Article: http://www.livescience.com/27639-camel-fossil-found-in-arctic.html
Paleobiologist Natalia Rybczynski and other researchers at the Canadian Museum of Nature have recently uncovered the fossils of an ancient camel species. The fossils were discovered on Ellesmere Island in northern Canada, and the camels are expected to be 3.5 million years old and about 30% larger than our modern-day camels. Scientists used a technique called collagen fingerprinting to discover more about the species and what they were like. It is widely known that camels originated in North America and eventually migrated to Eurasia 45 million years ago, but the fact that certain species stayed behind and survived until just 3.5 million years ago is big news. Camels are known to live in arid climates today, but long ago they lived in forested Canada which was somewhat warmer than it is now. Natalia Rybczynski and her team of researchers plan to continue searching for more traces of these ancient camels.
NOS Themes:
- Science is collaborative: A team of researchers worked together to find this
- Science is based on evidence: Fossil specimens were thoroughly examined and cross-checked
- Motivation and curiosity played a role in the research
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust another piece of evidence of continental drift theroy. Those "Camels" look so out of place. I think it is really cool how every day we potentially find one more of the infinate number of species of animals. Alot of things develop in 2.4 billion years. (first signs of life on eart)
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy! Who would have ever thought that camels started out in the Arctic. It does make sense because like 3.5 million years ago, the weather was probably warmer where it is cold now, and it was probably more livable than it is now.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: The fossil size being 30% bigger, does that explain natural selection and all that??
My first reaction to this news was astonishment, then contemplation as I saw the evidence fall into place. Although some people could deny this based on absurdity, I don't see this as any different from the opposite migration of humans from Africa, or how the close relatives of wooly mammoths and elephants could exist on different continents. Horses are supposed to have originated from North America. It isn't so far off to think that camels could have too.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Bessma's question, I believe that the smaller size could be a result of a both natural selection and the change of habitat. As compared to the deserts of Africa, northern Canada seems as if it would have more resources available for the camels to survive off of, enabling them to grow larger as a species than the ones we know today.