#microfossil

Scientists, led by the UK’s University of Sheffield and Boston College in the USA, discovered a microfossil in the Scottish Highlands, which could be the oldest fossil of its kind on record. The tiny fossil, dated to around one billion years ago, contains two distinctly different cell types and appears...

Ossicle This ring-shaped feature is a piece of calcium carbonate that, about 150 million years ago, was part of a Sea Cucumber. These animals are actually echinoderms – the same phylum as starfish and crinoids, but with a completely different body plan. They are often elongate and mostly fleshy tissue – hence their nickname as “Sea cucumbers”. They secrete a tiny internal skeleton in the form of these tiny, calcite “ossicles” (the term for very small parts of a skeleton or very small bones like those of your ear). In sea cucumbers, the tissues and muscles attach to these tiny rings, helping to provide support for the whole body. When the organism dies, those ossicles are released as mineralized “microfossils” – this one is about half a millimeter across and comes from a limestone from the Tethys Seaway, today found in the Czech Republic. It was photographed using an electron microscope -JBB Image credit: Petr Hykš https://flic.kr/p/DSpxju Reference: http://tolweb.org/Holothuroidea

"The Detection Of Vanadium In Microfossils Could Reveal Past Life On Mars" has been added to my site. Please visit for details. http://www.stocknewspaper.com/the-detection-of-vanadium-in-microfossils-could-reveal-past-life-on-mars/

One of the smallest shark teeth I've found yet. No idea as to what this came from. #tinyteeth #microfossil #microfossils #fossils #rocks #sharks #sharktooth #sharkteeth #miocene #miocenefossils

Literally awesome . . #assilina #microfossil

A clearer pic of my special find today off the monitor of the camera #microscope. A #reptile (prob #snake) #vertebra inside the neural canal of a (probably) #bird vertebra! #inception #labreatarpits #microfossil #science #fossils #anatomy (at La Brea Tar Pits and Museum)

Instead of fangs, the microscopic vampires likely punctured their preys' cell walls with enzymes.