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2025-05-14 12:10:41 ·

FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That's 'Ripe For Sharing'
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum.
"I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar's compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses," Carr wrote in a May 9 letter to EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen.
EchoStar and its affiliates "hold a large number of FCC spectrum licenses that cover a significant amount of spectrum," the letter said.

Ergen defended his company's wireless deployment but informed investors that EchoStar "cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome" of the FCC proceedings.
The letter from Carr and Ergen's statement is included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted by EchoStar today.
EchoStar's stock price was down about 8 percent in trading today.
EchoStar bought Dish Network in December 2023 and offers wireless service under the Boost Mobile brand.
As The Wall Street Journal notes, the firm "has spent years wiring thousands of cellphone towers to help Boost become a wireless operator that could rival AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, but the project has been slow-going.
Boost's subscriber base has shrunk in the five years since Ergen bought the brand from Sprint." [...]

EchoStar will have to prove its case in the two FCC proceedings.
The FCC set a May 27 deadline for the first round of comments in both proceedings and a June 6 deadline for reply comments.
The proceedings could result in the FCC letting other companies use the spectrum and other remedies.
"In particular, we seek information on whether EchoStar is utilizing the 2 GHz band for MSS consistent with the terms of its authorizations and the Commission's rules and policies governing the expectation of robust MSS," the FCC Space Bureau's call for comments said.
"We also seek comment on steps the Commission might take to make more intensive use of the 2 GHz band, including but not limited to allowing new MSS entrants in the band." Last month, SpaceX urged the FCC to reallocate the spectrum, saying "the 2 GHz band remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems that seek to finally make productive use of the spectrum for consumers and first responders."

EchoStar countered that SpaceX's filing is "intended to cloak another land grab for even more free spectrum," and that its "methodology is completely nonsensical, given that EchoStar's terrestrial deployment is subject to population-based milestones that EchoStar has repeatedly demonstrated in status reports."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/13/2247256/fcc-threatens-echostar-licenses-for-spectrum-thats-ripe-for-sharing?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed">https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/13/2247256/fcc-threatens-echostar-licenses-for-spectrum-thats-ripe-for-sharing?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed">https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/13/2247256/fcc-threatens-echostar-licenses-for-spectrum-thats-ripe-for-sharing?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
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FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That's 'Ripe For Sharing'
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. "I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar's compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses," Carr wrote in a May 9 letter to EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen. EchoStar and its affiliates "hold a large number of FCC spectrum licenses that cover a significant amount of spectrum," the letter said. Ergen defended his company's wireless deployment but informed investors that EchoStar "cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome" of the FCC proceedings. The letter from Carr and Ergen's statement is included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted by EchoStar today. EchoStar's stock price was down about 8 percent in trading today. EchoStar bought Dish Network in December 2023 and offers wireless service under the Boost Mobile brand. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the firm "has spent years wiring thousands of cellphone towers to help Boost become a wireless operator that could rival AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, but the project has been slow-going. Boost's subscriber base has shrunk in the five years since Ergen bought the brand from Sprint." [...] EchoStar will have to prove its case in the two FCC proceedings. The FCC set a May 27 deadline for the first round of comments in both proceedings and a June 6 deadline for reply comments. The proceedings could result in the FCC letting other companies use the spectrum and other remedies. "In particular, we seek information on whether EchoStar is utilizing the 2 GHz band for MSS consistent with the terms of its authorizations and the Commission's rules and policies governing the expectation of robust MSS," the FCC Space Bureau's call for comments said. "We also seek comment on steps the Commission might take to make more intensive use of the 2 GHz band, including but not limited to allowing new MSS entrants in the band." Last month, SpaceX urged the FCC to reallocate the spectrum, saying "the 2 GHz band remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems that seek to finally make productive use of the spectrum for consumers and first responders." EchoStar countered that SpaceX's filing is "intended to cloak another land grab for even more free spectrum," and that its "methodology is completely nonsensical, given that EchoStar's terrestrial deployment is subject to population-based milestones that EchoStar has repeatedly demonstrated in status reports." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/13/2247256/fcc-threatens-echostar-licenses-for-spectrum-thats-ripe-for-sharing?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed #fcc #threatens #echostar #licenses #for #spectrum #that039s #039ripe #sharing039

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FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That's 'Ripe For Sharing'

