@skyfaller I definitely recommend it! I usually include a photo with a scale bar and without when uploading to iNaturalist, and it's helped a lot with IDs!
@skyfaller I think this scale works great for everyone, though it's definitely more geology/paleontology specific with the grain size scale, and there's a geologic time scale on the back. Honestly, I just use this because it was given to me by a very lovely volunteer/retired geologist I used to work with!
As much as it blows my mind that we can see the skeletons of creatures that lived over 65m years ago, that we can also see footprints boggles the mind.
I do often wonder how much of a slice we see though. Do those found dinosaurs represent 50% of those that lived? 5%? 0.5%? Less?
@craiggrannell Love this thought! The fossils we find represent an incredibly tiny fraction of the dinosaurs that lived, and in reality, you're far more likely to find traces left behind by a dinosaur than a body. You may personally leave behind millions of footprints in your lifetime, a small fraction of which could be preserved, but you only have one skeleton to have a chance at being fossilized!
@craiggrannell Further adding onto this, we only know about the bones and lives of dinosaurs in certain ecosystems, such as floodplains or deserts. We'll likely never know what a dinosaur living deep in the jungle or on the mountaintops looked like, simply because those environments don't provide the right conditions for fossilization.
Happy #FossilFriday, here's a natural cast of a hadrosaur track from the Blackhawk Formation in Utah! Groups of hadrosaurs walked across a squishy swamp during the Early Cretaceous, leaving behind prints that would have later been filled in by sand. (1/2) #paleontology#ichnology#dinosaur#science
These and many other tracks were recovered from coal mines in Carbon County, Utah. This is a map of fossils found in the Kenilworth Mine; note how the hadrosaur tracks cluster around the tree roots. This map and the track are housed at the Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. (2/2)
Happy #FossilFriday! When a plaster jacket is ready to be opened, it can be quite the event, especially for one as large as this! Two years ago, the Museum of Ancient Life cracked open this Barosaurus jacket, and museum volunteers have been cleaning it since. (1/2) #paleontology
While plaster jackets are often necessary in order to protect fossils during transport, they can be quiet cumbersome! These photos are from when the Utahraptor Megablock was being moved out of the Museum of Ancient Life. (2/2)
@kandid I'm very jealous, but very glad you got the chance to see this! This is one of my dream fossils to see in person. Thanks for sharing such beautiful pictures!
Happy #FossilFriday, this is a trilobite pendant recovered from the Baker Archaeological Site on the Utah-Nevada border. As such fossils aren't found nearby, it was likely traded to the Fremont people and possibly initially found nearly 100 miles away. #paleontology#archaeology
feeling pretty neutral toward my art lately, and i'm not sure how to get around that. i don't like it, but i don't hate it either. i feel like i should feel something more than "that sure is a drawing" whenever I finish something.
@mrcompletely Thank you! I'm happy to take some more advice. I've definitely been trying to keep things exciting for myself by trying to draw all sorts of things, but it seems like that just hasn't been quite enough!
@mrcompletely Sorry I got to this a little late, but thanks so much got the advice! :^) I think I do need to try a more ambitious piece soon. It's just a matter of finding some good reference material!