Friday, June 30, 2017

Camptonectes Bivalve Fossil


This picture is of a Camptonectes cf. Calvus bivalve fossil. It was found in the Blue Lias of Pinhay Bay, Lyme Regis England. The fossils date back to the Lower Jurassic Period.

Specimen displayed at the Lyme Regis Museum in England as of August 2016.

Learn more at www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk

See it on this site as well: http://jurassiccoast.org/fossilfinder/1192-camptonectes/

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Echinoceras Ammonite Fossil


This picture is of an Echinoceras aenum ammonite fossil. It is from the Watch Ammonite Stone Lyme Regis England. The fossils date back to the Jurassic Period.

Specimen displayed at the Lyme Regis Museum in England as of August 2016.

Learn more at www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

The Trouble With Trilobites Video


PBS Digital Studios has helped produce a new web series about Earth science called Eons. Their first episode is about trilobites (not tribbles and science fiction). The video on YouTube last about 7 minutes.
If the embedded link does work below, here is a direct YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aji2VnQFUCs

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

PaleoFauna Coloring Book - Kickstarter Project



I believe in supporting new ideas and products using Kickstarter. So far I have supported 3 technology projects and like to visit the site to see what new projects are being launched.

I came across the Coloring Book of PaleoFauna by Diane Ramic of Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. This looks like a neat idea and ambitious with 200 pages. The author has already 5 books published including one on dinosaurs.

If you get a chance check out this campaign and support if you want a neat coloring book of creatures that only exist as fossils now. The campaign ends on August 6, 2017.

LINK: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1036907625/the-coloring-book-of-paleofauna/description


Sunday, June 4, 2017

Gertie the Dinosaur Videos


I came across of video on YouTube of what is called the first animation featuring a dinosaur. It is a short animation from 1914 by Winsor McCay. Gertie was based off an Apatosaurus dinosaur fossil skeleton (known at the time as Brontosaurus). There is also a mammoth for comic effect later in the film. An odd appearance of a winged dragon flying across the screen shows up as well. This Wikipedia article about this film explains that the animator was not sure of the mechanics of the dinosaur standing up was so the flying lizard was added to draw the viewer's attention away during this event.

The film introduced a number of animation techniques like keyframing, tracing paper, registration marks and looping frames to show movement. The film is part of the U.S. National Film Registry. The film below is just the excerpt of the animation from the 1914 original, it lasts about 5 minutes.




This next video shows one of Winsor McCay's last animations showing how Gertie evolved in animation terms from 1921. It was from a never finished short entitled "Gertie on Tour".


Below is a embedded video link to the full movie short from 1914 that is about 14 minutes long. It features a side story about visiting the American Museum of Natural History and a bet to make one of the dinosaurs move.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Gennaeocrinus Crinoid Calyx Fossil



Here is a picture of a rare crinoid calyx fossil embedded in matrix. It appears to be a Gennaeocrinus kentuckiensis (Shumard, 1866). The specimen was found in the Beechwood Limestone of Clark County, Indiana, USA. This fossil dates to the Middle Devonian Period (Givetian).

Genus was named by Wachsmuth and Springer in 1881.

Thanks to Kenny for showing me the fossil.