Palaeontology – Page 17 – DEPOSITS MAGAZINE

Europe Fossils Glaciers Museums & societies Palaeontology

New museum in northern Greece: The Siatista Historical Paleontological Collection, the first record of a stegodon in Europe and the making of the straight-tusked elephant

07/09/2017

Dick Mol (The Netherlands), Evangelia Tsoukala (Greece), Evangelos Vlachos (Greece), Anna Batsi (Greece), Hans Wildschut (The Netherlands), Dimitra Labretsa (Greece) and Wilrie van Logchem (The Netherlands) The Historical Palaeontological Collection of Siatista (HPCS), housed in a school building in Siatista, Kozani, Macedonia in Greece, was studied by the authors during … Read More

Dinosaurs Museums & societies North America Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

A new look for Utahraptor

05/09/2017

Kenneth Carpenter (USA) One hundred and twenty eight million years ago, a killer stalked eastern Utah. Known as Utahraptor, this distant relative of Velociraptor of Jurassic Park fame was also equipped with a sickle-claw on its hind feet. The name means “Utah’s raptor” with “raptor” being the informal name commonly … Read More

Asia Fossils Palaeontology

Fossil of hairy, squirrel-sized creature sheds light on evolution of earliest mammals

31/08/2017

Kevin Jiany (USA) It appears that a 165myr-old omnivore may have had an armadillo-like gait. A newly discovered fossil has revealed the evolutionary adaptations of a 165myr-old proto-mammal, providing evidence that traits such as hair and fur originated well before the rise of the first true mammals. University of Chicago … Read More

England Fossils Geology Palaeontology

The geology and fossil fauna of the South Ferriby foreshore

17/08/2017

John P Green (UK) The large working quarry at South Ferriby, North Lincolnshire (SE991204) is a well known and productive source of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils, exposing beds from the Upper Oxfordian stage, Upper Jurassic (Ampthill clay, Ringsteadia psuedocordata zone) to the Terebratulina lata zone of the Turonian stage … Read More

Africa & Middle East Fossils Museums & societies Palaeontology

West Coast Fossil Park, Western Cape, South Africa

15/08/2017

Margaret A Dale (UK) While planning a touring holiday, which encompassed part of the west coast of South Africa, I spotted the words “fossil park” on the map, about 150km north of Cape Town, some distance from a village called Langebaanweg. Intrigued to find out more, I searched the Internet … Read More

Africa & Middle East Dinosaurs History & biographies Palaeontology

First description of dinosaur fossils by Al-Andalusī in the twelfth century

10/08/2017

Dr Ahmed K Al-Rawi (The Netherlands) Western sources refer to a few scholars who were the pioneers in describing huge fossilised animals that are now known to be the remains of the long extinct dinosaurs. Around 1677, the British scholar, Robert Plot, was widely believed to have written the first … Read More

Europe Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Museums & societies Palaeontology

On fossil beaked whales, phosphorites and ocean floors

08/08/2017

Klaas Post (The Netherlands) In 2007, the vessel, Anita, was fishing with bottom gillnets in about 400m-deep waters northwest of the island of Mykines in the Faroe Islands (about 62˚05’N-09˚28’W). One day, fisherman Bjarni Jacobsen from the village of Sumba in the Faroe Islands, observed a strange object in the … Read More

Europe Fossils Geology Glaciers Palaeontology

Miocene, mud and more: Miste 2013

03/08/2017

Bram Langeveld (The Netherlands), Colin van Elderen (The Netherlands) and Stef Mermuys (The Netherlands) ‘Miste’… This word has an almost magical meaning for many fossil collectors in The Netherlands and neighbouring countries. That is because the extremely fossiliferous Miste Bed lies close to the surface around the municipality of Winterswijk-Miste, … Read More

Dinosaurs North America Palaeontology

A dinosaur track investigation

26/07/2017

Jack Shimon (USA) My “Fossil Grandpa” took me to visit this neat site when I was in Texas last summer (2013). We drove to a small rural community, where it seemed there wasn’t anything to find. However, my Grandpa pointed out me to a small trail, full of flowers that … Read More

