|
|
Article: Record-breaking reptile.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- December 9, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Record-breaking reptile
The Lower Carboniferous period, lasting from 360 million to 320 million years ago, saw many important evolutionary changes in reptiles, amphibians and arthropods. Yet only a few tantalizing fossils remain to hint at what occurred.
Four years ago, paleontologists searching for fossils in a Scottish quarry found a cornucopia of carboniferous amphibians and arthropods, including the oldest known amphibian and the earliest daddy longlegs spider (SN: 4/13/85, p.237).
The same quarry, called East Kirkton Limestone, has now yielded a 338-million-year-old reptile -- almost 40 million years older than the previous record holder, ...