Fossils discovered in Egypt may be the closest ancestor of all apes

 

The reconstruction of Masripithecus moghraensis, an ape that lived around 17 million years ago. Image courtesy of Mauricio Antón/Professor Hesham Sallam

Joel Kontinen

Pieces of jawbone and teeth found in Egypt have been identified as a new early ape species named Masripithecus moghraensis, which lived about 17 million years ago

When according to evolution, was the earliest fossil of all apes discovered.   

A newly discovered ape species that lived around 17 million years ago suggests that the first apes may have evolved in North Africa, not East Africa as previously thought.

In 2023 and 2024, at the Wadi Moghra archaeological site in northern Egypt, Shorouq Al-Ashqar at Mansoura University, Egypt, and her colleagues found teeth and jawbones from two ancient apes in deposits dated to approximately 17 million to 18 million years old.

According to Genesis,  God created each species so that it would fill the circle assigned to it, so no thousands or millions of years are needed.  

Source: 

James Woodford 2026 Fossils discovered in Egypt may be the closest ancestor of all apes | New Scientist 26 March 

 

Dinosaur fossil rewrites the story of how sauropods got long necks

 

Illustration of the Triassic dinosaur Huayracursor jaguensis. Image courtesy of Jorge Blanco.

Joel Kontinen

Some Darwinist thinks that the evolution of dinosaurs followed a pattern of first small, then big.

A 230-million-year-old fossil found in Argentina shows that the evolution of sauropod dinosaurs’ long necks began earlier than previously thought.

High in the Argentinian Andes, a team of palaeontologists has found a small dinosaur fossil with the first hints of the extended neck that distinguishes sauropod dinosaurs like Diplodocus.

Named Huayracursor jaguensis, the fossil is a partial skeleton from a dinosaur that lived in the Triassic period, around 230 million years ago. It would have been around 2 metres long, weighing about 18 kilograms.

Later, sauropods such as Brontosaurus and Patagotitan would become some of the largest and longest-necked animals ever to have lived, reaching lengths of over 35 metres and weights of more than 70 tonnes.

Until recently, evolutionists  thought that the precursors of these long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs, known as sauropodomorphs, were small, short-necked and possibly omnivorous.

Other sauropodomorphs living at the same time as H. jaguensis were much smaller, around a metre in length, and showed no signs of the lengthening of the neck bones seen in the newly found species. It wasn’t until several million years later that sauropodomorphs began to significantly increase their body mass and lengthen their necks, palaeontologists thought.

The discovery of H. jaguensis at Santo Domingo Creek in north-west Argentina, made by Martín Hechenleitner at Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council and his colleagues, changes the evolutionary  story of how these dinosaurs got their long necks.

“Huayracursor breaks somewhat with this idea of a gradual transition, because it coexisted with its small, proportionally shorter-necked relatives,” says Hechenleitner.

The dinosaur had a small skull compared with its contemporaries, robust hind limbs, slender hips and short arms with fairly large, robust hands.

It demonstrates that increased body size and neck lengthening were already evident from the beginning of the evolutionary history of its lineage, says Hechenleitner.

“Huayracursor drags the origin of the long neck and larger body size towards the first appearance of dinosaurs in the fossil record,” he says. “It’s fascinating to think that giant animals up to 40 meters long and over 30 tonnes, like Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan, are part of a lineage that began more than 100 million years earlier, with bipedal forms just over a meter long and a mere 10 to 15 kilograms [in weight].”

Source:

James Woodford 2025 Huayracursor jaguensis dinosaur fossil rewrites the story of how sauropods got long necks | New Scientist 15 October

Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery

 

Artist’s impression of Carinodens, a mosasaur whose remains scientists suspect might have been manipulated and then labelled as a new species. Image courtesy of Henry Sharpe

Joel Kontinen

A jawbone found in Morocco is probably  a forgery.  Some folks thought that it belonged to a new species of mosasaur.

Remnants of a bizarre “shark-toothed” aquatic predator that lived alongside dinosaurs were proubably forged, according to new research.

The contentious fossil of a jaw fragment was apparently collected by miners working at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco, in rock that is 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, and his colleagues analysed the find and classified it as a new species of mosasaur named Xenodens calminechari in 2021.

The fossil possesses highly unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks, which Longrich and his colleagues suggested would help carve up large prey.

Morocco is uniquely rich in mosasaur fossils, says Henry Sharpe at the University of Alberta in Canada. “Miners working in the phosphate mines come across mosasaurs all the time.”

The problem is many people in Morocco make a living selling fossils, says Sharpe. “So many of the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified [there] – teeth are added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell.”

Source:

Taylor Mitchell Brown 2025 Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery | New Scientist 16 January

Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery

 

Image courtesy of Henry Sharpe.

Joel Kontinen

Why is a never-before-seen fossil of a marine reptile a forgery? Most of the scientist say so. It is not the first fake in science.

”Remnants of a bizarre “shark-toothed” aquatic predator that lived alongside dinosaurs were probably forged, according to new research.

