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First Nation Shell Middens And True Oysters

One of the now rare species of oysters in the Pacific Northwest is the Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida...

Zenaspis: Lower Devonian Bony Fish Of Podolia, Ukraine

A Devonian bony fish mortality plate showing a lower shield of Zenaspis podolica (Lankester, 1869)...

Oil in Water Beauty: Euhoplites of Folkstone

Sheer beauty — a beautiful Euhoplites ammonite from Folkstone, UK. These lovelies have a pleasing...

Carnotaurus sastrei: Flesh Eating Bull

Carnotaurus sastrei, a genus of large theropod dinosaurs that roamed the southern tip of Argentina...

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Musings in Natural History—meant to captivate, educate and inspire.
Palaeontology & Life Sciences—History & Indigenous Culture

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Have you ever wondered about the colors you see in these moments? What sunlight actually is? Yes, it's light from the Sun but so much more than that. Sunlight is both light and energy. Once it reaches Earth, we call this energy, "insolation," a fancy term for solar radiation. The amount of energy the Sun gives off changes over time in a never ending cycle. Solar flares (hotter) and sunspots (cooler) on the Sun's surface impact the amount of radiation headed to Earth.
Take a gander at this unusual trilobite, Hypodicranotus striatulus (Walcott, 1875), with his gloriously bulbous head shield.
During the early Triassic period, ichthyosaurs evolved from a group of unidentified land reptiles that returned to the sea. They were particularly abundant in the later Triassic and early Jurassic periods before being replaced as premier aquatic predator by another marine reptilian group, the Plesiosauria, in the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.






These ammonites are from the Arnioceras beds near Last Creek, British Columbia. The fossils found here are from the Lower Jurassic, Lower Sinemurian, Little Paradise Member of the Last Creek formation. This site is part of the research area for Dr. Howard Tipper, GSC (who is hugely missed) and Dr. Louise Longridge, University of British Columbia. Several ammonites species can be found here including Arnioceras semicostatum&Arnioceras miserable.