Blockade briefly stops Pride Parade in downtown Winnipeg
A group of protesters briefly blocked the Winnipeg Pride Parade on Sunday.
A University of Kansas paleontologist exploring an area known for its fossils recently uncovered a never-before-discovered ancient sea worm – and showed off her “nerdy” side while naming it.
When Rhiannon LaVine found the 500-million-year-old fossil, the research associate with the university’s Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum was carrying out fieldwork with a team working on the geologic formation called the Spence Shale.
The formation is located along northern Utah and southern Idaho, according to a university news release.
“One of the last times we were out there, I split open one of these pieces of rock and instantly knew it was something that wasn’t typical,” LaVine said in a statement. “The first thing we see are these radial blades that look like stars or flowers.”
She said she quickly showed it to Julian Kimmig, the lead author on the study exploring the annelids.
“He was perplexed, he said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that,’” LaVine said.
In a career first, LaVine had the honor of naming the fossil worm as the person who discovered it and as a co-author of the paper focused on it, according to the University of Kansas.
“I’ve been involved in describing species before, but this is the first one I’ve named,” LaVine said in a statement. “Actually, I was able to name its genus, so I can put that feather in my cap.”
Inspired by the indigenous name for the worms featured in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels – Shai-Hulud – the palaeontologist gave the discovery the scientific name of Shaihuludia shurikeni.
“It was the first thing that came to mind, because I’m a big ol’ nerd and at the time I was getting really excited for the ‘Dune’ movies,” LaVine said.
“Shuriken” means “throwing star” in Japanese and represents the shape of the stiff, blade-like bristles of the ancient sea worm that many other annelids also have, according to the university.
LaVine and her co-authors described the sea worm as “about 7 or 8 centimetres long, maybe a little shorter than the length of a smartphone.” They found that the fossil, which is a previously unknown annelid species, is a diverse phylum of around 21,000 segmented worm species found worldwide in freshwater, marine and terrestrial environments, the University of Kansas reported.
The Historical Biology peer-reviewed journal recently published the findings.
The fossil specimen is now part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute’s permanent paleontological collection.
A group of protesters briefly blocked the Winnipeg Pride Parade on Sunday.
People around the world are observing National Cancer Survivor Day, an annual celebration held to honour patients who have been through the often difficult and traumatic experience of living with cancer.
Research shows that art experiences, whether as a maker or a beholder, transform our biology by rewiring our brains and triggering the release of neurochemicals, hormones and endorphins.
Ryan Reynolds this week unveiled arguably the most anticipated and sure-to-be coveted merchandise tied to his upcoming 'Deadpool' sequel: the movie’s novelty popcorn bucket.
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
Al Riddell was going to go have a quiet Sunday afternoon coffee with his family when his dad asked if he had heard that Mike (Fluff) Cowan, C.T. Pan's caddie, had slipped during the fourth round of the RBC Canadian Open and that a fan had started carrying his bag for him.
Legislation restricting disruptive protests targeting B.C. schools came into effect Friday, with the province saying there have been 20 such incidents since last September.
A snowstorm, a Tim Hortons and a group of Canadian artists loosely sums up ‘The Last Timbit,’ a musical hitting the stage in Toronto this month. However, the writers involved explain that it is much more than that. To them, it is a celebration of community, Canadians and togetherness.
During the pandemic, the Ontario government started to hand out cash to parents to help offset the cost of at-home learning while schools were shuttered.
Car 14 is a luxury passenger car that once made regular runs from London to Port Stanley starting in 1917.
A hefty donation by a renowned local activist to the University of Winnipeg has created what is believed to be the most comprehensive two-spirit archives in all of Canada.
Leanne Van Bergen discovered a skulk of 10 baby foxes, and two mothers, had made themselves at home on her property in Beausejour.
An 81-year-old Waterloo, Ont. woman thought she’d never ride a horse again after a brain bleed led to severe physical complications.
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.
Prince Edward Island is celebrating its first-ever International Day of Potato on Thursday.
The president of Covered Bridge Chips in New Brunswick is hoping to have his factory rebuilt for late 2025 following a devastating fire last year.
Students and staff at Winnipeg’s Westwood Collegiate had a unique problem to solve this month; how do you lead ducks to water from the school’s courtyard when 12 of them can’t fly yet?
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.