Heteroptera True Bug Fossil

This image is of a Heteroptera  (Latreille, 1810) leaf bug fossil. The insect existed in the early Cretaceous Period. Fossil was discovered in Liaoning, China. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Heteroptera Leaf Bug Fossil

This image is of a Heteroptera  (Latreille, 1810) true bug fossil. The insect existed in the early Cretaceous Period. Fossil was discovered in Liaoning, China. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Ephemeropsis trisetalis Mayfly Larva Fossil

This image is of an Ephemeropsis trisetalis (Eichwald, 1864) mayfly larva fossil. The animal existed in the early Cretaceous Period. Fossil was discovered in Liaoning, China. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Louisville Soccer and Living Fossils

 

On Saturday, November 20, 2021 Louisville Kentucky USA hosted the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) championship game which turned out into a competitive match between Chicago Red Stars and the Washington Spirit. The Washington Spirit team ending up winning 2-1 and the above picture shows their award ceremony. 

10,360 showed up for the game and as a result I went to the game several hours early and stayed about 90 minutes after it ended because of traffic. In this extra time, I explored around the stadium and found that the trees planted around the perimeter were Ginkgo biloba (Linnaeus, 1771). According to Wikipedia, while the species was named by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chinese herbalists named it in literature as early as 1329. The fossil record shows leaves from the Permian Period (about 290 million years ago). I have posted about this fossil before back in 2010 (LINK).

Most of the leaves seen on Saturday were yellow from the autumn temperatures though a few still showed some green. The plant has a distinctive fan like shape.

I am curious as to why this tree was chosen for the landscaping the complex. As it turns out, I help the landscape architect from time to time with IT issues. Next time, I encounter him I plan to ask about this. If you get a chance, I encourage you to attend a Racing Louisville or Louisville City soccer game at Lynn Family stadium and check these trees out for yourself and the beautiful venue.

Sinodelphys szalayi Mammal Fossil

This picture is of a Sinodelphys szalayi (Luo, Ji, Wible & Yuan, 2003) mammal fossil. It was found in Liaoning China. The fossil dates to Lower Cretaceous Period (Barremien - 125 million years ago).  Fossil  displayed at Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France.  Image taken August 2016.

Learn more at their website: https://www.mnhn.fr/en/visit/lieux/galerie-paleontologie-anatomie-comparee-paleontology-and-comparative-anatomy-gallery

Eomaia scansoria Mammal Fossil

Cast of Eomaia scansoria extinct mammal fossil displayed at Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France. It dates to the Lower Cretaceous Period (Barremian Age). The fossil was found in Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Image taken August 2016.

Learn more at their website: https://www.mnhn.fr/en/visit/lieux/galerie-paleontologie-anatomie-comparee-paleontology-and-comparative-anatomy-gallery

More information about the creature can be found on Wikipedia at this link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eomaia

Chinese Dinosaur Egg Fossils

These pictures show dinosaur fossil eggs and a cast of one. These fossils were found in China.

Fossils were on display at Children's Museum of Indianapolis Dinosphere exhibit as of July 2015.

The museum was founded in 1925 and consists of an approximate 44,000 square meter facility on a 29 acre area site. Their natural science collection contains more than 10,000 items. Some of the items in the collection are the dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia, fossil of teenage T.rex, Christensen Mastodon, 3.5-4 billion year old Acasta Gneiss, and the Geisler geological collection. Learn more at this link.

Beipiao Sturgeon Fish Fossil

I saw an interesting fish fossil for sale at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park gift shop in October 2014.

The label said, "The Beipiao sturgeon was discovered in the area of west Liaoning Province of China. It was formed in land facies layer of the Late Jurassic Period. It was about 130,000,000 years ago."

If I recall correctly, the length was over 20 cm and the price was $250.

Ephemeropsis trisetalis Chinese Insect Fossil

This insect larva fossil is called Ephemeropsis trisetalis. It dates to the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous Periods and was found in the Yixian Formation. The fossil was found in Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China.

This fossil was part of the Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and Science in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were photographed in August 2013. The dinosaur exhibit was created by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto Canada.

