Neither do most college students...

Velociraptors Didn't Turn Down Free Meals

Morocco’s best known geologic export...

is described in this interesting article: Morocco’s Trilobite Economy.  You can find these beautifully prepared specimens at most rock, gem and mineral shows, and the image above shows one that I acquired several years ago at a geological conference.

Ash-covered forest...

is a 'Permian Pompeii' according to researchers.  Extraordinary preservation of a great diversity of plant fossils - an entire ecosystem of a peat-forming swamp quickly frozen in time -  makes this a stunning discovery.  Check out these images.

Geological treasures rediscovered...

in an old wooden cabinet in a "gloomy corner" of the British Geological Survey: U.K. scientists find 'lost' Darwin fossils.  And here's the understatement of the day from the executive director: 

"It really makes one wonder what else might be hiding in our collections."

Safer than a T. rex I guess...

Woolly mammoth to be brought back to life from cloned bone marrow 'within five years'.

Dinosaur day care...

discovered with 15 infants crowded in a nest (click image to enlarge).

Image credit: Live Science.

Slow motion extinction...

at the end of the Cretaceous: Massive volcanoes, meteorite impacts delivered one-two death punch to dinosaurs.

Afterwards, mammals celebrate!

Well kept secret revealed today...

Judith's unveiling: Dinosaur skull called new specimen.

Demoted...

Archaeopteryx Knocked From Roost as Original Bird

49 million-year-old face...

of a spider found frozen in amber.  The detail revealed by the CT scan is extraordinary, and be sure to watch the video at the linked article.

Note that the specimen is contained in Baltic amber, a region that is known for its amber resource, and that I'll be exploring in several weeks with Zegrahm Expeditions.  Amber is often found in beach gravels along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and I'll be sure to watch for specimens during my travels.

Professor Ernest Gilmour is retiring...

after a distinguished 44-year-long career in the Department of Geology at EWU. He may be best known professionally for his contributions to the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, particularly in the Bryozoa.

A reception will be held next Tuesday, 24 May, from 3-5 pm in PUB 206.  Refreshments will be served and everyone is invited to attend. Contact the departmental secretary at 509/359-2286 if you have any questions.

New vertebrate paleontology course...

will be offered this coming fall term:  GEOL 496/BIOL 496 - Vertebrate Life Through Time, instructed by Dr. Judd Case (4 cr).  The course will meet in lecture on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 1:15 pm, with lab on Monday afternoon from 2-5 pm.

Peace River redux...

We had such an enjoyable and successful fossil hunting excursion yesterday that we decided to try our luck again by returning to the same reach of the Peace River. My niece is seen here standing amid piles of sieved and discarded gravel between previously dug holes by other fossil seekers (click to enlarge):

Among the more interesting specimens found today are, from left to right, an alligator tooth, two juvenile megalodon teeth, a skate's pavement teeth, and a horse tooth:

While this activity didn't quite substitute for the excitement of watching a shuttle launch, we all agreed that it was still big fun, and equally educational.  And the quality time spent with my brother and his kids was, well, priceless.

Fossil hunting on the Peace River...

near Brownville Park, Florida was the objective of the day. The stream is incised into the Oligocene to Pliocene age sedimentary rocks of the Hawthorne Group, and various fossils are transported with the bed load gravels in the warm and shallow channel (click to enlarge):

Both marine and terrestrial fossil faunas are found by digging and sieving large volumes of sediment.  That's the Bu bro on the right with my niece and nephew working the sieves:

We were richly rewarded for the day's efforts.  In the image below, clockwise from top, is a dugong rib bone, a horse tooth, a juvenile megalodon tooth, a vertebrae, a skull fragment, and in the center, an alligator osteoderm:

My niece was particularly talented at finding dozens of tiny shark's teeth by hand-sifting the sandier sediment (but the larger megalodon tooth was found in a sieve):

If you engage in this activity I highly recommend Florida's Fossils by Robin C. Brown.   Indispensable.

Guest geology lecture...

on the paleontology and stratigraphy of the Chuckanut Formation in northwestern Washington, by Renee Breedlovestrout, is scheduled for Monday, 25 April, at noon in SCI 118.  Renee will also linger a bit afterward to discuss how to apply to graduate school with interested students.

Paleo-hors d'oeuvre...

Shark Teeth Found Stuck in Ancient Ammonite Shell.

Crunchy on the outside, but chewy on the inside.

An interesting new film...

on the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave, by Werner Herzog, is set to release in March 2011. Here's the trailer with an overly dramatic soundtrack:

How to fossilize yourself...

for future generations.

I've always thought that being entombed by a turbidity current in a deep (anoxic) basin would favor long-term preservation.

Some geoscientists need to get a life...

Scientists Uncover Skull From Horniest Dinosaur Ever

Hat tip: LS

Meet your great-great-etc-grandparents...

2-Billion-Year-Old Fossils May Be Earliest Known Multicellular Life.

More here.