Dec 2, 2025 06:10 AM
A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107649
INTRO: Earth’s atmosphere might have contributed to the origin of life more than previously thought.
In a study published Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, CU Boulder researchers and collaborators reveal that billions of years ago, the planet’s early sky might have been producing sulfur-containing molecules that were essential ingredients for life.
The finding challenges a long-held theory that these sulfur molecules emerged only after life had already formed.
“Our study could help us understand the evolution of life at its earliest stages,” said first author Nate Reed, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder... (MORE - details, no ads)
Fossils reveal anacondas have been giants for over 12 million years
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107437
INTRO: A University of Cambridge-led team has analysed giant anaconda fossils from South America to deduce that these tropical snakes reached their maximum size 12.4 million years ago and have remained giants ever since.
Many animal species that lived 12.4 to 5.3 million years ago, in the period known as the ‘Middle to Upper Miocene’, were much bigger than their modern relatives due to warmer global temperatures, extensive wetlands and an abundance of food.
While other Miocene giants - like the 12-metre caiman (Purussaurus) and the 3.2-metre giant freshwater turtle (Stupendemys) - have since gone extinct, anacondas (Eunectes) bucked the trend by surviving as a giant species.
Anacondas are among the largest living snakes in the world. They are usually four to five metres long and in rare cases can reach seven metres.
The team measured 183 fossilised anaconda backbones, representing at least 32 snakes, discovered in Falcón State in Venezuela, South America. Combining these measurements with fossil data from other sites in South America allowed them to calculate that ancient anacondas would have been four to five metres long. This matches the size of anacondas that exist today.
The study is published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
“Other species like giant crocodiles and giant turtles have gone extinct since the Miocene, probably due to cooling global temperatures and shrinking habitats, but the giant anacondas have survived - they are super-resilient,” said Andrés Alfonso-Rojas, a PhD student and Gates Cambridge Scholar in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, lead author of the research.
He added: “By measuring the fossils we found that anacondas evolved a large body size shortly after they appeared in tropical South America around 12.4 million years ago, and their size hasn’t changed since,” said Alfonso-Rojas... (MORE - details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107649
INTRO: Earth’s atmosphere might have contributed to the origin of life more than previously thought.
In a study published Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, CU Boulder researchers and collaborators reveal that billions of years ago, the planet’s early sky might have been producing sulfur-containing molecules that were essential ingredients for life.
The finding challenges a long-held theory that these sulfur molecules emerged only after life had already formed.
“Our study could help us understand the evolution of life at its earliest stages,” said first author Nate Reed, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder... (MORE - details, no ads)
Fossils reveal anacondas have been giants for over 12 million years
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107437
INTRO: A University of Cambridge-led team has analysed giant anaconda fossils from South America to deduce that these tropical snakes reached their maximum size 12.4 million years ago and have remained giants ever since.
Many animal species that lived 12.4 to 5.3 million years ago, in the period known as the ‘Middle to Upper Miocene’, were much bigger than their modern relatives due to warmer global temperatures, extensive wetlands and an abundance of food.
While other Miocene giants - like the 12-metre caiman (Purussaurus) and the 3.2-metre giant freshwater turtle (Stupendemys) - have since gone extinct, anacondas (Eunectes) bucked the trend by surviving as a giant species.
Anacondas are among the largest living snakes in the world. They are usually four to five metres long and in rare cases can reach seven metres.
The team measured 183 fossilised anaconda backbones, representing at least 32 snakes, discovered in Falcón State in Venezuela, South America. Combining these measurements with fossil data from other sites in South America allowed them to calculate that ancient anacondas would have been four to five metres long. This matches the size of anacondas that exist today.
The study is published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
“Other species like giant crocodiles and giant turtles have gone extinct since the Miocene, probably due to cooling global temperatures and shrinking habitats, but the giant anacondas have survived - they are super-resilient,” said Andrés Alfonso-Rojas, a PhD student and Gates Cambridge Scholar in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, lead author of the research.
He added: “By measuring the fossils we found that anacondas evolved a large body size shortly after they appeared in tropical South America around 12.4 million years ago, and their size hasn’t changed since,” said Alfonso-Rojas... (MORE - details, no ads)