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. "I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar's compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses," Carr wrote in a May 9 letter to EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen. EchoStar and its affiliates "hold a large number of FCC spectrum licenses that cover a significant amount of spectrum," the letter said. Ergen defended his company's wireless deployment but informed investors that EchoStar "cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome" of the FCC proceedings. The letter from Carr and Ergen's statement is included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted by EchoStar today. EchoStar's stock price was down about 8 percent in trading today. EchoStar bought Dish Network in December 2023 and offers wireless service under the Boost Mobile brand. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the firm "has spent years wiring thousands of cellphone towers to help Boost become a wireless operator that could rival AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, but the project has been slow-going. Boost's subscriber base has shrunk in the five years since Ergen bought the brand from Sprint." [...] EchoStar will have to prove its case in the two FCC proceedings. The FCC set a May 27 deadline for the first round of comments in both proceedings and a June 6 deadline for reply comments. The proceedings could result in the FCC letting other companies use the spectrum and other remedies. "In particular, we seek information on whether EchoStar is utilizing the 2 GHz band for MSS consistent with the terms of its authorizations and the Commission's rules and policies governing the expectation of robust MSS," the FCC Space Bureau's call for comments said. "We also seek comment on steps the Commission might take to make more intensive use of the 2 GHz band, including but not limited to allowing new MSS entrants in the band." Last month, SpaceX urged the FCC to reallocate the spectrum, saying "the 2 GHz band remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems that seek to finally make productive use of the spectrum for consumers and first responders." EchoStar countered that SpaceX's filing is "intended to cloak another land grab for even more free spectrum," and that its "methodology is completely nonsensical, given that EchoStar's terrestrial deployment is subject to population-based milestones that EchoStar has repeatedly demonstrated in status reports." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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الرجاء تسجيل الدخول , للأعجاب والمشاركة والتعليق على هذا!
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2025-05-13 22:21:18 ·

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species
Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago

Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders.
They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species.
Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0
Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal.
He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty.
Now, Bourque finally has an answer.
The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum.
Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America.
But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region.
Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi.
“Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement.
It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed.
“Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum.
At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater.
The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered.
Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W.
formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement.
But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W.
formidusi likely struggled to reproduce.
Eventually, the species died out completely.
“We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement.
“It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.”
Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W.
formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America.
But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W.
formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn.
Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America.
But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States.
Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied.
Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds.
They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises.
In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit).

A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015.
The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment.

Carl Court / Getty Images
The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story.
The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear.
Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil.
First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image.
Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves.
Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database.
The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine.
This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists.
“There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement.
“This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.”
Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/
#mysterious #fossil #found #museum #storage #turned #out #new #extinct #lizard #species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species
Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders. They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species. Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal. He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty. Now, Bourque finally has an answer. The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum. Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America. But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region. Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi. “Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement. It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed. “Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater. The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered. Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W. formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement. But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W. formidusi likely struggled to reproduce. Eventually, the species died out completely. “We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement. “It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.” Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W. formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America. But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W. formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn. Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America. But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States. Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied. Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds. They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises. In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit). A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015. The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment. Carl Court / Getty Images The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story. The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear. Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil. First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image. Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves. Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database. The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine. This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists. “There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement. “This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/ #mysterious #fossil #found #museum #storage #turned #out #new #extinct #lizard #species

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Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders. They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species. Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal. He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty. Now, Bourque finally has an answer. The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum. Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America. But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region. Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi. “Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement. It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed. “Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater. The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered. Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W. formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement. But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W. formidusi likely struggled to reproduce. Eventually, the species died out completely. “We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement. “It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.” Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W. formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America. But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W. formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn. Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America. But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States. Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied. Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds. They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises. In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit). A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015. The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment. Carl Court / Getty Images The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story. The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear. Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil. First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image. Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves. Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database. The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine. This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists. “There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement. “This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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Discover Magazine شارك رابطًا

