The mountain goat is one animal perfectly adapted for life in alpine regions (areas above the tree line). Its teeth can chew the toughest vegetation, and its hooves have hard, sharp edges with a non-slip pad in the middle so they can climb on the steepest of ridges.
Fossils Give Glimpse of Old Mother Lamprey
Fossils Give Glimpse of Old Mother Lamprey The discovery of 530-million-year-old fossils by
paleontologists in the Chengjiang area of China shed new light onto
the evolution of vertebrates. The oldest known vertebrate fossils
previously known to scientists were only 475-million years old.
These new fossils show that by 530 million years ago, vertebrates
were surprisingly well-developed, which indicates that even older
fossils remain to be found. The most primitive vertebrate alive
today is the hagfish, a fish without jaws, and the second most
primitive is the lamprey. These new fossils show creatures more
closely related to humans than either the hagfish or lamprey.
Scientists now think that vertebrates may have evolved between 730
and 565 million years ago, later than previously
thought. 5 NOVEMBER 1999, P. 1064-1065
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