Paleontology
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A Visit to Salz Welten
Salz Welten in Bad Durnberg, Austria is not a traditional science and natural history museum, but it is very educational and entertaining.
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Book Review: Krakatoa
Simon Winchester is one of my favorite authors, so I was very excited to read his book about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.
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Whale Watching with the Virginia Marine Science Museum
When you think about whale-watching trips, you probably think about traveling to such locations as Alaska, the Caribbean, or even Hawaii. Virginia Beach, Virginia probably does not come to mind as one of the great whale-watching destinations.
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Book Review: Evidence from the Earth
Evidence from the Earth is an interesting book about the development of forensic criminal investigation, and how geology can be used to solve crimes.
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Paleopathology: Ancient CSI
Crime Scene Investigators aren't the only people who can learn things from the dead. Instead of learning about the cause of death, paleontologists can learn about diseases and injuries that an animal suffered from while it was alive.
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Book Review: Megalodon
Megalodon: Hunting the Hunter contains beautiful photographs of Megalodon teeth, and some good information on where to find shark teeth.
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Cave Bears and the Devil's Cave
Germany has played a great role in the history of paleontological study, many famous fossils have been found there. On a recent visit to Germany, my husband and I visited a site known as the Teufelshohle or "Devil's Cave."
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Book Review: Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads
Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums by Stephen T. Asma will intrigue anyone interested in how the modern natural history museum came to be. I hope that this book will also encourage its readers to visit a natural history museum.
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Review: Chased by Dinosaurs
Nigel Marven's most recent nature documentary is a computer-generated journey to the past as he is "Chased by Dinosaurs" on the Discovery Chanel.
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Book Review: Starring T. Rex!
Starring T. Rex: Dinosaur Mythology and Popular Culture is a good introduction to movies and novels about dinosaurs and other extinct animals.
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Book Review: Ice Age Mammals of North America
Ice Age Mammals of North America: A Guide to the Big, the Hairy, and the Bizarre is a useful introduction to the Pleistocene Epoch and its animals for budding young paleontologists.
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Book Review: The Fate of the Mammoth
“This is not a book about mammoths,” begins Claudine Cohen intriguingly in The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myth, and History. Instead, this is a book about the history of paleontology and the role the mammoth has played in developing it as a science.
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Book Review: The Dinosaur Hunters
Deborah Cadbury presents an intriguing look into the early history of the science of paleontology. She examines the friendships and rivalries among paleontologists during the Victorian Era of England, and how they influenced our modern knowledge of dinosaurs.
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Fossil Thefts
Stolen fossils are in the news again. What effect does this have on science, and what can you do to prevent it?
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Book Review: The Future of Life
Edward O. Wilson's new book The Future of Life will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about the envrionment and the future of the Earth.
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Book Review: Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky
Paleontologist Dr. Jack Horner is probably best known as the paleontological consultant for the JURASSIC PARK movies, but he is also the author of several books about paleontology.
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Book Review: Time Traveler
Dr. Michael Novacek, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, has published a new book.
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Book Review: The Map That Changed the World
William Smith is widely recognized as the father of modern geology, but he languished in obscurity for much of his lifetime. Simon Winchester's new book "The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology" is a fascinating read about Smith's troubled life.
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Woolly Rhinoceros
The woolly rhinoceros was another large mammal that lived during the Pleistocene Ice Ages.
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Compsognathus
Compsognathus has become famous after appearing in the "Jurassic Park" movies.
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Ceratosaurus
Ceratosaurus is one of the less well-known "carnosaurs."
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Trace Fossils
Trace fossils can give paleontologists plenty of information about how extinct animals lived.
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Diatryma
Diatryma was a large, flightless bird which may have been the top predator during the Early Cenozoic Era.
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Giant Sloths
The ground sloths are large relatives of our modern tree sloths.
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Recommended Paleontology Books
As the holiday season approaches, here are some books about paleontology that will make great gifts for the paleontologist in your life!
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Camels
Camels are well-adapted to living in the desert.
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Index Fossils
The use of index fossils in an important technique in determining the age of fossils.
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Extinction V: Modern Extinctions
Extinction is not just something that happened in the distant past. Are we currently experiencing the beginnings of another mass extinction?
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Hadrosaurs
Hadrosaurs were one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs.
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Georges Cuvier
Baron Georges Cuvier was a French vertebrate zoologist who did a lot of the early work in paleontology.
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Fossil Fuel Woes
Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy resources; what can be done about this?
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Coelophysis
Coelophysis was a lightly-built early dinosaur.
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Where Does Petroleum Come From?
You might think that gasoline and other petroleum products come from the remains of dinosaurs, but they were actually produced by plants and micro-organisms.
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Amber
Why is fossilized tree sap important to paleontologists?
