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% Fossils Provide Evolution Insight [~~light'one lie ancient leaf fell from a Hickev throws his ri*>k ami with modern leaves. I rnulH n.. im Mutu The ancient leaf fell from a shrub along the shoreline 110 to 120 million years ago sank into the mud, slowly dried and with the passage of time left its imprint in the rock as a fossil. Deeply buried, it probably would never have come to light had < it not been found at a construction ' site near Baltimore, Md., by the Smithsonian Institution's Dr. Leo Hickey. The small leaf, oddly shaped with disorganized vein patterns, came from a new group of seed plants that appeared on land about 130 million years ago. In doing so, they profoundly altered the course of life on Earth. "The development of flowering plants created a revolution that opened up vast new resources of food and ways of life for animals," Hickey says. "The ascendancy of the flowering plants may have paved the way for the replacement of the dinosaurs by mammals 50 million years later." Today, almost all the plants we see and eat are flowering plants. Yet their origins are still not clearly understood. Charles Darwin, the great evolutionist, called their emergence "an abominable mystery." Hickey, a paleobiologist at the National Museum of Natural History, is probing this mystery. He does not have to go far to find the clues for his study. The Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., are built virtually op top of the world's most accessible fossil deposit of these earliest flowering plants-the Potomac formation. One hundred and thirty million years ago, the Earth's land masses were combined into two supercontinents separated by a seaway along the equator. The earliest known flowering plants grew on either side of this seaway, gradually spreading from there. The Potomac formation was deposited on the coast of one of the northern continents as the Atlantic ocean opened up. It forms an outcrop^-a rock formation exposed at the surface of the ground-in a 15-mile-wide belt from Wilmington, Del., to-Richmond, Va. ' Sd, while colleagues pack gear for fossil-hunting expeditions to remote and exotic areas of the world. Hickey throws his pick and shovel into his car and drives out into Maryland or Virginia to a fossil locale like Dutch Gap, Va. "Dutch Gap is a marvelous place to collect," Hickey says. "The Onion Army cut a canal there during the Civil war to reach Richmond and exposed a rich bed of fossil plants. The heat and the Confederate snipers probably kept the Union soldiers from realizing they had stumbled on a treasure chest of fossil plants." Fruits and flowers of the earliest flowering plants are seldom found, Hickey explains. "Most of what we know about them comes from their leaf imprints in the mud or sand in which they were buried and from their pollen." Only the soft tissue of the leaves left fossil records-an imprint of the complex carbon compounds. When the mud or sand, under pressure, hardened into rode, the imprint of the leaf and dark film of carbon remained as a permanent fossil record. It is for these fossils that Hickey searches as he chops rock out of the Potomac formation outcrop. Back at the museum, Hickey photographs the leaf imprint under a microscope. High-contrast photographs often show fine detail better than the fossil imprint itself. When Hickey began analyzing thousands of Potomac formation fossil leaves in the Smithsonian's collection, "there was no accurate system to tell one early leaf from another," he says. "People just made superficial comparisons of ancient leaves with modern ones and guessed about the identities of the leaves." "Paleontologists in the 19th century tried to identify plants from their leaves, but they did a poor job, making w i l d l y i n c o r r e c t identifications," he says. ' ' T h e r e s u l t i n g misidentifications retarded the study of flowering plant evolution for 80 years." Despite these earlier failures, Hickey believed that a systematic approach to fossil leaves could succeed. One of the things that encouraged me," he says, "was that drug companies had developed methods to recognize certain species of contemporary plants from the vein patterns of small leaf fragments. It seemed to me that, if the drug companies could do it Candle with modern leaves, I could do it with fossil leaves." And succeed he did. Hickey has developed a classification system that, for the first time, makes it possible to decipher the history and development of the earliest flowering plants. The system is based on his discovery that each species has a slightly different vein pattern-a sort of fingerprint of the leafs identity. What his system reveals about the earliest history of flowering plants can be seen in a new exhibit hall in the Museum of Natural History, "The Conquest