Who’s in that vomit, anyhow?
Everyone likes “gross” fossils. Fossil poo always gets attention, and infected bones are cool to look at, but vomit is fairly unusual in the fossil record. One of the best known examples (at least to paleontologists with a very narrow range of interests) is around 220 million years old, from northern Italy. Not only was it interpreted as prehistoric throw-up, but the contents were identified as a rare animal indeed–tiny, fragile bones from a winged pterosaur. This is potentially quite exciting, because pterosaurs of that age are poorly known. Such an unusual specimen warranted a second look! —> Read More