# 70 million years ago, Earth had 372 days a year 2026-08-13T13:39:29+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Seventy million years ago, the Earth spun faster, making a year last 372 days and each day about 23 hours and 31 minutes, according to a study of a fossilised shell from Oman. Researchers used laser sampling on a rudist bivalve, Torreites sanchezi, from the Al-Hajar Mountains, to count daily growth rings with precision. Their work, published in Advancing Earth and Space Sciences, shows the mollusc lived over nine years on a tropical seabed. The analysis also revealed ocean temperatures were several degrees warmer than today, and the shell preserved evidence of a light-dependent relationship with photosynthetic symbionts, similar to giant clams. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: Cretaceous, earth rotation, fossil, moon distance, paleontology Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/70-million-years-ago-earth-had-372-days-a-year/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/70-million-years-ago-earth-had-372-days-a-year/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.