Horselike Fossil From 48 Million Years Ago Preserved While Pregnant
In the Messel Pit, near Frankfurt, Germany, a 48-million-year-old horselike fossil was pulled, yielding insights into the evolution of mammalian reproductive systems. The Messel Pit is a disused quarry, rich in fossils, near the village of Messel, about 35 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance. The fossil that was discovered there was a fetal specimen which was described in a new study as “the earliest and best-preserved mammalian fetus to date.” Jens Lorenz Franzen, a retired paleontologist affiliated with the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt and one of the study’s authors, pondered whether the preservation of the placenta of the horselike fossil was possible. He and his team further investigated this by looking at the fossilized soft tissue and thus found a preserved placenta, uterus and one broad uterine ligament, proving that the ancient mare had a reproductive system very similar to that of a modern horse. The fetus was originally discovered in 2000 by Dr. Franzen and his team. They used scanning electronic microscopy and high-resolution micro-X-rays to study the bones and anatomy of the fetus. The researchers believe that “because the fetus is very developed, the mare may have died shortly before she would have given birth.”
This article has a huge effect on humanity in general because this means a sophisticated reproductive system was already present in mammals at the time of Messel. This is important because it adds to the timeline of the evolution of reproductive systems in mammals, showing that even at this time, 48 million years ago, mammals had such complex reproductive systems. This fossil is also important to observe when examining the evolution of horses and their features, for this mammal can be most closely related to a horse, and can draw many comparisons to a horse. Another significant part of this is how the bones of the fetus are also intact except for the skull, which is crushed, showing that the bones were very well preserved.
Personally, I would have liked to have learned more about the appearance of the fossil, and maybe a better explanation of what it could have been or evolved into. Also, the article was fairly short, so I would have liked to have had a little more information on the overall studies conducted by Dr. Franzen and possibly more of the process of his studies. Ultimately, I found the article to be very informative, explaining well enough the fossil and what was done to examine it.
Bhanoo, Sindya N. "Horselike Fossil From 48 Million Years Ago Preserved While Pregnant." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/science/horselike-fossil-from-48-million-years-ago-preserved-while-pregnant.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront>.
I read John's review on "Horselike Fossil from 48 Million Years Ago Preserved While Pregnant". I thought he did a good job of giving a summary on what the article was about. It was brief and easy to understand, hitting the main points on how evolution connected to the finding of a fetus with an intact reproductive system. He also did a good job of including the important people like Dr. Franzen who were involved in the finding and analyzing of the fossil. Lastly, the paragraph on why this article was important and how it affected humanity was well stated, especially when he mentioned that it could change a scientist's opinion on the evolution of a horse and evolution in general.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review was well written, he could have done a few aspects better. For example, some of the sentences in the first paragraph were structured weirdly and were somewhat hard to comprehend at times. In addition, stating how this connected to evolution could have been stated more clearly. However, not much needs improvement because the review is very well written overall.
From this review, I learned about the Messel Pit, an important place in Germany to find fossils. I also learned that there can be a 48 million year old fossil of a fetus with a preserved reproductive system which is pretty hard to believe. This review impacted me because it gives another look into evolution and the intricacies of how each species evolved and adapted, especially so long ago.
I was blown away by John’s outstanding review of this article. Right off the bat, I found I loved John’s clear description of the setting, in which this article took place. He immediately states, “In the Messel Pit, near Frankfurt, Germany... a disused quarry, rich in fossils, near the village of Messel, about 35 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and bituminous shale was mined there.” John gives more than enough detail about the location of the mines, so that we can immediately become acquainted with the type of place being talked about. Additionally, I liked the way John gave the article credibility by referencing professionals in his review. For example, he gave the opinion of Jens Lorenz Franzen, a retired paleontologist affiliated with the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt. Finally, I liked the way John clearly explained the importance of this discovery. He stated, “It is important because it adds to the timeline of the evolution of reproductive systems in mammals, showing that even at this time, 48 million years ago, mammals had such complex reproductive systems.”
ReplyDeleteWhile I could go on and on about all of the things I liked about John’s review, there were also a couple of things I didn’t like about it. For example, at one point in the review, John stated, “They used scanning electronic microscopy and high-resolution micro-X-rays to study the bones and anatomy of the fetus.” Though your average scientist might know what electronic microscopy and high-resolution micro-X-rays, these types of words are not in the vocabulary of your everyday reader. Therefore, some simpler language might have appealed to a wider audience. Another thing I didn’t love about this review was that he didn’t go into much detail about the origins of this “horselike mammal.” Instead, he simply talked about the mammals reproductive system.