2025-05-13 14:55:01 ·

#333;">First Ever Pregnant Ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous Reveals Life in Prehistoric Seas
During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green.
It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks.
This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name.
It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, the only known pregnant female from the Hauterivian — a stage of the Early Cretaceous dating back 131 million years.
Her skeleton, discovered at the edge of the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park — an area increasingly exposed by glacial retreat — belongs to the species Myobradypterygius hauthali, originally described in Argentina from fragmentary remains.The discovery, led by Judith Pardo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of Magallanes and the Cabo de Hornos International Center (CHIC), and published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, offers an unprecedented glimpse into ancient marine life — from how these majestic reptiles reproduced to how they adapted to oceans vastly different from those of today.An Ichthyosaur Maternity Ward in Patagonia(Image Courtesy of Irene Viscor)So far, 88 ichthyosaurs have been found on the Tyndall Glacier.
Most of them are adults and newborns.
Two key facts stand out: food was abundant, and no other predators were competing with them.Fiona, who measures nearly 13 feet long, is still encased in five blocks of rock.
Despite the challenge, she was transported to a local clinic, where CT scans allowed researchers to study her skull and body.
Her species was identified thanks to one of her fins.
“There’s no other like it in the world,” says Pardo-Pérez.
The limbs were remarkably elongated, suggesting this animal was built for long-distance swimming.Inside her, there were more surprises.
One of them was her stomach contents, which revealed what may have been her last meal: tiny fish vertebrae.
But the most striking find was a fetus, about 20 inches long, already in a position to be born.“We believe these animals came to Magallanes — the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia — from time to time to give birth, because it was a safe refuge,” Pardo-Pérez says.
“We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that mortality was high during the first few days of life.”One of the big unanswered questions is where they went next, as there are no records of Myobradypterygius hauthali, apart from a piece of fin found in Argentina.
The most abundant remains come from southern Germany, but those date back to the Jurassic period, meaning they’re older.Palaeontologist Erin Maxwell suggests, “In many modern ecosystems, species migrate to higher latitudes during the summer to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources and then move to lower latitudes in winter to avoid harsh conditions,” she explains.
“We believe Mesozoic marine reptiles may have followed similar seasonal patterns.”Sea Dragon GraveyardThe environment where Fiona was discovered — dubbed the "sea dragon graveyard" — also has much to reveal.According to geologist Matthew Malkowski of the University of Texas at Austin, the Hauterivian age is particularly intriguing because it coincided with major planetary changes: the breakup of continents, intense volcanic episodes, and phenomena known as "oceanic anoxic events," during which vast areas of the ocean were depleted of dissolved oxygen for hundreds of thousands of years.One such poorly understood event, the Pharaonic Anoxic Event, occurred around 131 million years ago, near the end of the Hauterivian, and still raises questions about its true impact on marine life.
“We don't have a firm grasp of how significant these events were for marine vertebrates, and geological records like that of the Tyndall Glacier allow us to explore the relationship between life, the environment, and Earth’s past conditions,” Malkowski notes.Evolution of IchthyosaursReconstruction of Fiona.
(Image Courtesy of Mauricio Álvarez)Don't be misled by their body shape.
“Ichthyosaurs are not related to dolphins,” clarifies Pardo-Pérez.
Although their hydrodynamic silhouettes may look nearly identical, the former were marine reptiles, while the latter are mammals.
