COLD DARK ROOM

[JoesMum]

England and Wales gets plastic fivers on Monday
http://www.thenewfiver.co.uk/

Correction it's on Tuesday 13th.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good morning all! It's Friday

Good afternoon, Linda.
It certainly is.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

good morning mum

Good afternoon, John.

 

[johnandjade]

Burger King lunch today. the lad i was working with a couple weeks ago... he's still skiving!

he's in the branch next to me, last time I reported it the bosses reply was 'as long as he hits target' ?!?


so today I'm skiving as well!! I'm in a huff! lol

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Adam, knowing the resources I've available and knowing we are all open like a book to those curiously enough to follow our most every move or interest, well this little tidbit came across my interest level this am and I just knew it was for me to pass on to you focused and then on to anyone else that this may hold an interest to…
Sorry for the long post, but I just connect, I don't do the actual writing parts.
Snake eats lizard eats beetle: Fossil food chain from the Messel Pit examined
Date: September 7, 2016
Source: Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum
Summary: Scientists have examined a spectacular discovery from the UNESCO World Heritage site Messel Pit: A fossil snake in whose stomach a lizard can be seen, which in turn had consumed a beetle. The discovery of the approximately 48-million-year-old tripartite fossil food chain is unique for Messel; worldwide, only one single comparable piece exists.
FULL STORY

In cooperation with CONICET in Argentina, Senckenberg scientists examined a spectacular discovery from the UNESCO World Heritage site Messel Pit: A fossil snake in whose stomach a lizard can be seen, which in turn had consumed a beetle. The discovery of the approximately 48-million-year-old tripartite fossil food chain is unique for Messel; worldwide, only one single comparable piece exists. The study was recently published in Senckenberg's scientific journal Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.

It is no secret that the Messel Pit is home to a plethora of fantastic fossils -- but some of the findings are so sensational that they even awe veteran Messel researchers. "In the year 2009, we were able to recover a plate from the pit that shows an almost fully preserved snake," says Dr. Krister Smith of the Department for Messel Research at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, and he continues, "And as if this was not enough, we discovered a fossilized lizard inside the snake, which in turn contained a fossilized beetle in its innards!"

Fossil food chains are extremely rarely preserved; due to the excellent level of preservation at the fossil site, leaves and grapes from the stomach of a prehistoric horse, pollen grains in a bird's intestinal tract and remains of insects in fossilized fish excrements had previously been discovered at Messel. "However, until now, we had never found a tripartite food chain -- this is a first for Messel!" exclaims Smith elatedly. To this day, only one other example of such fossil preservation has been found worldwide -- in a 280-million-year-old shark.

Using a high-resolution computer tomograph, Smith and his colleague Agustín Scanferla from Argentina were able to identify both the snake and the lizard to the species level. Smith comments, "The fossil snake is a member of Palaeophython fischeri; the lizard belongs to Geiseltaliellus maarius, which has only been found at Messel to date."

The snake measures 103 centimeters in length and is thus significantly smaller than other specimens of this species, which can reach two meters or more. Smith therefore assumes that the fossil represents a juvenile of this relative of the modern-day boas.

The lizard measures approximately 20 centimeters from the head to the tip of its tail -- and some of the snake's ribs, which overlap the arboreal reptile, clearly indicate that the lizard is located inside the snake. Geiseltaliellus maarius was presumably equipped with a small sagittal crest. It had the ability to shed its tail in case of danger, but did not lose it when it fell prey to the snake. "Unfortunately, we were unable to unambiguously identify the beetle -- it was not well enough preserved to do so," adds the Messel researcher from Frankfurt.

Nonetheless, the small crawler offers insights into the previously barely known feeding behavior of these lizards from Messel: The stomachs of previously discovered reptiles only contained the remains of plants; the fact that the lizards also fed on insects indicates an omnivorous diet.

The unique discovery came from a layer dating to the Middle Eocene with an approximate age of 48 million years. "Since the stomach contents are digested relatively fast and the lizard shows an excellent level of preservation, we assume that the snake died no more than one to two days after consuming its prey and then sank to the bottom of the Messel Lake, where it was preserved," explains Smith. Too bad for the snake -- but a stroke of luck for science!

