An Ammonite's last supper

last modified 17-01-2011 11:25

The discovery on what fed Baculites, a major group of Ammonites, extinct distant relatives of the squid and the octopus, attracted major global media coverage.

Ammonites are fossils well known to everybody but until now, there has been no experimental evidence of their place in the food chain. A team of scientists led by Isabelle Kruta (MNHN Paris) has now discovered exceptionally preserved mouth organs of ammonites, along with the remains of a "last supper" made of plankton. This finding may bring a new insight on why Ammonites became extinct 65.5 million years ago.

The experiment published 7 January 2011 in SCIENCE generated many media reports:

BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12127790

Financial Times Magazine http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c0e4736c-1df3-11e0-badd-00144feab49a.html#axzz1B3DBAqo0

The Economist http://www.economist.com/node/17848533?story_id=17848533&fsrc=rss

20minutes http://www.20minutes.fr/article/648994/grenoble-les-ammonites-devoilent

Spiegel online http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,738252,00.html

Coverage by some major print media like Le Figaro, Le Monde and Metro UK is not online.