These fossils were found in a quarry in Solnhofen, Germany, which was once a series of shallow, tropical lagoons. The environmental conditions at Solnhofen resulted in remarkably preserved fossils of Late Jurassic plants, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, and bird species like these fossils on display in Dinosaurs in Their Time.
fossils
Fossilized Elatides
Conifers like this fossilized Elatides specimen were common during the Late Cretaceous period. This tree may have resembled the modern Norfolk Island Pine, which exists today and is pictured below.
Giant Scorpions in Pennsylvania
Can you imagine a giant scorpion living western Pennsylvania?
It seems pretty crazy, but there is evidence that about 350 million years ago colossal invertebrates lived near Pittsburgh!
At Carnegie Museum of Natural History, we have fossilized tracks of a eurypterid, or sea scorpion, that were found along the Clarion River in Elk County, Pennsylvania.
The fossilized trackway is the largest known in the world. It was discovered by former museum employee James Kosinski in 1948. In 1983, English paleontologists described and named the creature who created the large footprint Palmichnium kosinskiorum.
Paleontologists estimate that Palmichnium kosinskiorum was more than seven and a half feet long and may have been amphibious—a far cry from the insects and crayfish you find in our creek beds today!
Snails in the Staircase
Everyone in Pittsburgh knows that Carnegie Museum of Natural History is the place to see some amazing fossils. But did you know they’re not just in our famous paleontology and geology halls? If you look carefully at the walls of our Grand Staircase, there are fossils of small invertebrates visible in the walls!
In the photo below, Carnegie Geologist Albert Kollar pointed out a small snail fossil embedded in the stone.
Keep an eye out for them on your next visit!
Fossil Search: Expert Assistance
by Patrick McShea
The frog fossil expedition workforce doubled briefly with the arrival of a two-person team affiliated with Sierra College in Rocklin, California. Earth Science professor Richard Hilton and field assistant Tina Campbell drove east from the Sacramento area, crossing the Sierra Nevada and a large portion of the Great Basin to meet us for two days of field work. They then proceeded to another fossil locality in the region to retrieve material discovered during earlier summer field work.
The Sheep Pass Formation within the South Egan Wilderness was familiar territory for both. In 2012 and 2013 they participated in larger expeditions to the area that involved not just Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Sierra College, but also the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Because Hilton is chairmen of Sierra College’s natural history museum, our fireside conversations included the potential for using blog posts to broaden the audience for information about paleontological field work. Through the combination of his generosity, two-burner stove, and culinary skills, camp meals also improved.
Patrick McShea is a museum educator who is traveling through Nevada with Vertebrate Paleontology Collections Manager Amy Henrici to search for frog fossils. He frequently blogs about his experiences.
Shifting Formations
by Patrick McShea
From Elko, Nevada, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History frog fossil expedition shifted some 125 miles southeast to steep winding canyons within the South Egan Wilderness, a mountainous tract of more than 67,000 acres.
The move involved a change in the age of the rock outcrops we searched. Near Elko our efforts were confined to various associated rock layers, which geologists categorize as the Elko Formation, a thick and wide spread unit which formed some 46 – 39 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch. In the South Egan Wilderness, we explored the Sheep Pass Formation, a sequence of far older rocks which formed during the Late Cretaceous through middle Eocene Epochs some 70-46 million years ago.
Daily procedures were far different in the BLM-managed wilderness than on the outskirts of Nevada’s 15th largest city.
Instead of commuting to outcrops from a motel in Elko’s center, we hiked to rock exposures more than a mile from our simple camp site, proceeding up dry stream beds and ascending eight staircase-like water falls to reach the fossil-bearing units at elevations exceeding 6,700 feet. Evenings were cold, star-filled, and absolutely quiet but for the occasional howls and yips of coyotes.
Because a 2012 wildfire burned over 10,000 acres of sage brush, juniper, and pinyon pine, our camp area was a surreal landscape of charred trees.
Patrick McShea is a museum educator who is traveling through Nevada with Vertebrate Paleontology Collections Manager Amy Henrici to search for frog fossils. He frequently blogs about his experiences.