Overall, I loved John’s review of the article and learned a lot. Specifically, I learned that mammals that existed even 48 million years ago had reproductive systems that were nearly as complex as ours today. I also learned about the way reproductive systems have evolved over the years. Now, when thinking about the future, it makes me wonder what reproductive systems may look like 48 million years from now. If they didn’t change that much over the past 48 million years, will they really change that much over the next 48 million years? Perhaps, it is possible that we have reached a certain evolutionary plateau as a species.
Bhanoo, Sindya N. "Horselike Fossil From 48 Million Years Ago Preserved While Pregnant."
The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/science/horselike-fossil-from-48-million-years-ago-preserved-while-pregnant.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science%C2%AEion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0
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ReplyDeleteWell done John. Your review provides a great explanation of why this fossil is significant. You do a good job of describing why the discovery is important and not just one more fossil of a creature whose name is impossible to pronounce. You also do a great job of tying in information directly from the article which gives your words much more credibility. You also give great context for the discovery. Simply stating the fossil was found in the messle pit was not enough but the description of the setting is very much sufficient and creates a good idea of where the fossil was found. It would have been nice to have seen some context as to why this fossil is important. For example you say that it is the earliest known sophisticated reproductive system but it would have been nice to know how recent similar organisms were in comparison. Additionally, I would have liked to know what aspects of this animal's reproductive system were so impressive. Simply knowing that it carried it's children in a womb is the only information that is given and I don't know if that is significant or not. The whole concept of archeology is rather humbling and knowing that the humans that are walking the earth today are a result of millions of years of evolution from creatures that seem like the could never become humans is a concept that, no matter how many times it is stated, will always be one that blows me away and makes me wonder what there is out there that is still unknown to mankind.
ReplyDeleteBhanoo, Sindya N. "Horselike Fossil From 48 Million Years Ago Preserved While Pregnant." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. .
I very much enjoyed reading John’s review. First, I enjoyed how he gave ample background information on where the fossil was discovered, going so far as to saying where the nearest city is to the site. This helped me to get a perspective on what part of the world we are talking about. Second, I enjoyed how he included a quote from an expert on the subject. Bringing in Jens Lorenz Franzen’s insight into the topic helped to make the claim more legitimate and seem more important. Lastly, I enjoyed how he listed out the different parts of the horse that were very similar, talking about the placenta, uterus, and broad uterine ligament. This helped me to understand just what about this horse was so similar to the horses of today.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I would have liked to have been explained further was the crushed skull of the horse. I would have liked to know what scientists theorize happened to the horse to cause such a localized injury. I also would have liked to know why it is actually important to my life that this was discovered. It seemed like the second paragraph simply restated that the fossils were well preserved and that it had a similar reproductive system to a modern horse, not quite answering why I should care about it.
One thing that particularly struck me as interesting was the fact that a fossil 48 million years old could even come close to being similar to a modern day organism. This has truly given me perspective on just how long it takes life to evolve and how far back we can have recognizably similar ancestors.
I thought that John’s review was very well done. I thought that John did a good job giving background on the study before going into it; he told about the location of the find and explained the importance of this location. I thought that this helped the reader understand why they chose to dig here and helped give a better understanding before the study was summarized. I also thought that John did a good job summarizing the study by describing not only what was found, but the people and the process that was used to find the artifact. Lastly, I thought that John did a good job of telling how this impacts society today because it shows us how far back (48 million years ago), mammals like this mare had highly sophisticated reproductive systems, similar to that of the horse today.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there were many things done well, I think John could have improved his review by adding information on what was previously believed about the reproductive system of mammals before. John stated that this find is revolutionary because it changes the timeline of evolution, but it would have been helpful to know what ideas this timeline was based on. I also thought that John could have expanded upon the idea of the skull being crushed or left it out, because I felt it was stated with no purpose. I think it would have been interesting to know what scientists proposed about the crushed skull.
I thought that this article was very interesting because I don’t know very much about fossils. I found it fascinating not only that a reproductive system was developed so early on, but also how the placenta was preserved. I think that this article helps show how much we still have to learn about evolution and that life may have been more complex early on than we think. I think this also shows how much information we can gain from fossils and that as we continue to unearth more, we will learn more about our past.