhannes bartelsi, was found fossilized in slate from a quarry near Bundenbach in Germany, a site that yields spectacularly durable pyrite-preserved fossils — findings collectively known as the Hunsrück Slate. The Hunsrück Slate has previously produced some of the most valuable clues to understanding the evolution of arthropods – including early shrimp-like forms, a scorpion and sea spiders as well as the ancient arthropods trilobites.

“With a head like the giant Cambrian aquatic predator Anomalocaris and a body like a modern arthropod, the specimen is the only known example of this unusual creature,” said Derek Briggs, director of Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History and an author of the paper appearing in the journal Science.

Scientists have puzzled over the origins of the paired grasping appendages found on the heads of scorpions and horseshoe crabs. The researchers suggest that Schinderhannes gives a hint. Their appendages may be an equivalent to those found in the ancient predatory ancestor, Anomalocaris — even though creatures with those head structures were thought to have become extinct by the middle of the Cambrian Period, 100 million years before Schinderhannes lived.

The fossil’s head section has large bulbous eyes, a circular mouth opening and a pair of segmented, opposable appendages with spines projecting inward along their length. The trunk section is made up of 12 segments, each with small appendages, and a long tail spine. Between the head and trunk, there is a pair of large triangular wing-like limbs — that likely propelled the creature like a swimming penguin, according to Briggs. Unlike its ancestors from the Cambrian period, which reached three feet in length, Schinderhannes is only about 4 inches long.

This finding caps almost 20 years of study by Briggs on the Hunsrück Slate. “Sadly, the quarry from which this fabulous material comes has closed for economic reasons, so the only additional specimens that are going to appear now are items that are already in collectors’ hands and that may not have been fully prepared or realized for what they are,” said Briggs.

Source: Yale University

source: http://www.physorg.com/news153065999.html

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Science 6 February 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5915, pp. 771 – 773 – DOI: 10.1126/science.1166586

A Great-Appendage Arthropod with a Radial Mouth from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany

Gabriele Kühl, Derek E. G. Briggs, Jes Rust

Great-appendage arthropods, characterized by a highly modified anterior limb, were previously unknown after the Middle Cambrian. One fossil from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany, extends the stratigraphic range of these arthropods by about 100 million years. Schinderhannes bartelsi shows an unusual combination of anomalocaridid and euarthropod characters, including a highly specialized swimming appendage. A cladistic analysis indicates that the new taxon is basal to crown-group euarthropods and that the great-appendage arthropods are paraphyletic. This new fossil shows that features of the anomalocaridids, including the multisegmented raptorial appendage and circular plated mouth, persisted long after the initial radiation of the euarthropods.

 Abstract »   Full Text »   PDF »   Supporting Online Material »  (Supporting Online Material: free access with photos)

2008-11-20 – Germania: La più antica sepoltura multipla (oldest family tomb)

SCOPERTA LA PIU’ ANTICA TOMBA DI FAMIGLIA

2008-11-18 19:53

Sono stati vittime di una aggressionee chi li ha trovati li ha sepolti con molta cura: la mamma di fronte a un figlio e il papà di fronte all’altro rannicchiando i corpi e sistemandoli in modo che si guardassero l’un l’altro.

Sono i resti del più antico nucleo familiare mai scoperto finora. La famiglia, composta da una donna dall’età fra i 35 e i 50 anni, un uomo fra i 40 e 60, e due bambini di circa cinque e nove anni, è vissuta 4.600 anni fa, nei pressi del fiume Saal vicino ad Eulau, in Germania, insieme con altri nove individui sepolti nelle vicinanze.

A fare luce su età, parentela e luoghi dove sono cresciute queste persone è uno studio pubblicato sulla rivista dell’Accademia Americana delle Scienze, Pnas da un gruppo di ricerca coordinato dall’ Università tedesca Johannes Gutenberg- Mainz.

