AMNH Tour the Hall of Vertebrate Origins Video

 

Today, I found a great video series being created by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York city. During the Covid epidemic, the museum is publishing videos every Friday at 1 PM EST as live stream. The last video was presented by fossil fish researcher Allison Bronson. She does a great job narrating a video tour of the Hall of Vertebrate Origins at the museum. I was there in July of 2018 and I wished I had watched a video like this before my visit. After watching the video, I missed taking pictures of at least two special specimens she highlighted. Have to go back now :)

I am weak on my understanding of fossil fish and vertebrates in general as we do not find a lot of those fossils in the Louisville area. When I was in this museum section, the Devonian shark Cladoselache caught my attention (see posting here, to know why):

https://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2010/07/cladoselache-shark-fossil.html

After seeing her talk about the shark at the 7:20 mark, I realize I am pronouncing its name wrong.

It was amusing at the 22:05 mark in the video, Allison talks about the happy tortoise which is one of the most photographed specimens in the museum. As it turns out, I blogged about the Geochelone atlas specimen in December 2018, so count me in that large group of photographers!

https://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2018/12/geochelone-atlas-tortoise-fossil.html 

If you cannot see or use the embedded video viewer in this blog post, here is the direct YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRuy7KfvqWs&t=479s

Snail Imprint in Bryozoan Fossil

 

These images show an interesting fossil combination. The fossil ensemble was found in the Kope Formation (Latonia (Eden) Shale) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. The main fossil appears to be a Prasapora simulatrix (Ulrich, 1886) bryozoan. The colony grew on top of the shell of a Hormotoma gracilis (Hall, 1847) gastropod. The imprint of the shell's spiral looks intact. These fossils existed in the Ordovician Period. I have found that when in an area with Kope Formation fossils that bryozoans tend to cover other fossils and preserve details on the fossils they cover. See the cephalopod fossil in this 2010 posting.

See more examples of Prasapora simulatrix bryozoan fossils:

http://www.drydredgers.org/thumb_by_bryozoan.htm#Prasapora

The Latonia Formation consists of three members: McMicken, Southgate, and Economy.

https://strata.uga.edu/cincy/strata/LithostratSystems.html

Fossils on the Family Grave Marker

 

After attending a funeral for my aunt today, I visited the family marker that shows the section where my grandparents are buried. The marker is made of Bedford(?) limestone. Time and the elements has eroded part of the surface revealing small crinoid stems and a cross section of a horn coral. Fossils date from Mississippian Period. Marker is in Clark County, Indiana USA.