news 2022

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of algae called  Protocodium sinense  that predates the origin of land plants and modern animals and provides new insight into the early diversification of the plant kingdom. Discovered at a site in China, the 541-million-year-old fossil is the first and oldest green alga from this era to be preserved in three dimensions, enabling the researchers to investigate its internal structure and identify the new specimen with unprecedented accuracy.

It all started with a grand claim: scientists had discovered the first known four-legged snake fossil from Brazil. The specimen, named  Tetrapodophis amplectus , was small - about the size of a pencil - with tiny limbs. It was considered a significant discovery that offered paleontologists a major clue into the transition from limbed lizards to limbless snakes.