La ricerca ha ricostruito la tragedia dell’età della pietra con tecniche genetiche, isotopiche, antropologiche e archeologiche. I dati emersi evidenziano che tutti e 13 gli individui sepolti sono stati vittime di un’aggressione fatale perché mostrano segni di lesioni. In particolare, nella vertebra di una donna è stato trovato un proiettile di pietra e due adulti hanno il cranio fratturato.

Molte vittime, inoltre, hanno anche ferite da difesa alle ossa degli avambracci e delle mani. Secondo gli studiosi, queste persone avrebbero subito un raid da parte di un’altra comunità, e poi, sono state inumate con molta cura (insolita per il Neolitico) dagli individui superstiti dell’aggressione. Lo studio ha fatto anche luce su aspetti sociologici della comunità di appartenenza.

Misurando gli isotopi di stronzio presenti nel cibo intrappolato nei denti, gli scienziati hanno stabilito che le donne sepolte hanno vissuto l’infanzia in un luogo diverso da quello degli uomini e dei bambini.

“Questo dato – ha osservato uno degli autori, Alistair Pike, archeologo all’università di Bristol – è indice di esogamia, una regola per cui il coniuge deve essere scelto al di fuori del villaggio di appartenenza e di patrilocalità, un’usanza che impone ad una coppia di andare a vivere nei pressi della casa del padre del marito”. Tradizioni, conclude l’esperto, usate per evitare l’incrocio fra consanguinei e per intessere la rete di parentela con altre comunità.

fonte: ANSA

2008-10-23 – DinoStampNews updated: Germania, Namibia e Groenlandia 2008 (Germany, Namibia, Greenland – stamps, briefmarken, francobolli)

Aggiornato il blog sulla “paleo-filatelia”

Updated Dinostampnews blog:

Germany 2008 – Serie “Für die Jugend” : Dinosaurier

Greenland 2008 – Fossils in Greenland

Namibia 2008 – Ediacaran Fossils of Namibia

2008-10-14 – Germania: Protesta col mega-dinosauro (dinosaurier:”Kohlosauros”)

Spettacolare protesta contro le “preistoriche” centrali a carbone a Mainz in Germania

PS. personalmente non mi piace troppo l’idea di associare i dinosauri a un qualcosa di arretrato o estinto, non solo perchè sono paleontologo, ma soprattutto perchè ciò rappresenta un simbolo dell’ignoranza scientifica visto che i Dinosauri non si sono estinti ma semplicemente evoluti in Uccelli.

Nel caso specifico però ammetto che il gigantesco dinosauro non mi è dispiaciuto !!!

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Aus dem “Kohlosaurus” steigen 1 500 mit CO2 gefüllte Ballons gen Himmel – mit der Aktion machen die Kraftwerksgegner auf drohende Luftverschmutzung aufmerksam. Foto: Kopp

 

for full article (in German): http://www.main-rheiner.de/region/objekt.php3?artikel_id=3473307

 

2008-10-10 – Germania: Dinosauri più antichi? (3) (Dinosaur,Triassic, track)

Debate Rages over ‘Oldest Dinosaur’ Find in Germany

By Philip Bethge

A scientist in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt believes he has uncovered tracks from the world’s oldest dinosaur. But the footprints at the center of the find have sparked a major debate among scientists.

Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Halle

Purported dinosaur tracks in Bernburg, Germany: Are the evolutionary “missing link” between reptiles of the Paleozoic era and the later, lithe dinosaurs?

A massive creature tromped its way across an expansive limestone marsh. Horseshoe crabs scurried in its wake, and a reptile similar to a crocodile crossed its path. Weighing between 600 and 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds), the creature left impressive footprints in the limestone deposit. Shifting sand then covered the tracks. The creature’s rear foot measured a large 35 centimeters (14 inches). 

All this happened around 243 million years ago — and it took until now for the fossilized tracks of this massive reptile to come to light again. The find was made in a quarry near Bernburg, a small city in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, and the first details were revealed last week. If the discoverer, paleontologist Cajus Diedrich, is to be believed, these limestone impressions will make for a research coup of global dimensions.

