A missing link settles debate over the origin of frogs and salamanders

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An Early Permian landscape with Gerobatrachus hottoni lunging at the mayfly Protoreisma between stands of Calamites and under a fallen Walchia conifer. Credit: Michael Skrepnick
An Early Permian landscape, with Gerobatrachus hottoni lunging at the mayfly Protoreisma between stands of Calamites and under a fallen Walchia conifer. Credit: Michael Skrepnick

The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. The discovery was made by a research team led by scientists at the University of Calgary.


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All News summaries for May 21, 2008

American Workers Overwhelmingly Support Paid Sick Days, Labor Day Survey Finds

Aug 29, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- More than three-quarters of workers polled in a national survey released today view paid sick days as a basic right of employment that should be guaranteed by the government. The survey was conducted by the ...

How Temporary Help Agencies Impact the Labor Market

Aug 29, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Temporary help agencies place nearly 3 million Americans in jobs each day -- but the temp industry's very success may embolden some managers to view all workers as impermanent, jobs scholar Vicki Smith argues ...

Reckless Spending, Not Illness or Job Loss, Causes Most Bankruptcy

Aug 29, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Simple overspending has driven most personal bankruptcies in recent years, a change from previous decades when illness and unemployment were major factors, concludes a new study from the University of California, ...

Chemist Discovers the Elusive Chemical Middleman That Removes Acid Rain

Aug 29, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered the middleman in the complex chemical reaction that is essential to the atmosphere's ability to break down pollutants, especially the compounds that cause acid rain. The study ...

Breakthrough could help combat superbugs

Aug 29, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have worked out a key mechanism that protects bacteria against stress in a major discovery that could lead to new ways of killing superbugs like C. difficile and MRSA.