CBP Detroit Donates Seized Fossils to University of Michigan

Detroit – U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Port of Detroit announced the donation of hundreds of seized pre-historic fossils to the University of Michigan.

Some of the seized fossils donated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to the University of Michigan.

A CBP officer working at a primary lane of the Ambassador Bridge on March 28, 2011, encountered two Canadian citizens who claimed they were attending a fossil trade show in Illinois. The two travelers had several boxes containing over 1,100 fossils.

Secondary inspection revealed that the fossils were actually for sale and the individuals did not properly declare their goods. The fossils were seized after a lengthy forfeiture process, which afforded the individuals the opportunity to pay associated penalties, however the violators did not respond to CBP efforts to assist them in reclaiming their property.

“This interception is an excellent example of CBP’s commitment at our ports of entry to the surrounding community,” said Roderick Blanchard, Detroit port director. “CBP not only stopped the illegal entry, but was able to contribute to the University of Michigan. This seizure highlights the diversity of the CBP mission.”

This donated fossils will be used for research and/or teaching by the University of Michigan Paleontology Department, which maintains a repository for fossil specimens.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Fossil Snake Fed on Hatchling Dinosaurs

This life size reconstruction shows a moment captured in time through a fossil, when a snake coiled around a recently hatched, crushed dinosaur egg adjacent to a hatchling sauropod. The remains of the fossil, unearthed in 67-million-year-old sediments from Gujarat in western India, has given scientists a rare glimpse of an unusual feeding behavior in ancient snakes.

The nearly complete snake was found preserved in the nest of a sauropod dinosaur. The 11.5 foot-long snake, which represents a new species (Sanajeh indicus), was no match for the 1.6 foot-long baby dinosaur that was probably defenseless. Remains of other snake individuals associated with egg clutches at the same site indicate that the newly described snake survived by feeding on young dinosaurs. The arrangement of the bones and delicate structures, such as eggshells and the snake's skull, point to quick entombment.

The discovery was made by an international paleontology team led by Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan (U-M) and Dhananjay Mohabey of the Geological Survey of India.

"We think that the hatchling had just exited its egg, and that activity attracted the snake," said Mohabey. "The eggs were lain in the loose sands near a small drainage and covered by a thin layer of sediment."

The decade long odyssey required preparation and study of the fossil at U-M's Museum of Paleontology, weeks of museum study in India, and field reconnaissance at the original location in Gujarat by a team that included Wilson, Mohabey, snake expert Jason Head of the University of Toronto-Mississaugua and geologist Shanan Peters of the University of Wisconsin. (Date of Image: 2008)

Credit: Sculpture by Tyler Keillor; original photography by Ximena Erickson; image modified by Bonnie Miljour

Precambrian Life Discovered in China (Image 7)

Shuhai Xiao (left), a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, and field assistant Guwei Xie (right) collect samples from the upper Doushantuo Formation in South China. The site yielded thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. (Date of Image: 2005)

More About This Image

 Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.

In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.

Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that have an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.

"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."

The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied, without skeletons, they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).

Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."

Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.

McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.

Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.

This text was taken from the story "Scientist Searches for Clues About the Beginnings of Life" that appeared in Virginia Tech's Research magazine, Winter 2010.

Credit: Photo by Kathleen McFadden.

Precambrian Life Discovered in China (Image 5 and 6)

Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, is shown here in the lab, where he used a light microscope to examine paper-thin slices of rock from the 600-million-year-old Doushantuo Formation in South China. (Date of Image: 2010)

More About This Image

 Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.

In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.

Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that have an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.

"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."

The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied, without skeletons, they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).

Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."

Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.

McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.

Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.

Kathleen McFadden looks for evidence of oxidation events in the ancient rock along the Yangtze Gorges of South China. Evidence of several oxidation events during the early Cambrian suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. McFadden was a doctoral student at Virginia Tech at the time of this research. (Date of Image: 2005)

More About This Image

 Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.

In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.

Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that have an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.

"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."

The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied, without skeletons, they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).

Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."

Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.

McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.

Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.

This text was taken from the story "Scientist Searches for Clues About the Beginnings of Life" that appeared in Virginia Tech's Research magazine, Winter 2010.

Credit: Photo by Ganqing Jiang.

Precambrian Life Discovered in China (Image 3 and 4)

Scanning electron photomicrographs of two fossil embryo specimens from the 600-million-year-old Doushantuo Formation in South China. The soccer ball-shaped specimen is interpreted as an early stage (blastula) embryo and the baseball-shaped specimen is interpreted as an intermediate-stage helical embryo consisting of three clockwise coils. Each embryo used to be enclosed in an envelope, that was removed (a piece still remains in the soccer-ball-shaped specimen) so that the embryo itself was exposed. The embryos are about 0.55 to 0.75 millimeters in diameter. The background shows the Doushantuo rocks from which the embryos were extracted. (Date of image: 2007)

More About This Image

Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.

In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.

Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that have an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.

"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."

The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied, without skeletons, they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).

Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."

Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.

McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.

Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.

A paper-thin slice of rock from the 600-million-year-old Doushantuo Formation in South China is examined under a light microscope in the lab. (Date of Image: 2010)

More About This Image

Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.

In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.

Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that have an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.

"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."

The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied, without skeletons, they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).

Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."

Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.

McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.

Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.

This text was taken from the story "Scientist Searches for Clues About the Beginnings of Life" that appeared in Virginia Tech's Research magazine, Winter 2010.

Credit: Jim Stroup; Virginia Tech.