Latest news with #Silurian
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
8 interesting scorpion facts that will blow your mind: Know about their characteristics, origin and more
are ancient creatures known for their sharp pincers and venomous stingers. With a lineage dating back over 400 million years, they're among the oldest land predators on Earth.t They are found on every continent except Antarctica, scorpions thrive in deserts, forests, grasslands, and even mountains. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Despite their fearsome reputation, most species pose little danger to humans, and many play a vital role in controlling insect populations. They also carry some facts that you might not know till now! The features that make them fascinating isn't just their sting—but their ability to glow under ultraviolet light, their impressive survival skills, and their unique mating rituals. Whether feared or admired, scorpions are remarkable beings that blend ancient power with modern mystery. Lesser known facts about scorpions They bring forth living young directly Unlike insects, which usually lay their eggs outside the body, scorpions give birth to live young—a reproductive method called viviparity . In some species, the developing young grow inside a membrane, receiving nourishment from both a yolk and their mother. Others skip the membrane stage, with the young directly absorbing nutrients from the mother. Depending on the species, the pregnancy can last anywhere from two months to a year and a half. After birth, the tiny scorpions climb onto their mother's back, where they stay safe until they molt for the first time. Once they've shed their outer layer, they leave to begin life on their own. Known for their extended life expectancy While most arthropods have short lifespans, often living only a few weeks or months, scorpions stand out for their longevity. For example, mayflies survive just a few days. In contrast, scorpions are among the longest-living arthropods. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In their natural habitats, they usually live between two and ten years, but in captivity, some have been known to live up to 25 years. Long evolutionary history If you could journey back 300 million years, you'd find scorpions that closely resemble the ones we see today. Fossil records indicate that scorpions have changed very little since the Carboniferous period. Their earliest ancestors probably lived in the ocean and might have possessed gills. By around 420 million years ago, during the Silurian period, some of them had begun to inhabit land. These early scorpions may also have had compound eyes. Endure extremely harsh environments Arthropods have inhabited land for over 400 million years, and scorpions—some of their most resilient members—can live up to 25 years. This longevity is no coincidence. Scorpions are incredibly tough creatures. They can survive an entire year without eating and endure being submerged in water for up to 48 hours, thanks to their book lungs, which they share with horseshoe crabs. Although they often live in dry, harsh climates, they get all the moisture they need from their food. With very low metabolic rates, they use only a fraction of the oxygen that most insects require. Scorpions are built for survival and seem nearly impossible to destroy. Members of the arachnid family Scorpions are arthropods classified within the arachnid group, which also includes spiders, harvestmen, ticks, mites, and various scorpion-like creatures that aren't true scorpions—such as whipscorpions, pseudoscorpions, and wind scorpions. Like other arachnids, scorpions have two main body sections—the cephalothorax and the abdomen—as well as four pairs of legs. While scorpions share many physical traits with their arachnid relatives, evolutionary scientists believe they are most closely related to harvestmen (Opiliones). Scorpions perform a courtship dance before mating Scorpions engage in an elaborate courtship ritual known as the promenade à deux (literally, a walk for two). The dance begins when the male and female make contact. The male takes his partner by her pedipalps and gracefully walks her back and forth until he finds a proper location for his spermatophore. Once he deposits his package of sperm, he leads the female over it and positions her genital opening so she can take up the sperm. In the wild, the male usually makes a quick departure once mating is completed. In captivity, the female often devours her mate, having worked up an appetite from all the dancing. They illuminate in darkness The exact reason scorpions glow under ultraviolet light is still a topic of debate among scientists. Their cuticle, or outer skin, absorbs UV light and then emits it as visible light. This property greatly aids scorpion researchers, who can use black lights at night in scorpion habitats to make them glow. While only around 600 scorpion species were known a few decades ago, scientists have now identified nearly 2,000 species, thanks in part to the use of UV lights. After a scorpion molts, its new cuticle is soft and lacks the compound responsible for fluorescence, so newly molted scorpions don't glow. Interestingly, scorpion fossils can still fluoresce, even after being trapped in rock for millions of years. They can feed on almost anything Scorpions are primarily active at night. Most scorpions hunt insects, spiders, and other arthropods, but some also feed on grubs and earthworms. Larger scorpions are capable of consuming bigger prey, including small rodents and lizards. While many scorpions will eat whatever they can catch, others focus on specific types of prey, like certain beetle species or burrowing spiders. In times of scarcity, a hungry mother scorpion may even resort