This resemblance results from a phenomenon known as convergent evolution: when species from different lineages develop similar anatomical features to adapt to the same environment.Ichthyosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that, in response to ecological and climatic changes, began spending more time in the water until they fully adapted to a marine lifestyle.
However, they retained traces of their land-dwelling ancestry, such as a pair of hind flippers — absent in dolphins — passed down from their walking forebears.
They lived and thrived in prehistoric oceans for about 180 million years, giving them ample time to refine a highly specialized body: their forelimbs and hindlimbs transformed into flippers; they developed a crescent-shaped tail for propulsion, a dorsal fin for stability, and a streamlined body to reduce drag in the water.
Remarkably, like whales and dolphins, “ichthyosaurs had a thick layer of blubber as insulation to maintain a higher body temperature than the surrounding seawater and gave birth to live young, which meant they didn’t need to leave the water to reproduce,” explains Maxwell.Whales and dolphins also descend from land-dwelling ancestors, but their transition happened over a comparatively short evolutionary timespan, especially when measured against the long reign of the ichthyosaurs.
“Their evolution hasn't had as much time as that of ichthyosaurs,” notes Pardo-Pérez.
“And yet, they look so similar.
That’s the wonderful thing about evolution.”Read More: Did a Swimming Reptile Predate the Dinosaurs?Fossils on the Verge of DisappearanceOne of the key factors behind the remarkable preservation of the fossils found in the Tyndall Glacier is the way they were buried.
According to Malkowski, Fiona and her contemporaries were either trapped or swiftly covered by underwater landslides and turbidity currents — geological processes that led to their sudden entombment.But the good fortune that protected them for millions of years may now be running out.
As the glacier retreats, exposing fossils that were once unreachable, those same remains are now vulnerable to wind, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles, which crack the surrounding rock.
As vegetation takes hold, roots accelerate erosion and eventually conceal the fossils once again.“While climate change has allowed these fossils to be studied, continued warming will also eventually lead to their loss,” Maxwell warns.
In Fiona’s story, scientists find not only a record of ancient life, but also a warning etched in stone and bone: what time reveals, climate can reclaim.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards.
Review the sources used below for this article:María de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist based in Montevideo, Uruguay, focusing on long-form storytelling.
Her work has appeared in Discover Magazine, Science, National Geographic, among other outlets, and in leading Uruguayan publications such as El País and El Observador.
She was a fellow in the 2023 Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program by The Open Notebook and often explores the intersections of science, culture, and Latin American identity.
#666;">المصدر: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/first-ever-pregnant-ichthyosaur-from-the-early-cretaceous-reveals-life-in" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">www.discovermagazine.com
#0066cc;">#first #ever #pregnant #ichthyosaur #from #the #early #cretaceous #reveals #life #prehistoric #seas #during #excavation #amidst #patagonian #winds #and #hard #rock #fossil #began #turn #greenit #was #unexpected #reaction #adhesive #applied #protect #bones #fragile #after #millions #years #beneath #ice #had #interacted #with #plant #matter #trapped #rocks #cracksthis #greenish #hue #earned #nickname #fiona #like #ogre #shrekbut #fionais #much #more #than #ogrethemed #nameit #complete #excavated #chile #even #remarkably #only #known #female #hauterivian #stage #dating #back #million #yearsher #skeleton #discovered #edge #tyndall #glacier #torres #del #paine #national #park #area #increasingly #exposed #glacial #retreat #belongs #species #myobradypterygius #hauthali #originally #described #argentina #fragmentary #remainsthe #discovery #led #judith #pardopérez #researcher #university #magallanes #cabo #hornos #international #center #chic #published #journal #vertebrate #paleontology #offers #unprecedented #glimpse #into #ancient #marine #how #these #majestic #reptiles #reproduced #they #adapted #oceans #vastly #different #those #todayan #maternity #ward #patagoniaimage #courtesy #irene #viscorso #far #ichthyosaurs #have #been #found #glaciermost #them #are #adults #newbornstwo #key #facts #stand #out #food #abundant #other #predators #were #competing #themfiona #who #measures #nearly #feet #long #still #encased #five #blocks #rockdespite #challenge #she #transported #local #clinic #where #scans #allowed #researchers #study #her #skull #bodyher #identified #thanks #one #finstheres #world #says #pardopérezthe #limbs #elongated #suggesting #this #animal #built #for #longdistance #swimminginside #there #surprisesone #stomach #contents #which #revealed #what #may #last #meal #tiny #fish #vertebraebut #most #striking #find #fetus #about #inches #already #position #bornwe #believe #animals #came #southern #tip #chilean #patagonia #time #give #birth #because #safe #refuge #sayswe #don039t #know #stayed #but #that #mortality #high #few #days #lifeone #big #unanswered #questions #went #next #records #apart #piece #fin #argentinathe #remains #come #germany #date #jurassic #period #meaning #theyre #olderpalaeontologist #erin #maxwell #suggests #many #modern #ecosystems #migrate #higher #latitudes #summer #take #advantage #seasonally #resources #then #move #lower #winter #avoid #harsh #conditions #explainswe #mesozoic #followed #similar #seasonal #patternssea #dragon #graveyardthe #environment #dubbed #quotsea #graveyardquot #also #has #revealaccording #geologist #matthew #malkowski #texas #austin #age #particularly #intriguing #coincided #major #planetary #changes #breakup #continents #intense #volcanic #episodes #phenomena #quotoceanic #anoxic #eventsquot #vast #areas #ocean #depleted #dissolved #oxygen #hundreds #thousands #yearsone #such #poorly #understood #event #pharaonic #occurred #around #ago #near #end #raises #its #true #impact #lifewe #firm #grasp #significant #events #vertebrates #geological #allow #explore #relationship #between #earths #past #notesevolution #ichthyosaursreconstruction #fionaimage #mauricio #Álvarezdon039t #misled #their #body #shapeichthyosaurs #not #related #dolphins #clarifies #pardopérezalthough #hydrodynamic #silhouettes #look #identical #former #while #latter #mammalsthis #resemblance #results #phenomenon #convergent #evolution #when #lineages #develop #anatomical #features #adapt #same #environmentichthyosaurs #evolved #terrestrial #response #ecological #climatic #spending #water #until #fully #lifestylehowever #retained #traces #landdwelling #ancestry #pair #hind #flippers #absent #passed #down #walking #forebearsthey #lived #thrived #giving #ample #refine #highly #specialized #forelimbs #hindlimbs #transformed #developed #crescentshaped #tail #propulsion #dorsal #stability #streamlined #reduce #drag #waterremarkably #whales #thick #layer #blubber #insulation #maintain #temperature #surrounding #seawater #gave #live #young #meant #didnt #need #leave #reproduce #explains #maxwellwhales #descend #ancestors #transition #happened #over #comparatively #short #evolutionary #timespan #especially #measured #against #reign #ichthyosaurstheir #hasn039t #notes #pardopérezand #yet #similarthats #wonderful #thing #evolutionread #did #swimming #reptile #predate #dinosaursfossils #verge #disappearanceone #factors #behind #remarkable #preservation #fossils #way #buriedaccording #contemporaries #either #swiftly #covered #underwater #landslides #turbidity #currents #processes #sudden #entombmentbut #good #fortune #protected #now #running #outas #retreats #exposing #once #unreachable #vulnerable #wind #rain #freezethaw #cycles #crack #rockas #vegetation #takes #hold #roots #accelerate #erosion #eventually #conceal #againwhile #climate #change #studied #continued #warming #will #lead #loss #warnsin #fionas #story #scientists #record #warning #etched #stone #bone #can #reclaimarticle #sourcesour #writers #discovermagazinecom #use #peerreviewed #studies #highquality #sources #our #articles #editors #review #scientific #accuracy #editorial #standardsreview #used #below #articlemaría #los #Ángeles #orfila #science #journalist #based #montevideo #uruguay #focusing #longform #storytellingher #work #appeared #discover #magazine #geographic #among #outlets #leading #uruguayan #publications #país #observadorshe #fellow #sharon #dunwoody #mentoring #program #open #notebook #often #explores #intersections #culture #latin #american #identity