of Land," which traces the emergence and spread of land plants and animals. Specimens of many of the earliest Potomac formation plants in the lineage developed by Hickey are on view. Also displayed are fossils from the Dakota formation, which extends from Montana and Colorado to Minnesota and Kansas and contains a rich assortment of plant remains. Some became extinct while others survived by evolving into new forms that were the forerunners of modern plants. All of the earliest plants had irregular vein patterns-a characteristic that Hickey believes reflects a less sophisticated growth mechanism. By about 100 million years ago, the leaves found in the Potomac formation had developed more regular vein patterns, an advance that reinforced the leaf against the stresses of wind and rain and protected it from tearing. Fossil leaves found from this period by Hickey are better preserved because they were stronger and better able to withstand the stresses of decay and t r a n s p o r t b e f o r e fossiliiation. New and more complex leaf shapes were also evolving, including heart and umbrella-shaped leaves with the stem point of attachment located well within the leaf margin and compound leaves with leaflets on each side of a central axis. The latter gave rise to a very diverse group of modern flowering plants, including roses, peas, grapes and maples. These stronger, larger and more complex leaves were among the advances which allowed flowering plants to grow to the size of large trees and to displace the m o r e 1 p r i m i t i v e gymnosperm vegetation that had dominated the Earth for almost 200 million years. The flowering revolution had begun. 1 Fall Arts Festival In Crystal Lake Oct. 16-19 Ai^fistic adventures in canvas, glass and wood await visitors to the seventh annual Fall Arts Festival to be presented by American Society of Artists, a national membership organization, at Crystal-Point Mall, Route 14 and Main Street, Crystal Lake, Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. DIRECTORS MEETING The Family Service and Community Mental Health center for McHenry County will hold its regular Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. in the McHenry,office, 3409 W. Waukegan road, McHenry. Public is invited to attend. Among the exhibitors will be William Pribble, Crystal Lake, exhibiting oil pain­ tings; Thomas V. Trausch, Woodstock, watercolor paintings and Betty Od- mark, McHenry, papier mache sculpture. Additonal information may be obtained from American Society of Artists at 312-751-2500. A Prayer for Getting Started When the Christopher message touches someone, things really begin to hap­ pen. For instance, John Roth, a teacher from Sterling Heights, Mich., found a way io bring in­ ternational relations down to the personal levei tor his high school students. He wrote to us explaining why he and one of his students went to Belize, British Honduras last summer: "I felt hypocritical in only talking about the world's problems and not actually doing anything about them. I realized, through the help of the Christophers, that a better world begins with me." In his international relations course he highlighted the problem of world hunger. To make it more real he focused on Belize. After lengthy discussion, a few students suggested they form a club to deal with some of the problems that had been examined. Goals were established, and a fund- raising project was laun­ ched. The students raised more than $1,000, and then decided that the best way to spend the money was to buy two five-horsepower roto-i illers for farmers in Belize. As it turned out, Roth was to be on hand when the machines were delivered. A teacher like John Roth educates his students by challenging them to bring abstract ideas down to the level of concrete action in behalf of real live human beings. It starts with the recognition of individual responsibility for over­ coming the evils that beset the world. And that's the Christopher message: each one of us is called, with the help of God, io make this a better woftd. Each one has a job to do that no one else can do. Each one of us is unique. Putting your particular gifts and talents to work isn't done by tilting with ab­ stractions. It's done by setting some concrete goals and going to work. The prayer of The Christophers might help you to get star­ ed. "Lord, make me an in­ strument of Your peace Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sad ness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. • • • * Life is a succession of ups and downs, regard­ less of personal wealth and position. • • * • The merchants are al­ ready licking their chops over prospective Christ­ mas dollars. IWtiE9 • PLA1NDEALEU - FRIDAY. Ol lOBER to. l'.»H<) BUDDY'S WORKSHOP Qlvlng The Fireplace A New Look Caa a discolored brick fireplace be given a renewed look to add