Africa & Middle East Fossils Geology History & biographies Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

Encountering desert deposits in Oman

20/07/2017

Clarissa Wright (UK) Oman is a geologically fascinating country, where the bedrock beautifully exposes a one-billion-year history. I had the opportunity to explore this country in a group expedition, during which we pursued our own scientific studies from January to March 2014. My geological observations during the expedition were opportunistic … Read More

Carribbean Geology Glaciers Palaeontology Plate Tectonics

The geology of islands

06/07/2017

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) Islands are attractive places to visit, not just for geologists. Nonetheless, for us, they provide three advantages that favour collecting and research in the Earth Sciences. One of the attractions of an island is its small size in comparison with continents. The corollary of this … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology

Ghost shrimps: An abundant yet understudied fossil record

04/07/2017

Matúš Hyžný (Slovakia) and Adiël A Klompmaker (USA) The term “ghost shrimp” usually refers to decapod crustacean species from the family Callianassidae and Ctenochelidae, although sometimes the term is also used for other crustacean groups, such as caprelloid amphipods or, mostly in aquarium trading, for palaemonid shrimps. Here, we use … Read More

Dinosaurs Fossils Geology Minerals Minerals Museums & societies North America Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

Nebraska, USA: Wonderful fossils, natural history museums and public art

29/06/2017

Robert F Diffendal, Jr (USA) Nebraska is known by vertebrate palaeontologists as the place in North America where there is a very complete Cenozoic geologic record of mammalian evolution over the last thirty-five million years or so. All you have to do is visit any of the many major natural … Read More

Dinosaurs England Palaeontology

Histology of a sauropod rib bone from the Wessex Formation, Hanover point, Isle of Wight

20/06/2017

Megan Jacobs (Isle of Wight) In September 2015, I went to Compton Bay on the Isle of Wight to hunt for dinosaur bones. It was equinox tides all week, so an ideal time to get out on the furthest rocks of the Wessex formation, dating from the Barremian stage of … Read More

England Europe Fossils North America Palaeontology Scotland Urban, art & anthropology Wales

Twilight of the mammoths

15/06/2017

Zachary Sepulveda (USA) Perched upon a grassy hill ancient hunters prepare to make a kill… Blaring trumpets shatter the airTerrified voices echo despairHurtling towards their own demiseA chance at life, their fate denies. The blood of giants spills upon the grassBrought forth by razor-edged volcanic glassMarching closer to defeat with … Read More

England Fossils Geology Glaciers Palaeontology

Geology and landscape of Levisham and Newtondale, Yorkshire

13/06/2017

WAJ Rutter (UK) and HC Costigan (UK) This article is about the geology and geomorphology of the Levisham Bottoms and Newtondale area of Yorkshire. This is an interesting strip of virtually level land, which forms a shelf at about 150m above sea level, between Levisham Moor and the bottom of … Read More

Europe Fossils Palaeontology

An unusual association of a Recent oyster and a slipper limpet

01/06/2017

Stephen K Donovan (The Netherlands) My young son and I both have a taste for oysters, and have a favourite restaurant in which we like to eat them. It is in the Spui district of Amsterdam, which is also an area with a high density of bookshops. Therefore, there is … Read More

Dinosaurs History & biographies North America Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

An Ute arrow straightener made of Jurassic dinosaur bone

30/05/2017

Gavin Noller (USA) I am currently studying an arrow straightening tool left behind by the Ute Indians of the Northern Colorado Plateau long ago. The artefact is made of an unusual material – a Jurassic dinosaur bone. As I work with this object (which is more than 13 decades old), … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology

Trilobites: A short introduction

25/05/2017

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) Many people interested in palaeontology and collecting fossils have either found fragments of trilobites in the field or marvelled at fossil examples of these animals displayed in museums around the world. Although they are essential components of palaeontological collections, thereby acting as index fossils for the … Read More

