Hexanchus griseus Fossil Shark Teeth

This image is of Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) fossil shark teeth on display at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (August 2017). This extinct animal was also known as a sixgill cow shark. It dates to the Pliocene Epoch (about 4.5 million years ago), Neogene Period. The fossils were found in Beaufort County, North Carolina, USA.

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is located at the College of Charleston, 202 Calhoun Street, 2nd Floor, Charleston, South Carolina 29424.

Learn more at their blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/

Avitelmessus grapsoideus Crab Fossil

This image is of a muffin crab fossil aka Avitelmessus grapsoideus (Rathbun, 1923) on display at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (August 2017). It was found in North Carolina USA and dates to the Cretaceous Period (80 million years ago).

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is located at the College of Charleston, 202 Calhoun Street, 2nd Floor, Charleston, South Carolina 29424.

Learn more at their blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/

Isurus hastalis Shark Teeth Fossils

This image is of some fossil teeth of the Mako shark aka Isurus hastalis (Agassiz, 1843) on display at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (August 2017). It dates to the Miocene Epoch (about 5-15 million years ago) of the Neogene Period. The fossils were found in rivers of South Carolina (S.C.), Ridgeville, S.C. and Aurora North Carolina, USA. It appears the genus was renamed in 2021 to Cosmopolitodus (Glikman, 1964) an extinct mackerel shark.

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is located at the College of Charleston, 202 Calhoun Street, 2nd Floor, Charleston, South Carolina 29424.

Learn more at their blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/

Louisville's First Female Geologist?

Recently, I ordered the two volume set Geology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1865-1965 by Robert Rakes Shrock (1904-1993). The first volume was published in 1977 and the second 1982. Unfortunately, the research material I was looking for was absent in these books. Something did catch my interest in volume 2 was in chapter 13 Women in Geology at MIT pages 395-442. 

The first female graduate profiled was Dixie Lee Bryant (1862-1949) born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 7, 1862. She has the distinction of being the first student to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from MIT in June 1891 with honors. Her theses was "A study of the most recent history of the tide water region of Charles River [Boston area]". The above picture is her 1891 school picture when she was at MIT. It has been colorized and visually adjusted with Photoshop Colorize and Smart Portrait neural filters.

While born in Louisville, her family moved in 1868 to Columbia, Tennessee while she was a young child. Dixie was  student at Columbia Female Institution for 10 years. Afterwards she taught a year at a school in Culleska, Tennessee and another year as a 1st grade teacher at public school at Columbia, Tennessee. Next she moved to Lexington, Kentucky and taught at Hamilton College for several years.

In 1887, Joy Scholarship was awarded to Bryant so she could attend MIT in 1887. The Joy Scholarship came about "...by the gift of Nabby Joy and created pursuant to a decree of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts for the benefit of 'one or more women studying natural science at M.I.T.'" 

After graduating she taught at the State Normal School at Plymouth, New Hampshire. In October 1892, the North Carolina Normal and Industrial School (later name Woman's College of the University of North Carolina [Greensboro]) was created and Dixie Bryant joined this new faculty where she created laboratories in biology, chemistry, and physics. After teaching from 1892-1901, she left to start graduate studies at Madison, Wisconsin with Charles R. Van Hise (petrography). From there she left to continue studies at University of Heidelberg with Rosenbush (microscopical petrography) and finished her studies at Erlangen University in Bavaria. On June 30, 1904 she was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Mineralogy. Her thesis was "The Petrography of Spitzbergen".

After getting this advanced degree, Dr. Bryant moved to Chicago, Illinois and taught for 27 years in high schools there. She retired in 1931 and lived in Asheville, North Carolina until her death on November 18, 1949. She is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

After her death, American Association of University Women (AAUW) created the Dixie Lee Bryant Fellowship in 1950. Later University of North Carolina at Greensboro (previous name State Normal) established the Dixie Lee Bryant STAMPS (Science, Technology, and Math Preparation) scholarship. In 2021, MIT honored Dixie Bryant by naming a 400 seat auditorium the Dixie Lee Bryant Lecture Hall in the Cecil and Ida Green Building.

Learn more: 

Dixie Lee Bryant scrapbook at UNC Greensboro (picture source)
http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/ref/collection/MSS/id/25303

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/bryant-dixie-lee

https://eapsweb.mit.edu/news/2021/dixie-lee-bryant-trailblazer

 

Notorhyncus primigenius Fossil Shark Teeth

This image is of Notorhyncus primigenius fossil shark teeth on display at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (August 2017). This extinct animal was also known as a seven-gill cow shark. It dates to the Pliocene Epoch (about 4.5 million years ago), Neogene Period. The fossils were found in Yorktown Formation, Beaufort County, North Carolina USA.

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is located at the College of Charleston, 202 Calhoun Street, 2nd Floor, Charleston, South Carolina 29424.

Learn more at their blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/

Scallop Serving Dish at Biltmore Estate

While visiting the Biltmore Estate near Ashville, North Carolina, USA. I saw this plate in with a collection of other sea creature themed china serving dishes found in the Breakfast Room on the first floor. This purple serving dish appears to be based off a scallop.

The house is the largest private house in the United States and was completed in 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt II . Learn more about how to visit the Biltmore Estate at their web site.

Brachiopod Serving Bowl at the Biltmore Estate

Recently, I visited the Biltmore Estate near Ashville, North Carolina, USA. The house is the largest private house in the United States at over 175,000 square feet (about 16,622 square meters) floor space. It was commissioned by George Washington Vanderbilt II and constructed in about 6 years and completed in 1895.

In the breakfast room on the first floor, I found a number sea creature themed purple serving dishes. The one pictured here appears to be based off a brachiopod. It looks like the handle to lift off the lid is in a snail shape.

The Biltmore is a must see for anyone taking a vacation or holiday trip. It receives about 1.4 million visitors each year and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1963. Learn more at their web site https://www.biltmore.com/ I would suggest purchasing tickets on-line and showing up before the 9 AM opening to get ahead of the crowds. They have an excellent winery on the estate in which I bought some bottles of sparkling grape juice and The Stable Cafe restaurant (the strawberry salad was very good plus quite healthy). Also if you go check out the china cabinet in the Breakfast room of the house. They had a number of dishes including one shaped like an ammonite. The lighting was too low for me to get a good picture of it though.