Frozen rainforest.A trove of tiny organisms fossilized fos·sil·ize v. fos·sil·ized, fos·sil·iz·ing, fos·sil·iz·es v.tr. 1. To convert into a fossil. 2. To make outmoded or inflexible with time; antiquate. v.intr. in resin, including this Phoridae fly a few millimeters long, is worth its weight in gold, say the paleontologists who found the rare bounty in the western Amazonian basin. The insects, fungi, and plants trapped in the amber provide direct evidence that rainforests existed in the region 10 to 15 million years ago, the researchers report in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. . Using light microscopy, they examined the contents of 28 amber nuggets removed from sediments of that period. The fossils' biodiversity is typical of that of a modern rainforest, says coauthor John J. Flynn of the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History, incorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site were opened in 1877. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . This era "might have been when modern ecosystems were being established," he says. |
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