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Sauropod Myths
The sauropod dinosaurs were the largest animals ever to walk the earth. During the earliest studies of paleontology, many scientists believed that they would have been too heavy to walk on land.
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Sauropod Dinosaurs
The sauropod dinosaurs were the largest animals ever to walk the earth.
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Snakes
These much-maligned creatures have an interesting history.
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Recommended Paleontology Books
Looking for the right present for that budding young paleontologist? *Dig* into some of these books for a fun and informative gift.
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Kangaroos
These unique animals have always fascinated me.
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Marsupials
The recent Olympics in Sydney, Australia have piqued my interest in marsupials.
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Turtles
Turtles are the only surviving members of a group of animals called the anapsids.
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Dire Wolf
The dire wolf is one of the more famous Ice Age mammals.
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Horses
Horses are fascinating animals, and their development is a fascinating topic of paleontology.
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Grasses and Grazers
How did the development of grasses lead to the rise of large herbivorous mammals, and vice versa?
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A Visit to the Smithsonian
The National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution is one of the largest natural history museums in the United States. Join me as I tour its fascinating exhibits!
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What Should I Study?
I'm interested in paleontology, what should I study for a career in this science? Or if I want to be an educated amateur fossilist?
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Iguanodon
Iguanodon was the second dinosaur to be described, although Gideon Mantell mistook its thumb for a horn!
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Disney's "Dinosaur", A Review
Disney's multi-million dollar film "Dinosaur" opened last week, this lush piece of computer animation is worth seeing for all dinosaur fans.
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Coprolites
Fossilized dung, a type of trace fossil, can tell us a lot about extinct animals.
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William Buckland
William Buckland is best known for naming Megalosaurus, but he was also the first person to recognize fossilized dung.
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Amphibians II
Some of the amphibian groups have become completely extinct.
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Amphibians I
The amphibians are an interesting group of animals that often get overlooked.
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Sabre-toothed Cats
This group of extinct cats were very common until the end of the last Ice Age.
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Mononykus
Another missing link between dinosaurs and birds?
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Champsosaurs
It's a crocodile? It's an alligator? No! It's a champsosaur!
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Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews is often called "the real life Indiana Jones," find out more about this adventurous paleontologist.
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Recommended Paleontology Books
Need some help finding the right gift for that paleontology enthusiast? Here are some of my favorite books about dinosaurs and paleontology.
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Biological Nomenclature
How do scientists arrange animals into groups? What do we mean when we talk about a Kingdom or Phylum?
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Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus is called the father of taxonomy for his work developing our modern system of giving organisms scientific names.
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Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon is often mistaken for a dinosaur. Find out more about this mammal-like reptile and why it is not a dinosaur.
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Reptile Skulls
Reptile families are grouped by the shape of their skulls. How are turtles different from mammals?
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Ammonites
You may have found these fossils before, what kind of animals were the ammonites?
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Trilobites
Have you been lucky enough to find one of these fossils? Learn why the Cambrian Period is sometimes called "The Age of Trilobites."
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The Insects
That mosquito buzzing around your ear is annoying, and millions of years ago these same insects flew around the dinosaurs and other now extinct animals.
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Othniel Marsh
Othniel Marsh was E. D. Cope's friend, and then became his rival. Learn more about the other figure in the Bone Wars.
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Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope is most famous for his feud with Othniel Marsh, but his fossil discoveries are invaluable to paleontology.
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Hoseshoe Crabs
Horseshoe crabs look like ancient creatures, and they are!
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Sir Richard Owen, 1804-1892
Richard Owen gave the dinosaurs their name back in 1842. Learn more about one of the early paleontologists.
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The Fish, Part IV
The ray-finned fish are the dominant group of fish in both freshwater and marine environments.
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The Fish, Part I
The fish are our earliest vertebrate animals. Learn more about the many different types of fish.
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Spiders: Our Eight Legged Friends
No home is complete without a few of these hanging around. Learn how spiders got their scientific name, and why they are not really insects.
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Paleobotany II
Okay, fossil plants are pretty neat, but what else can they tell us about the ancient world?
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Paleobotany I
There is more to the study of paleontology than extinct animals, what about the plant life?
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Coelacanth: The Living Fossil
For years scientists believed that the coelacanths had become extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. This "living fossil" caused quite a stir.
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Dinosaur Tracking
Have you ever tracked a dinosaur? You don't need a blood hound, just visit a fossil trackway site.
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Mary Anning
Mary Anning is widely considered to have been the first female paleontologist, but why have her contributions been mostly forgotten?
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The Development of Flight
Humans have dreamed about flight for centuries, but only acheived it recently. Four other groups of animals have been flying for millions of years.
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Dinosaur Primer
How do paleontologists determine how dinosaurs are related? It's all in their hips!
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What is Paleontology?
What is paleontology? What do different types of paleontologists study? What is the difference between paleontology and archaeology?
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