An odd project that I am in the middle of is reproducing an old bird, well sort of.    Scientist cannot exactly decide if Archaeopteryx was a feathered dinosaur or a reptilian like bird. Archaeopteryx (AR-kee-OP-ter-ix) means Ancient wing, whether these wings flew or not is still a mystery. A total of six skeleton fossil were pulled from a lime stone quarry in Germany from 1861 to 1987 along with a seventh fossil of a single feather.    My Archaeopteryx may not be 208 million years old and it may not be exactly accurate, but it sure looks cool. I have hand sculpted the head and using bobwhite quail feathers I have given him wings again!

Prehistoric Page

If there is anything I like more than modern day wildlife it would have to be prehistoric life. What little kids doesn't stand and marvel at the thought of a once living monster the size of Greyhound bus famously known as T-rex?    My fascination started when I was little and like any 8 year old I could tell you all about dinos. With all of the wonderful programs out on Discovery channel on prehistoric beast and dinosaur, I have not lost my fascination. I guess I have become what they call an amateur dinosaur or fossil hunter.    I must say I envy those who study in the field of  Paleontology, and Ancient Archaeology and even Anthropology. Rather then looking for the answer to a question by watching a living animal like zoologist, paleontologist have to piece together a puzzle of bones and other fossils on a never ending mystery. With every question answered, 3 more arise.

New!

Click here to see photos!

While renting a houses, I came across some items a previous tenants left behind and no longer wish to keep. It was a large pair of plaster cast footprints from an Albertosaurus.    Albertosaurus (al-BERT-oh-SAW-rus) means Alberta reptile. They lived right at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago. They are a large Carnosaur like T-Rex.    With the cast prints I found a card that stated the original prints were in Dinosaur Park, Hartford, Connecticut. Both prints are about 16 inches from heel to the tip of the middle toe. They are a very  unique addition to my collection and I'm glad I found them.

Here's a real neat item. It was found laying on the ground behind a storage unit in Tennessee. I picked it because I knew it was a fossil, but it didn't hit me until a few month ago that it was a fossil!    I have only done a little research on it, but.... I know that it is a Lithostrotion sp. a form of coral. I know that it is from the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian periods, around 310 million years ago. I also found out that most Lithostrotions are found in Europe and the only ones in America are found in the area of Tennessee where I found this one.    As I find out more information I will add it to here.

Now this has to be the most awesome thing I found as there were tons of them. They are Cretaceous Pelecypods from about 65 million years ago. The species is Exogyra Ponderosa a type of ancient oyster. I found them while exploring a section of lake where the bank had been washed out.    I collected about 60 lbs of fossil oysters, most in pieces and not very good. These two were the first I collected weigh about a pound each!

While living in North Carolina, my father had a job in a building that happened to be a floor above the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It also happened to be at the same time the Museum was building a new building.    Since my father was in construction, he was able to get a kind of quickie tour behind the scenes of some of the museum. My younger brother and I were taking by the construction superintendent around some of the almost finished new building.    The whale skeletons the museum has, were hanging from the ceiling draped in plastic. The best thing we saw was the worlds only display of an Acrocanthosaurus skeleton.    Acrocanthosaurus (AK-ro-KANTH-oh-SAW-rus) means high spined reptile. They were large meat eating dinosaurs that lived in the Cretaceous period, about 144 million years ago.    To see "Acro" before and after the room he was in was finished was awesome. I'm sure my little brother will never for get it either.

I hope to try and collect more next year if possible. Out of all the fossils, I only found one the had both the top valve like pictured above and the flat bottom valve still connected. I don't think any of the other top and bottoms will connect. These fossils are very common in much of Texas and other states.    The best of all the fossils is being sent to a biologist who taught me quite a lot about modern day bivalves, (clams, oysters, and mussels) on my birthday one year. If not for him I would not have realized these rocks were fossils and would have left them.    The most interesting thing is, all of these fossil were found in the exact same area as a large Mosasaur skeleton was. In fact Exogyra Ponderosa was also collected with the skeleton. The Mosasaur skeleton is on display at the Dallas Museum of Natural History. Click here for the museum's home page and here to see the Mosasaur.

Due to security, this was as close as we were allowed to get. Photo taken from upstair balcony.

For the NC museum's web site click here. To see more on "Acro" Terror of the South click here.