Mr. Clemens' Fossils

A selection from Mr. Clemens' Fossil Collection

click on the photos to get a larger view	This is a stone imprinted track from the hind foot of a juvenile Iguanodon who traveled through soft chalky clay 130 million years ago (Cretaceous Period). Size = 11" high, 11"wide and 1.5" deep. Being one of the first dinosaurs to be described, their name comes from the teeth that are similar to today's Iguana. Iguanodons sported a spiked thumb on each hand thought to be used for defense. They were bipedal with an average height of 16 feet and length (with tail) of 26 feet. Dozens of species have been discovered and it is believed that they traveled across North America in herds. <Certificate of Authenticity from Kenneth Carpenter, Dinosaur Paleontologist and Chief Preparator of the Denver Museum of Natural History.	Many dinosaur footprints have been discovered all over the world from England to the Arctic Circle, including many the western US like this one from South Dakota. Trilobites became extinct over 300 million years ago. Many look very much like today's pill bugs, or rolly pollies. These three lobed arthropods, however, consist of more than 10,000 species. Most have several thousand eye lenses. They have been discovered on every continent, however those in North America appear to be smaller than those in Africa. Psychopyge species, Devonian, Morocco Asaphus latus, Late Ordovician, from Russia Asaphus cornutus, Ordovician, Wolchow River, St. Petersburg, Russia. Cheirurus exsul, mid Ordivician, Gostilitsy, St. Petersburg Russia. Dinosaur eggs were a recent discovery, many found in China. It appears that Dinosaurs laid their eggs in specific "hatching grounds" that were protected from predators (surrounded by cliffs or water,) and near food and water sources, so that the parents could attend to their eggs and young. Many eggs, like that of raptor species, were laid in circular patterns. There are many theories as to why the dinosaurs became extinct; over population, inability to adapt to the changing foods supply (most herbivorous dinosaurs fed on gymnosperms or evergreen plants, however, during the Mesozoic, angiosperms, flowering plants which include oaks and maples took over), disease, or mammals on the scene stealing their eggs. This was revealed as Europeans arrived in the Hawaiian Islands. There most birds laid their eggs on the ground as there were no predators like rats to steal them. Unfortunately thousands of birds became extinct in a few short years after hitchhiking rats left the ships that arrived at the islands and raided bird nests.
click on the photos to get a larger view	Acadoparadoxides, what a name! This trilobite measures 14 inches long Found in Morocco, 650 million years old, Mid-Cambrian
click on the photos to get a larger view	Phacops rana africanus, North Africa, 400 million years old, Devonian Many trilobites enrolled themselves for protection. Phacops rana millieri. Trilobites would enroll themselves for protection. Unfortunately for these, it was their act of defiance against the elements of weather and fate. Asaphus kotlukovi, Mid Ordivician. One has left it's inner exoskeleton for fossilization.
click on the photos to get a larger view	Real -or- Fake? This is Dicranurus monstrosus, a unique trilobite from Morocco of the Devonian Period, 400 million years old. One of them is FAKE! Look to the bottom of the page to find out which is which!
click on the photos to get a larger view	This is a skull of a Cave Bear Ursus uralensis from the ice age 2 million years ago. It is of a larger size of very few found in the world today, 20.5" or 52cm. Based upon its size it is believed to be a male, due to the mammalian standards of sexual dimorphism. (where sizes of males and females among a species is different).
click on the photos to get a larger view	Hadrosaur (5) egg nest, Dendroolithus 140 million years old, Cretaceous, found in Henan Province, China. Most eggs do not have embryos inside. The round cantaloupe size and shell structure has a continuous layer and pore system at the surface which is typical for identification of a Dendroolithus species. Each measures about 5.5 inches in diameter, the eggs and matrix (rocks surrounding it) weigh 129 pounds. The single specimen is the same type from the same location. The nest of 5 was featured in the May 1996 issue of National Geographic Magazine, page 103. The structure of the shell in thin section analysis is used to identify the taxonomic families of dinosaur eggs.
click on the photos to get a larger view	100% completed composite Saltasaurus egg. A composite means that it was re-constructed of pieces of saltasaurus egg found at the nest site. This was discovered in Patagonia, Argentina and is 80 million years old of the Late Cretaceous Period. It is about 11 inches in diameter. Saltasaurus eggs and shells are very rare. More information on dinosaur eggs of Patagonia can be found in the December 1998 issue of National Geographic Magazine p.34.
click on the photos to get a larger view	Oviraptor egg, 80% complete (not a composite, all is original shell) measures about 2.75 inches by 6.25 inches. Found in China it is 90 million years old of the Late Creataceous. Raptors weren't much larger than Great Dane dogs, they were the creatures featured in Jurassic Park that were chasing the boy & girl around the kitchen.
click on the photos to get a larger view	Carcharcles megalodon, the Giant Great White Sharks tooth, 6.75inches long, Oligocene Epoch 38 million years old. Many of these teeth have been found ranging from 3 inches to 8 inches in length. It is estimated that the actual shark was the size of a common school bus!
click on the photos to get a larger view	Ammonite agidir, 16 inches in diameter, from the Devonian Period 400 million years ago, Morocco. Much like today's snails, ammonites used a radula to obtain their food. They would slowly climb atop and scrape their radula like tongue against their prey scraping layer after layer. Many have been discovered to be as large as a jeep (see other pictures)
click on the photos to get a larger view	Gastropod, Naticaeas from Muesca, Spain 20 million years old of the Miocene Epoch.
click on the photos to get a larger view	Coral head, Pachyphyllum woodmanii of Morocco, 400 Million Years Old, Lower Devonian Period
click on the photos to get a larger view	Sting Ray, Heliobatus radians, 50 million years old, Tertiary Period from the Green River Formation of Wyoming.	The fossil lakes of the Green River Formation can be found in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. They contain 14 species of fish, various alligators, turtles, snakes, birds, sting rays, small mammals, and a few random amphibians, over 300 varieties of insect, and 125 plant species. Not bad for a couple of lakes that have been extinct for almost 50 million years!
click on the photos to get a larger view	Diplomystes dentatus, Eocene Epoch, 38 million years old Green River Wyoming, 17.5 inches
click on the photos to get a larger view	This is a Crinoid Colony. Crinoid means "lily like" however they belong to a class of echinoderms which means "spiny skinned". The stalked flower like creatures spread delicate feeding arms to filter microorganisms from the ocean water. Crinoids appeared in the early Cambrian period 500 million years ago and can still be found in ocean depths of 13,000 feet to 300 feet. This is Scyphocrinus from Morocco. Devonian Period 400 million years old
click on the photos to get a larger view	Uncommon, but often times fossils are found with evidence of their death. This mioplosis fish swallowing knightia apparently was buried and fossilized while having its last supper! From a famous fossil site called the Green River Formation in Wyoming. This jellyfish is rare as most soft tissue is decomposed prior to fossilization. Even it's tentacles can be seen! This lobster was found not only fossilized in its exoskeleton, but its "death trail" is visible. The death trail is defined as trace fossils where the animal made its last attempts to escape burial.	The Green River Formation The fossil lakes of the Green River Formation can be found in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. They contain 14 species of fish, various alligators, turtles, snakes, birds, sting rays, small mammals, and a few random amphibians, over 300 varieties of insect, and 125 plant species. Not bad for a couple of lakes that have been extinct for almost 50 million years!
click on the photos to get a larger view	Real -or- Fake? This is Dicranurus monstrosus, a unique trilobite from Morocco of the Devonian Period, 400 million years old. One of them is FAKE! It was sold to a buyer (not me) as a real trilobite. The FAKE trilobite is on the RIGHT. Some fake fossils are sold to unsuspecting buyers. To identify real and fake, a buyer needs to learn about fossils and how to identify them. Most get examined under a stereo microscope or put under black-lighting that will illuminate unnatural elements like glue, plastic, and paint.	Real & Fake is not to be confused with reproductions. Reproductions of fossils are sold as such and are used to see what the real fossil would look like. Many are molded identically from the original or sculpted. The value of reproductions is where the original fossil is one-of-a-kind (like a tooth from the T-Rex: Sue) or very rare (like an Anomalocaris) that the original is unavailable or too expensive to use for study.