to eating her own young. Scorpions possess venom Indeed, scorpions do produce venom. Their intimidating tail consists of five segments of the abdomen, arched upward, with the final segment called the telson. The venom is produced within the telson, and at its tip is a sharp, needle-like structure known as the aculeus, which serves as the venom delivery system. Scorpions have control over when to release venom and can adjust its potency depending on whether they need to subdue prey or protect themselves from threats. Scorpions are not very dangerous to people While scorpions can sting and it's certainly not a pleasant experience, they generally don't pose much of a threat to humans. Out of the nearly 2,000 scorpion species worldwide, only 25 have venom potent enough to seriously harm an adult. Young children are at higher risk due to their smaller size. In the U.S., the only scorpion of concern is the Arizona bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus , whose venom can be fatal to a small child. Thankfully, antivenom is readily available in medical facilities across its habitat, making fatalities extremely rare.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious Giants May Be a Whole New Kind of Life That No Longer Exists
Ever since their discovery more than 165 years ago, massive fossilized structures left by an organism known as Prototaxites have proven impossible to categorize. Researchers in the UK have now suggested in a report that is yet to be peer reviewed that there's a very good reason these oddities don't fit neatly on the tree of life – they belong to a branch all of their own, with no modern equivalent. Some 400 million years ago, the swamps of the late Silurian period would have sprouted a mix of horsetails, ferns, and other prototype plants that look positively alien today. Among them stretched 8-meter (26-foot) tall towers that defy easy identification. Wide and branchless, researchers have variously suggested these organisms were a form of algae or ancient conifer, based on what little evidence remains. Fossils found on the shores of Gaspé Bay in Quebec, Canada, were initially considered by geologist John William Dawson to be the remains of rotting trees, leading to his naming it 'first conifer' back in the 1850s. Though the name stuck, confusion over the fossil's classification continued, until National Museum of Natural History paleontologist Francis Hueber confirmed in 2001 that Prototaxites was indeed most likely an enormous fungus. That conclusion was backed up years later in 2017, by a subsequent analysis of a fossil fragment assumed to be from the peripheral region of a smaller Prototaxites species named P. taiti. This study claimed to identify textures that resembled the fertile structures of today's Ascomycota fungi. Not everybody is convinced, however, given the possibility the distinct fragments might not have even been connected. A yet-to-be-published study on three different P. taiti fragments, led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, argues there's insufficient evidence to conclude Prototaxites is a fungus at all. Through a review of microscopic anatomy and chemical analysis of its tubular structures, the team systematically eliminated each and every candidate group, leaving no modern organism it might share some kind of ancestral relationship with. Fungi? Rejected thanks to the unique way its anatomy connects. A plant or algae? Not likely given its chemical composition. A mix of the two, such as a lichen? Not with that anatomy. Some bizarre animal? Cell walls say no chance. "Based on this investigation we are unable to assign Prototaxites to any extant lineage, reinforcing its uniqueness," the researchers claim. "We conclude that the morphology and molecular fingerprint of P. taiti is clearly distinct from that of the fungi and other organism preserved alongside it in the [Devonian deposit], and we suggest that it is best considered a member of a previously undescribed, entirely extinct group of eukaryotes." What might have happened to this long-dead group of organisms is anybody's guess. Further review of the study may even return the mystifying group back to its box among ancient fungi. Without similar specimens to relate them to, Prototaxites may simply remain a fossil anomaly – a reminder that evolution is a constant experiment, one littered with far more failures than we may ever have realized. This research can be accessed on the pre-peer review server, bioRxiv. Venus Flytrap Wasp: 99-Million-Year-Old Amber Reveals Bizarre New Species Hear The First-Ever Recordings of Sharks Actively Making Noises Mysterious Golden Orb Found at The Bottom of The Ocean
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Bizarre Fossil Isn't a Plant, Animal, or Fungus—Turns Out It's a Whole New Form of Life
Prototaxites, an extinct organism from the Devonian period, has been thought to be a fungus since its first fossil was unearthed. Analysis of one Prototaxites species showed that its physical and chemical characteristics were not only different from those of any existing fungus—the didn't match any existing organism at all. Prototaxites is now thought to belong to an extinct group of eukaryotes, but what exactly that group was remains a mystery. 