Navigation Links
Fossil bone bed helps reconstruct life along California's ancient coastline
Date:6/8/2009

Berkeley In the famed Sharktooth Hill Bone Bed near Bakersfield, Calif., shark teeth as big as a hand and weighing a pound each, intermixed with copious bones from extinct seals and whales, seem to tell of a 15-million-year-old killing ground.

Yet, new research by a team of paleontologists from the University of California, Berkeley, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and the University of Utah paints a less catastrophic picture. Instead of a sudden die-off, the researchers say that the bone bed is a 700,000-year record of normal life and death, kept free of sediment by unusual climatic conditions between 15 million and 16 million years ago.

The team's interpretation of the fossils and the geology to establish the origins of the bone bed, the richest and most extensive marine deposit of bones in the world, are presented in the June 2009 issue of the journal Geology.

The mix of shark bones and teeth, turtle shells three times the size of today's leatherbacks, and ancient whale, seal, dolphin and fish skeletons, comprise a unique six-to-20-inch-thick layer of fossil bones, 10 miles of it exposed, that covers nearly 50 square miles just outside and northeast of Bakersfield.

Since the bed's discovery in the 1850s, paleontologists have battled over an obvious question: How did the bones get there? Was this a killing ground for megalodon, a 40-foot version of today's great white shark? Was it a long-term breeding area for seals and other marine mammals, like Mexico's Scammon's lagoon is for the California gray whale? Did a widespread catastrophe, like a red tide or volcanic eruption, lead to a massive die-off?

The new and extensive study of the fossils and the geology of Sharktooth Hill tells a less dramatic story, but an important one, for understanding the origin of rich fossil accumulations, said Nicholas Pyenson, a former UC Berkeley graduate student who is now a post-doctoral fellow a
'/>"/>

