From Dave over at the ESCONI Discussion Group: Info here: http://www.scienced aily.com/ releases/ 2013/02/13021816 4130.htm Abstract here: http://geology. gsapubs.org/ content/early/ 2013/01/17/ G33792.1 Notable because it is the oldest occurrence on record, but hardly a surprise. Gastropods from Lone Star (Pennsylvanian, Missourian) are known to retain shell color patterns most likely due to porphyrins, another biomolecule. Dave

Via geology.com from Arizona Geology: Kinder Morgan hit an unexpected ‘gusher’ of carbon dioxide reportedly from fractures in granite in the St. John’s CO2-helium field in eastern Arizona….  

Via geology.com: A team of U.S. ice-coring scientists and engineers in Antarctica, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has recovered from the ice sheet a record of past climate and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that extends back 68,000 years….

Via Dave over at the ESCONI Discussion Group: A new study describes the common ancestor of all placental mammals. More info at: http://www.scienced aily.com/ releases/ 2013/02/13020714 1458.htm … the study details how researchers used both genetic and physical traits to reconstruct the common ancestor of placental mammals, the creature that gave rise to many mammals alive today. The data show that contrary to a commonly held theory, the group diversified after the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago… And the abstract of the article in Science.

Via Science: While examining fossilized shark feces (main picture) collected from southern Brazil, researchers noticed a strange cluster of oval-shaped objects. Taking a closer look, they realized they had found a tapeworm egg case bearing an uncanny resemblance to those produced by modern pests today. The eggs featured operculums (indicated by the blue arrows in inset), or small teapot lid-like flaps characteristic of tapeworm eggs, which helped the researchers identify the finding. Such discoveries, they write in PLOS ONE, are exceptionally rare; the older the fossil, the less chance of finding signs of the tiny, fragile parasites that may have once…

The research article, Multivariate Analyses of Small Theropod Dinosaur Teeth and Implications for Paleoecological Turnover through Time, by Philip Currie [who will be a speaker at the upcoming Burpee Paleofest (March 2-3)], was posted in the ESCONI Discussion group.   

Via NYTImes: …The geologic record does offer startling examples of the instability of the planet. Whale bones can be dug up in the Sahara. The summit of Mount Everest is a chunk of ancient seafloor. But most climate scientists reject the idea that this history means human-induced climate change will be benign. They add that the fossil record indicates nothing quite like today’s rapid release of greenhouse gases and its parallel effect of raising the planet’s temperature, changes that are occurring in a geologic instant..

Amazing photograph that lets you move around the Pumori mountain and to zoom in for interesting detail – https://s3.amazonaws.com/Gigapans/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT/EBC_Pumori_050112_8bit_FLAT.html

From Science Daily (hat tip Dave Carlson over at the ESCONI Yahoo Discussion Group): In a paper published in Nature Communications on January 22, 2013, a team of paleontologists including Dr. Luis Chiappe, Director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s (NHM) Dinosaur Institute, has discovered a way to determine the sex of a prehistoric bird species…

Fun explanation from Smithsonian Museum on how to start a rock collection.

From geology.com a list of field camps by college.