If someone is lucky enough to find fossil seashells on the beach, it is easy to recognize them. But there are many fossils, looking at which it is difficult to guess that they were imagined. The problem is aggravated by the fact that many of the fossils are incomplete or poorly preserved. Sometimes even scientists are in doubt. In our review, 10 fossils, which for many decades have not been recognized.
1. Ammonites
The petrified ammonites are often found today, but for thousands of years they were taken for anything other than mollusks. The ancient Greeks believed that these were lamb horns, and called Ammonites in honor of the Egyptian God of Amon, whom they portrayed about the same horns. Ancient Chinese called their horns for a similar reason. In Nepal, the fossils of ammonites were considered the shrine left by God Vishnu. The Vikings considered them the sacred petrified offspring of the world snake of the Yermungard.
In the Middle Ages, ammonites were known in Europe as serpentine stones, because it was believed that these were petrified bodies of the rolled snakes, which turned into stone Christian saints. Today it became known that ammonites are only fossil shells of creatures, which extinct about four hundred million years ago.
2. Fish teeth
Fossil teeth of fish in different centuries considered various subjects. Some ancient species of fish had flat native teeth for crushing mollusks. In Greece, and later in most of Europe, the petrified remnants of such teeth were considered magic stones, and often they called the Zhamai stones. Such teeth were used in jewelry, and also believed that with their help you can cure epilepsy and poisoning. In Japan, the fossils are flat and sharp teeth sharks considered the claws of the terrible monster of tenge, in Europe, the devil's tongue in Europe.
3. Trees
Lepidodendron is an ancient tree, which has a bark covered with large flat flakes, like a pine chish. The leaves of this tree themselves were similar to the stems, so Lepidododendron is considered rather grass than a tree. Most of the deposits of coal in Europe are the remains of these ancient plants. Previously, there were often whole petrified trunks of lepidododendrons, the length of such a trunk could be up to thirty meters, and the thickness is about a meter. In the 19th century they were issued for the bodies of snakes and dragons.
4. Foraminifera
In the Pacific beaches in the south of Japan, you can find completely unusual grains. Many of them have the shape of tiny stars, less than a millimeter in diameter. Local legends argue that these are the remains of unfortunate children from the Heavenly Union of two stars. These star children died either from falling to Earth or were killed by a monstrous snake living in the sea near the Japanese Island Okinawa. In fact, these tiny stars are the remains of prickly shells of another form of life: amoebic creatures, called Foraminifera.
5. Protoceratops.
Dinosaurs called Protoceratops were relatives of more famous triceratops. They walked on four legs, and in size were about the big dog, although much harder. Most protoceratops had a large skull with a bird beak and bone jabin, growing from the back of the skull. People who are not familiar with dinosales, the preserved skeletons of protoceratops resembled fantastic and bizarre beings. Because of their size, these dinosaurs were considered small lions with a hooked beak, like an eagle. It is possible that it is the protoceratopsy that are a prototype of mythical griffins.
6. Belemnita
Belemnites were ancient animals that reminded squid. Unlike squid, they had a skeleton, and all their ten tentsers were the same length, and they were covered with tiny hooks. Belemnites lived at one time with dinosaurs, inhabiting the sea. Most often there are petrified parts of whites of whiteness, which are similar to long bullets. In Europe, people thought that these fossils are thunder-grows of the gods that fell to the ground. Other people thought that Bellemnitis belonged to elves, and not to the gods, considering their fingers of elves, fabulous candles or arrells of elves.
7. Anchisavra
Anchisaurs were one of the early species of dinosaurs. They were herbivores, had long necks and tails, and were also the early relatives of the more famous bronatosaurs and diplodoks. Only, unlike them, the size of the anchisaurs was only 2m. Oh neither paradoxically, but initially the bones of these dinosaurs were accepted for the bone of the primitive ancestor of man.
