Hasta La Gadget!

While some of you are out thinking of April Fools’ pranks to pull off, 9-year old Daisy Morris just had a newly discovered prehistoric flying reptile named after her. The pterosaur is called Vertidraco daisymorrisae, and Daisy is what we call a winner at life.

According to the BBC, Daisy actually made the discovery back in 2009, when she was only four years-old. Daisy and her family were strolling along Atherfield Beach in the Isle of Wight in England when she stumbled upon a few small bones. They searched the nearby area and found a few more bones, then they had their find examined by a fossil expert named Martin Simpson. Below is an unofficial mirror of the BBC report on Daisy:

A paper that was published last March 2013 by Simpson and two other researchers cements Daisy’s legacy, citing among other things the pterosaur’s name and its etymology. Daisy now has the rare privilege to bring nothing but herself for show and tell.

[via BBC & PLOS ONE via Grist via I Heart Chaos]

A team of paleontologists led by Meave Leakey has found some facial bones coming from one creature and jawbones from two others in a Kenyan dig. The fossils go back almost 2,000,000 years, and the paleontologists believe that these bones will confirm the theory that there were two additional pre-human species other than the one they believe led to modern humans.

The paleontologists believe that the bone shows that early human ancestors had company from other human-like species. The scientists say that the bones found would not be of the Homo erectus, Homo erectus is believed to be the direct ancestor of modern humans. The new bones go back further in time, and the scientists believe the bones showed the new creature and Homo erectus shared an ancient common ancestor. The scientists say that the recently discovered fossils would be more akin to very distant cousins to Homo erectus.

However, not all experts on the matter agree. Other experts believe that Leakey and her team are jumping to conclusions based on limited evidence. However, Leakey and her team maintain that none of the new fossils discovered are a match for Homo erectus and therefore have to be from another flat-faced, large species with big teeth.

Interestingly, the newly discovered bones did match old fossils that Meave Leakey, and her husband, helped discover in 1972. The new skull fragments match another skull called 1470. That particular skull caused a controversy in the paleontology community when it was ruled that the skull had been incorrectly dated. The 1972 skull was originally dated at more than 2.5 million years old and was later found to be more than 2 million years old. Other evidence leads the Leakeys to believe that there were three living Homo species between 1.8 and 2 million years ago including Homo erectus, the 1470 species, and a third branch with smaller heads.

[via BendBulletin]

Paleontologists Discover fossils believed to be from two new pre-human species is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.