Jack_of_Blades Posted December 22, 2006 #1 Share Posted December 22, 2006 "Two-headed reptile fossil found French and Chinese palaeontologists have identified the fossil of a two-headed reptile from a species that lived in what is now China nearly 150 million years ago. The specimen was recovered from the Yixian Formation, a treasure trove of fossils in north-eastern China that has previously yielded the remains of early birds and feathered dinosaurs. Only seven centimetres long, the tiny skeleton from the early cretaceous period shows an embryonic or newborn reptile with two heads and two necks. It was a species of long-necked aquatic lizard that was more than a metre when fully grown. Axial bifurcation - two-headedness - is a well-known developmental flaw among reptile species today such as turtles and snakes. The paper appears on Wednesday in Biology Letters, published by the Royal Society, which is Britain's defacto academy of sciences." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetic Reven Posted December 22, 2006 #2 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Damn, no pic.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesque Orion Posted December 22, 2006 #3 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Damn no pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00000000000000000000000000 Posted December 22, 2006 #4 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Given the rarity of both the mutation itself and of the animal actually forming into a fossil, this is an amazing find. Only makes sense that the same flaw would have occurred in prehistory as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogfish Posted December 22, 2006 #5 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantheman2435 Posted December 23, 2006 #6 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Picture please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptorial Posted December 23, 2006 #7 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Never fear, Rap is here- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altheia Posted December 23, 2006 #8 Share Posted December 23, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6195345.stm with pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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