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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Brachiopod Fossils Identified in Sabzevar
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31 August 2006 |
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Library Picture (Click to enlarge) |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archeologists and Paleozoologists believe that fossils found in a village near the city of Sabzevar in northeastern Khorasan province belong to marine animals with bivalve shells.
Announcing this, director general of Sabzevar Cultural
Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department said
brachiopod is the scientific term used to refer to these
marine invertebrates which have bivalve dorsal and ventral
shells enclosing a pair of tentacles, arm like structures
that are used to sweep minute food particles into the
mouth.
Brachiopods lived about two billion years ago in a
mountain located in Babalangar village of Khoushab
district in northwestern Sabzevar, Ali Aldaghi according
to ISNA Persian Service.
He explained that sea creatures including lampshell, reefs
and sponge were killed en masse due to lack of oxygen in a
time between 150 and 200 million years ago and their
remains were turned into fossils.
Also, an official in charge of archeological programs of
the department, Mohammad Abdollahzadeh Sani, stated that a
group comprising the departments experts and biologists
from Sabzevar Instructor Training University has studied
the fossils since 2005.
He added that the research findings would be announced in
the near future.
The earliest unequivocal brachiopods in the fossil record occur in the early Cambrian, with the hingeless, inarticulate forms appearing first, followed soon thereafter by the hinged, articulate forms. Putative brachiopods are also known from much older upper Neoproterozoic strata, although the assignment remains uncertain. Brachiopods are extremely common fossils throughout the Paleozoic. The major shift came with the Permian extinction. Before this extinction event, brachiopods were more numerous and diverse than bivalve mollusks. Afterwards, in the Mesozoic, their diversity and numbers were drastically reduced, and they were largely replaced by bivalve mollusks. Mollusks continue to dominate today, and the remaining orders of brachiopods survive largely in fringe environments of more extreme cold and depth.
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Extracted From/Source: Iran Daily Please
note
the above-news is NOT a "copy & paste" version from
the mentioned-source. The news/article above has been modified with
the following interventions by CAIS: Spelling corrections;
-Rectification and correction of the historical facts and data; -
Providing additional historical information within the text; -Removing any
unnecessary, irrelevant & repetitive information. All these measures have been taken in order to ensure that the published news provided by CAIS is coherent, accurate and suitable for academics and cultural enthusiasts who visit the CAIS website.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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