First Ever Pregnant Ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous Reveals Life in Prehistoric Seas
During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green. It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks. This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name. It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, the only known pregnant female from the Hauterivian — a stage of the Early Cretaceous dating back 131 million years. Her skeleton, discovered at the edge of the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park — an area increasingly exposed by glacial retreat — belongs to the species Myobradypterygius hauthali, originally described in Argentina from fragmentary remains.The discovery, led by Judith Pardo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of Magallanes and the Cabo de Hornos International Center (CHIC), and published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, offers an unprecedented glimpse into ancient marine life — from how these majestic reptiles reproduced to how they adapted to oceans vastly different from those of today.An Ichthyosaur Maternity Ward in Patagonia(Image Courtesy of Irene Viscor)So far, 88 ichthyosaurs have been found on the Tyndall Glacier. Most of them are adults and newborns. Two key facts stand out: food was abundant, and no other predators were competing with them.Fiona, who measures nearly 13 feet long, is still encased in five blocks of rock. Despite the challenge, she was transported to a local clinic, where CT scans allowed researchers to study her skull and body. Her species was identified thanks to one of her fins. “There’s no other like it in the world,” says Pardo-Pérez. The limbs were remarkably elongated, suggesting this animal was built for long-distance swimming.Inside her, there were more surprises. One of them was her stomach contents, which revealed what may have been her last meal: tiny fish vertebrae. But the most striking find was a fetus, about 20 inches long, already in a position to be born.“We believe these animals came to Magallanes — the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia — from time to time to give birth, because it was a safe refuge,” Pardo-Pérez says. “We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that mortality was high during the first few days of life.”One of the big unanswered questions is where they went next, as there are no records of Myobradypterygius hauthali, apart from a piece of fin found in Argentina. The most abundant remains come from southern Germany, but those date back to the Jurassic period, meaning they’re older.Palaeontologist Erin Maxwell suggests, “In many modern ecosystems, species migrate to higher latitudes during the summer to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources and then move to lower latitudes in winter to avoid harsh conditions,” she explains. “We believe Mesozoic marine reptiles may have followed similar seasonal patterns.”Sea Dragon GraveyardThe environment where Fiona was discovered — dubbed the "sea dragon graveyard" — also has much to reveal.According to geologist Matthew Malkowski of the University of Texas at Austin, the Hauterivian age is particularly intriguing because it coincided with major planetary changes: the breakup of continents, intense volcanic episodes, and phenomena known as "oceanic anoxic events," during which vast areas of the ocean were depleted of dissolved oxygen for hundreds of thousands of years.One such poorly understood event, the Pharaonic Anoxic Event, occurred around 131 million years ago, near the end of the Hauterivian, and still raises questions about its true impact on marine life. “We don't have a firm grasp of how significant these events were for marine vertebrates, and geological records like that of the Tyndall Glacier allow us to explore the relationship between life, the environment, and Earth’s past conditions,” Malkowski notes.Evolution of IchthyosaursReconstruction of Fiona. (Image Courtesy of Mauricio Álvarez)Don't be misled by their body shape. “Ichthyosaurs are not related to dolphins,” clarifies Pardo-Pérez. Although their hydrodynamic silhouettes may look nearly identical, the former were marine reptiles, while the latter are mammals. This resemblance results from a phenomenon known as convergent evolution: when species from different lineages develop similar anatomical features to adapt to the same environment.Ichthyosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that, in response to ecological and climatic changes, began spending more time in the water until they fully adapted to a marine lifestyle. However, they retained traces of their land-dwelling ancestry, such as a pair of hind flippers — absent in dolphins — passed down from their walking forebears. They lived and thrived in prehistoric oceans for about 180 million years, giving them ample time to refine a highly specialized body: their forelimbs and hindlimbs transformed into flippers; they developed a crescent-shaped tail for propulsion, a dorsal fin for stability, and a streamlined body to reduce drag in the water. Remarkably, like whales and dolphins, “ichthyosaurs had a thick layer of blubber as insulation to maintain a higher body temperature than the surrounding seawater and gave birth to live young, which meant they didn’t need to leave the water to reproduce,” explains Maxwell.Whales and dolphins also descend from land-dwelling ancestors, but their transition happened over a comparatively short evolutionary timespan, especially when measured against the long reign of the ichthyosaurs. “Their evolution hasn't had as much time as that of ichthyosaurs,” notes Pardo-Pérez. “And yet, they look so similar. That’s the wonderful thing about evolution.”Read More: Did a Swimming Reptile Predate the Dinosaurs?Fossils on the Verge of DisappearanceOne of the key factors behind the remarkable preservation of the fossils found in the Tyndall Glacier is the way they were buried. According to Malkowski, Fiona and her contemporaries were either trapped or swiftly covered by underwater landslides and turbidity currents — geological processes that led to their sudden entombment.But the good fortune that protected them for millions of years may now be running out. As the glacier retreats, exposing fossils that were once unreachable, those same remains are now vulnerable to wind, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles, which crack the surrounding rock. As vegetation takes hold, roots accelerate erosion and eventually conceal the fossils once again.