New discovery

RESEARCHERS have discovered a new fossilized galeaspid species with “nine tails” in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. This is the world’s first galeaspid fossil with a well-preserved tail.

According to the researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they named the new species as Foxaspis novemura because its caudal fin is comprised of nine ray-like scale-covered digitations, just like that of the Nine-Tailed Fox, a mythical animal from an ancient literature “Shan Hai Jing” (Classic of Mountains and Seas).

The fossil specimen completely preserves the caudal fin in both folded and flared states.

Rare cliff carving

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region have found 10 Buddhist statues dating back to the period from the late 8th century to early 9th century, according to the regional institute of cultural relics protection.

These Buddhist statues with typical characteristics of the Tibetan Tubo Kingdom (about 618-842) were found in three cliff carving sites in Markam County in Qamdo.

Trinley Tsering, a staffer with the institute, said that the cliff carving statues have their own unique elements, featuring rare subjects such as Sakyamuni Buddha and Manjusri Bodhisattva, the Buddha of Wisdom.