Science News

Shells of marine gastropods from hydrothermal vent environments are coated with inorganic materials of unknown composition. Conversely, their fossil equivalents are known exclusively from outer moulds in pyrite (FeS2), with no shell material left.

Methane (CH4) is largely built from the light carbon isotope (12C). When emitted from the seabed, methane is oxidized by sediment-dwelling microorganisms, with one of the byproducts being methanogenic carbonate cements, themselves with large amounts of the 12C.

Ammonites, extinct cephalopods dominant in Mesozoic marine ecosystems, are often listed amongst victims of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (66 Ma).

Rudists, extinct bivalves with massive shells, built vast reefs in the tropical Cretaceous seas.

In the prestigious series Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, a chapter was released that synthesizes data on the functional morphology and paleoecology of crinoids with unusual morphologies.

A taxonomic revision of the extinct genus Zittelia from Jurassic sediments made it possible to trace a gradual evolutionary change in shell morphology…

A POLONEZ BIS project, led by Dr. Milan Chroust in collaboration with Dr. Tomasz Szczygielski from the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences…

The paper presents a new Miocene species of a tortoise from Czechia – Manouria morla. Its specific name refers to Morla the Aged One, a turtle from “The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende.

Deep ocean waters are seen as refugia that can protect cold-water, non-symbiotic corals from warming and acidification.

Though coral reefs cover only a small part of Earth’s surface, they support over a quarter of marine species and nearly a billion people.