 The contentious fossil of a jaw fragment was apparently collected by miners working at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco, in rock that is 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, and his colleagues analysed the find and classified it as a new species of mosasaur named Xenodens calminechari in 2021.

The fossil possesses highly unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks, which Longrich and his colleagues suggested would help carve up large prey.

Morocco is uniquely rich in mosasaur fossils, says Henry Sharpe at the University of Alberta in Canada. “Miners working in the phosphate mines come across mosasaurs all the time.”

The problem is many people in Morocco make a living selling fossils, says Sharpe. “So many of the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified [there] – teeth are added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell.”

Source:

 Taylor Mitchell Brown 2025 Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery | New Scientist 16 January 

Evolutionist find "72 million year’s old" fossil

 

Image courtecy of Andrey Atuchin

Joel Kontinen

These  exceptional fossils, which aaccordin to evolution, are around 72 million years old, were discovered along the Aridagawa River in Wakayama Prefecture on Honshu island. “They belong to a never-before-seen species of mosasaur — a group of air-breathing aquatic reptiles that were apex marine predators during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago).”

In a new study published Dec. 11 in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, researchers named the new mosasaur Megapterygius wakayamaensis. The new genus Megapterygius translates to "large-winged" after the creature's unusually large rear flippers

Mosasaurs share a similar body plan and there is very little variation among species. But M. wakayamaensis is something of an outlier, which has surprised scientists. 

“Like other mosasaurs, M. wakayamaensis had a dolphin-like torso with four paddle-like flippers, an alligator-shaped snout and a long tail. But it also had a dorsal fin like a shark or dolphin, which is not seen in any other mosasaur species. “

However, what confused researchers the most was the size of the new mosasaur's rear flippers, which were even longer than their front flippers. Not only is this a first among mosasaurs but it is also extremely uncommon among all living and extinct aquatic species. 

Almost all swimming animals have their largest flippers toward the front of their bodies, which helps them steer through the water. Having larger flippers at the rear of the body would be like driving a car by steering the rear wheels instead of the front ones, which would make it much harder to turn quickly.

"We lack any modern analog that has this kind of body morphology — from fish to penguins to sea turtles," Konishi said. "None has four large flippers they use in conjunction with a tail fin."

The researchers suspect that instead of using the rear flippers to turn, M. wakayamaensis angled them upward or downward to quickly dive down or ascend through the water column, which may have helped make them adept hunters. The dorsal fin could have made it easier for the creature to turn, which may have counteracted the extra drag from the rear flippers, they added.

“M. wakayamaensis was about the same size as great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), which grow to around 4.9 metersor or 16 feet ‘) long. But other species could grow up to  (17 m), which is longer than a school bus.”

Source:

Harry Baker 2023. 

72 million-year-old 'blue dragon' unearthed in Japan is unlike anything we've ever seen, experts say | Live Science 18 December

 

A jellyfish is a sea anemone

 Image courtesy of Julius Csotonyi.

Joel Kontinen

A fossil that was thought by evolutionists to be a jellyfish is another animal entirely, It was upside-down the whole time.

Evolutionist believe that the fossil is 300 million years old.  The scientist found out that “E. asherae wasn't a jellyfish at all. It was a bulbous sea anemone that anchored itself to the seafloor with its muscular foot “ 

Such things happen to believers in evolution. 

 

Source: 

 Duke,  Cameron. 2023.  Oops, this 300 million-year-old 'blob' fossil was upside down. It's not a jellyfish after all. Live Science.  16 March.  

The be earliest animal may actually be a seaweed

 

Image courtesy of Zhang Xiguangmage.  

Joel Kontinen

The Cambrian fossil  Protomelission  may actually be a seaweed. Scientist thought that 515-million-year-old fossil may actually be a seaweed and not a not a bryozoan.  

It is quite hard to find the years a fosill with years marked on it.  Some of them were made in Noah's Flood when the Earth was subdued with water.   

Source:

 Lesté-Lasserre,  Christa. 2023. Fossil thought to be earliest animal may actually be seaweed. New Scientist  8 March. 

New dinosaur found in Africa

 

Image courtesy of Andrey Atuchin

Joel Kontinen

 

 

A dinosaur Named Mbiresaurus raathi was discovered in Zimbabwe stood at least a metre tall, ran on two legs, weighed around 30 kilograms.

According to evolutionists, this late Triassic fossil could help us understand how the period’s climate influenced the dispersal of early dinosaurs. the researchers date it to be around 230 million years ago.

According to evolution,  dinosaurs are thought to have avoided the harsh deserts to the north of this zone, to which they weren’t well-adapted.

This flies in the face of Artic dinosaurs.

Source:

Truscott, Ryan, 2022. Two-legged dinosaur from Zimbabwe is the oldest ever found in Africa.  New Scientist.  31 August

"500 million-year-old " fossils have stunningly preserved nervous systems

Image courtesy of Ortega-Hernández et al. 2022, Nature Communications. 

