Where were the first fossils found? Detailed answer

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Where were the first fossils found? Detailed answer

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Where were the first fossils found?

Over the past two to three billion years, many forms of plant and animal life inhabited the Earth, and then died out. We know this from studying fossils. Most of the fossils are the remains of plants and animals preserved in the rock. Fossils take many forms. Sometimes these are shells, bones, scales or other hard parts of animals, but more often hard tissues are replaced by chemical compounds. Animal footprints are also fossils.

Fossils existed for millions of years before man began to study the history of life on the planet. Nevertheless, it is proved that people at an early stage of their development found fossils. A necklace of fossilized sea shells was found on the skeleton of a woman who died 30 years ago. Scientists of ancient Greece and Rome found fossil sea shells high in the mountains. They realized that these shells were the remains of animals that once lived in the sea. Therefore, scientists came to the conclusion that in past centuries these mountains were under water.

Scientists began to seriously study fossils only in the late 1700s. One of the first was Baron Georges Cuvier, the great French naturalist. In the mountains along the banks of the rivers near Paris, Cuvier found the bones of elephants, hippos, and many other animals that do not now exist in these areas. He realized that the climate around Paris had once been very different, somewhat similar to the climate of India and Africa today. Then an Englishman named William Smith began to study fossils in England. He discovered that each type of rock has its own group of fossils. Older rocks also contain simpler fossils.

Based on this, he was able to determine the age of the rocks relatively accurately. Later, Charles Darwin used fossils to prove how living forms evolved from older forms and how higher forms evolved from lower ones.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Males of what animals actively help females to eat themselves during mating?

In many spider species, the female may eat the male after, during, or instead of mating. In the vast majority of cases, he tries to avoid such a fate, but in the species of Australian widows, males actively help the act of sexual cannibalism. Having inserted the pedipalp into the female's genital opening, the male performs a somersault and places his stomach opposite her mouth. Self-sacrifice serves two purposes: eating increases mating time, which leads to the fertilization of more eggs, and a well-fed female is more likely to reject other suitors. According to studies, less than 20% of male Australian widows, in principle, find a partner for themselves during their lives, so leaving their genes to their descendants, albeit with a foregone conclusion, is a great success for them.

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Centenarians differ in intestinal microbes 06.08.2021

Researchers at Keio University have found that those who are lucky enough to overcome the century-old milestone, the intestinal microflora is markedly different from the microflora of those who are younger. The study involved 160 people, whose average age was 107 years. (centenarians are not always real, sometimes they get extra years due to confusion in papers or due to outright deceit; but, hopefully, in this case, the authors of the work took into account all these pitfalls.) Intestinal bacteria of centennial people were compared with bacteria of those , who were between 85 and 89 years old, as well as with the bacteria of those who were between 21 and 55 years old.

Some groups of microbes were more abundant in centenarians than in people from the other two age groups; and some microbes, on the contrary, were noticeably smaller. All bacteria secrete some substances formed in the course of bacterial metabolism; accordingly, in the microflora of centenarians, the metabolic pattern should have been somehow different. The researchers noticed that among the bacterial substances that were secreted by the microflora of centenarians, there were especially many so-called secondary bile acids. We know that bile acids are synthesized in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and then transported to the intestines, where they help absorb various fats and fat-soluble vitamins.

But when bile acids enter the intestines, they are chemically modified here by local bacteria - this is how secondary bile acids are obtained. Those who crossed the XNUMX-year mark were especially rich in a secondary bile acid called isoallithocholic acid, which is produced by bacteria from the genus Odoribacteraceae. Secondary bile acids perform some of the same tasks as the primary ones. But not only: isoallolithocholic acid, for example, was found to have antimicrobial properties. It inhibited the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium difficile, which causes diarrhea and intestinal inflammation. Also, this acid acted against some bacteria that became resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin.

It can be assumed that centenarians became centenarians because their microflora keeps the intestines healthy by protecting it from unwanted microbes. A lot depends on the state of the gastrointestinal tract - a long healthy life largely depends on it. But it is unlikely that the whole secret of longevity is attributed only to the correct microflora. In addition, the authors of the work themselves indicate that they do not know why centenarians had such a composition of intestinal bacteria - either due to some kind of diet, or due to the characteristics of immunity.

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