Fossilized Cancer Tumor

This fossil of a sauropod bone contains an elliptical shaped agate mass thought to be fossilized cancer tumor. Ouch, that looked painful! The picture was taken at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The accession number of the specimen is CM 72656 (Dinosauria indet.)

Learn more about cancers found in hadrosaurs at the Indiana public media site of A Moment of Science December 16, 2009 podcast about dinosaur cancer: CLICK HERE

Statue of Diplodocus sauropod outside the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Micro Fish Fossils

This posting shows some very small fish fossils. Some of them are parts of vertebrate and others I am not sure about. The specimens were obtained by Dr. Jim Conkin from material collected on one of his research trips. The fossils were photographed using a microscope set at maybe 15x.

Michigan Kona Dolomite

Kona Dolomite dated to over 2 billion years old.  Thought to be a cyanobacteria colony (stromatolite).  Found in the Kona Hills of Marquette County, Michigan.  These early oxygen producers paved the way for more advanced lifeforms of the future. This piece was profiled in an earlier posting. It has now been wet sanded and polished with a Dremel tool.  Has a nice reddish and pink color bands.