[Animals] 10 stunning fossils from 2022 that didn't come from dinosaurs

[BirSaNN]

Not all the best fossils belong to dinosaurs. Here are some of our favorite non-dino fossil stories dug up in 2022.

When it comes to fossils, dinosaurs usually dominate the headlines. But many amazing and scientifically important non-dino fossil discoveries get dug up every year that deserve just as much respect. And 2022 was no different. From the oldest fossilized brain and ancient panda teeth to mangled "dragon" bones and a 3D fish face, here are some of our favorites.

A 525 million-year-old fossilized worm unearthed in China has what is likely the oldest example of a brain ever discovered.

The ancient worm-like critter, known as Cardiodictyon catenulum, belongs to the phylum Lobopodia — a group of extinct, seafloor-dwelling arthropod ancestors with armored shells and stubby legs that were abundant during the Cambrian period (541 million to 485.4 million years ago).

The specimen was first discovered in 1984, but the original researchers "would not even dare to look at it in hopes of finding a brain." When the new team reanalyzed the fossil, they found not just a brain but also an entire delicately preserved nervous system.

The shape of the brain and nervous system could also solve a longstanding debate about the evolution of brains in arthropods.

Read more: Fossilized brain of 525 million-year-old deep sea worm likely the oldest ever discovered

Titanic 12-foot turtle

Paleontologists have unearthed an extinct, never-before-seen species of giant sea turtle in Spain. The massive reptile likely had a body length of around 12.3 feet (3.7 meters) — more than double the size of modern marine turtles — and is the largest turtle species ever uncovered in Europe.

The new species, which researchers named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica, was identified from a complete pelvis fossil and fragments of fossilized shell. It likely cruised Europe's ancient oceans between 83.6 million and 72.1 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago).

The world's largest-ever turtle is the extinct Archelon ischyros, which lived in North America and had a maximum body length of 15 feet (4.6 m). The new finding suggests that gigantism in turtles likely evolved in at least two separate evolutionary lineages.

Read more: Titanic 12-foot turtle cruised the ocean 80 million years ago, newfound fossils show

Frog sea "death trap"

Between the 1930s and 1950s more than 150 fossilized frogs were unearthed at a fossil site in Germany. Bizarrely, all the frogs seemed to have been completely healthy when they died, which left scientists puzzling to figure out what killed them.

In a new study, researchers suggested that the frogs may have died while having aggressive underwater sex. In some species of modern frogs that mate in water, males often hold females under the surface as they mount them, which can sometimes cause the females to drown. Geological records show that the fossil site was a marshy swampland around 45 million years ago when the frogs are believed to have died, which suggests these animals could have mated in the same way.

Past explanations for the fossilized frogs’ demise include extreme environmental changes, such as flooding, drought or oxygen depletion. But through a process of elimination, the study researchers believe their theory is the "only explanation that makes sense."

Read more: 'Ancient death trap' preserved hundreds of fossilized frogs that drowned during sex

Europe's last panda

A never-before-seen species of panda that was likely the last of its kind to roam Europe was identified after researchers rediscovered a pair of fossilized teeth that had been lost in the archives of a museum in Bulgaria.

The new species, named Agriarctos nikolovi, had much larger teeth than seen in other European pandas, and so it was most likely similar in size to living giant pandas in Asia. However, its tooth structure hints that these teeth were weaker than giant panda teeth, suggesting that A. nikolovi likely had a more varied diet and probably chewed on soft vegetation rather than chomping on hard bamboo.

Until now, the youngest European panda dated back to around 10 million years ago. But the new fossils are around 6 million years old, which suggests that pandas roamed the continent more recently than previously believed.

Researchers believe A. nikolovi was eventually wiped out by extreme ancient climate change.

Read more: Europe’s last pandas were giant weaklings who couldn’t even eat bamboo

link: https://www.livescience.com/non-dinosaur-fossils-2022