The oldest fossil ascomycetes
Article Abstract:
The oldest ascomycetous fungi with flask-shaped ascocarps have been found in thin-section preparations of the Lower Devonian (400 million years old) Rhynie chert of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This discovery highlights the diversity of fungal-plant interactions early in the colonization of land. The fossils arose as closed fruiting bodies spread out just under the epidermis in the upright stems and rhizomes of the early land plant Asteroxylon. They contain characters of the sexual stage of the fungus that are morphologically identical to those found in modern pyrenomycetes.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1999
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Husbandry at the oldest henge
Article Abstract:
Excavation of the Coupland enclosure in the Milfield Basin, Northumberland, England, has produced new information about the origin and significance of henges, ancient circular monuments made up of an outer mound and an inner ditch. The Coupland enclosure is unusually large for a henge, being around 110 mt in diameter, and is particularly interesting for its double-ditched linear feature. It seems likely that it was used to keep cattle, but could later have become significant as a sacred site.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1997
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The world's oldest songbird
Article Abstract:
The oldest known songbirds or passerines are the most widely distributed of birds. These passerines comprise a proximal right carpometacarpus and a distal right tibiotarsus, as revealed by passerine fossils obtained from an Early Eocene site in southeastern Queensland, Australia. These songbirds are suspected to have a southern origin.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1995
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