Opalized fossils

opalized fossils

Fossils are of great importance when it comes to knowing the past of the species that once inhabited this planet. One of the fossils that can give a lot of information to are the opalized fossils. An oval fragment has been found on the island of Java in Indonesia and contains the impressive. It is an insect preserved in astonishing conditions that could be between 4 and 7 million years old and that is a unique find to date.

In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about opalized fossils and the great information they can give us.

Opalized fossils

opal laboratory

Until now, many ancient insects have been found in amber, a semi-precious stone made from fossil resins of plant origin. When animals are trapped in fresh resin, you will quickly bury them to preserve their remains, usually delicate details.

However, the natural formation of opal involves the concentration of silica solutions in underground caves for thousands or even millions of years, raising the question of how to preserve insects in this way.

A 99-million-year-old baby snake was found in amber, which is the first of its kind. The fossil is about 5 cm long and contains 97 vertebrae. This is the first young snake fossil to be discovered, and it is also the first snake to be found in amber. The researchers believe they found a piece of adult snake skin in different fragments.

Fossil with insects

opal

This is an incredibly impossible item, but so are other strange and surprising things in nature that we believe that they do not exist or that they are theoretically impossible, until they are proven to be real. The sample is currently in private hands and has not yet been studied in detail by paleontologists or geochemists. However, if confirmed, this discovery not only represents an unknown source of valuable fossils, it may also change our understanding of popular gemstones.

This specimen is known to exist since 2017, and an image of a second insect that may be present in the opal from the same Java mine was also observed. However, since you only saw it in the photo and did not publish any scientific research, it is difficult for you to express an accurate opinion on this.

Many opal fossils have been found at Lighting Ridge in Australia, although the process is different. When the silica solution fills the soil space occupied by bones and teeth and turns into opal, these "replacement" fossils are formed, like gelatin in a mold. Phil Bell, a paleontologist at the University of New England at Armidale, Australia recently described a new species of dinosaur from fossil fragments that had been turned into opals in this way.

Opalized fossils have traveled the ground for millions of years, crushed, heated, etc. Although it is not impossible, it is normal to be skeptical of the idea that insects are kept in this way. Opalized Javanese wood fossils are common, suggesting that plant resin may be embedded in the opal.

Importance of opalized fossils

Dinosaurs

Many opal fossils have been found at Lighting Ridge in Australia, although the process is different. When the silica solution fills the soil space occupied by bones and teeth and turns into opal, these "replacement" fossils are formed, like gelatin in a mold. Phil Bell, a paleontologist at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia, recently described a new species of dinosaur from fossil fragments that had been turned into opals in this way.

Opalized fossils have traveled the ground for millions of years, crushed, heated, etc. Although it is not impossible, it is normal to be skeptical of the idea that insects are kept in this way. Opalized Javanese wood fossils are common, which suggests that plant resin may be embedded in the opal.

Opals tend to fill in the gaps. In this case, the trunk can turn into opal and its amber component can be trapped. A known specimen of Canadian amber filled the cracks with a piece of wood, which then turned to silica on the outside. The new specimen may have gone through a similar process, but it is still quite speculative until chemical analysis and researchers carefully verify the preservation of the insects.

Ammonites

Ammonite fossils come from ammonites from cephalopod mollusks. These creatures inhabited our planet 400 million years ago, until 65 million years ago, a huge meteorite with a diameter of 10 kilometers exterminated 70% of the Earth's species, including our protagonist. But even the humblest creatures can make their mark on the earth.

Although the shape is relatively simple, the ammonite fossil provides a wealth of information for paleontologists and can be used to determine the age and study of rock formations at other times.

Ammonites are marine animals that thrived in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Era, they are the extinct relatives of the squid, octopus, cuttlefish, and nautilus that we know today. Due to the unique structure of the shell, they can swim and the shell is divided into a series of air chambers.

Air gives animals buoyancy and ammonites use jet propulsion to move in the ocean like modern cephalopods.

Since ammonites only live in the marine environment, their existence indicates the location of prehistoric oceans such as the Sea of ​​Tethys. Thousands of species have been described and are distributed in approximately 1.800 genera in different ways. Ammonite is a marine animal protected by a single shell formed from a mineral called aragonite, generally wound in a flat spiral, up to 2 meters in diameter.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about opalized fossils, their importance and the information that you can give us about the animals of the past.


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