“While climate change has allowed these fossils to be studied, continued warming will also eventually lead to their loss,” Maxwell warns. In Fiona’s story, scientists find not only a record of ancient life, but also a warning etched in stone and bone: what time reveals, climate can reclaim.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:María de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist based in Montevideo, Uruguay, focusing on long-form storytelling. Her work has appeared in Discover Magazine, Science, National Geographic, among other outlets, and in leading Uruguayan publications such as El País and El Observador. She was a fellow in the 2023 Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program by The Open Notebook and often explores the intersections of science, culture, and Latin American identity.
المصدر: www.discovermagazine.com
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#offers #unprecedented #glimpse #into #ancient #marine #how #these #majestic #reptiles #reproduced #they #adapted #oceans #vastly #different #those #todayan #maternity #ward #patagoniaimage #courtesy #irene #viscorso #far #ichthyosaurs #have #been #found #glaciermost #them #are #adults #newbornstwo #key #facts #stand #out #food #abundant #other #predators #were #competing #themfiona #who #measures #nearly #feet #long #still #encased #five #blocks #rockdespite #challenge #she #transported #local #clinic #where #scans #allowed #researchers #study #her #skull #bodyher #identified #thanks #one #finstheres #world #says #pardopérezthe #limbs #elongated #suggesting #this #animal #built #for #longdistance #swimminginside #there #surprisesone #stomach #contents #which #revealed #what #may #last #meal #tiny #fish #vertebraebut #most #striking #find #fetus #about #inches #already #position #bornwe #believe #animals #came #southern #tip #chilean #patagonia #time #give #birth #because #safe #refuge #sayswe #don039t #know #stayed #but #that #mortality #high #few #days #lifeone #big #unanswered #questions #went #next #records #apart #piece #fin #argentinathe #remains #come #germany #date #jurassic #period #meaning #theyre #olderpalaeontologist #erin #maxwell #suggests #many #modern #ecosystems #migrate #higher #latitudes #summer #take #advantage #seasonally #resources #then #move #lower #winter #avoid #harsh #conditions #explainswe #mesozoic #followed #similar #seasonal #patternssea #dragon #graveyardthe #environment #dubbed #quotsea #graveyardquot #also #has #revealaccording #geologist #matthew #malkowski #texas #austin #age #particularly #intriguing #coincided #major #planetary #changes #breakup #continents #intense #volcanic #episodes #phenomena #quotoceanic #anoxic #eventsquot #vast #areas #ocean #depleted #dissolved #oxygen #hundreds #thousands #yearsone #such #poorly #understood #event #pharaonic #occurred #around #ago #near #end #raises #its #true #impact #lifewe #firm #grasp #significant #events #vertebrates #geological #allow #explore #relationship #between #earths #past #notesevolution #ichthyosaursreconstruction #fionaimage #mauricio #Álvarezdon039t #misled #their #body #shapeichthyosaurs #not #related #dolphins #clarifies #pardopérezalthough #hydrodynamic #silhouettes #look #identical #former #while #latter #mammalsthis #resemblance #results #phenomenon #convergent #evolution #when #lineages #develop #anatomical #features #adapt #same #environmentichthyosaurs #evolved #terrestrial #response #ecological #climatic #spending #water #until #fully #lifestylehowever #retained #traces #landdwelling #ancestry #pair #hind #flippers #absent #passed #down #walking #forebearsthey #lived #thrived #giving #ample #refine #highly #specialized #forelimbs #hindlimbs #transformed #developed #crescentshaped #tail #propulsion #dorsal #stability #streamlined #reduce #drag #waterremarkably #whales #thick #layer #blubber #insulation #maintain #temperature #surrounding #seawater #gave #live #young #meant #didnt #need #leave #reproduce #explains #maxwellwhales #descend #ancestors #transition #happened #over #comparatively #short #evolutionary #timespan #especially #measured #against #reign #ichthyosaurstheir #hasn039t #notes #pardopérezand #yet #similarthats #wonderful #thing #evolutionread #did #swimming #reptile #predate #dinosaursfossils #verge #disappearanceone #factors #behind #remarkable #preservation #fossils #way #buriedaccording #contemporaries #either #swiftly #covered #underwater #landslides #turbidity #currents #processes #sudden #entombmentbut #good #fortune #protected #now #running #outas #retreats #exposing #once #unreachable #vulnerable #wind #rain #freezethaw #cycles #crack #rockas #vegetation #takes #hold #roots #accelerate #erosion #eventually #conceal #againwhile #climate #change #studied #continued #warming #will #lead #loss #warnsin #fionas #story #scientists #record #warning #etched #stone #bone #can #reclaimarticle #sourcesour #writers #discovermagazinecom #use #peerreviewed #studies #highquality #sources #our #articles #editors #review #scientific #accuracy #editorial #standardsreview #used #below #articlemaría #los #Ángeles #orfila #science #journalist #based #montevideo #uruguay #focusing #longform #storytellingher #work #appeared #discover #magazine #geographic #among #outlets #leading #uruguayan #publications #país #observadorshe #fellow #sharon #dunwoody #mentoring #program #open #notebook #often #explores #intersections #culture #latin #american #identity