The exhibit was supported by Associate Exhibit Sponsor Frisch's restaurant and Promotional Partners Cincinnati Reds baseball, newspaper The Enquirer and TV channel Local 12 WKRO Cincinnati.

Cipangopaludina Snail

Cipangopaludiana japonica? snail found in the Potomac River outside of Washington, D.C. It is not a native species of the United States but found its way here from Asia. I have posted about this snail before but those were found in the White River of Indianapolis, Indiana. See that entry from November 15, 2010. The specimen was cleaned up and I posted it on April 2, 2011, see post here.

I wonder if this snail is edible. There is a show on Korean television (KBS) called Screening Humanity. They profile different households around Korea every week. One older couple who lived in the countryside was shown preparing marsh snail soup. It looks like the snails are soaked in clean water and then boiled later. A needle is then used to extract the snail out of the shell. I am not sure what is next in the recipe as they did not show that part on the show.

The two specimens shown in this posting have been cleaned.

Thanks to Kenny for specimens.

Smaller specimen shown.

Chinese Foraminifera Carboniferous Fossils

Here is a sample image of an Endothyra sp. foraminifera fossil from the Early Carboniferous of Guangxi region of southern China. It was found in the Shizexu Formation..  Specimen collected in the 1980s by Dr. James Conkin.

He has published an image similar to this one along with 32 other fossil images in a new paper entitled Louisville Studies in Paleontology and Stratigraphy No. 22, Reconnaissance Studies of Paleozoic Agglutinate Smaller Foraminifera from China Part 1 the Early Middle Devonian and Early Carboniferous of Guangxi Peoples Republic of China by James E. Conkin, Barbara M. Conkin, and Michael A. Popp.

It can be ordered from P.O. Box 7434, Louisville, KY 40207-0434 or e-mail louisvillefossils@gmail.com.

Keichiosaurus youngi Marine Reptile

Keichiosaurus youngi primitive marine reptile fossil found in Guizhou Province in China. This creature swam during the Lower Triassic. The first fossil of this genus was discovered in 1957. Learn more at Wikipedia.

Keichousaurus hui drawn by Nobu Tamura (2007)
Found on Wikipedia
See more of Nobu Tamura's work at paleoexhibit.blogspot.com

Scale in the next picture is in inches.

Thanks to Mark Palatas for letting me photograph this specimen.

Protoceratops andrewsi

The horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) Protoceratops andrewsi displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This small herbivore grazed in what is now Mongolia, China in the Cretaceous Period (Mesozoic Era). This fossil was found in 1925 at the Djadokhta Formation in Bayn Dzak, Mongolia.  Dinosaur remains are accession number CM 9185.

Learn more at the museum web site: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Charophyte Fossil - Tibet

In my continuing adventure of trying to photograph charophyte (small green aquatic plant) fossils, here is the latest picture. This fossil is quite large compared to the others and is from Tibet, China.  All the container is labeled is Tibet so I have no other information to provide. 

Thanks to Dr. James Conkin of Louisville, Kentucky for letting me photograph it.

He and his wife have published a booklet about some of their charophyte research.  It is entitled Orientation of North American Paleozoic Primitive Charophyte Gyrogonites - Updated (2010).

I believe it is $12 US with shipping included.  Contact the publishers to purchase a copy.

Hycliffe Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 7434
Louisville, KY 40207-0434
TELEPHONE: (502) 895-4658

E-mail me at louisvillefossils@gmail.com if you need help getting in contact with them

Chinese Bone Lip Sucker Fish Fossil

Here is another bone lip sucker fish fossil from the Eocene Period from Jianghan City in Hubei, China. Took picture of one for sale at the Fossil Festival at the Falls of the Ohio State Park located in Clarksville, Indiana.

Bone Lip Sucker Fish Fossil

Here is another fossil I saw for sale at the Fossil Festival held at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana.

The box was labeled Bone Lip Sucker Fish from the Eocene (50 million years ago). It came from Jianghan City in Hubei, China.