‘Treasure trove’ of fossils discovered at landslide site

After drilling boreholes after a massive landslip on the Isle of Wight, a “treasure trove” of fossilized animals was discovered. On December 10 of last year, the land collapsed, leaving some houses perilously close to the cliffs. To contain monitoring equipment, three boreholes were drilled down 130 meters (437 feet) on Leeson Road at Bonchurch, close to Ventnor.

The majority of the fossils found in the boreholes were found in clay that was between 30 and 90 meters (98 and 295 feet) deep. Some complete fossilized organisms were discovered, even though the boreholes were only 102 mm (four inches) in diameter.

Fossil closes the knowledge gap of 70 million years.

The study emphasizes that the full skull has been kept nearly intact, making it one of the most important discoveries of its sort. The fossil closed a 70-million-year gap in our knowledge of the evolution of bird brains between the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, the first known dinosaur that resembled a bird, and modern birds. 

Compared to Archaeopteryx, Navaornis had a larger cerebrum, indicating that it possessed more sophisticated cognitive capacities than the first dinosaurs that resembled birds.Its brain was less developed in most areas, though, which suggests that it had not yet developed the sophisticated flight-control systems found in contemporary birds.

Modern birds, such as parrots and crows, possess some of the most sophisticated cognitive capacities in the animal kingdom, according to senior author Professor Daniel Field of Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences.A co-lead author from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Dr. Luis Chiappe, noted that the findings demonstrated that some of the birds soaring above dinosaur heads had completely modern skull geometry over 80 million years ago.

The bones of ‘prehistoric’ elephants recovered by fossil hunters

A prehistoric elephant’s bones were discovered in a cliff face after being exposed during a storm. John Clayden, an amateur paleontologist, discovered the remains on Tuesday at West Runton, which is close to Cromer in Norfolk.

The bones are believed to be between 650,000 and 800,000 years old, and he asked other fossil hunters to assist him in recovering them. He also mentioned that more of the skeleton might be found after future storms. The bones may be those of a Steppe mammoth, Southern mammoth, or straight-tusked elephant, or they may be from a species more closely related to Indian elephants than cold-loving woolly mammoths, according to one scientist.

Youngster

After the storm washed away a lot of the sediment, a toe bone and a portion of an atlas vertebra bone were still visible protruding from the cliff edge.

Since he realized the remnants wouldn’t withstand another storm, Mr. Clayden claimed that as soon as he discovered the discovery, he organized a group of fellow aficionados to save them. Now, the amateur team intended to gather the bones collectively before bringing in experts to analyze them.

After residents Harold and Margaret Hems found the most complete elephant skeleton ever excavated in Britain in 1990, Mr. Clayden also helped with the dig at West Runton.

At Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, where many visits were arranged, it was now kept in special storage with exhibits at Norwich Castle Museum and Cromer Museum. It was intended that West Runton’s beach cafe would show the recently discovered elephant bones the following year.1995 saw the complete excavation of the Steppe mammoth, which is the ancestor of woolly mammoths.