8. Mastodonts and Mammoths
A few thousand years ago, giant mammoths and mastodonts were wandered over the ice earth. They resembled hairy elephants with huge testers. As with modern elephants, these animals had very developed strong trunks, because of which the structure of the skeleton of these animals was supposed to be a big hole in the skull. People who have never seen elephants assumed that these huge petrified skulls with a giant hole in the front belong to cyclops, mythical giant one-eyed people like.
9. Sea hedgehogs
Sea hedgehogs - prickly spherical creatures, which are usually found along the shores of the sea. Sea hedgehogs existed for hundreds of millions of years, and after their ancient ancestors there were many fossils. In England, such fossils took for supernatural crowns, loaves of bread or magic snake eggs. In Denmark they were considered thunderous stones, because they allegedly allocated moisture in front of strong storms.
10. Gominids
The ancestors of modern people left behind a lot of fossils throughout the earth. Because of their obvious inconsistency with the bones of people, often such fossils considered the proof of various human mythical beings mentioned in the Bible, for example, giants and demons. In other cultures, the skeletons of Neanderthals gave rise to legends about the Yeti and other hominidotes.
If someone is lucky enough to find fossil seashells on the beach, it is easy to recognize them. But there are many fossils, looking at which it is difficult to guess that they were imagined.
The problem is aggravated by the fact that many of the fossils are incomplete or poorly preserved. Sometimes even scientists are in doubt. In our review, 10 fossils, which for many decades have not been recognized.
1. Ammonites
The petrified ammonites are often found today, but for thousands of years they were taken for anything other than mollusks. The ancient Greeks believed that these were lamb horns, and called Ammonites in honor of the Egyptian God of Amon, whom they portrayed about the same horns. Ancient Chinese called their horns for a similar reason. In Nepal, the fossils of ammonites were considered the shrine left by God Vishnu. The Vikings considered them the sacred petrified offspring of the world snake of the Yermungard.
In the Middle Ages, ammonites were known in Europe as serpentine stones, because it was believed that these were petrified bodies of the rolled snakes, which turned into stone Christian saints. Today it became known that ammonites are only fossil shells of creatures, which extinct about four hundred million years ago.
2. Fish teeth
Fossil teeth of fish in different centuries considered various subjects. Some ancient species of fish had flat native teeth for crushing mollusks. In Greece, and later in most of Europe, the petrified remnants of such teeth were considered magic stones, and often they called the Zhamai stones. Such teeth were used in jewelry, and also believed that with their help you can cure epilepsy and poisoning. In Japan, the fossils are flat and sharp teeth sharks considered the claws of the terrible monster of tenge, in Europe, the devil's tongue in Europe.
3. Trees
Lepidodendron is an ancient tree, which has a bark covered with large flat flakes, like a pine chish. The leaves of this tree themselves were similar to the stems, so Lepidododendron is considered rather grass than a tree. Most of the deposits of coal in Europe are the remains of these ancient plants. Previously, there were often whole petrified trunks of lepidododendrons, the length of such a trunk could be up to thirty meters, and the thickness is about a meter. In the 19th century they were issued for the bodies of snakes and dragons.
4. Foraminifera
In the Pacific beaches in the south of Japan, you can find completely unusual grains. Many of them have the shape of tiny stars, less than a millimeter in diameter. Local legends argue that these are the remains of unfortunate children from the Heavenly Union of two stars. These star children died either from falling to Earth or were killed by a monstrous snake living in the sea near the Japanese Island Okinawa. In fact, these tiny stars are the remains of prickly shells of another form of life: amoebic creatures, called Foraminifera.
5. Protoceratops.
Dinosaurs called Protoceratops were relatives of more famous triceratops. They walked on four legs, and in size were about the big dog, although much harder. Most protoceratops had a large skull with a bird beak and bone jabin, growing from the back of the skull. People who are not familiar with dinosales, the preserved skeletons of protoceratops resembled fantastic and bizarre beings. Because of their size, these dinosaurs were considered small lions with a hooked beak, like an eagle. It is possible that it is the protoceratopsy that are a prototype of mythical griffins.