Diedrich believes he’s found the world’s oldest dinosaur, the ancestor of T. rex, Brontosaurus, Triceratops and all the others. The German weekly newsmagazine Stern obligingly reported the paleontological discovery was a “sensation,” but a number of experts in the field believe Diedrich’s theory is fundamentally wrong and an all-out scientific brawl is brewing within the profession.

Here are the facts: Diedrich first came across the site in late 2007. In June 2008, together with specialists from Saxony-Anhalt’s state Office for Monument Protection and Archeology in the nearby city of Halle, he retrieved material from the limestone quarry near Bernburg from an area about half the size of a soccer field. There they found fossilized tracks from many kinds of reptiles and crabs, as well as skeletal impressions of marine reptiles.

But the set of tracks that Diedrich describes as “spectacular” is the same one making waves among paleontologists now. Covering almost 50 meters (164 feet), it includes 34 individual impressions, each showing five toes. According to Diedrich, the anatomy of the footprints leaves no doubt: “There were relatively large dinosaurs far earlier than previously assumed.”

Diedrich speaks of the Prosauropods, dinosaur ancestors of the long-necked giants who later grazed the plains of the Jurassic period. He sees his find as the evolutionary “missing link” between the slow reptiles of the Paleozoic era and the later, lithe dinosaurs.

But the freelance paleontologist has attracted criticism with his theory. It’s “ridiculous,” declares Hartmut Haubold, a paleontologist from Halle. “It’s as if someone found a 10-million-year-old stone and claimed it was a hand axe made by humans.” Dinosaurs didn’t come into existance until a good 15 million years later than Diedrich claims,” he says.

 Haubold believes the tracks in question, were most likely left by a Chirotherium, an ancestral reptile long known to scientists and possibly related to the dinosaurs’ predecessors. Martin Sander, a paleontologist at Germany’s Bonn University, is also skeptical. “The first dinosaurs were smaller creatures,” he explains, “about as big as monitor lizards.” That a much larger dinosaur would have lived so much earlier, says Sander, is “extremely improbable.”

More than anything, though, it’s the secretiveness surrounding the allegedly sensational discovery that is causing the most agitation. “In Internet forums on the topic, moderators have had to warn people to temper their word choices,” says Michael Schudack, a paleontologist at Berlin’s Free University. For weeks Harald Meller, head of the Office for Monument Protection, released very little information about the find — ostensibly to keep hobby paleontologists away. Now, however, the accusation has been leveled that Meller, as an archeologist, is treading here on ground outside his field of expertise.

“We were only responsible for securing the tracks,” Meller says, defending his role. But Haubold suspects there may be another motive: “Mr. Meller wants another Nebra sky disk.”

 

Martin Jehnichen

Paleontologist Cajus Diedrich is responsible for the controversial discovery.

Haubold is referring to a Bronze Age disk that brought Meller’s office fame in 1999. Also discovered in Saxony-Anhalt, the disk is known as the oldest depiction of the heavens worldwide. Haubold accuses the agency of looking to create a similar sensation with the fossilized tracks in Bernburg: “That’s not science, that’s just hype.”

Is it charlatanism on the one side, or injured vanity on the other? Diedrich claims his critics are just upset that they didn’t get their hands on the discovery first, and he feels he’s been attacked unfairly. “I don’t turn to colleagues for advice anymore,” he says, “because many of them don’t follow the scientific code of honor.”

Ultimately, that could help the researcher, whom even Haubold admits deserves “a lot of credit.” The appraisal of the Bernburg find is so controversial partly because — so far at least — no independent dinosaur tracks specialist has examined it.

In the meantime, Diedrich has submitted his data “to an international scientific journal” for review, but that step appears to be insufficient for quieting his critics.

 “With only tracks to go on, it’s very difficult to draw conclusions about a new dinosaur,” says Bonn University’s Sander. “There would have to be a skeleton.”

Perhaps Diedrich senses that, too. He’s already planning for his next coup. He wants to begin the search for evidence that supports his theory in Bernburg soon.

