Cute Animals ♥

Agatized Cerithium (Eocene) - Assa, Morocco

Palaeovespa florissantia This exceptionally preserved 34 million year old wasp was found and identified in what is today Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado. This species is a member of the same family of life that today also contains hornets and yellow jackets. The incredible preservation of this insect is one example of the fossils found in Eocene aged lake sediments in this part of Colorado (https://tmblr.co/Zyv2Js296djPx). The area was heavily picked over for fossils prior to establishment of the National Monument and there were even attempts to establish housing developments on the site before it received protection. Today this insect is pictured in the logo of this monument and shots of it can be found around the parking lots at the site. -JBB Image credit: NPS http://bit.ly/2nYZwga References: https://www.revolvy.com/page/Vespinae http://bit.ly/2N9jn7k

Apparently, Luzia’s section of the museum is ruined.

She was a fossil known as “the first brazilian”, because hers were the oldest homo sapiens remains found in brazilian soil. Her skull was discovered in Minas Gerais in the 70′s and anyone who visited the national museum from the 80′s until now has seen her face.

Descanse em paz, mais uma vez, Luzia.

“Love Is” In Small Things

smithsoniannmnh When calcium leached out from this scallop some 40 million years ago, it formed a halo that solidified the sediment around it. Unearthed in Washington state, the specimen now resides in our research collections. Happy #FossilFridayfrom our Department of Paleobiology and @SIxDIGI, who are well on their way to digitizing #1MillionFossils!

Want her waist

Glacial Striations and Stromatolites and Geology, oh my!

This photo is a two-fer: two awesome geology features in one! On the surface of this rock you will notice faint lines that stretch from the lower left hand corner of the image to the upper right hand corner. These lines are called glacial striations and they form as a glacier scratches the rock surface as it moves. 

The rock surface that was scratched by the moving glacier represents an entirely different time, waaay before the glaciers, when stromatolites dotted the shoreline of an ancient water body that covered Montana. The circles that you see in the rock are the tops of stromatolites, formed by ancient cyanobacteria. 

A great place to see stromatolites and striations is on the Grinnell Glacier Trail. For your best chance of seeing these features free of snow, try hiking the trail in late July or August. NPS Photo

[Image Description: Lines and circles etched into a rock surface.]

LEGO Nautilus, Ammonite, and Trilobites

Created by Tim Goddard

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfejEiCHRrt/