WHO would have thought The Bellman could end up in the midst of a scientific tussle over the aging of ancient rock?
The point in question is how old is the fossil found just off Cowie in 2004 and can it be hailed the oldest air-breathing creature discovered?
At the time of the discovery, the rocks entombing the little centipede Pneumodesmus Newmani were dated to 428 million years ago. But in 2017, a team of scientists from the University of Texas issued findings from a different dating technique making the fossil more youthful – 414 million years old. This shift in time frame knocked it off its perch as the first creature to crawl out of the swamps and breath.
Clearly we are always keen to fly the flag for Stonehaven so last January we very happily published a story about a further study by scientists from Aberdeen and Sheffield Universities – who discussed the dating techniques for spores, plant material and sedimentary deposition and reasserted the age of the fossil.
Stonehaven and its centipede were back in the record books.
The scientific debate continues
Following the publication of the story in The Bellman, we passed it to The Scottish Beacon, which is a collaborative network of independent local news sources. And it is there, the team of American scientists, found it – and felt they had to respond.
Dear Beacon, I read with interest Bellman’s article (Feb 2024) on the reconfirmation of the mid-Silurian age for the Cowie millipede. Unfortunately this is wrong.
Wellman et al (2023) extrapolated the age from spores in the basal sediments north of Cowie, which is in a separate structural block to the Cowie fish bed. Neither the fish bed nor the volcanic conglomerate in this block are found north of the Cowie fault and the sections are different, as has been known for almost 100 years (see Geological Survey of Scotland, 1:63,360 geological map series 67, 1929 revisd by R. Campbell)
I attach our comprehensive paper for your information – we try and write simply so I hope nothing is obscure. It should be published shortly in Historical Biology.
All the best,
Mike B
Michael Brookfield
Our fascinating local geology
The next time you are walking along the seashore at Cowie – do look at the rocks and have a wee think about the eons of earth history they encapsulate. And remember they are sufficiently important to stimulate scientific investigation and debate across the globe.
And, for those who would be interested to read the full paper from the team at the Universit of Texas, please either access it in the pane below if your device permits or download using the link.