“The tracks continue further into the rock,” says Diedrich. “My hope is that the dinosaur who made it is at the end of the tracks.” But how probable is it that the creature would have done him the favor of dying right there?

source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,583116,00.html

RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS

• Spectacular Find in Germany: Dinosaurs May Be Older than First Thought (08/20/2008)

• Bronze Age Wonder: German Stonehenge Slowly Reveals its Secrets (07/29/2008)

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view also the previous posts:

a) I dinosauri molto più vecchi di quanto si pensava (2) (Dinosaurier-spuren, Isochirotherium, Germany)

b) E 3 – I dinosauri molto più vecchi di quanto si pensava

and see also the comment (vedi anche il commento)

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I dinosauri molto più vecchi di quanto si pensava (2) (Dinosaurier-spuren, Isochirotherium, Germany)

Continuano le ricerche sulle “presunte” impronte di dinosauro ritrovate in agosto in Germania e che sposterebbero indietro di 15 milioni di anni la “nascita dei dinosauri”

Dinosaurier 15 Millionen Jahre älter als gedacht

Die Abdrücke in einem Tagebau beweisen es: Dinosaurier gab es bereits vor 243 Millionen Jahren – 15 Millionen Jahre früher als angenommen. Die bereits im Juni bei Bernburg in Sachsen-Anhalt freigelegten Spuren gelten als seltener und äußerst spektakulärer Fund.

Isochirotherium - Größe des Saurierabdrucks: Die Spuren beweisen, dass es bereits vor fast 245 Millionen Jahren Dinosaurier gab - 15 Millionen Jahren früher als bisher angenommen

Bernburg – “Das war schon eine Sensation”, schwärmte Cajus Diedrich, der Entdecker der Saurierspuren. “Uns war klar, dass das etwas Großes werden kann.” Der Forscher von der Universität Osnabrück hatte im Oktober 2007 gemeinsam mit Frank Trostheide vom Magdeburger Museum für Naturkunde in einem Kalksteinbruch bei Bernburg die Fährten von frühen Dinosauriern entdeckt.

Vom 9. Juni bis 4. Juli 2008 wurden in einem fünf Meter mächtigen Muschelkalkpaket fünf Schichten freigelegt und auf einer 50 mal 40 Meter großen Fläche die Spuren gesichert. Angesichts der großen Dichte von Fährten sprach Diedrich von einem spektakulären Fund. Inzwischen ist belegt, dass die Spuren zwischen 243,5 bis 243,9 Millionen Jahre alt sind. Bislang hatten Wissenschaftler angenommen, dass sich Dinosaurier erst im mittleren Trias vor 235 Millionen Jahren von anderen Archosauriern abgespaltet hatten.

Die Fährten könnten neue Erkenntnisse zur Evolution der ausgestorbenen Tiere liefern. “Woher die Saurier kamen, in dieser Beziehung herrschte bislang eine große Wissenslücke”, sagte Diedrich. “Aus der Mitteltrias gab es bislang weder Fährten- noch Skelettfunde von echten elefantenfüßigen Dinosauriern. Die Evolution muss also irgendwo dazwischen stattgefunden haben.” Mit den Funden von Bernburg sei nunmehr bewiesen, dass die Spezialisierung der Arten bereits in der Mitteltrias eingesetzt habe.

Die Dinos pressten die Fährten seinerzeit ins Watt eines sich vom heutigen Rhein bis nach Böhmen erstreckenden Binnenmeeres, dessen Boden sich durch Ebbe und Flut sowie unter wüstenartigen Bedingungen schnell verfestigte und die Spuren so konservierte. In seiner zwölfjährigen Forschung habe er andernorts bereits mehrere kleinere Spuren gefunden, sagte Diedrich, in Bernburg seien es jedoch ganze Spurenfolgen gewesen.

 

Als bemerkenswert bezeichnete er die 20 Meter lange Fährte eines primitiven Prosauropoden. Diedrich vermutet, dass sie von einer drei Meter langen, hochbeinigen Echse hinterlassen wurde, die einem Krokodil ähnelte. Diese Raubsaurierspur wird von einer Fährte eines elefantenfüßigen großen Dinos gekreuzt. “Ein einmaliger Fund”, meint Diedrich.

