Hacker News with Generative AI: Ancient Life

Fossils Preserve Both Skin and Scales from an Ancient Sea Monster (nytimes.com)
With serpentine necks, flippers and a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth, plesiosaurs have captured imaginations since paleontologists uncovered the first specimen more than two centuries ago. Their skeletal anatomy is well documented, but their external appearance has largely remained a mystery.
Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did (smithsonianmag.com)
When land plants were still the relatively new kids on the evolutionary block and the world’s tallest trees reached only a few feet in height, giant spires of life poked from the Earth.
Complex life forms existed 1.5B years earlier than believed, study finds (abcnews.go.com)
500M-Year-Old 'Alien Fish Taco' Was Among First Creatures with Jaws (scientificamerican.com)