"Oldest Fossilized Reptile Skin Sample Discovered: A Fascinating Insight into Ancient Life"
Channel: Mechelle Jefferson Juicy News Hub
Date: 2024-04-08

Welcome back to my channel. Scientists have made the fascinating discovery of a fossilized reptile skin sample dating back 289 million years ago. Knewz.com has learned that this is the oldest fossilized skin sample ever discovered of an amniote, which is a classification that includes all terrestrial vertebrates except amphibians. In fact, the latest discovery is 21 million years older than the former oldest fossilized skin sample. The research paper about the discovery states that the fossil was found in the infilled caves of the Richards Spur fossil locality located at the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry north of Lawton, Oklahoma. It was discovered by an "amateur collector" in the cave system and donated to the researchers in 2018. It landed in the hands of Robert Reisz, a paleontologist from the University of Toronto at Mississauga who is the co-author of the paper written on the discovery. The Washington Post reported that the sample was examined by Reisz in collaboration with Ethan Mooney and Tea Maho, paleontology graduate students at the University of Toronto.

The fossilized skin sample is around the same size as a human fingernail, according to Nature, and dates back to the early days of the Permian period, when the Earth’s continents were joined into a single supercontinent surrounded by a global ocean. It is worth noting that this period saw many species of ancient reptiles transition from semi-aquatic to land-based lifestyles. Although the Permian period concluded with the mass extinction of almost 90% of global species at the time, it also saw the emergence of important reptile groups which led to the evolution and further separation between mammals and reptiles, according to The Washington Post.

"Studying fossils from the Permian period provides scientists with valuable insights into the ancestral animals that ultimately evolved into the life forms we know today," the Post wrote. The discovery of the ancient fossilized skin is not an ordinary one, as the paper, which was published in Current Biology01663-9), stated that the fossil has preserved the "exceedingly rare integumentary soft tissues... providing critical first evidence into the anatomical changes marking the transition from the aquatic and semiaquatic lifestyles of anamniotes to the fully terrestrial lifestyles of early amniotes."

"This is the first record of a skin-cast fossil (3D carbonization of the skin proper) from the Paleozoic Era and the earliest known occurrence of epidermal integumentary structures," the paper further read. Nature further explained what this means: "What makes the find so special is that it isn’t just an impression of skin: it is an actual 3D layer of fossilized skin. The researchers were able to cut through it and examine a cross-section, in which distinct layers of epidermis and dermis were visible."

"The epidermis includes corneous tissue, the topmost layers of epidermal cells that act as a tough barrier between the inside and outside worlds," Nature wrote. Although scientists are unsure of which species the skin sample precisely belongs to, the patterns of the skin preserved in the remarkable fossil are similar to the skin of crocodiles, leading the team to believe that this was pretty common in the Permian period.

Analysis of the fossilized skin sample has pointed out that the tough, watertight skin was one of the key evolutions that amniotes underwent to completely adapt to terrestrial lives, according to Nature. "Obviously, we’re terrestrial organisms. So we don’t think about how harsh the terrestrial environment is, in comparison to life in the water," Stephanie Drumheller-Horton, a taphonomist at the University of Tennessee, told the scientific journal.

She also commented on the state of the fossil, saying, "Any time we’re asking questions in palaeontology, we’re at the mercy of what has ended up in the fossil record... That usually means some type of mineralized tissue: so bones, shells, things like that." But to get their hands on something as prone to decomposition as skin is a "fantastic window into the evolution of [amniotes]," she added, according to Nature. Please subscribe, comment, like, share, and follow me for more content. If you would like to support my channel please send it to CashAPP:$Director327 thank you for your gift it is greatly appreciated. Thanks for Watching!!