Paleontology
I have always been fascinated with paleontology and archaeology as it is the real life history book of our foundation. Below are some of my personal collections that I have acquired. Not all are listed, but as time allows, I will be adding more.
Mosasaurus Jaw Bone& Tooth
Mosasaurus is the type genus of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous.
Mass: 30,000 lbs
Length: 49 – 59 ft.
Lived: 99.6 million years ago - 66 million years ago (Cretaceous - Paleocene)
Kingdom: Animalia
Genus: †Mosasaurus; Conybeare, 1822
Class: Reptilia
Age: about 82 to 66 million years ago
Tyrannosaurus Leg Piece
Tyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. Tyrannosaurus lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Here is a nice long piece of bone from a T Rex. It was found in the Hell Creek Formation, near Newell, Butte County, South Dakota, about 20 miles north of Sturgis. There were a large number of pieces (more than 120) found in the same exact site, of a T-Rex. Unfortunately too eroded to make a complete skeleton. All the pieces are from the same back leg, so they are mostly femur, fibula and tibia of the T Rex. The specimen measures about 4.7 inches. It is a quite narrow piece of bone, broken off from a main leg bone.
Height: 12 – 20 ft.
Eaten by: Tyrannosaurus
Lived: 83.6 million years ago - 66 million years ago (Cretaceous)
Speed: Tyrannosaurus rex: 17 mph
Lifespan: 30 years
Eats: Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Hadrosauridae, Corythosaurus, Alamosaurus, Struthiomimus, Tyrannosaurus
Large Spinosaurus Tooth
Spinosaurus is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago.
Height: 18 ft.
Lived: 112.03 million years ago - 72.1 million years ago (Albian - Campanian)
Family: †Spinosauridae
Kingdom: Animalia
Genus: Spinosaurus; Stromer, 1915
Eats: Onchopristis, Mawsonia
Dolichopodidae in Baltic Amber
Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, are a large, cosmopolitan family of true flies with more than 7,000 described species in about 230 genera. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose, with some 600 species. The creature either drowns as the sticky goo fills its mouth and spiracles (bug lungs) or starves as it struggles to escape the resin. Most insects or arthropods fossilized in amber are less than seven-eighths of an inch long, since larger creatures can usually pull themselves out of the resin's deadly grasp.
Scientific name: Dolichopodidae
Rank: Family
Family: Dolichopodidae; Latreille, 1809
Order: Diptera