darn edumacation
you ever read something and thing 'that's so exciting!' and then decide to post it on your blog, only to do further research and discover it really isn't that exciting, and you just didn't have all your facts straight, and now that you do it's pretty lame?
Yeah, I just did that.
But on a semi-related note, I will share some information that IS interesting. We'll talk fossils. And specifically state fossils. People pick their state fossils for a variety of reasons, all of which are valid. The state fossil here in Michigan is the Mastodon. They are a fairly rare fossil in generally, reflect the glacial history of the Great Lakes, and are pretty darn cool. So that's a good reason to have it as your state fossil.
Missouri, where I also lived for a bit, has the crinoid. This fossil leaves me conflicted. For those who don't know, the crinoid is one of the coolest animals on the PLANET.
These animals live in the same climates as corals, and they are called Sea Lilies because they look like flowers, but they're actually animals. And they can walk away and hide behind rocks when danger approaches. How awesome is that? Granted, they don't move quickly, but in principal it's pretty sweet. I bet the plants in my front yard wish they could walk away every time the cats come and use the area for a litter box.
So millions of years ago, the midwestern united states were warm shallow seas, and teemed with crinoids, so their fossils are everywhere. Unfortunately, the 'fossils' of crinoids are primarily the support structures for the 'stem', since the rest of the animal is soft. And those stems are basically held up by a stack of cheerios, with the animal's notochord going up through the holes in the middle. When the animal dies and decomposes, these rings scatter. So crinoid fossils are ubiquitous across the midwest, and look like this:
Personally, I find these a bit less-than-thrilling. But they're the most common fossil around, so in that way, it makes sense. But man are they dull. Most people have no idea how beautiful the creatures that left these behind were.
But I want to end with the fossil of the state where I first studies paleontology, Illinois. Illinois has an AWESOME state fossil, the Tully Monster. Tully Monsters were WIERD looking creatures. They're invertebrates that swam around in the water, and they had a really long skinny proboscis, kind of like an ant eater does, and had small teeth at the end of this thing. No one can figure out how to classify them in the Linnean system, because they are so abnormal.
Tully Monsters have only been found in Illinois, which is a great reason to have them as the state fossil. There is a unique rock layer in Illinois called the Mazon Creek Formation, and the composition of the material there at the time of fossilization allowed for lots of animals that were totally soft, no bones, to preserve. So animals that are not found anywhere else preserved there. They got preserved in nodules, basically small rocks, of ironstone. And you take these rocks and crack them open, and find the fossils on the inside.
Yay fossils. I love paleontology.
Yeah, I just did that.
But on a semi-related note, I will share some information that IS interesting. We'll talk fossils. And specifically state fossils. People pick their state fossils for a variety of reasons, all of which are valid. The state fossil here in Michigan is the Mastodon. They are a fairly rare fossil in generally, reflect the glacial history of the Great Lakes, and are pretty darn cool. So that's a good reason to have it as your state fossil.
Missouri, where I also lived for a bit, has the crinoid. This fossil leaves me conflicted. For those who don't know, the crinoid is one of the coolest animals on the PLANET.
These animals live in the same climates as corals, and they are called Sea Lilies because they look like flowers, but they're actually animals. And they can walk away and hide behind rocks when danger approaches. How awesome is that? Granted, they don't move quickly, but in principal it's pretty sweet. I bet the plants in my front yard wish they could walk away every time the cats come and use the area for a litter box.
So millions of years ago, the midwestern united states were warm shallow seas, and teemed with crinoids, so their fossils are everywhere. Unfortunately, the 'fossils' of crinoids are primarily the support structures for the 'stem', since the rest of the animal is soft. And those stems are basically held up by a stack of cheerios, with the animal's notochord going up through the holes in the middle. When the animal dies and decomposes, these rings scatter. So crinoid fossils are ubiquitous across the midwest, and look like this:
Personally, I find these a bit less-than-thrilling. But they're the most common fossil around, so in that way, it makes sense. But man are they dull. Most people have no idea how beautiful the creatures that left these behind were.
But I want to end with the fossil of the state where I first studies paleontology, Illinois. Illinois has an AWESOME state fossil, the Tully Monster. Tully Monsters were WIERD looking creatures. They're invertebrates that swam around in the water, and they had a really long skinny proboscis, kind of like an ant eater does, and had small teeth at the end of this thing. No one can figure out how to classify them in the Linnean system, because they are so abnormal.
Tully Monsters have only been found in Illinois, which is a great reason to have them as the state fossil. There is a unique rock layer in Illinois called the Mazon Creek Formation, and the composition of the material there at the time of fossilization allowed for lots of animals that were totally soft, no bones, to preserve. So animals that are not found anywhere else preserved there. They got preserved in nodules, basically small rocks, of ironstone. And you take these rocks and crack them open, and find the fossils on the inside.
Yay fossils. I love paleontology.