Current Event 1

Megan Barker

Bio 10H

1/25/19

Current Event 1

Boddy, Jessica. “This Ancient Stegosaurus-Platypus Mashup Has Everything.” Popular Science, 24 Jan. 2019, www.popsci.com/stegosaurus-platypus-mashup-triassic.

https://www.popsci.com/stegosaurus-platypus-mashup-triassic

For Current Event 1, I reviewed the article “This Ancient Stegosaurus-Platypus Mashup Has Everything” by Jessica Boddy. In the article, Boddy explains that scientists have recently discovered fossils of the heads of Eretmorhipis carrolldongi, a marine reptile similar to a platypus and stegosaurus fused together from the Early Triassic era. She first explains what the fossils are and when they are from, and informs readers that the head fossils were found in China.  She goes on to explain how the bone structure of the head supports the notion that the carrolldongi had a bill, similar to that of a platypus. This is because the hole in the bone of its snout was most likely occupied by a cartilaginous bill. She adds that that the creature also probably had small eyeballs, so a bill would be useful in digging up food. She analyzes the bone plates that are located on the E. carrolldongi’s spine, and how they were probably not useful, since the creature was probably very rigid and bad at swimming. In the final paragraph, Boddy describes how the discovery of this fossil changes what scientists thought they knew about evolution. The article left an impact on me because it proved that what scientists think they know about evolution is constantly changing.

Boddy’s article is extremely impactful, as the scientists’ findings prove that what they had thought about evolution was wrong. The Eretmorhipis Carrolldongi provides evidence that after the mass extinction event of the Permian era, evolution did not continue at a slow and steady pace. Rather, evolution might have been quite quick and produced many different creatures. This is important because evolution impacts us all greatly, as without it, humans and all other creatures would not be who they are today. Understanding how we got to be who we are is necessary, and these new fossils have helped us become one step closer to finding it.

Jessica Boddy has a strong article. Her sentences are clear and easy to read and understand. The language is informal enough so that one can read the article without needing to look up terms and definitions. That being said, I do wish that she had given more background information about the Permian and Early Triassic Eras. One suggestion would be to add a small paragraph in the beginning of the article that gives some information as to what conditions were in the time period of the  Eretmorhipis Carrolldongi. This would help the reader to contextualize and further absorb the information given later in the article. This article, overall, was very enjoyable and compelling to read. It was informative and contemporary, without being too lengthy.