6. Belemnita
Belemnites were ancient animals that reminded squid. Unlike squid, they had a skeleton, and all their ten tentsers were the same length, and they were covered with tiny hooks. Belemnites lived at one time with dinosaurs, inhabiting the sea. Most often there are petrified parts of whites of whiteness, which are similar to long bullets. In Europe, people thought that these fossils are thunder-grows of the gods that fell to the ground. Other people thought that Bellemnitis belonged to elves, and not to the gods, considering their fingers of elves, fabulous candles or arrells of elves.
7. Anchisavra
Anchisaurs were one of the early species of dinosaurs. They were herbivores, had long necks and tails, and were also the early relatives of the more famous bronatosaurs and diplodoks. Only, unlike them, the size of the anchisaurs was only 2m. Oh neither paradoxically, but initially the bones of these dinosaurs were accepted for the bone of the primitive ancestor of man.
8. Mastodonts and Mammoths
A few thousand years ago, giant mammoths and mastodonts were wandered over the ice earth. They resembled hairy elephants with huge testers. As with modern elephants, these animals had very developed strong trunks, because of which the structure of the skeleton of these animals was supposed to be a big hole in the skull. People who have never seen elephants assumed that these huge petrified skulls with a giant hole in the front belong to cyclops, mythical giant one-eyed people like.
9. Sea hedgehogs
Sea hedgehogs - prickly spherical creatures, which are usually found along the shores of the sea. Sea hedgehogs existed for hundreds of millions of years, and after their ancient ancestors there were many fossils. In England, such fossils took for supernatural crowns, loaves of bread or magic snake eggs. In Denmark they were considered thunderous stones, because they allegedly allocated moisture in front of strong storms.
10. Gominids
The ancestors of modern people left behind a lot of fossils throughout the earth. Because of their obvious inconsistency with the bones of people, often such fossils considered the proof of various human mythical beings mentioned in the Bible, for example, giants and demons. In other cultures, the skeletons of Neanderthals gave rise to legends about the Yeti and other hominidotes.
In the distant past, many of the organisms inhabited by the Earth were much larger than the current animals. Monster thousands of men, and giant sharks. The parade of the giants presented a BBC Earth correspondent.
The hardest animal of all ever having lived on Earth is blue whale whose weight exceeds 150 tons. As far as we know, no living organism in history has a similar mass. But some creatures could boast larger size.
Sarkozuh Imperial could well eat small dinosaurs
Dinosaurs use perhaps undeservedly close attention of the public, after all, in addition to them, many other animals of huge sizes lived on Earth, which we never bring to see in the flesh.
Some of them are giant ancestors of the living creatures, others did not leave offspring, and therefore are particularly amazing.
The remains of prehistoric giants are able to shed light on gradual changes in living conditions on Earth, since animal sizes are often directly dependent on the environment.
In addition, there is something fascinating in extinct gigids, the appearance of which we can only imagine.
We offer our readers a dozen of the most amazing creatures, which are no longer destined to meet.
Aegirocassis Benmoulae)
Eginersside filtered sea water absorbing plankton
How could the fruit of love and lobster might look like? If such a creation existed in the world, it would be possible that it would resemble Egybathly.
This prehistoric shrimp of the two-meter length lived on Earth about 480 million years ago. She belonged to the now extinct nature of anomalocaris.
An animal brushed on the cosmic aliens. With the help of mesh processes on the head, it was frozen from the sea water of the plankton.
The life of the Eginersside fell on the growth period of the species diversity of plankton. As a result, these animals did not compile competition in search of food with most other anomalkaris - carnivorous predators with sharp teeth.
It is possible that Egidiscason will help us find out how fines of arthropods represented by modern spiders, insects and crustaceans developed.