to the decorating scheme? Brick fireplaces can be given a new look with a coat of paint. The fireplace's size can be minimized by painting it the pre­ dominant color of the room or it can be made to stand out by choosing a contrasting color, say specialists with the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service. Surface preparation prior to painting is extremely important. Remove loose ashes and soot and use a wire brush to scrape away dirt and loose particles. If a white, salt-like material is present, wipe with a diluted acid solution. Remove smoke film and gtease by applying deter­ gent or soap suds with a scrub brush. Be sure tiie surface is completely dry before paint inj?. If the brick has never been painted, coat first with a masonry primer and let dry. Applying a f i l ler to rough edges will create a smooth painting surface. Then apply a quality interior latex paint for best results. I received a set of wooden bowls as a gift. The wood does not haven finished look. Can I use them as ihry are or do they need to be treated before using? Wooden bowls and accessories such as spoons, ladles, forks, etc., should be treated to preserve the wood. Apply a generous coat of mineral oil to the bowls, inside and out, and allow to penetrate the wood overnight. A Wipe off excess oil and repeat the same procedure several times. Mineral oil has no taste or odor and will season the new wood. t//(i//~ Yo/ea 2QU <c^outi 120 344-3979 HOME PICK UP AND DELIVERY SERVICE ON ALL WINTER COATS 25% OFF ON ALL DRAPERY ORDERS Landscape Discounts Brand Landscaping Company Due to construction shortage, we have a huge sur­ plus of material to be sold at cost. Material only or full landscaping service, landscape timbers, railroad ties, sod, shrubbery, trees, seed and more HURRY, This won't last long Days 312-634-4620 Evenings 314444-1960 Exhibit Of Newspapers In America Opens At Museum " N e w s p a p e r s i n America", a new permanent exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science &nd Industry on the history and role of newspapers, opened to the public Oct. 1. The exhibit is presented by the Robert R. McCormick Charitable Trust. Mc­ Cormick was editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper for 42 years. The exhibit focuses on all aspects of the dynamic world of newspaper publishing. The activities involved in that world, from the development of newspaper content to the transformation of that in­ formation into print, are explored in the exhibit. The minute-by-minute development of a news story, from the reporter's notebook through the production process, is shown in an illuminating graphic timetable. A detailed chart follows the rich history of the newspaper, from the development of print journalism in Europe, through colonial America, and into the present, with projections of the directions newspapers will take in the future. Some of America's most famous front pages are featured in a dramatic overhead display in the main gallery. A computerized microfilm system allows visitors to call up top stories, year by year, since the turn of the century. The "Newspapers in America" exhibit allows its audience to participate actively in the journalistic process. In a theater setting, each visitor may assume the roles of editor and reporter, making decisions as to what story to headline on page one, how to lay out a photo spread, and how to approach a difficult, sensitive in­ vestigative story. Another feature of the exhibit involving direct audience involvement permits visitors to question, famous personalities, representing a variety of professional fields, about newspapers, their strengths, and their impact on con­ temporary life. The museum is located at 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays. Admission and parking are free. M o r e C o m f o r t w i t h L e s s E n e r g y LENNOX Save Energy - Save Money Replace your old questionable furnace with a new gas Lennox Conservator II forced air system. Electronic ignition, Heatsaver™vent damper, quality construction gives you more comfort for less. (ZanlTOwu% HEATING AND COOLING 35111 MIGHT RD. A Certified LENNOX Dsslsr ||| 5^459.2300 SINCE 1S31 We're No. 1! 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Ind. extra blade for wood, rubber, wallboard. 109819 QUANTITIES LIMITED I •Nylon Shell with Poly Fill | •Mony Colors •Sues 7 thru 16 SAVE $10.00 $ 1 ^ 8 8 ! $24.00 | £§ ; f t < SWEATERS SAVE $18 00 NOW 10 88 3909 W. MAIN McHENRY MC HENRY LUMBER 4G3© WEST MAIM SI wenerev.iiurtotf 385-4600 '/on r r i J 9 30 9 00 ] Sot 9 00 5 00 Sun Joon S (JO HOURS: Mon. Fri. 7 30 »o 5 00 Saturday / 30 •<> 4 00 NEW SUNDAY HOURS 9 00 to 1 00 .SlwMS. CRYSTAL LAKE 366 VIRGINIA ST. (815)455-6240 0'i North ,e t H /y., Rte. 14 at McHenry Ave. ne*t to Armanettk Al- .o at 4U L. Palat i - te Road Palatne 312 991 7450 I CD