Following Satyapal Singh's denial of evolution, a small survey of over 1,700 individuals (both adults and children) from 12 States in India found that public acceptance of evolution was high at 68.5%. While only 5.5% did not believe in evolution, the percentage of people not sure about evolution varied from 14.6% in Delhi to 45% in Haryana. … Continue reading Only 41% in Haryana believe in evolution
Fossils
ISI Kolkata discovers reptiles with horns that came 100 million years before dinosaurs
The discovery of adult reptile fossil bones without horns indicates sexual dimorphism. Scientists at the Kolkata-based Indian Statistical Institute have discovered fossil remains of horned reptiles about 245 million years old (early Middle Triassic) from the Satpura Gondwana basin in Madhya Pradesh. The reptile is a new genus and has been named Shringasaurus indicus. The … Continue reading ISI Kolkata discovers reptiles with horns that came 100 million years before dinosaurs
The missing fossils matter as much as the ones we have found
By Adrian Currie & Derek Turner The coelacanths are an ancient group of lobe-finned fishes, with weird appendages that take the form of bony, fleshy, muscular stalks. They’re well-represented in the fossil record all the way back to the Devonian period, some 390 million years ago. However, about 66 million years ago – the time of the dinosaurs’ … Continue reading The missing fossils matter as much as the ones we have found
Evolution “prevails” in South Korea
Published in The Hindu on September 9, 2012 Starting 2013, science textbooks in South Korea will continue to carry information on archaeopteryx, once considered the primitive bird fossil, and other examples of evolution, reports Nature. The major victory for science comes nearly four months after the South Korean government issued a petition to the publishers … Continue reading Evolution “prevails” in South Korea
Editorial: A retrograde decision
Published in The Hindu on June 15, 2012 The dethroning of Archaeopteryx as the basal bird last year has had the much anticipated effect — opportunistic creationists using the findings to further advance their unscientific and absurd views. According to Nature, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of South Korea recently revealed its decision … Continue reading Editorial: A retrograde decision
Editorial: Signs of earliest life
Published in The Hindu on September 12, 2011 The latest fossil finds of microscopic life about 3.4 billion years ago in sedimentary rocks in Western Australia suggests that life began some 200 million years earlier than previously reckoned. Though a paper published recently in the journal, Nature Geoscience, does not claim them to be the … Continue reading Editorial: Signs of earliest life
Editorial: Archaeopteryx dethroned
Published in The Hindu on August 13, 2011 The discovery of Archaeopteryx , the most primitive bird fossil, in 1861, just two years after the publication of Charles Darwin's great work, On the Origin of Species , could not have been better timed. Exhibiting both dinosaur features and typical bird-like ones such as feathers, wishbone, … Continue reading Editorial: Archaeopteryx dethroned
Archaeopteryx is not an early bird, study says
Published in The Hindu on July 28, 2011 The discovery of Archaeopteryx, considered the basal bird, became central to our understanding of avialan (a group that includes all birds and some dinosaurian relatives) origin. In fact, it became central to our understanding of the evolutionary process — how the dinosaurs slowly evolved to become today's … Continue reading Archaeopteryx is not an early bird, study says
Chemical signature of Archaeopteryx revealed
Published in The Hindu on May 13, 2010 For the first time ever, chemical analysis of Archaeopteryx — a transitional fossil between dinosaurs and bird — has been carried out, and first ever maps of dinobird's chemistry have been created. The maps reveal half a dozen elements (mainly phosphorus, sulphur, zinc, calcium, manganese, iron) that … Continue reading Chemical signature of Archaeopteryx revealed
Editorial: Dinosaur-eating snake
Published in The Hindu on March 9, 2010 If well-preserved snake fossils are rare, the recovery of the nearly complete remains of a 3.5-metre long snake offering insights into its feeding behaviour is exciting news. The 67-million-year-old snake, Sanajeh indicus, unearthed from Dholi Dungri village in Panchmahal district, Gujarat, is an extraordinary specimen. It was … Continue reading Editorial: Dinosaur-eating snake
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