12 March 2020: An ancient bird trapped in amber, and life beneath the ocean floor

This week, a newly discovered bird species from the time of the dinosaurs, and microbes hundreds of metres below the ocean floor.In this episode:00:44 A tiny, toothy, ancient birdResearchers have found a perfectly preserved bird fossil trapped in amber, with some rather unusual features.The paper covered in this podcast has been retracted. New evidence suggests that the specimen might actually be a lizard, and not a bird-like dinosaur. Read more in this article. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02214-7 The retracted paper can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2068-4 08:09 Research HighlightsDental hygiene in the time of the Vikings, and wildebeest bones feed an African ecosystem. Research Article: Bertilsson et al; Research Article: Subalusky et al.10:21 Deep sea lifeScientists have uncovered traces of life 750m below the ocean’s surface. Research article: Li et al.17:31 News ChatUpdates on the Coronavirus outbreak, and peer review in predatory journals. News: Coronavirus: latest news on spreading infection; News: Labs rush to study coronavirus in transgenic animals — some are in short supply Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.