ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News

Free fingers have many obvious advantages on land, such as in locomotion and grasping, while webbed fingers are typical of aquatic or gliding animals. But both amphibians and amniotes -- which include mammals, reptiles, and birds -- can have webbed digits. Scientists now show that during embryo development, some animal species detect the presence of atmospheric oxygen, which triggers removal of interdigital webbing.

Fossils of a giant new species from the long-extinct group of sea creatures called trilobites have been found on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.