Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the order Xiphosura — a slowly evolving, conservative taxa.Much like (slow) Water Striders (Aquarius remigis), (relatively sluggish) Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and (the current winner on really slow evolution) Elephant Sharks (Callorhinchus milii), these fellows have a long history in the fossil record with very few anatomical ..read more

This inky beauty is Prolyelliceras ulrichi (Knechtel, 1947) a fast-moving nektonic carnivorous ammonite from Cretaceous lithified, black, carbonaceous limestone outcrops in the Pongo de Manseriche gorge in northwest Peru. If you look closely, you can see that this specimen shows a pathology, a slight deviation to the side of the siphonal of the ammonite. We see Prolyelliceras from the Albian ..read more

Misty shores, moss covered forests, a rich cultural history, dappled light, fossils and the smell of salt air—these are my memories of Haida Gwaii.The archipelago of Haida Gwaii lays at the western edge of the continental shelf due west of the central coast of British Columbia. They form part of Wrangellia, an exotic tectonostratigraphic terrane that includes Vancouver Island, parts western ..read more

Deep inside the largest and deepest gold mine in North America scientists are looking for dark matter particles and neutrinos instead of precious metals. It may not seem exciting on the surface — but it was far below! The Homestake Gold Mine in Lawrence County, South Dakota was a going concern from about 1876 to 2001. The mine produced more than forty million troy ounces of gold in its one ..read more

The chunky ammonite Proeuhoplites subtuberculatus, bed II (iv), Folkstone Gault Clay, county of Kent, southeast England. This matrix you see here is the Gault Clay, known locally as the Blue Slipper. This fine muddy clay was deposited 105-110 million years ago during the Lower Cretaceous (Upper and Middle Albian) in a calm, fairly deep-water continental shelf that covered what is now southern ..read more

This lovely oil in water coloured ammonite is the beauty Beudanticeras sp. from the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Aptian), Krasnodar region, Northern Caucasus, southern Russia. This area of the world has beautiful fossil specimens with their distinct colouring. The geology and paleontological history of the region are fascinating as is its more recent history. The territory of present ..read more

Turtle shells are different from the body armour or armoured shells we see adorning dinosaurs like the ankylosaurs. Ankylosaurs were blessed with huge plates of bone embedded into their skin that acted as a natural shield against predators. Crocodilians have these same bony plates, or osteoderms, embedded in their skin to give them extra protection. We find similar body armour on ..read more

Stemec suntokum, Sooke FormationThe diving bird you see here is Stemec suntokum, a Fossil Plopterid from Sooke, British Columbia, Canada.We all dream of finding new species, and new fossil species in particular. This happens more than you think. As impossible as it sounds, it has happened numerous times at many fossils sites in British Columbia including Sooke on Vancouver Island.The upper ..read more

This specimen of Phylloceras velledae (Michelin) has a shell with a small umbilicus, arched, acute venter, and at some growth stage, falcoid ribs that spring in pairs from umbilical tubercles, disappearing on the outer whorls. This specimen has been polished to show the sutures to great effect. These ammonites are common in rock shops and plentiful on the internet. These ammonites make a ..read more

This lovely with her colourful body is an octopus. Like ninety-seven percent of the world's animals, she lacks a backbone. To support their bodies, these spineless animals — invertebrates — have skeletons made of protein fibres. This flexibility can be a real advantage when slipping into nooks and crannies for protection and making a home in seemingly impossible places.On the east side ..read more