by fossil hunting
I came across an envelope of photographs, yes, the print kind, taken in the amazing Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta in 1999. I had written about this exciting trip a few years ago, along with some photos – please visit. Except for the second one, these are ammonites. I’ll post a few more images in the days to come.
I loved revisiting the Museum’s site and you may too, including some information about the fossils in the Burgess Shale and the Devonian Reef. Did you know parts of Alberta used to be covered by a tropical sea?
I found this creepy photo from the visit here. And you may recall my series of photos taken at Vancouver’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum last year with these photos of fossils.
P.S. See a cross-section of an ammonite here and here. I picked this up as a souvenir in Prague ten years ago!
June 29, 2012 in Environment, Nature, Photoworks, Rocks by Marja-Leena
These are very fascinating images. I particularly like the elegant grouping of the ammonites in the first one. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of how they looked when they were alive or maybe one of the museums there has some of the larger specimens on display. 2 meters plus! Yikes, getting chasing by a bunch of them would be scary and not unlike meeting H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu. I’ve also seen some small polished shells that look like jewels.
Your older images were also wonderful to see. I may have told you before that when I was a child someone gave me a large piece of sandstone that carried the image of an equally large trilobyte. I think it must have creeped me out a bit since it was gone from my things long ago.
I just put Remarkable Creatures on my book order list; I appreciate you reminding me about the book.
Here’s a web page with a picture of one of the huge ammonite fossils (scroll down) – interestingly, the precursors of squid and cuttlefish, but long gone.
You’re right that I’d like to have that trilobyte back.
I love the first one! And went back and looked at the older ones (didn’t see the explanation of the spooky one) here and there.
I’m afraid that I was given some ammonite earrings. They’re very heavy…
Susan, I didn’t know ammonites can be that huge and scary! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a live one. Interesting photo at the link you sent, and fascinating that Mary Anning is mentioned prominently. Remember the book about her which I’d written about?
That sandstone with a trilobyte sounds like something you and I could treasure now, if not then.
Susan, I think you will enjoy the book. That ammonite is a beauty, and it makes me think of prawns too.
Marly, the ‘spooky’ one was called such because it was a Halloween post. Don’t you think those look like human bones, oooo!
Your ammonite earrings must be quite large, and maybe whole? to be so heavy. My little half from Prague feels weightless.
All my very earliest holidays were spent around Lyme Regis, it’s still one of my favourite places anywhere. Ammonites always feel like familiar childhood friends, my sister was especially good at finding them. I have a small cross-sectioned one on my bedside table, I can’t remember where it came from.
I got that part–the spooky look fo bones–but not what they really were…
The ammonites are cut and polished but fairly thick.
Lucy, I remember you mentioning those lovely holiday memories in that older post about Anning and Lyme Regis. How I would love to visit that place too and find an ammonite.
Marly, oh I see what you mean. I don’t remember since it was so long ago. Some kind of dinosaur bones? There were many reconstructed ones of all sizes in that museum. Unfortunately I did not have time to write the information down for each photo as I already took up our friends’ time stopping to take so many photographs! I need to go back there, also to see the badlands and the hoodoos again. They inspired a lot of art works!
“Fo”: typo hatred!
Yes, you need to return to your sources–so far back in time…
Hi Marja-Leena
I think I may be in here, having experienced difficulties with the log-in on previous visits. But I’m not going to write much for fear that the system is going to spit me out again. Here goes!
Clive, you made it, hurrah! I hope you will have no more troubles.