Number 5
450 million years ago, the Appalachian area of the United States was covered in shallow
seas that left
the area littered with fossils. It has been one of the most explored areas for fossils
over the past 200
years, but one of the most interesting and mysterious fossil wasn't found until 2011
near Covington,
Kentucky.
Most fossils found in the area are very small, usually about the size of a thumbnail to the
size of a
thumb. So when amateur paleontologist Ron Fine found a large cactus-shaped fossil he
knew that his
find was unusual. After excavating the fossil and piecing it together, Fine measured it
and it was 3.5 feet
wide and 6.5 feet long. The fossil also looked a lot like a cactus and the only real difference
between the
fossil and a saguaro cactus was that instead of having ridges that run vertically, the
fossil had horizontal
lines.
Due to the size of the fossil, Fine called it Godzillus because it towered over the rest
of the fossil. Fine
also believes that it may be from the Ediacaran period, which was half a billion years ago.
Making
Godzillus a large primitive life form, just like a lizard famous for destroying cities.
What is so mysterious about the fossil, besides being a giant amongst small fossils, is that
it is unclear
what exactly Godzillus is. Both Fine and researchers with the Geological Society of America are
unsure if
it is an animal, plant or even a mineral. One theory is it could be a mat of algae or
bacterium that
collected enough dirt and fossilized. However, that is just a theory and there is no clear
evidence as to
what kingdom Godzillus belongs to.
Number 4
Denisovans are species of humans that went extinct few hundred thousands years ago. To
be exact, Denisovans were only known to scientist when the DNA of the extinct species
was discovered in Siberia and were apparent to be 80 000 to 100 000 years old. A fossil,
specifically a thigh bone that was thought to belong to a neanderthal was found in a
Spanish Cave. Upon genetically analysing the bone, it was discovered that the Spanish fossil
contained the world's oldest DNA, aging more than 400 000 years old. The problem
lie in the fact that the fossil, which was found in Spain contained Siberian DNA. Mysteriously
the fossil that was thought to belong Neanderthal also contained the genome
sequence similar to a Denisovans. This led to question "are there many more extinct human
populations that scientists have yet to discover?." This discovery forced scientists
to rethink the evolution of humans few hundred thousands years back and to pose another question
is "alien DNA still to be discovered?"
Number 3
The Tully Monster
In 1958, an amateur fossil collector named Francis Tully was looking for fossils in a
mining pit in
northeastern Illinois. That is when he came across fossils of a six inch marine organism
that was worm-
like, but coming out of the head there was a claw shaped appendage and the tail was shaped
like an
arrow. After Tully made his discovery public, other people started to find fossils of what
was called “ The
Tully Monster” in the area.
The scientific name of the animal is Tullimonstrum gregarium and it has been troubling scientist
since its
discovery. What's so puzzling about the Tully Monster is that usually fossils can be placed
into a phylum.
A phylum is a biological classification that is between kingdom and class. For example,
humans belong to
the animal kingdom, our phylum is Chordata and our class is mammalian. There are 35 of
these phyla
and what’s weird about Tully’s Monster is that it does not fit into any of those
35 categories. At best, it is
a combination of a few of them. Even after studying the fossils for decades, paleontologists
are no closer
to classifying Tully's Monster into a phylum. The problem hindering the identification process
is that the
bodies of the creatures were all soft skin and they were not made up of anything hard
like bones, so the
fossils are only the outside of the body, which makes it harder to classify.
What they do know about the Tully Monster is that they were marine invertebrates that
lived in warm
water on the coast of an ocean 300 million years ago.
Number 2
The 1961 Coso Mystery. A group of people who owned a geode shop were in search for a mineral
to add to their collection. Instead, they came across a rather interesting and
mysterious artifact found in Olancha, California. The speciment was a said to be an ancient
spark plug encrusted with fossil shells which apparently ressembled two non-
magnetic metallic objects, a nail and a washer. They brought the item back to the shop and
with the help of a diamond cutter, they cut right through the middle, only to find
a cylinder that was 2 millimeter wide. The finders brought the item to a geologist so
it could be inspected. The geologist dated the "so found spark plug" to be more than
500
000 years old. Critics have argued the credibility of the geologist and have questionned his
expertise. Could this have been an ancient technology? Nobody will truly know the
real answer as the last person who kept the historic item died and its location is unknown.
Number 1
The Red Deer Cave People
In 1989, miners were quarrying limestone at Maludong, near the city of Mengzi in southwest
China,
when they came across at least three sets of fossils. The fossils weren’t studied
until 2008 and that’s
when researchers discovered that the fossils could possibly be a species of human that
had never been
discovered before.
The fossils are between 11,500 and 14,500 years old, making them the youngest species
of non-modern
humans ever found. The species of human were an unusual mix of archaic, modern and unique
features.
For example, like modern humans, they had long, broad and tall frontal lobes that were
located right
behind the forehead.
As for the more primitive features, they had prominent brow ridges, thick skull bones,
flat upper faces
with a broad nose, jutting jaws and large molars. Also, their brains were moderate for
the period and
they had short parietal lobes. The parietal lobes are located at the top of the head and
are associated
with sensory data.
The unique features of the Red Deer Cave People are they had a curved forehead bone, a broad
nose
and broad eye sockets. They also had very flat cheeks that would flare out to the sides
to make room for
large chewing muscles. Finally, the spot where the jaw connects to the base of the skull
was unusually
wide and deep.
One theory as to who the Red Deer Cave People are, is that they may have migrated out of
Africa, but
didn’t genetically contribute to modern humans. Researcher Darren Curnoe said that
“in short, they're
anatomically unique among all members of the human evolutionary tree.”
What is known about them is that they used primitive tools, used fire and they loved
to eat venison.
They hunted red deer and cooked them in their cave, hence their name The Red Deer Cave People.
It is
believed that they survived until the end of the last ice age, which was about 20,000
years ago, but then
died off. It was during this time that farming started to emerge in the area when Homo sapiens
started
to farm using pottery to collect rice. Both species of humans would have lived in the
same area at the same time, but it is a mystery as to how the
Red Cave People and Homo sapiens interacted or if they
competed for resources.
It is also unclear as to what evolutionary line the Red Deer Cave People are from. It
is possible they
come from an interbreeding of modern humans and a species of human called Denisovans.
According to
DNA tests, Denisovans are not human or Neanderthals. However, that is only speculation and the
lineage of the Red Deer Cave People’s history remains a mystery.