Fossil remains of Egy's Carsida
Studying the fossil remains of the Egybaths, scientists came to the conclusion that she had paired blades
Until recently, based on the finds of not fully preserved fossils, scientists believed that anomalkaris had only one pair of flexible side blades for each body segment. However, the analysis of the landscots of the Eginersside indicates that there were two pairs of blades used for swimming on each segment of these creatures.
Scientists once again studied previously found fossils of other species of anomalocaris and came to the conclusion that those had pair blades. They concluded that some species in the process of evolution had splicing blades.
This pushed scientists to the conclusion that anomalkarisses were prehistoric arthropods. This idea was previously criticized due to the strange structure of the body of representatives of this kind.
Until 1985, Paleontologists believed that the progenic heads on the heads of anomalkaris were shrimps, their mouths dedicated to the teeth belonged to meduzam, and the torso - marine cucumbers.
Rakoskorpion (Jaekelopterus Rhenaniae)
So, probably looked prehistoric cancer
Rakoskorpion is the most terrible nightmare Aranofob (a person experiencing pathological fear of spiders). This 2.5 meter long gigant claims the title of the largest of arthropods ever inhabited land.
In English, the creature is known as "marine scorpion".
This name is inaccurate. Rakoskorpion was not scorpion in the literal sense of the word, and was most likely not at the bottom of the seas, but in rivers and lakes. He lived about 390 million years ago and eats on fish.
For the first time, this species was described in 2008: in a career near the German city, Prises found a petrified culings in 46 cm long - everything that remained from the animal. However, the ratio between the sizes of the claw and the whole organism in cancerpions is very constant, so the researchers concluded that J. Rhenaniae reached a length of 233 to 259 cm.
This find is another proof that prehistoric cancerpions were very large.
Nobody reliably know why cancer has grown to such gigantic sizes.
Some scientists assume that the atmosphere of the Earth lies in the atmosphere: in some periods of the past, the level of oxygen in it was much higher than now.
Others indicate the relatively small variety of vertebrate predators who lived then, including fish.
Arthropleur (Arthropleura)
Thousandswall
Modern thousands placed on palm; Now imagine the same 2.6 m long - it will be a similarity arthroplery
Another contender for the title of the largest segmental in history - arthroplevar from the genus of the thousands, reaching 2.6 m in length.
Arthroplery lived in the period from 340 to 280 million years ago and it is possible that they were obliged to their gigantic sizes of high oxygen content in the atmosphere.
No one has yet managed to find a whole fame arthroplev. Fragments of skeletons up to 90 cm long were found in the south-west of Germany, and traces that scientists suggest were left by these thousands, found in Scotland, USA and Canada.
The researchers believe that the torso arthroplery consisted of about 30 segments covered on top and with sides with protective plates.
Since the fossil remains of the jaws arthroplery has not yet found, it is difficult to say for sure than it has been fed.
Paleontologists who studied petrified excrement of this creature revealed a fern disputes in them, which indicates the likelihood of presence in their diet of vegetable food.
The popularization of arthropilery was engaged in cinematographers - it is mentioned by the popular science TV series BBC "Walking with monsters" (2005) and "First Life" (2010).
Meganevra (Meganera)
Representing the insect similar to the dragonfly, with a scope of the wings of 65 cm, - about such a meganevra could be
For the first time, giantism among arthropods was tied with a high oxygen content in the atmosphere in 1880 after the detection of the remains of Meganyevra in France.
These creatures are externally similar to the dragonfly, they lived about 300 million years ago and were fed by amphibians and insects.
The scope of their wings reached 65 cm. We are talking about one of the largest types of flying insects ever inhabited land.
Strictly speaking, Meganowers belonged to the genus of dragonfly-like insects. From the dragonfly known to us, they were distinguished by some features of the structure of the body.
The limitations on the size of insects imposes a method for delivering oxygen from the air to the internal organs. The role of the lungs is performed by the tubular trachean system.
