News — News

I could not resist posting this for Halloween! In paleontology, a zombie taxon (plural zombie taxa) or the zombie effect refers to a fossil, such as a dinosaur tooth, that was washed out of its original rock matrix and re-deposited in sediments millions of years younger, which then subsequently lithified to form rock. This could lead a casual observer to identify the fossil as being much younger than it actually is (given that the age of fossils is usually determined based on the age of the rocks from which they are extracted). This basic mistake in the interpretation of the...

A great 5* review of our recent title HOMO SAPIENS: AN APPRAISAL OF MODERN HUMANS has just been published on the Amazon.com website. It reads as follows: 5.0 out of 5 stars A clarion call even for those already very familiar with global climate change ByJennifer Graetzon October 12, 2015 It is difficult to summarize the fascinating research and analysis within Homo Sapiens: An Appraisal of Modern Humans. The author adeptly weaves together ancient philosophy, astro-physics, psychology, historical events and politics to support his cogent thesis: homo sapiens has done irreparable damage to the planet, but it is not too...

Trilobites represent one of the most iconic fossil groups. They were incredibly diverse in the Palaeozoic seas but are now extinct. Following on from our two highly popular books on trilobites already published, we are very pleased to announce the forthcoming new title: British Trilobites by Dr Robert Kennedy and with photography by Sinclair Stammers. This work is still in the early stages of production and we expect it will be ready sometime mid-late 2016. If you would like to keep updated about this title please follow us on Facebook. If you need some additional trilobite reading in the meantime...

On Saturday we attended the Bakewell Fossil Show and as per previous years it was well organized and well attended. It was nice to catch up with old friends and to make some new ones. As usual, there was a diverse array of fossils available (in addition to minerals, crystals, meteorites, etc.) and we were lucky enough to pick up a few choice specimens, including a very nice mammoth tooth and a substantial iguanotontid dinosaur vertebra .... keep you eyes open for these specimens in one of our forthcoming books. We will certainly be attending again next year! Mammoth tooth...

Yesterday, October 5th, was a landmark day in terms of animal taxonomy (the science of naming naming species), because the first ever new insect species to be described and named, based solely on photographs of the organism concerned, was published in the journal ZooKeys. However, it is causing plenty of controversy. The new species Marleyimyia xylocopae from Ndumo Game Preserve, South Africa The traditional approach to naming new species (fossil or extant) requires that a 'type specimen' be deposited in a museum collection in order to serve as a physical reference point for future purposes. In the current study no...