Scientists find 74-million-year-old mammal fossil in Chile - Jordan News
Yeutherium pressor weighed between 30 and 40 grams (about one ounce) and lived in the Upper Cretaceous period, about 74 million years ago. اضافة اعلان It is the smallest mammal ever found in this region of South America, dating back to the era when it was part of a continental land mass known as Gondwana. The fossil consists of 'a small piece of jaw with a molar and the crown and roots of two other molars,' said Hans Puschel, who led the team of scientists from the University of Chile and Chile's Millennium Nucleus research center on early mammals. The discovery was published this month in the British scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Researchers found the fossil in the Rio de las Las Chinas Valley in Chile's Magallanes region, about 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) south of Santiago. Despite its similarity to a small rodent, Yeutherium pressor was a mammal that must have laid eggs, like the platypus, or carried its young in a pouch like kangaroos or opossums. The shape of its teeth suggests that it probably had a diet of relatively hard vegetables. Just like the dinosaurs with whom it coexisted, the tiny mammal abruptly went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Alarabiya
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Jordan News
2 days ago
- Jordan News
Scientists find 74-million-year-old mammal fossil in Chile - Jordan News
Scientists have discovered the fossil of a tiny mouse-sized mammal that lived in the time of the dinosaurs in Chilean Patagonia. Yeutherium pressor weighed between 30 and 40 grams (about one ounce) and lived in the Upper Cretaceous period, about 74 million years ago. اضافة اعلان It is the smallest mammal ever found in this region of South America, dating back to the era when it was part of a continental land mass known as Gondwana. The fossil consists of 'a small piece of jaw with a molar and the crown and roots of two other molars,' said Hans Puschel, who led the team of scientists from the University of Chile and Chile's Millennium Nucleus research center on early mammals. The discovery was published this month in the British scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Researchers found the fossil in the Rio de las Las Chinas Valley in Chile's Magallanes region, about 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) south of Santiago. Despite its similarity to a small rodent, Yeutherium pressor was a mammal that must have laid eggs, like the platypus, or carried its young in a pouch like kangaroos or opossums. The shape of its teeth suggests that it probably had a diet of relatively hard vegetables. Just like the dinosaurs with whom it coexisted, the tiny mammal abruptly went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Alarabiya
Ammon
07-08-2025
- Ammon
'Like finding a diamond': 16-million-year-old fossil of elusive ant
Ammon News - A rare fossil in Dominican amber unveils a miniature, ancient 'dirt ant' once native to the Caribbean. Ants are a common sight wherever soil is found, but one group is so expertly camouflaged that they have earned the exclusive name 'dirt ants' (Basiceros). A newly uncovered fossil is now offering new insight into just how far these elusive ants once roamed. In a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, biologists from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have documented the first fossilized Basiceros dirt ant discovered in the Caribbean. The specimen, an adult worker, was preserved in 16-million-year-old amber from the Dominican Republic. Discovery expands Basiceros history According to researchers, the fossilized adult worker ant belongs to a newly identified species named Basiceros enana, which is significantly smaller than its living counterparts. This discovery provides direct evidence that this secretive ant lineage once lived on the Caribbean islands but later disappeared from the region during the Miocene epoch (23 to 5.3 million years ago). 'Dirt ants are rare finds in the wild. Finding one today is exciting given how well they stay hidden, but captured in amber, it's like finding a diamond,' said Gianpiero Fiorentino, corresponding author of the study and Ph.D. candidate at NJIT's Barden Lab. 'This fossil is singularly distinct from all its modern relatives and reshapes the evolutionary history of Basiceros.' SciTechDaily
Jordan News
06-08-2025
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A Child's Obesity Is More Closely Linked to Maternal Genes Than Paternal Ones, Study Finds - Jordan News
A new study has found that a child's risk of obesity may be more strongly influenced by maternal genes than paternal ones, due to a phenomenon known as "genetic nurturing." This emerging concept in genetics refers to the indirect effect of parental genes on a child's health and behavior, not through inherited DNA, but through the environment shaped by parental genetic traits. اضافة اعلان According to this theory, a parent's genetic makeup may influence factors such as education level or lifestyle choices, which in turn shape the environment in which the child is raised—affecting the child's physical and psychological development. This phenomenon is sometimes called "genetics through environment", as it goes beyond traditional genetic inheritance to include the imprint that parental genes leave on daily life and parenting styles. The Study and Its Findings The study, conducted by researchers at University College London (UCL) and published in the journal PLOS Genetics, analyzed health and genetic data from 2,621 British families who are part of the Millennium Cohort Study, which tracks individuals born in the early 2000s. Researchers examined the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) of parents and their children's weight and eating habits across six age stages, from age 3 to 17. They also used self-reported dietary data from the children to assess how both maternal and paternal genetics influenced their physical health. The study found that the father's genetic influence on the child's weight was almost entirely direct, through inherited DNA. In contrast, maternal genetics showed both direct and indirect effects. Even when the researchers controlled for inherited genes, the maternal environment still played a significant role in determining a child's likelihood of being overweight. A Key Role for Mothers' Environments Lead author Liam Wright, a researcher at UCL's Institute of Social Research, emphasized that the findings highlight the critical role of maternal environments, which are shaped by maternal genetics. 'This is not about blaming mothers,' Wright stated. 'It's about recognizing the importance of supporting families to create healthy environments that contribute to better long-term outcomes for children.' The study also went beyond traditional BMI measurements, particularly in children, by including detailed fat mass assessments, offering a more comprehensive picture of childhood obesity. Implications for Public Health Policy The researchers recommend that public health interventions focus on supporting mothers, especially during pregnancy, to help interrupt the intergenerational cycle of obesity. This represents a shift in understanding obesity as a multi-factorial issue, involving genetic, environmental, and behavioral components, and calls for more inclusive, family-oriented support systems—particularly for mothers. On a global level, childhood obesity remains a major concern. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, 35 million children under age 5 were overweight in 2024. In 2022, more than 390 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 were classified as overweight, including 160 million with obesity. The WHO uses a growth reference standard to diagnose obesity or undernutrition in children, which includes measures like height-for-age, weight-for-age, and BMI-for-age. Studies like this one provide valuable evidence for preventive health strategies worldwide.