430 million years ago, towering life-forms known as Prototaxites emerged from the ground, reaching heights of up to 26 feet and growing trunks up to 3 feet wide. When the first Prototaxites fossil was unearthed in 1843, it was mistaken for an ancient rotting conifer. But trees didn't yet exist during the Silurian period, so what exactly was this thing taking over the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana? That argument was never truly settled. Most scientists made Prototaxites out to be a sort of humungous fungus, but the field as a whole was never certain. That, however, may have just changed. Back in 2007, the carbon isotopes in fossils convinced scientists this really was a fungus, since they appeared to be evidence that Prototaxites behaved like fungi by leeching off other living organisms for oxygen. Videos with clickbait titles like When Giant Fungi Ruled the Earth soon spread through the internet. But now, a new analysis by researchers at the University of Edinburgh is showing otherwise. When paleobiologist Corentin Loron and his colleagues examined Prototaxites fossils from what is now Aberdeenshire, Scotland, they found evidence that it was anatomically and chemically differed from fungi in too many ways to be considered fungal. The problem—it also belonged with nothing else. It was apparently not a plant, animal, or fungus. 'Having found no support for the most widely held view that Prototaxites was fungal, we next reviewed possible placement in other higher taxonomic groups. No extant group was found to exhibit all the defining features of Prototaxites,' they said in a study recently uploaded to the preprint server bioarXiv. The specimens that Loron studied were of the species Prototaxites taiti—smaller than the behemoths found elsewhere, but still preserved well enough to take a closer look at their external and internal structures. Tubes on the side of one of the specimens had been previously determined to be sacs filled with spores, which is why that group of researchers placed the species at the base of the extinct fungal group Ascomycota. Loron's team found, however, that this supposedly fertile part has no organic connection to the rest of the organism. Petrified slices of P. taiti had a light brown exterior and dark brown medullary spots (blobs of cells that were arranged irregularly) on the inside. Existing fungi do not have medullary spots. Its innards were also made up of all sorts of tubes, including thin tubes that bent and branched, larger curving tubes with thicker walls but no branches, and even larger unbranched tubes with faint structures similar to growth rings. No extant fungi have tubes like this inside them—let alone with strange rings. The only place rings are found in fungi are in spore sacs known as elaters. Prototaxites only got weirder after its chemical analysis. If it really was a fungus, then the cell walls of P. taiti should show remains of certain sugars that resulted from the taphonomic breakdown of chitin—a strong, fibrous substance also found in the shells of crustaceans and exoskeletons of insects. However, there were no traces of these sugars found in P. taiti. While the researchers are open to the possibility that some sugars and proteins could have been lost in the early phases of fossilization, it is unlikely, as there were plenty of chemicals found in the fossilized soil of the region in which this species of Prototaxites grew. 'No extant group was found to exhibit all the defining features of Prototaxites,' Loron said in the study, suggesting that 'it is best considered a member of a previously undescribed, entirely extinct group of eukaryotes.' Maybe Prototaxites was a fun guy if you got to know him, but he just didn't fit in with the fungi. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oman invites bids for oil and gas exploration in three blocks
Oman's Ministry of Energy and Minerals has announced a competitive bidding round for oil and gas exploration in three key concession areas: Block 43A, Block 66 and Block 36. Interested investors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement to access technical data and receive a process letter that outlines bidding timelines and requirements. The bidding process will follow a one-stage format, with due diligence preceding the final proposal submission. Block 43A, covering 6,920km² in the Buraimi area, offers a geologically diverse prospect with inner and outer thrust structures linked to ophiolite formations and a potential foreland basin, according to the Oman Observer. The existence of multiple play systems such as the Thamama, Wasia and Pabdeh formations points to significant potential for exploration. The strategic location of Block 43A near proven fields in the United Arab Emirates further increases its attractiveness, the Omani publication said. Hydrocarbon seepages have been found, confirming an active petroleum system. However, a previous well, Jabel Sumeini-1, did not reach its target, leaving scope for new companies to explore. Block 66 on the eastern flank of the Rub al Khali Basin covers 4,898km² and is located close to producing fields. The block offers potential extensions from nearby areas, which is said to make it a promising opportunity for companies with local expertise. A dataset including multi-vintage 2D and 3D seismic surveys supports exploration efforts in Block 66. Furthermore, well logs, pressure-volume-temperature reports and core data from two wells provide a technical foundation for bidders. Block 36 in the Ghudun Basin is the largest of the three at 18,557km², and is part of the broader Rub al Khali region. This block is notable for having a confirmed working petroleum system, with previous well tests showing gas flows to the surface. Block 36's primary targets include conventional sandstones and unconventional Silurian hot shale, which helps minimise hydrocarbon charging risks. The use of 2D seismic data further supports risk reduction in exploration. In September, Oman entered into a concession agreement with Daleel Petroleum Company to boost oil and gas exploration and development in Concession Area No. 15 of Al Dhahirah Governorate. "Oman invites bids for oil and gas exploration in three blocks" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