In the coal period, 359-299 million years ago, the oxygen content in the air reached at least 35%. Perhaps, thanks to this circumstance, Meganyev was managed to extract more energy from the air and maintain the ability to fly even as the size increases.
The same hypothesis explains why Meganyevra did not survive in later periods when the oxygen content in the air decreased.
Sarcosuchus Imperator (Sarcosuchus Imperator)
Sarkozuh Imperial Skeleton Sarkozukh Imperial Called by the "Supercrocodil"
In the process of evolution, not only insects were crushed. Paleontologists, who searched for the remains of dinosaurs in Niger in 1997, was surprised to find the crocodile petrified jewish bones, the length of which was comparable to the growth of an adult.
Subsequently, it turned out that scientists found the most well-preserved copy of the Imperial Sarkozuk - prehistoric giant crocodile, who lived in full-water rivers of the northern part of tropical Africa, 110 million years ago.
An animal that is unofficially called supercrocodil, reached 12 meters long and weighed about eight tons, that is, it was half longer and four times harder than the largest of the now living crocodiles.
It is possible that in addition to fish, Sarkozuh was fed and small dinosaurs.
Its narrow jaws reached 1.8 m in length and were quenched hundreds of extension. On the tip of the upper jaw, there was a massive bone outgrowth.
Sarkozuch's eyes moved vertically in the orders. Apparently, this monster externally reminded the ganskaya Gavial in India and Nepal, which is listed in the Red Book.
Despite its unofficial name, the imperial sarkozuh was not a direct ancestor of 23 species of modern representatives of the crocodile detachment. He belonged to the extinct family of Reptile - Folidozavrov.
Other, no less large mineral remains of prehistoric crocodyl-like reptiles were found, including those relating to the extinct genus of Dinovukhov.
They were relatives of modern alligators and, perhaps, reached a length of 10 meters.
Crocodiles could grow to such sizes, as they lived mainly in water, which supported their weight - on land it would be impossible.
In addition, crocodiles skull are very strong. Accordingly, the force of compression of the jaws is great, which allows reptiles to hunt large prey.
Metoposaurus (Metoposaurus)
The two-meter metoplash driver had a wide flat head with a mouth, dyed with hundreds of teeth
Prehistoric fishes had to be afraid not only crocodiles. On earth in time immemorial, giant carnivorous amphibians, externally similar to huge salamander.
Metoposal's petrified remains were found in Germany, Poland, North America, Africa and India.
Metoplashwar had a very distant attitude to the current salamander
Most prehistoric species disappeared from the face of the earth about 201 million years ago. Then many vertebrates were extinct, including major amphibians, which gave dinosaurs the opportunity to establish their domination on the planet.
The metoplace was described in March 2005 by Stephen Brush from Edinburgh University and his colleagues. He was called Metoposaurus Algarvensis in honor of the Algarve region in the south of Portugal, where the remains were found.
A two-meter metoposaur was a wide flat head with a mouth, dyed with hundreds of teeth. Small, weakly developed limbs indicate that he spent not so much time on land.
Metoplashwar was the progenitor of modern amphibians, such as frogs and tritons. Despite its appearance, the metoplace had a very distant attitude towards the current salamander.
Megatherium (Megatherium)
MegaThera are considered the ancestors of modern sloths, armadors and amusements
What would be like a mix of a bear and a hamster with an elephant size? Perhaps on megature.
This extinct genus of giant sliments acted mainly in North America from 5 million to 11,000 years ago.
Although megatteries were smaller than dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, they were among the largest land animals. The length of them reached six meters.
Megatery were relatives of modern sloths, armadors and amusements.
The skeleton megateria was extremely strong. Probably, the animal had a lot of force, but did not differ in the speed of movement.
Many scientists believe that megatteries used their long forefills, equipped with large claws to tearing from trees to foliage and rip off the bark at an altitude inaccessible for smaller animals.
However, it is also suggested that megatteries could eat and meat. The form of their elbow bones involves the ability to quickly move the front limbs. It is possible that megatteries killed their prey with a squeabe paw.
