Diplodocus longus Dinosaur Skull Fossil

Diplodocus longus dinosaur skull fossil ("double beam") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1903 at Bone Cabin Quarry Wyoming USA by K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Jurassic Period (140 million years ago, Mesozoic Era).

Image taken July 2018.

Pinna lanceolata Bivalve Fossil

This image is identified as Pinna lanceolata (J. Sowerby) bivalve fossil. They were found in the Corallian Beds Lower Calcareous Grit Scarborough Yorks England. The fossil dates to the Mesozoic Era, Jurassic Period, Upper/Late Oxfordian stage.

Fossils were on display at the British Natural History Museum in London, England on August 2016.

Paracidaris florigemma Spine Fossils

This image of two echinoid spines identified as Paracidaris florigemma (Phillips). They were found in the Corallian Beds Coral Rag Calne Wilts. England. The fossils date to the Mesozoic Era, Jurassic Period, Upper/Late Oxfordian stage.

Fossils were on display at the British Natural History Museum in London, England on August 2016.

Turrilites Ammonite

The Turrilites sp. ammonite fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011). The creature swam the Western Interior seas of the Upper Cretaceous (Mesozoic Era).  Its Carnegie museum accession number is CM 7635.

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Scaphites nodosus Ammonite

The Scaphites nodosus ammonite fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011). The creature swam the Western Interior seas of the Upper Cretaceous (Mesozoic Era).  Its Carnegie museum accession number is CM 29891.

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Acanthoscaphites nodosus Ammonite

The Acanthoscaphites nodosus ammonite fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011). The creature swam the Western Interior seas of the Upper Cretaceous (Mesozoic Era).  Its Carnegie museum accession number is CM 40625.

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Tyrannosaurus rex "Tyrant Lizard King"

Hail to the king baby! Once thought to be the largest land walking carnivore to ever exist on the planet, this creature could weigh up to 6400 kg and stretch almost 13 meters. Jaws lined with over 50 serrated teeth, this animal became one lean, mean, herbivore crunching machine roaming what is now southwest Canada and western United States. They lived about 68 to 66 million years ago (Cretaceous Period, Mesozoic Era).

This fossil cast is of the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at the Museum of the Rockies (MOR 980). The cast (CM 81336; acq. 2007) is on display next to the T.rex holotype (partially seen in bottom photo to the left) at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit. The original fossil (aka "Peck's Rex") was discovered by J. Keith Rigby, Jr. at the University of Notre Dame in 1997. 

Pemphix sueri Arthropod Fossil

 
This arthropod fossil has been identified as a Pemphix sueri.  This animal lived in the Middle Triassic seas and living life similar to today's lobsters. This creature still has crustacean relatives alive today in the Pacific Ocean.

Fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011) and has the accession numbers is CM 2526 and CM 2537.

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Lariosaurus Nothosaur

This nothosaur fossil has been identified as a Lariosaurus sp.  This animal swam in the Middle Triassic seas hunting for fish and other small sea creatures. They hunted similar to seals of today. The Lariosaurus died out in the Triassic (Mesozoic Era) but may be related to the plesiosaur marine reptiles that came later.


Fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011) and has the accession number is CM 8946.

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex Jaw

This is a cast of juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex jaws/teeth found in Montana in 1966. Studies have shown that it was less than 3 years old when it died.  The skull shape differs from a mature animal and was once thought to be a different species. These fossils were on display at the Carnegie Museum for Natural History in 2011.

Here is the mature skull shown in an exhibit at the museum.  Discovered at Hell Creek, Montana and given the accession number CM 9380. This carnivore prowled the plains of the western United States and southwestern Canada in the Late Cretaceous Period (68-66 million years ago), Mesozoic Era.

This skull contains the actual fossils that are part of the holotype for the T. rex. The holotype was discovered by Barnum Brown in 1902.  Those remains were used to create a intact skeleton for the American Museum of Natural History in New York city.  The Carnegie Museum acquired this skeleton in 1941. In 2003, the museum dismantled the skeleton for analysis and cleaning.  The work was finished in 2008 and the dinosaur was presented in its new pose. Read about the process at the PaleoLab section of their web site: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibitions/paleolab/rex.html

See this site at the museum web site for media images of the skull including shots from inside the skull: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/press/08-apr-jun/051208rex-images.htm

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/

Emperoceras Ammonite

The Emperoceras sp. ammonite fossil displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (July 2011).  The creature existed in the Western Interior seas of the Upper Cretaceous (Mesozoic Era).

Visit the Carnegie museum web site:  http://www.carnegiemnh.org/

Ostrea glabra Clam Fossil

This bivalve fossil were found in the Niobarra and Pierre formations of the Western Interior Seaway.  The Ostrea glabra clam lived in the Cretaceous Period (Mesozoic Era). Some clams could grow over a meter in diameter.

Cretaceous Period Map from Wikipedia.org

This specimen (CM 53977) was on display in July 2011 at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  See my write up of that trip: CLICK HERE.

Inoceramus Cretaceous Clam Fossil

These bivalve fossils were found in the Niobarra and Pierre formations of the Western Interior Seaway.  The Inoceramus sp. clams were one of the more common fossils found from the Cretaceous Period (Mesozoic Era). Some clams could grow over a meter in diameter.

Cretaceous Period Map from Wikipedia.org

These specimens were on display in July 2011 at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  See my write up of that trip: CLICK HERE.