Fossils Museums & societies North America Palaeontology

A Florissant fossil spider discovery

23/05/2017

Zachary J Sepulveda (USA) and Steven Wade Veatch (USA) The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is known worldwide for its late Eocene (34Ma) fossil plants and insects. Recently, a fossil spider was discovered at the commercial quarry, which is near the fossil beds (Fig. 1). Due to the condition of … Read More

Dinosaurs Fossils Glaciers Palaeontology Scotland

Dinosaurs footprints on the Isle of Skye

18/05/2017

Mark Wilkinson (UK) If you think of dinosaur hunting, you probably imagine trekking through a parched landscape, reaching the crest of a low hill and catching the first glimpse of a complete skeleton lying half exposed in the next depression. While this might just be true in some parts of … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology

The weird world of fossil worm cocoons

18/05/2017

Stephen McLoughlin, Benjamin Bomfleur and Thomas Mörs (Sweden) Fossil hunters occasionally chance upon small glossy red to amber-coloured, roughly circular objects on bedding planes, when they crack open shales that were deposited in ancient swamps and rivers. These curious fossils range from about a millimetre in diameter up to the … Read More

Europe Fossils Glaciers Palaeontology

Phenomenal fossil fern: Forgotten for 40 years

09/05/2017

Stephen McLoughlin (Sweden), Benjamin Bomfleur (Sweden) and Vivi Vajda (Sweden) On some occasions, it is the hard sweat and toil of palaeontologists labouring in the field at carefully planned excavation sites that yields the prize specimen on which careers are built. On other occasions, it is the chance discovery by … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology Wales

The graptolites of Abereiddy Bay

04/05/2017

Dr Neale Monks (UK) Graptolites are curious fossils that are common in Lower Palaeozoic rocks where other types of fossils are lacking. The word ‘graptolite’ comes from Greek words that mean ‘writing’ (graptos) and ‘stone’ (lithos), and refer to the fact that graptolite fossils look like pencil marks on stone, … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology

Interpreting ammonite fossils

02/05/2017

Neale Monks (UK) Ammonites are such popular and well-known fossils that suggesting they need interpreting may seem ridiculous. But for all their familiarity, there is still a good deal of debate over how they lived and what they did. If nothing else, ammonite experts all agree that they were ecologically … Read More

England Fossils Palaeontology

Fossil beetles of Bognor Regis, West Sussex

25/04/2017

David Bone (UK) Bognor Regis in West Sussex was wheret I spent my teenage years (a long time ago) and it is still a locality that I regularly visit and to where I also lead fossil hunting expeditions. Having said that, like many foreshore localities with no eroding cliffs, there … Read More

Dinosaurs England Palaeontology

Dinosaur quarries of Hastings

20/04/2017

Ken Brooks (UK) For over two hundred years, dinosaur bones and other fossils have been found along the beach to the east of Hastings, between Rock-a-Nore and Pett, but by far the most spectacular specimens were collected from local quarries in the nineteenth century. At this time, Hastings was expanding … Read More

England Fossils Geology History & biographies Palaeontology

Mary Anning: Jurassic dragons from Whitby

20/04/2017

Oscar Roch (Age 10, USA) This amazing article about the life of Mary Anning, was written by Oscar Roch who is just TEN years old, for a school project. It is his own work, with just books and guides to help obtain facts. After receiving the handwritten project in the post, … Read More

Fossils Minerals Minerals Palaeontology

Inclusions in precious and semi-precious gemstones

18/04/2017

Dr Robert Sturm (Austria) Gemstones are commonly regarded as natural wonders, and their infatuating beauty and rareness has fascinated us from time immemorial. Besides the obvious macroscopic appearance, many a gemstone is characterised by a ‘hidden’ microscopic inner life of breathtaking aesthetics. Among non-experts, such inclusions in precious and semi-precious … Read More

Fossils Palaeontology Urban, art & anthropology

The Nautilus and the Ammonite

13/04/2017

Ken Brooks (UK) This article was inspired by a poem in which an ammonite and a nautilus travel the world’s oceans for millions of years, until they are finally separated by extinction, and is based on a talk I gave on HDGS Members Day, on 18 July 2010. The nautilus … Read More