"Horrible Birds" (Forakosova - Phorusrhacidae)
Flewing birds could swallow the dog of medium sizes or a similar animal
In recent years, scientists are attempting to clone extinct animal species, including the Pyrenean Capricorn, a soup wolf, a wandering pigeon and even woolly mammoth.
Let's hope that they will not be able to experiment with the DNA of representatives of the Forakos family - or, as they are also called, "terrible birds" from the folding of the caravel.
These non-flying birds reached three meters high, ran at speeds up to 50 km / h and could swallow the dog of medium sizes in one fell swoop.
Due to its height and a long neck, such a "terrible bird" could detect mining at a high distance, and long, powerful legs allowed them to develop a high speed needed for hunting.
Her bending books of the beaks, Forarochane pumped prey approximately, just as modern predatory birds make.
"Horrible birds" lived between 60 and two Momllion years ago. Most of the fossil remains known to us are found in South America, and part in North.
At one time, some scientists argued on the basis of finds in Florida, that these birds were extinct only 10,000 years ago, but later it turned out that the age of the remains found is much older.
It is believed that the closest relatives of the fraranged from existing birds are the karyamov family in South America, whose representatives reaches 80 cm in height.
Megalodon (Carcharodon Megalodon or Carcharocles Megalodon)
Fossil Meghalodon was much larger than modern white shark
Perhaps you had to hear stories about giant sharks three times longer than a large white shark and 30 times harder. You can not worry: there are no such monsters for a long time.
They are called megalodons, and no one knows exactly how large they were in reality. As with all the sharks, the skeleton of Meghalodon consisted of cartilage, and not from the bones, so the fossils before our time were almost preserved.
As a result, it is necessary to draw conclusions about the size of this fish only on the basis of detected teeth, from which the Greek name is monsters, meaning a "huge tooth" translated, and individual vertebral fragments.
Meghalodon got its name from gigantic teeth
According to the latest estimates of scientists, the length of megalodon was 16-20 m. For comparison, the length of the largest modern fish is a large white shark - does not exceed 12.6 m.
In the giant jaws of Meghalodon, there were more than 200 born teeth, each length of up to 18 cm. The force of compression of the jaws was 11-18 tons - 4-6 times higher than that of a tyrantosaurus.
The assumption that Meghalodon lived to this day was expressed in the film "Akula Monster: Meghalodon alive", shown in 2013 on the Discovery Channel.
The film has been destroyed by criticism due to the fact that falsified video frames and comments from the actors who gave themselves for scientists were used in it.
The present scientists believe that Megalodon lived in a period of 15.9 to 2.6 million years ago. After that, according to scientific work, published in 2014, the largest inhabitants of the oceans became whales.
Vodka Titanoboa and modern middle snake
This colossal snake looked like a modern ordinary boa, but acted more like today's anaconda living in the Amazon jungle. It was a slippery inhabitant of swamps and a huge predator, which is able to eat any animal to which he hunted. The diameter of his body was close to the volume of the waist of a man of our time.
In the swampy jungle, Titanoboa was amazingly long due to the constant incessant rain, abundant vegetation and livestock. The deep-sea rivers allowed a snake to go to the depth and crawl around the palm trees and hilly jungle.
The pool of the river in which Titanoboe was fed, was filled with giant turtles and crocodiles of at least three different varieties. A giant fish lived here, three times the current inhabitants of Amazon.
On March 22, 2012, the 14-meter reconstruction of the skeleton of Titanoboa, created for the dedicated Titanoboa of the scientific and popular program Titanoboa: Monster Snake produced by Smithsonian Channel, was presented at the Central Station of New York.
For a long time, I have several pebbles of limestone-shelter with petrified prints of ancient organisms. They were chosen at different times and in different places, now do not remember. Some were probably found in the limestone career, somehow they brought me from the Atar Luke, some may be brought from the Crimea.