Neben den Fährten wurden unter anderem Knochen wie Rippen, Wirbelbögen und Sitzbeine gefunden. Laut Diedrich könnte die seltene Kombination von Fährten und Knochen eine neue Vorstellung von der Nahrungskette im Trias-Watt liefern.

Die ältesten bekannten Dinosaurierarten lebten vor mehr als 200 Millionen Jahren. Die meisten bewohnten Gebiete mit reicher Vegetation in der Nähe von Küsten und Binnengewässern. Sie waren an warmes, subtropisches Klima angepasst, konnten aber auch Kälteperioden überstehen.

Dinosaurier kamen in vielen verschiedenen Arten vor. Die kleinsten waren rund 30 Zentimeter, die größten 37 Meter lang. Manche ernährten sich von Pflanzen, andere von Fleisch und Aas. Die Ursachen für das Aussterben der Dinosaurier vor rund 65 Millionen Jahren sind bis heute noch nicht ganz geklärt. Wahrscheinlich ist, dass sich die hoch spezialisierten Tiere nicht an grundlegend veränderte Umweltbedingungen anpassen konnten. Die meisten Forscher gehen davon aus, dass der Einschlag eines Meteoriten, ein Vulkanausbruch oder beides die Umwelt über Jahre hinweg stark veränderten und so den Niedergang der Dinosaurier einleiteten.

 

hda/ddp/AP/dpa

link: http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,581983,00.html (see also for additional photo)

DINOSAURIER: ÄLTER ALS GEDACHT

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Fotostrecke starten: Klicken Sie auf ein Bild (7 Bilder)

see also previous post (link)

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Other links (news, In german)

Halle: 243 Millionen Jahre alte Dinosaurier-Spuren vorgestellt ZEIT ONLINE – 21 ore fa Rund 243 Millionen Jahre alte Dinosaurier-Spuren sind am Donnerstag in Halle der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt worden. Der spektakuläre Fund, darunter eine 25 …

245 Millionen Jahre alte Saurierspuren entdeckt MDR – 21 ore fa Wissenschaftler haben bei Grabungen in einem Kalkstein-Tagebau bei Bernburg fast 245 Millionen Jahre alte Spuren von Dinosauriern entdeckt. …

SPUREN IN SACHSEN-ANHALT Dinosaurier 15 Millionen Jahre älter als … Spiegel Online – 21 ore fa Die Abdrücke in einem Tagebau beweisen es: Dinosaurier gab es bereits vor 243 Millionen Jahren – 15 Millionen Jahre früher als angenommen. …

Sensationsfund in Sachsen-Anhalt: Netzeitung – 22 ore fa Ein Kalksteinbruch in Bernburg macht Experten euphorisch: Schlappe 15 Millionen Jahre weichen die dort gefundenen Spuren vom bisher angenommenen Alter ab. …

243 Millionen Jahre alte Dinosaurier-Spuren vorgestellt Mitteldeutsche Zeitung – 22 ore fa Halle/dpa/ddp. Bei Grabungen in einem Kalkstein-Tagebau bei Bernburg in Sachsen-Anhalt haben Wissenschaftler fast 245 Millionen Jahre alte Spuren von …

In Germania in onda “Il mondo perduto” (“Dinosaurier – Die vergessene Welt”)

01.10.2008 | 11:49 Uhr

SUPER RTL zeigt mit “Dinosaurier – Die vergessene Welt” zweiteiliges Filmabenteuer mit Bob Hoskins und Peter Falk Sendedatum: Samstag, 4. und 11. Oktober 2008, jeweils um 20.15 Uhr

    Köln (ots) – Köln, 1. Oktober 2008: London im Jahr 1911. Professor Challenger will im brasilianischen Regenwald einen Flugsaurier entdeckt haben. Mit einem Expeditionsteam reist er erneut nach Südamerika, um seine Behauptung zu beweisen, und gerät dort schon bald in Lebensgefahr. Imposantes Filmabenteuer mit Bob Hoskins (Oscar-Nominierung für “Mona Lisa”, “Nixon”) und “Columbo”-Darsteller und Oscar-Preisträger Peter Falk in den Hauptrollen. SUPER RTL zeigt Dinosaurier – Die vergessene Welt: Die Expedition beginnt (Großbritannien 2001) und Dinosaurier – Die vergessene Welt: Angriff der Affenmenschen (Großbritannien 2001) am 4. und 11. Oktober jeweils um 20.15 Uhr.

