Fossil Bonanza

Trilobites with gills on their legs, pterosaurs with thumbs, burrowing Cretaceous mammals, and giant eurypterids highlight this episode. Also John Day Fossil Beds and La Brea Tar Pits open their visitor centers for the first time since the pandemic started.  Finally, the Hauff Museum in Holzmaden Germany is going through financial trouble so if you can support them here at this link.
https://gofund.me/0fa63950

In this episode we look at interesting Lagerstätte articles released in March 2021. This includes a newly described, oldest Lagerstätte in South America, Paleozoic lamprey embryos, the first opabiniid discovered outside of Burgess Shale, a failed cephalopod predation attack, an oviraptorid brooding on its nest, and a manta ray-like, planktivorous  shark.  All links to papers on the Fossil Bonanza Twitter account.

In this episode we look at interesting Lagerstätte articles released in February 2021. This includes a new site designated in Morocco, a previously lost site rediscovered in Vermont, a new Paleozoic Spider, an amber full of fly larvae, and UV-induced, florescent fossilized leaves.  All links to paper on the Fossil Bonanza Twitter account.

This is the start of a bonus series where I briefly summarize interesting Lagerstätten papers from the previous month.  I look at a newly described Lagerstätte from France, an ammonite with preserved internal organs, a beautiful looking assassin bug, and talk briefly about the evolution of Dire Wolves.

In our last episode for Season 1, we get trapped at the World Heritage Site, Naracoorte Caves in southeast Australia!  We'll learn about Australia's weird megafauna like the not-tapir-like-Marsupial Tapir and the hypercarnivore, Marsupial Lion, Thylacoleo, and why so many of their bones are found in these caves.

We saw the environment now let's see the animals!  Jehol has an amazing collection of animals including feathered tyrannosaurs, toothy birds, dinosaur-eating mammals, and more!  Let's learn about all the weird citizens that lived in this Cretaceous paradise.

The last thirty years has seen of flurry of amazing fossils of feathered birds and dinosaurs from Early Cretaceous China.  The Jehol Biota has influenced our understanding on the evolution of birds from dinosaurs.  For part 1, we'll explore the history of it, look at the earliest flowering plants, and learn why Jehol has been nicknamed the "Mesozoic Pompeii."

Step back into the Miocene and traverse the jungles of ancient Hispaniola!  We'll look at the Dominican Amber and all its weird and wonderful inclusions including parasites, luckless stingless bees, wandering spiders, and a salamander that had a real bad day.

Welcome to a crash course on amber!  We answer crucial amber questions such as where does it come from?  What's the difference between amber and copal?  And can it preserve DNA??  And stay tuned next time cause we'll look at the Dominican Amber in all its golden glory.

Take a cruise on the Tethys Sea in Jurassic Germany!  We explore the wonderful Posidonia Shale and learn about embryonic ichthyosaurs, hitchhiking crinoids, and hungry squids.  And learn how one man changed the name of the fish-lizard game.

The theme song, "Fossils," and interlude "Aquarium" by Saint-Saëns, and "Gymnopédie"  and "Gnossienne" by Satie were provided by MusOpen.