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Fruits in the Cretaceous
There were plenty of fruiting bodies in the Cretaceous, when
Pachys were around, some of them true fruits (i.e. frm
angiosperms). Most of the them were naked seeds o r cones from
conifers. Some forests were dominated by cycads. Modern cycads
produce large "fruits" with a pit about as big as that of a peach
covered with a brightly colored soft flesh. The only trouble is
that they contain a neurotoxin, the casuative ag ent of Guam disease.
During World War II the local p eople in Guam were starving and some
ate these seeds, leading to neurological disorders. Perhaps a diet
of cycad "fruits" is the real cause of the extinction of the dinos!
RECENT REPTILE FINDS IN ALBERTA, CANADA
In the last week a late Cretaceous ornithomimid has been reported
in Alberta. The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeo is excavating it. I
have o nly seen newspaper reports. The same museum has also found a mid
complete with skull, which is unusual. Both these fossils are said to
be the "most complete" yet.
nybody know more?
>From: David Brez Carlisle