Lilith
11-08-2005, 04:56 PM
(gg)
LUCKNOW, India - This was no one-night stand.
Scientists in India say they have discovered two
fossils fused together in sexual union for 65 million
years.
The findings were published in the October edition of
the Indian journal "Current Science," which said it
was the first time that sexual copulation had been
discovered in a fossil state, according to the Press
Trust of India news agency.
But voyeurs will need a microscope to view the eternal
lovers.
The fossils are tiny swarm cells, a stage in the
development of the fungus myxomycetes, also known as
slime molds.
The cells reproduce by "fusing," Ranjeet Kar of the
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow
reportedly told PTI. Once the cells fuse, long,
threadlike appendages known as flagella, are lost, he
said.
Finding the fossils in a fused position and with their
flagella shed, is evidence that the two cells were
having sex, Kar said.
"The sexual organs being delicate and the time of
conjugation short lived, it is indeed rare to get this
stage in the fossil state," the study said.
The cells were discovered in a 30-foot deep dry well
in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
LUCKNOW, India - This was no one-night stand.
Scientists in India say they have discovered two
fossils fused together in sexual union for 65 million
years.
The findings were published in the October edition of
the Indian journal "Current Science," which said it
was the first time that sexual copulation had been
discovered in a fossil state, according to the Press
Trust of India news agency.
But voyeurs will need a microscope to view the eternal
lovers.
The fossils are tiny swarm cells, a stage in the
development of the fungus myxomycetes, also known as
slime molds.
The cells reproduce by "fusing," Ranjeet Kar of the
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow
reportedly told PTI. Once the cells fuse, long,
threadlike appendages known as flagella, are lost, he
said.
Finding the fossils in a fused position and with their
flagella shed, is evidence that the two cells were
having sex, Kar said.
"The sexual organs being delicate and the time of
conjugation short lived, it is indeed rare to get this
stage in the fossil state," the study said.
The cells were discovered in a 30-foot deep dry well
in the state of Madhya Pradesh.