Portal:Paleontology/DYK/1

... that in the first scientific study of fossils in English, William Martin speculated that horn coral (pictured) was a kind of bamboo and said another fossil was not a small crocodile tail?
... that the extinct ants Azteca alpha carried larvae of the nematode Formicodiplogaster myrmenema?
... that fossils of the extinct snakefly family Mesoraphidiidae are known mainly from the Northern Hemisphere?
... that Acteosaurus tommasinii, a species of aquatic lizard from the upper Cretaceous is similar to mosasauroids and modern snakes?
... that the last common ancestor of bilaterian animals has been reconstructed as a tiny worm with a combined mouth and anus?

... that the extinct Eocene butterfly Prodryas persephone (pictured) from the Florissant Fossil Beds is the best preserved fossil lepidopteran discovered to date?
...that despite being known from many specimens, the fossil Fuxianhuia remains one of the most controversial Cambrian arthropods?
... that paleobotanist Shya Chitaley named an extinct plant species for Cleveland's bicentennial and also had an extinct plant species named for her?
... that Araneagryllus is named from a combination of the Latin aranea meaning "spider" and gryllus meaning "cricket"?
... that fossil specimens of the extinct scorpionfly family Dinopanorpidae, which includes Dinopanorpa and Dinokanaga, sometimes have preserved dark with light to clear color patterning?