“Rare finds have included isolated baleen whale vertebrae, a broken sperm whale tooth, the spine of an extinct sawshark, dental plates of eagle rays and a number of great white shark teeth.” – Auckland palaeontologist Bruce Hayward
Hugh Miller, possibly Scotland’s most famous geologist, visited Orkney in 1846. He went to see Clouston’s collection of fossils. He also met with William Watt of Skaill House and saw a specimen of great interest to them both which Watt had himself collected.
“Sea spider fossils are very rare, but we know a few of them from different periods. One of the most remarkable fauna, by its diversity and its abundance, is the one of La Voulte-sur-Rhône that dates back to the Jurassic, some 160 million years ago.” Dr Romain Sabroux
During the Late Permian Period, just over 250 million years ago, South Africa was home to rhinesuchid temnospondyls, large predatory amphibians with bodies similar to crocodiles or big salamanders.
A small piece of Rhynie fossil plant with fossil fungi colonising the ends, viewed through a microscope. Image credit: Loron et al
Known as the Rhynie Chert, the exquisitely detailed plants, spiders, fungi and other life were preserved by hot springs about 410 million years ago.
Over 550million years ago there was a mass extinction on the Earth which led to the loss of nearly all the animals at the time.
“This is another discovery which highlights Scotland’s important place in the global fossil record,”
Two fossils of teeth discovered in the Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History are believed to have belonged to a giant panda like animal which once roamed in the forested wetlands of Europe.
By Steve Drury First PUBLISHED ON April 21, 2022 Among the oldest known rocks are metamorphosed pillow basalts on Nuvvuagittuk Island in Quebec on the east side of Hudson Bay, Canada. They contain […]
