You might have missed: Fossil “echidnapus”; bigger is better for proboscis monkeys; Alaska’s rivers turn orange, and more

You might have missed: Fossil “echidnapus”; bigger is better for proboscis monkeys; Alaska’s rivers turn orange, and more

From Cosmos (24/5/24)…
 

You might have missed: Fossil “echidnapus”; bigger is better for proboscis monkeys; Alaska’s rivers turn orange, and more

Opalised fossil of “echidnapus” discovered

Australian scientists have described 3 new genera of fossil monotremes from opalised jaws dating back to the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period, between 100 million to 96.6 million years ago.

Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) Kris Helgen says one of the most striking of the new monotremes, Opalios splendens, shares characteristics of both echidnas and platypus.

“It’s the first evidence we’ve seen of an ‘echidnapus’ – a species which looks like it could have been ancestral to all of the living monotremes,” says Helgen.

The other genera include Dharragarra aurora, a platypus species with molars, and an additional species named Parvopalus clytiei.

The fossils were found in the Lightning Ridge opal field in New South Wales by Elizabeth Smith of the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge.

Bigger is better for the proboscis monkey

Male proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) endemic to the island of Borneo are best known for their large, droopy noses (the largest of any primate!). Females of the same species sport a much smaller schnoz.

Now, researchers from the Australian National University have used 3D scans of proboscis monkeys’ skulls to explain why.

Male proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus). Credit: Cn0ra/Getty Images

 

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