PORTAL:PALEONTOLOGY DYK 17

...that the Burgsvik beds, a geological formation exposed on Gotland, Sweden, contain the only fossil euglenid ever discovered?
...that the extinct species of Edaphodon, a type of rabbitfish related to the shark, grazed along the bottom of the ocean like land-dwelling herbivores do now?
... that the Paleocene Alaskan maple Acer alaskense was described from a fossil leaf that may be atypical for the species?
... that Termitaradus protera was the first termite bug found in amber?
... that Hyptia deansi is the only fossil ensign wasp described from Mexican amber?

... that the largest known ovules produced by any non- flowering seed-plant came from the Medullosales (fossilized leaves pictured), an order of extinct seed ferns?
... that the Late Cretaceous crocodile relative Simosuchus (restoration pictured) ate plants and had a pug-nosed snout?
...that though no fossil grasses have been discovered, the earliest-known grassland ecosystem, the 30+ million-year-old Tinguiririca fauna of Chile, can be detected through the grazers' teeth?
... that the extinct hangingfly genera Formosibittacus, Jurahylobittacus, and Mongolbittacus are only known from the Middle Jurassic of China?
... that the extinct legume Hymenaea allendis is the second Hymenaea species described from Mexican amber?

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