They have been lying for a long time, just the hands did not take a picture and describe. Today, the planned walk in the forest canceled, there was free time and I made a few pictures. So it looks in general one of the pebbles. It is small, slightly more than 3 cm.
What it consists of, before the rest of the living organisms of warm marine shallow water. Here you can see slices of sinks of ancient mollusks, msnok prints and pieces of stem crinoids (marine lilies). Let's deal with who among them.
MsankaEspecially the Gymnolamata detachment is easy to learn on the reticular structure. These are the colonies of marine invertebrate organisms, known from the Ordorian period, and existing so far in the seas of various salting. As it follows from the name, the colony of some msnok looks like a solid moss. Some msanka form colonies in the form of crusts and lumps on solid surfaces (stones, sinks, etc.), others have fanoid or similar to bushes appearance. Modern Msanka, for example, look like this:
The bulk of the recognizable fragments on the stone is made up of them. But do not forget, Msanka is not a plant, although they are similar to them, these are full animals that feed on various microorganisms and diatoms.
Take a look at the other stone:
Here, the main mass of fossils is the mesh fragments of Msnok.
In the bottom in the middle, you can see a roundworm with jar and hole in the center (the same "gear" can be found on the right side on the first photo). This is one of the segments of the stalk sea Lily (or crinium, lat. Crinoidea). These are bottom animals with a sedentary lifestyle related to the type of needle-boring. They are even more similar in appearance on plants - their body consists of a stem, cups and brachioles - hands.
Most of the species of modern crinoids have lost this stalk. In the life of the animal, the stalk consisted of round segments connected by the muscles, in the fossil state they often fall apart. Petrifers marine lilies are called trochetes. Because of them, theories of alien contacts are constantly arising from their similar to the gears, and trophytes are trying to imagine as ancient details of alien mechanisms. And so they are known since ancient times, the first written mentions belong to the 17th century. The polygonal segments of crosapers in the form of a star British called "stone stars" and made various assumptions about their connection with heavenly luminaries. On the coast of Northumberland, these fossils are called "Chunks of St. Kutbert." Whole marine lilies look like this:
Crinoidi (Photo of the user Galamish with Yandex.Photok)
Of course, in the stone a large number of debris and fingerprints of sinks of various mollusks:
Moreover, they have a completely recognizable form, characteristic and for modern marine seashells. For example, the sink at the top in the center of the lower picture, next to the trichite, is quite similar to the modern sea scallop.
What a long fossil in the snapshot below - I find it difficult. Maybe a piece of stem, maybe something else.
And just just a couple of pictures, try to identify something for themselves:
Also known and frequently found fossils that you can meet, for example, on the banks of the rivers are belemnita (The people called "hell"), which are the remains of the petrified inner shell of ancient mollusks, externally resembling squid. Well-preserved pearl sinks are still well known or simply peaks of charts ammonites. The ribbed shells twisted in the spiral can be from 1-2 centimeters to 2 meters in diameter.
Each since childhood, or younnost knows more precisely, I heard and remembers that life on Earth originated 3.5 billion years ago. Huge digit is wrong? I do not know how for you, and I am perceived by me almost the same as the infinity of the space. Yes, yes, the values \u200b\u200bclose to infinity are not perceived by me :). In his youth, I tried to imagine the infinity of the universe, and to understand and realize, something I need to imagine, so since the most time my consciousness refused to fully realize the "billiona" and other doubtful constant. And whenever I hear 285, or 400 million years ago, my consciousness generalizes it in a long time in ancient times. All this jumble is not perceived at all, and they are not thinking about them, clinging only for the first three digits, and then he has been hidden by the ears as an unnecessary fact. And yet there are moments when you think about all this. All this is what? Of course, many of you know, Samarasy is sure that Lyguli, I mean the Zhigulevsky mountains, are made from limestone rocks. They were formed millions of years ago, at the bottom of the ancient seas, from sea precipitation, to the coal and Perm periods of the Paleozoic era. Yes, and the phrase that you have read above seems like a dry fact about the past of our planet until you come across such an artifact.