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First Ever Pregnant Ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous Reveals Life in Prehistoric Seas

During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green. It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks. This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name. It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, the only known pregnant female from the Hauterivian — a stage of the Early Cretaceous dating back 131 million years. Her skeleton, discovered at the edge of the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park — an area increasingly exposed by glacial retreat — belongs to the species Myobradypterygius hauthali, originally described in Argentina from fragmentary remains.The discovery, led by Judith Pardo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of Magallanes and the Cabo de Hornos International Center (CHIC), and published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, offers an unprecedented glimpse into ancient marine life — from how these majestic reptiles reproduced to how they adapted to oceans vastly different from those of today.An Ichthyosaur Maternity Ward in Patagonia(Image Courtesy of Irene Viscor)So far, 88 ichthyosaurs have been found on the Tyndall Glacier. Most of them are adults and newborns. Two key facts stand out: food was abundant, and no other predators were competing with them.Fiona, who measures nearly 13 feet long, is still encased in five blocks of rock. Despite the challenge, she was transported to a local clinic, where CT scans allowed researchers to study her skull and body. Her species was identified thanks to one of her fins. “There’s no other like it in the world,” says Pardo-Pérez. The limbs were remarkably elongated, suggesting this animal was built for long-distance swimming.Inside her, there were more surprises. One of them was her stomach contents, which revealed what may have been her last meal: tiny fish vertebrae. But the most striking find was a fetus, about 20 inches long, already in a position to be born.“We believe these animals came to Magallanes — the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia — from time to time to give birth, because it was a safe refuge,” Pardo-Pérez says. “We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that mortality was high during the first few days of life.”One of the big unanswered questions is where they went next, as there are no records of Myobradypterygius hauthali, apart from a piece of fin found in Argentina. The most abundant remains come from southern Germany, but those date back to the Jurassic period, meaning they’re older.Palaeontologist Erin Maxwell suggests, “In many modern ecosystems, species migrate to higher latitudes during the summer to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources and then move to lower latitudes in winter to avoid harsh conditions,” she explains. “We believe Mesozoic marine reptiles may have followed similar seasonal patterns.”Sea Dragon GraveyardThe environment where Fiona was discovered — dubbed the "sea dragon graveyard" — also has much to reveal.According to geologist Matthew Malkowski of the University of Texas at Austin, the Hauterivian age is particularly intriguing because it coincided with major planetary changes: the breakup of continents, intense volcanic episodes, and phenomena known as "oceanic anoxic events," during which vast areas of the ocean were depleted of dissolved oxygen for hundreds of thousands of years.One such poorly understood event, the Pharaonic Anoxic Event, occurred around 131 million years ago, near the end of the Hauterivian, and still raises questions about its true impact on marine life. “We don't have a firm grasp of how significant these events were for marine vertebrates, and geological records like that of the Tyndall Glacier allow us to explore the relationship between life, the environment, and Earth’s past conditions,” Malkowski notes.Evolution of IchthyosaursReconstruction of Fiona. (Image Courtesy of Mauricio Álvarez)Don't be misled by their body shape. “Ichthyosaurs are not related to dolphins,” clarifies Pardo-Pérez. Although their hydrodynamic silhouettes may look nearly identical, the former were marine reptiles, while the latter are mammals. This resemblance results from a phenomenon known as convergent evolution: when species from different lineages develop similar anatomical features to adapt to the same environment.Ichthyosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that, in response to ecological and climatic changes, began spending more time in the water until they fully adapted to a marine lifestyle. However, they retained traces of their land-dwelling ancestry, such as a pair of hind flippers — absent in dolphins — passed down from their walking forebears. They lived and thrived in prehistoric oceans for about 180 million years, giving them ample time to refine a highly specialized body: their forelimbs and hindlimbs transformed into flippers; they developed a crescent-shaped tail for propulsion, a dorsal fin for stability, and a streamlined body to reduce drag in the water. Remarkably, like whales and dolphins, “ichthyosaurs had a thick layer of blubber as insulation to maintain a higher body temperature than the surrounding seawater and gave birth to live young, which meant they didn’t need to leave the water to reproduce,” explains Maxwell.Whales and dolphins also descend from land-dwelling ancestors, but their transition happened over a comparatively short evolutionary timespan, especially when measured against the long reign of the ichthyosaurs. “Their evolution hasn't had as much time as that of ichthyosaurs,” notes Pardo-Pérez. “And yet, they look so similar. That’s the wonderful thing about evolution.”Read More: Did a Swimming Reptile Predate the Dinosaurs?Fossils on the Verge of DisappearanceOne of the key factors behind the remarkable preservation of the fossils found in the Tyndall Glacier is the way they were buried. According to Malkowski, Fiona and her contemporaries were either trapped or swiftly covered by underwater landslides and turbidity currents — geological processes that led to their sudden entombment.But the good fortune that protected them for millions of years may now be running out. As the glacier retreats, exposing fossils that were once unreachable, those same remains are now vulnerable to wind, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles, which crack the surrounding rock. As vegetation takes hold, roots accelerate erosion and eventually conceal the fossils once again.“While climate change has allowed these fossils to be studied, continued warming will also eventually lead to their loss,” Maxwell warns. In Fiona’s story, scientists find not only a record of ancient life, but also a warning etched in stone and bone: what time reveals, climate can reclaim.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:María de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist based in Montevideo, Uruguay, focusing on long-form storytelling. Her work has appeared in Discover Magazine, Science, National Geographic, among other outlets, and in leading Uruguayan publications such as El País and El Observador. She was a fellow in the 2023 Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program by The Open Notebook and often explores the intersections of science, culture, and Latin American identity.

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Join Ezekiel on an extraterrestrial adventure like no other in his podcast, where he delves into the mysterious world of aliens. With cutting-edge technology, he brings to life animated characters and engaging conversations that are out of this world. #madewithreplikant #Replikant #unrealengine5 #ue5 #metaHuman GET REPLIKANT: We're excited to announce that Replikant Early Access is now available on the Epic Store! Replikant is a 3D animation platform designed to simplify the complexities of 3D setup, allowing you to focus more on your creativity. Replikant on the Epic Store: https://lnkd.in/eGpEH-4H

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First Ever Pregnant Ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous Reveals Life in Prehistoric Seas