Joel Kontinen

Scientist have found nerve tissue within a small fossil. According to evolution, the creature lived in the Cambrian rock layers.  

It was called Mollisonia symmetrica.  Two of them were found.. One  of them is just 0.5 inches (13 millimeters) long and 0.1 inches (3.5 mm) wide at its widest point, the other is  0.3 inches (7.5 mm) long and 0.06 inches (1.7 mm) tall. 

The researcher say that it was just difficult to find so small creatures from around 500 million years ago. And they don’t know where to put the creature in the evolutionary tree. 

Source:

Lanese, Nicoletta. 2022. 500 million-year-old, bug-like fossils have stunningly preserved nervous systems, Live Science 28 January, 

Science and Nature Express Doubts About Grand Aunt Ida

Grand Aunt Ida seems to be the great grandmother of lemurs but not of humans. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Leading science publications Nature and Science have taken a surprisingly critical approach to Grand Aunt Ida who has recently been basking in the limelight.

The lemur fossil found in Germany is remarkably well preserved. Ida was dubbed Darwinius massillae in honour of Charles Darwin’s 200th anniversary. The latter part of the name comes from Messel, the place where her remains were found.

The popular press claimed Ida was the link that had long been missing between humans and apes. For instance, BBC’s webpages called her our earliest ancestor.

However, many leading evolution researchers think Ida has little if anything to do with human origins and development. A Nature editorial calls Ida a hyped-up fossil find. “In normal circumstances, the interpretation of the specimen given in the paper (J. L. Franzen et al. PLoS ONE 4, e5723; 2009) would have been no more contentious than that of any other fossil primate, and a good deal less so than some.”

Nature suggests that Ida has “little to do with human ancestry”. Ann Gibbons, writing in the journal Science, concurs: “Many of the leading scientists who study primate evolution don't think Ida lives up to her billing as a human ancestor; most think she's a relative of lemurs instead.”

She goes on to say, “Some worry that the publicity framing Ida as a human ancestor will backfire as her true identity and lowly origins are revealed.”

Even before Franzen et al. submitted their paper to PLoS ONE, a TV-documentary and a book were in the works. Although Ida was not presented as a human ancestor in the original paper, the words The Link, used in both the documentary and the book, gave the general public a misleading view of the lemur fossil.

It seems that Ida is just a lemur’s great aunt and no amount of hype will be able to change her into a monkey’s aunt.

Perhaps Ida says more about what some people want to hear than what an old lemur fossil represents. In a time when bread might be becoming scarce, the public will still want their circuses.

Sources:

Gibbons, Ann. 2009.Celebrity Fossil Primate: Missing Link or Weak Link? Science 324: 5931, 1124-1125. (29 May)

Nature. 2009. Media frenzy. (Editorial). Nature 459: 7246, 484 (28 May. 2009). http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7246/full/459484a.html

Much Ado About Great Aunt Ida

For a lemur, happiness is finding a long lost Great Aunt. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.





Joel Kontinen


The ado about a primate fossil known as Ida brings to mind the media circus surrounding the supposed finding of Jesus’ family tomb in 2007. The similarities are striking. A press conference and maximum publicity before an in-depth examination of the case.

Many serious scientists then protested the by-passing of peer review. Indeed, when they examined the case more closely, they found that the evidence was anything but convincing.

The Ida case is slightly different. While the fossil was introduced to the public at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on May 19th, it also had a research paper written and published in PloS ONE.

However, some scientists suspected that the study was far too superficial. They maintained that Science or Nature, for instance, would not have published such a paper. New Scientist also suspected that the ”hoopla” was ”unbridled”.

Sometimes, when there is a rush to publish a book and produce a TV documentary, money might be a more pertinent criterion than careful research.

Ida, who measures a metre or over three feet including the long tail, was named Darwinius massillae in honour of Charles Darwin’s 200th anniversary.

A private collector found the bones in 1983 in Messel, Germany. But it was not until Jörn Hurum, a paleontologist at the Oslo Natural History Museum obtained the remains of Ida that the era of Great Aunt speculation began in earnest.

There is a tendency in Israel, for instance, to be suspicious of finds bought from private collectors. China has had her share of fossil scandals, also. While not all collectors are crooks, we should not throw caution to the winds, either.


Ida, who is supposed to be 47 million years old, is remarkably well preserved: 95 per cent of her earthly remains are present. In contrast, Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), one of the more complete fossils ever found, is only 40 per cent intact. Moreover, even the contents of Great Aunt Ida’s stomach are present.

Ida resembles the lemurs that are still found in Madagascar although she does not have a ”tooth comb” that they use for grooming their fur or a long ”grooming claw”.

The earthly remains of Great Aunt Ida are remarkably intact. Their preservation suggests a rapid catastrophic burial. Seen from a creationist perspective, poor Ida might well have met her end in the same world wide flood that probably also took the life of another icon of evolution – Grandmother Lucy.


Source:

Beard, Chris. 2009. Why Ida fossil is not the missing link. New Scientist. (21 May) http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17173-why-ida-fossil-is-not-the-missing-link.html