Fossils, geology and minerals. Highly acclaimed international earth science blog with over 850 articles and book reviews.
I reviewed Paul Taylor’s book, A History of Life in 1000 Fossils, a while ago and really enjoyed it and its format. And I should note that Paul is a long-time contributor to Deposits, in part due to his ability to write great English to explain palaeontology to amateurs and experts alike.
Last week, I published a book review of The Trilobite Collector’s Guide, by Andy Secher, in which I suggested that it was a great choice for a Christmas present for those who like geology. I think the same could be said for this (but it’s not all geology). Once again, it has a coffee table book feel, but once again, it is much, much more.
It’s that time of year again, with Christmas hurrying upon us, that our thoughts turn to presents for that fossil-loving friend, relative, and certainly the reader him or herself. And what better than a sumptuously illustrated coffee table book, with forwards by some high class palaeontologists, namely, the good and the great Richard Fortey and NHM aficionado, Melanie Hopkins? Well, this is it – look no further.
Deborah Painter (USA) It’s all about time, rocks and living things. When humans make attempts to record the distant past, there will be gaps in our knowledge. Historians and archaeologists have the luxury of the written word and of the preservation of culture in the form of fences and aqueducts, … Read More
Ru D A Smith (Malaysia) A fascinating aspect of palaeontology is the history of early descriptions and the process of assigning and revising the scientific names of fossils. A recently discovered nineteenth century ammonite specimen discussed here provides a vivid illustration of the sometimes tortuous process and can be connected … Read More
Neil D L Clark (UK) In about 1999, a single, fossilised footprint was discovered on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland (Fig. 1). It was known of before this, but kept secret in case it was vandalised. At that time, it was the first, and only … Read More
Niles Laurids Viby (Denmark) I have written a few articles for this magazine on specific formations here in Denmark. However, a lot of local fossil collecting is done simply by walking along the seashore. Some beaches are fronted by cliffs – and some of those are base rock, like the … Read More
P Formanoy and HJ Ahrens (The Netherlands) De Kuilen is a wet sandpit forming a lake and recreational area located near the small village of Langenboom, about 15 miles south of Nijmegen, in the eastern part of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant (Fig. 1). Among fossil collectors, the site is … Read More
Neale Monks (UK) The West Somerset coastline, between Blue Anchor and Lilstock, exposes an almost complete succession of strata from the latest Triassic well into the Early Jurassic (Fig. 1). Fossils are abundant throughout, mostly invertebrates such as ammonites, brachiopods and oysters, but also with vertebrate remains at certain horizons. … Read More
Michael D Johnson It has now been 63 years since a huge iron meteorite impacted the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of the former USSR. Imagine what it must have been like on that cold morning of 12 February 1947 – the tremendous smoke trail, the thunderous crash and the roaring sound it … Read More
Chris Retzlaff (USA) The Redhill Ridge area in Park County, Colorado is a hogback composed of Dakota Sandstone. This fine-grained, Cretaceous sediment – near the town of Fairplay – contains trace fossils (Figs. 1 and 2) that help palaeontologists understand what the environment was like there, more than 65 million … Read More
Dean Lomax (UK) Dr Dean Lomax is now well known from his books, television appearances and especially for his work on marine reptiles. However, before all this, he wrote this article for Issue 21 of Deposits. After returning from a long summer working in the USA at the Wyoming Dinosaur … Read More
In many ways, this updated guide is exactly what I want from a GA guide – extensive coverage, well written, and oodles of colourful photos and graphics. I liked and used the previous edition (GA No. 2), and it’s a shame that, for example, the Ordovician site of Stockdale Quarry has disappeared, but it – and no doubt other locations – has been replaced by, what I suspect, are just as good, if not better, sites.
Neale Monks (UK) Not many palaeontologists would go on a field trip to the Houses of Parliament in London, but if you do something similar in the state of Nebraska, you will be surprised to find a whole variety of prehistoric life, including dinosaurs (Fig. 1), ammonites and trilobites. The … Read More
