September 2016

Reconstruction of Allkauren koi (Image courtesy Gabriel Lío. All rights reserved)

An article published in the journal “PeerJ” describes the discovery of a new species of pterosaur that was called Allkauren koi from the early Jurassic period. A team of scientists discovered a partial skeleton in the Cañadón Asfalto Formation, in the province of Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina, with a braincase in excellent conditions. For this reason its study can provide new information about the origins and evolution of these flying reptiles.

Professor Allen Nutman, Associate Professor Vickie Bennett and a piece of fossil stromatolite (Photo courtesy Yuri Alemin)

An article published in the journal “Nature” describes the discovery of microbial structures dating back to 3.7 billion years ago. A team of researchers led by Professor Allen Nutman of the University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia, discovered fossil stromatolites in the oldest sedimentary rocks in the world, in the Isua Greenstone Belt in Greenland. These fossils show that in such an ancient time there was already a diversity of life forms.