5.3-Million-Year-Old Mollusk Fossils Found In Batangas, Philippines
Two Fossils Nautilid fossils Still on the Ground
Source: Philippine Science Journal
Two Fossils belonging a 5.3-million-year-old Mollusk called Nautilid was found in Talim Point, Batangas during an excavation from 2012 to 2018 and only announced recently.
The Nautilid fossil is from the late Miocene-early Pliocene Period which is 5.333 million years and so far, the oldest species of Nautilus species found in the Philippines.
Two Nautilid Fossils
Source: Philippine Science Journal
“The conch shape and suture lines are still present, so we can tell right away that the fossil is a Nautiloid,” said Abigael Castro, the study's corresponding author in an email to The Science Note.
“Although in general, fossils are not rare especially in the Philippines, nautilus in fossil form is quite rare,” said Castro.
She also said, that there is a gap between the fossil record of Nautiluses for Pliocene-Pleistocene deposits but the fossil found somehow fill in this gap.
To identify if it belongs to right species Castro said, “A big part of its general morphology like the conch shape and suture lines are still present, so we can tell right away that the fossil is a Nautiloid. It helps to have basic knowledge of the general appearance of certain organisms to have a preliminary ID for fossils.”
A Live, Ancient Nautilius
“Next thing that we had to do was try to identify it to species-level. In our earlier reports and presentations, we called it Nautilus pompilius because it really does resemble them. However, when we did measurements, more studying, and consultations with co-authors and with other paleontologists, we decided that we can only identify our specimens as Nautilus species,” she adds
The best part is that Castro's team wasn't even looking for the Nautilid fossils rather they were looking for Sea Urchins as those were the dominant fossil species in the area.
“It was personally discovered by the co-author, Geleen Javellana,” said Castro.
In the future Castro still had a lot of work to do such as publishing a study about the Sea Urchin fossils that we're found together the Nautilus fossils.
The study was published in the Phillipine Science Journal by Abigael L. Castro, Allan Gil S. Fernando, Alyssa M. Peleo-Alampay,
Geleen Rica S. Javellana, Dorothy Joyce D. Marquez,
and Jaan Ruy Conrad P. Nogot
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://thescinote.xyz/2020/09/20/fossils-belonging-to-an-ancient-mollusk-found-in-batangas-philippines/