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Krister T. Smith, Agustín Scanferla. Fossil snake preserving three trophic levels and evidence for an ontogenetic dietary shift. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 2016; DOI: 10.1007/s12549-016-0244-1
Cite This Page:
MLA
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Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. "Snake eats lizard eats beetle: Fossil food chain from the Messel Pit examined." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 September 2016.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160907082052.htm

Thanks, Ken, I had not seen this, fascinating and incredibly rare.
I've never been to Messel, though I was involved a number of years ago in stopping the silly German authorities from turning the site into a landfill for local rubbish and getting it UNESCO protection. I have seen many of the fossils from here, only a few first hand, but many in books and on video, have a couple of documentaries about the extraordinary soft bodied preservation and occasional stomach contents being preserved.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I'm sure Botany Bay hasn't changed at all since you last went it's still a beach with a cliff z d sand dunes no shops and a pub at the end of the cliff

There used to be a snack bar on the beach.
Turn right on the beach at the end of the footpath and check the chalk pebbles on the beach. You should find shells and sea urchin pieces and spines.
Many of the pebbles have holes in, but these are not fossils. The big holes are made by piddocks (boring bivalves, as in they bore holes, not that they are dull!) and the small holes are made by Cliona a type of sponge.
You can break the pebbles easily or cut them with a knife. If you can safely climb a bit of cliff, better fossils are found the higher you ascend.
Walking along the beach in the other direction you can find brownish stains in the rock that are the remains of fossil sponges, Look at the flints here, also as they can contain fossils too. Lots of heart shaped sea urchins between the flint bands in the cliff.
You may also find corals, moss animals and crinoid (sea lily) pieces and a big bivalve called Inoceramus.
Sharks teeth occur rarely here.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Correction it's on Tuesday 13th.

The 13th ?
Asking for trouble.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Don't you have a long birthday coming up, Adam?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Don't you have a long birthday coming up, Adam?

Good morning, Ed!
Yep, the 22nd; 23rd and 24th of this month.
I'm already very excited!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

View attachment 186276
A coprolite, or fossilized poop from a giant ground sloth
View attachment 186277
Kindly posted to me by Ed.
First time someone sent me a pooh in the post!

It doesn't mean it'll be the last.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

It doesn't mean it'll be the last.

As long as it's fossilized, I'm happy!
But no modern stuff Roommates, I should emphasize I collect fossils, not poop.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

As long as it's fossilized, I'm happy!
But no modern stuff Roommates, I should emphasize I collect fossils, not poop.

So much for that Christmas gift idea.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

So much for that Christmas gift idea.

Address it to wifey, I'm positive she'd be delighted.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

View attachment 186276
A coprolite, or fossilized poop from a giant ground sloth
View attachment 186277
Kindly posted to me by Ed.
First time someone sent me a pooh in the post!

How can you tell its poop ?!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

How can you tell its poop ?!

I purchased it from and then gave it to a fossil collector. It was in a layer of earth that contained mostly giant mammal remains. It is fossilized and looks like a gigantic round sheep or goat poop.
(In other words. I have NO IDEA)

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

How can you tell its poop ?!

Firstly, it looks like a double poop from a large herbivore, you can even see where the anal sphincter has squeezed to deposit the first piece, before landing the second on top.
Secondly, i have analysed a small section and found traces of fossilized plant material within the rock, though most of it is microcrystalline and has lost its structure. I am satisfied it is a coprolite. (fossil poop).
Thirdly, it comes from a place where they have been found before.
Finally, it looks like others i have seen from this type of animal.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Good morning all

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Firstly, it looks like a double poop from a large herbivore, you can even see where the anal sphincter has squeezed to deposit the first piece, before landing the second on top.
Secondly, i have analysed a small section and found traces of fossilized plant material within the rock, though most of it is microcrystalline and has lost its structure. I am satisfied it is a coprolite. (fossil poop).
Thirdly, it comes from a place where they have been found before.
Finally, it looks like others i have seen from this type of animal.

Wow ! I think you would need to know quite a bit about fossils to know its poop. Im going to go back to the photos now to see

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It looks much more poo like in person.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

I purchased it from and then gave it to a fossil collector. It was in a layer of earth that contained mostly giant mammal remains. It is fossilized and looks like a gigantic round sheep or goat poop.
(In other words. I have NO IDEA)

Ohh . Wait, are the 2 poop fossils connected ? But thats pretty cool !
& good morning Ed, long time no read/type. How are you doing ?