    Ein Trupp aus Forschern, einem Journalisten und Expeditionsleiter Professor Challenger (Bob Hoskins) macht sich im südamerikanischen Regenwald auf die Suche nach einem sagenumwobenen Plateau, auf dem Dinosaurier überlebt haben sollen. Nachdem sich unterwegs noch Reverend Theo (Peter Falk) und seine Enkelin, eine junge Wissenschaftlerin, der Gruppe angeschlossen haben, erreichen sie tatsächlich ihr Ziel. Doch auf dem schwer zugänglichen Plateau leben nicht nur Saurier, sondern auch menschenfressende Affenmenschen und ein Indiostamm, der sich erbitterte Kämpfe mit ihnen liefert. Ehe sie sich versehen, schweben Professor Challenger und seine Begleiter in Lebensgefahr. Was als hoffnungsvolles Abenteuer begonnen hat, wird zur tödlichen Bedrohung, aus der es scheinbar kein Entkommen gibt.

http://www.presseportal.de/pm/6892/1274589/super_rtl

Die letzten Jahre der Dinosaurier – 2 – Im Reich der Giganten

Wissenschaft | USA 2005

FILMINFO

Originaltitel: Die letzten Jahre der Dinosaurier

Episodentitel: 2 – Im Reich der Giganten

Genre: Wissenschaft

Länge: 95 Minuten

INHALT

Die Monsterwelle

Südeuropa vor 80 Millionen Jahren: Nach einem Erdbeben vernichtet eine gewaltige Flutwelle Lebensraum und Artgenossen des kleinen Pyroraptoren ‘Pod’. Als einer von wenigen überlebt Pod die Katastrophe und wird auf einem Baumstamm auf eine Insel weit draußen im Ozean getrieben. Er ist im heutigen Rumänien gestrandet. Hier muss er feststellen, dass sich seine Lebensumstände dramatisch geändert haben: Er ist nicht länger ein kleines Raubtier unter größeren Artgenossen, sondern steht als Pyroraptor plötzlich an der Spitze der Nahrungskette. Denn außer ihm leben nur noch kleine Dinosaurier in diesem Land. Die Mongolei vor 80 Millionen Jahren: Das Velociraptorweibchen ‘White Tip’ hat ihre Herde verloren und muss seitdem allein in der unwirtlichen Wüste Gobi, einem Ort voller gefährlicher Jäger und gut bewaffneter Beutetiere, ums Überleben kämpfen. Allein durchkreuzt ‘White Tip’ die Wildnis der Oberkreide vor 84 bis 73 Millionen Jahren auf der Suche nach ihrer Herde oder anderen Velociraptoren. Sie findet eine neue Herde und einen Partner. Doch als neu hinzugekommenes Weibchen muss sie sich ihren Platz in der Herde des Velociraptoren ‘Blue Brow’ mühsam erkämpfen. Und sie muss bald feststellen, dass ihre Probleme in einer rauen Umgebung erst beginnen.

WERBUNG

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04.10.2008	13:15 – 15:05	RTL
04.10.2008	01:55 – 03:35	RTL

 http://www.cinefacts.de/tv/details.php?id=krkbe2000000000001369732

In mostra l’ammonite più grande del mondo

Presentata in una mostra in Germania l’ammonite più grande del mondo (Parapuzosia seppenradensis) che ha vinto il premio come fossil dell’anno 2008 (Fossil des Jahres 2008).

Parapuzosia seppenradensis

 

link: http://palaeontologische-gesellschaft.de/palges/galerie/fossildj.html

see the pdf: fossil-des-jahres