And then all this information that you once heard, or read and up to this point somewhere dormant in the maze of memory suddenly going to a single bundle and as if acquiring energy rolls the wave for you. And the lack of information makes the articles in search of answers to emerging issues. And the Zhigulevsky mountains themselves become interesting for you not only with their relief, natural beauty, chic species, but also the information that the formation of the breeds of which they are folded, the page behind the page opening your story for you, carrying out millions of years in the past, telling The story about the world, which none of the representatives of the human race and in the eye did not see.
It's hard to imagine now. But 300 million years ago, there were noishes the water of the ancient sea, filling the deflection of the East European platform, it was connected in the north with the Arctic and the Ocean Tetis in the south. What we now see was formed for millions of years and is obliged to their emergence of living organisms inhabited in the ancient seas, countless shells of the dead clasks, corals, Mshanok formed colossal limestone deposits. Of course, all of them are not completely stored, but fragmented and changed by subsequent processes. But sometimes you can find quite clearly preserved forms. So, for example, in limestones of the Zhigulevsky Mountains, fossils of fuzulinide are often found, as if scattered by someone fossil grains, they appear from the breed.
Fuzulinids, the detachment of extinct foraminifer their sinks of the spindle-shaped form, because of which they received their name (fusus - spindle), are spinled on the helix and separated by partitions on the camera. Fuzulinids Don Residents are found only in the sediments of the coal and Perm periods of the Paleozoic era.
The fossil is not always easy to distinguish among the stone, sometimes it is worth looking carefully and only then the newcomer frozen in stone from the past, such as this four-beam coral of rigosa, will open.
Rugosa single polyps with outdoor limestone skeleton, their remains are very often found here in the Zhigule and Sokoli mountains. They had a corona shape, some had a cap, which closed the mouth at the danger. Having increased demands to the temperature and transparency of the water were inhabited in shallow-water, as a rule, in the shelf zone of the sea, attaching the sharp end of the cone to the seabed.
Along with the fuzulinids, extorted at the end of the Perm period, during the most massive extinction of the Earth. Then 96% of the marine species of organisms and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates were killed, and it was also the only known mass intake of insects (about 57% of genera and 83% of the species of the whole class), after which it took about 30 million years to restore the biosphere.
And here is another copy of my fossil photocollection. This is a cross-cut stem of marine lily.
Despite its name, the marine lily is not a plant, this animal with a seating lifestyle, feed on plankton - foraminifers, small crustaceans, larvae of invertebrates. Fossil marine lilies are known from the lower Ordovka, the greatest heyday was reached on average Paleozoic, when there were over 5,000 species, most of which extinted, but some species exist to this day. An animal's body resembles a cup that stands on the stem foot in the center of which is the mouth of the mouth, and the "hands" grow from the cup to different directions, outwardly resembles a flower.
Another phototravel for me was this fragment of ammonit sinks. Unfortunately, I could not meet the whole sink.
These challenges are distant relatives of modern Nautilusov, squid and octopuses, lived in almost all seas and today, the fossil shells of these clams can be found in almost any area of \u200b\u200bthe globe. The ammonites have completed their existence of approximately 65-70 million years ago.
They disappeared with dinosaurs, although they appeared much earlier than them.
Well, such bivalves exist to this day in the seas and rivers.
The level of the sea was changing, the temperature and salinity of water changed, all this affected the biosphere of the sea and now it is clearly reflected in the sediment layer cut.
The East European Platform rose, and the sea retired, the last sea, whose water rose to our latitudes was the Akchagyl Sea. It came from the side of the current Caspian Sea, the Zhigulevsky mountains then existed and towering the island over raging waters.
Considering the layer behind the layer, as if lusty pages of the book, unwittingly think about how the fragile all this world around us.
As a fragile, life itself and how great the desire of all living things about life.
