PORTAL:PALEONTOLOGY DYK 38

... that the extinct Hydriomena? protrita was the first geometer moth to be described from the American fossil record?
... that the moth lacewing genus Principiala is known for three, possibly four, fossils?
... that the discovery of 189 fossils of the mid- Cambrian Odontogriphus thrust it into the centre of a heated debate about the evolution of molluscs, annelids and brachiopods?
... that the paleobotanists David P. Penhallow and Chester A. Arnold both published studies on the extinct water-fern Azolla primaeva?
... that fossils of extinct giant cicadas (pictured) were once misidentified as the oldest known butterflies?

... that the large prehistoric amphibian Cyclotosaurus had a skull up to 70 cm long?
... that the extinct Canadian redwood Metasequoia foxii was described from over 10,000 fossils?
... that siltstone deposits have allowed three-dimensional fossils of the extinct mushroom crinoid to be excavated from Indiana?
... that highlights from the history of tyrannosaur research include the first carnivorous dinosaur known to walk bipedally, the giant Tyrannosaurus rex, and feathered taxa from China like Yutyrannus?
... that the extinct Eocene maple Acer republicense is known from only one fossil seed?

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