Contact: Robert Sanders
rsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Source:Eurekalert  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. First orchid fossil puts showy blooms at some 80 million years old
2. Fossil data plugs gaps in current knowledge, study shows
3. Microfossils disclose geologic history of eastern California
4. Living fossils have hot sex
5. Fossilized cashew nuts reveal Europe was important route between Africa and South America
6. Fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction
7. Fossil record reveals elusive jellyfish more than 500 million years old
8. Can plant-based ethanol save us from our fossil fuel addiction?
9. 390-million-year-old scorpion fossil -- biggest bug known
10. Rodent fossils allows to determine climate of the Iberian Peninsula 6 million years ago
11. Fossils excavated from Bahamian blue hole may give clues of early life
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Fossil bone bed helps reconstruct life along California's ancient coastline
Fossil bone bed helps reconstruct life along California's ancient coastline
(Date:2/9/2010)... OlFactor Laboratories, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of ... technology from UC Riverside. , The technology ... how two-winged blood-feeding insects, e.g. mosquitos and black ... dioxide (CO2) emissions from animals and humans. CO2, ... animal breath, attracts the insect to its prey. ...
(Date:2/9/2010)... Feb. 9 Fujitsu Frontech ... innovative computer products including peripherals, biometric security solutions ... luxurious new Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel ... using the new Fujitsu WT-A511 UHF-Band RFID (Radio ... inventory of 10,000 employee uniforms and 25,000 bathrobes, ...
(Date:2/8/2010)... imaging offers a wealth of data about how cells ... biological systems is a daunting challenge. In a ... www.genome.org ), researchers have developed a novel method of ... within biological networks, offering a glimpse into the future ... have been peering through a microscope at cells as ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New Fujitsu UHF RFID Technology Implemented at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel for Advanced Inventory Monitoring 2New Fujitsu UHF RFID Technology Implemented at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel for Advanced Inventory Monitoring 3New Fujitsu UHF RFID Technology Implemented at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel for Advanced Inventory Monitoring 4New Fujitsu UHF RFID Technology Implemented at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel for Advanced Inventory Monitoring 5Method of the future uses single-cell imaging to identify gene interactions 2Not On Our Watch Grant to UNICEF to Support Critical Protection Programs for Zimbabwean Refugee Children 47645 1Not On Our Watch Grant to UNICEF to Support Critical Protection Programs for Zimbabwean Refugee Children 47645 2Not On Our Watch Grant to UNICEF to Support Critical Protection Programs for Zimbabwean Refugee Children 47645 3Semen quality depends upon antioxidants 47640 1Semen quality depends upon antioxidants 47640 2Women faring well in hiring process for science faculty jobs at research universities 8695 1Women faring well in hiring process for science faculty jobs at research universities 8695 2Women faring well in hiring process for science faculty jobs at research universities 8695 3Women faring well in hiring process for science faculty jobs at research universities 8695 4
... Forsyth Institute have confirmed in human gingival tissue that ... Although researchers had suspected the correlation between bone ... is the first time that this has been confirmed ... and colleagues hope to determine methods for intervening and ...
... depend on medications such as Ritalin to quell symptoms ... to pinpoint how the drugs work in the brain. ... is now starting to clear up some of the ... report that ADHD drugs primarily target the prefrontal cortex ...
... study from the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center and ... greatest risk for HIV. Amongst a group of high-risk ... the disease (those who engaged in the most unprotected ... problems. , Prior studies have found that risky sexual ...
Other Biology News:First human study confirms that immune cells can be a primary cause of bone loss in gum disease 2Study reveals how ADHD drugs work in brain 2Study reveals how ADHD drugs work in brain 3New HIV study identifies high-risk subgroups of adolescents 2New HIV study identifies high-risk subgroups of adolescents 3
(Date:2/8/2010)... surface for label-free biomolecular interaction analysis now offers surface ... Protein A and Protein G for coupling antibodies. ... ... CA (PRWEB) February 8, 2010 -- Silicon Kinetics Inc., ... the world,s first 3D biosensor surface for label-free biomolecular ...
(Date:2/8/2010)... Feb. 8 MBS Value ... relations and corporate communications for domestic and international ... and Matthew Haines have joined as ... outstanding senior-level advisory and corporate experience that will ... , co-founder of MBS. “Lisa’s and Matt’s significant ...
(Date:2/8/2010)... is pleased to announce that it has hired Lisa Wichman and Sahar ... joins HDS as an Account Manager and will focus on key healthcare ... the Manager of that group Omaha, NE. , ... Foothill Ranch, CA ... pleased to announce the hiring of a new Account Manager and Manager ...
(Date:2/5/2010)... Maryland researchers have developed and successfully tested new ... of improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Iraq, ... of weapons caches that are used by insurgents ... computer science Ph.D. student Paulo Shakarian and computer ... Torino (Italy) computer science Professor Maria-Luisa Sapino developed ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Silicon Kinetics Announces New Biosensor Chips With Wide Palette of Surface Chemistries 2MBS Value Partners Hires Two New Senior Staff Members 2Healthcare Data Solutions Announces Expansion of its Healthcare Customer Solutions Team With Two Key Additions 2Healthcare Data Solutions Announces Expansion of its Healthcare Customer Solutions Team With Two Key Additions 3'Fighting' IED attacks with SCARE technology 2'Fighting' IED attacks with SCARE technology 3
... a,global provider of pharmaceutical competitive intelligence and market,research, has ... and biotech companies with a stake in the market ... Leader Insight &,Analysis -- Parkinson,s Disease, is based on ... and Europe (3). , ...
... Calif., Dec. 2 SleepQuest is proud to announce,it ... Commission on the,Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) by ... safety. , "In ... standards by The Joint Commission,s home care service survey ...
... transition from perimenopause to postmenopause , , ... and intensity of vasomotor symptoms is a challenge for women ... of Family Practice have recently published a supplement titled ... . In this supplement, James McGregor, MD, CM and Lee ...
Other Biology Technology:New Report Provides Expert Analysis of Recent Advances and Setbacks in Parkinson's Disease Drug Development 2SleepQuest Achieves Coveted Accreditation 2
... High perfomance data acquisition interface. All the ... faster on-board processor, increased memory and more ... The Power1401 also inlcudes an option for ... the standard 16 to 48 waveform inputs ...
... solid. Increases the expression of glutathione peroxidase. ... 2 O. Unstable in aqueous solutions; reconstitute ... 3211-76-5, M.W. 196.1. References: Merck Index ... A.F. 1995. Biochem. J. 306, ...
... pen has been designed to provide a thin film-like ... on a slide. This barrier creates the proper ... target area on the slide. PAP Pen contains ... acetone. It can be removed, if desired, by ...
Mouse monoclonal antibody to QDPR - quinoid dihydropteridine reductase...
Biology Products: