Science News’ favorite fossils of 2019
This year’s fossil finds, from vast new collections of species to wonderful and weird curiosities, helped reveal the richness and diversity of life on Earth over the last half a billion years. 1. Impressive invertebrates 518 million years ago China’s Qingjiang biota is a treasure trove of beautifully preserved fossils, including jellyfish (left), comb jellies (middle), mud dragons (right) and arthropods. The remains document the Cambrian explosion, a rapid flourishing of life-forms, and include many organisms never seen before — even at the most famous Cambrian fossil site, Canada’s Burgess Shale (SN: 4/27/19, p. 14). D. Fu et al/Science 2019 2. Tetrapod walking 290 million to 280 million years ago Using re-created skeletons, fossil trackways, computer simulations and a robot (shown), scientists concluded that four-footed Orobates pabsti held its belly off the ground as it walked with minimal side-to-side undulation. For such an ancient critter, O. pabsti — one of the earliest amniotes, a group that includes...