The Fossil Freak Show

2011-01-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

REPORT 2: COLORS of QUARTZ

The colored variations of Quartz:

AMETHYST:

Amethyst is the purple coloured variation of Quartz, an ancient name, derived from the Greek, "amethystos," meaning , “not drunken” as it was believed to protect those who wore it from drunkenness. It is the most highly prized of all quartz...

The amethyst color is caused by trace amounts of ferric iron, and aluminum. It turns white when heated to 300 celsius (572 farenheit) then yellow at 500 celsius (932 farenheit), but becomes purple again when bombarded with particles or exposed to x-rays. Amethyst is used as a gemstone, the most beautiful amethyst comes from Minas Gerais (Brazil) and Uruguay. Also found in Canada, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Russia... Amethyst normally has good luster and transparency.
Amethyst has been prized for its beauty and its legendary energies for thousands of years. Neolithic people in europe used it at least as early as 25,000 b.c. and in ancient egypt it was made into beads and amulets. And used many times over in royalty.

CITRINE:
Citrine is yellow in color, and is sometimes still called "the topaz" or "topaz quartz." Citrine comes from the French word., "citron," meaning lemon. It turns white if heated and dark brown if exposed to x-rays. Citrine turns yellowish or brown because of inclusions of colloidal iron hydrates. The color can vary from yellow to dull yellow, honey, brownish yellow. As with amethyst , the color is often broken up into patches or bands, although due to its depth of hue, the zoning is less obvious. It has good luster and is generally very clear and virtually free of inclusions because the amount of raw material available allows for considerable selectivity. It is found in Minas Gerais (brazil) France, Russia and many other countries…Citrine has been traced back in use as a gemstone to 300 b.c. in Greece…

ROSE QUARTZ:
Rose Quartz is the pink variety of quartz found in anhedral masses rather than distinct crystals. Crystals are very rare. The color appears to be caused by traces of manganese or titanium. It loses its color when heated and turns black if exposed to radiation. Due to minute inclusions of foreign substances, rose quartz is always somewhat milky rather than transparent. It generally is a soft pink which is probably brought out by its lack of transparency. The internal cloudiness is often due to cracks or discontinuities, which make this the one type of quartz that is somewhat brittle. Rose quartz is not very plentiful and manly comes from Brazil, Canada, United States and Madagascar.

SMOKY QUARTZ:
Smoky quartz is light or dark brown to black. This color is probably caused by exposure to natural radioactivity. When heated, it turns yellow, then white. Smoky quartz has been found in crystals weighing as much as 700 lbs., mostly found in high-temperature hydrothermal veins. Quartz can be turned into smoky quartz artificially by treating it with radium or x-rays. Mostly found in good quality in the Alps, Brazil, Scotland, Italy and many other countries.

TIGER’S EYE:
Tiger eye occurs as a fibrous aggregate. It is formed from hawk’s eye through pseudomorphism of Crocidolite in quartz. Tiger eye has bands of yellow-brown to golden color, which exhibit chatoyance. The largest deposits of this mineral come from Africa, and has been found in India, Burma, Australia and The USA...

AVENTURINE:
The name aventurine is applied to an ornamental material mainly consisting of quartz. Although it is actually a metamorphic rock, a quartzite, containing plate like crystals of other minerals. Its name is derived from the Italian, "a ventura," a type of glass discovered around the year of 1700. Aventurine is primarily found in three colors - green, blue, red-brown. The color of green aventurine come from microscopic fuchsite (mica) particles within the quartz. The color red-brown comes from inclusions of hematite, while blue is colored by inclusions of copper silicates. Most aventurine comes from major deposits in Brazil, India, and Russia. But has been found in other countries…

***Stay tuned for next week’s post on Chalcedony, another form of quartz.

The Mineral Report: Report 1 - Quartz

2011-01-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

REPORT 1: QUARTZ

Quartz. The name may be derived from "querkluftertz," an old German word apparently referring to whitish, vein quartz. Quartz is one of the most common, widely distributed minerals on earth. It occurs many in igneous and metamorphic rocks, particularly gneiss and granite, and is abundant in clastic sediments. It can also form in every conceivable condition.

Quartz is also a common gangue mineral in mineral veins, and generally, "good" crystals are obtained from this type of occurrence. Well formed crystals can be obtained from cavities, from granite porphyries, and from granite pegmatites. It crystallizes directly from igneous magma, from the pegmatite-pneumatolytic to the low-temperature hydrothermal stage. It occurs in plutonic rocks (granite, granodiorites, tonalites) and in hypabyssal (granite porphyries, pegmatites, etc) and volcanic rocks (quartz porphyry, rhyolites, etc).

It is stable in sedimentary conditions, either as a detrital mineral (alluvial, marine and desert sands) or as a cement in consolidated rocks (sandstones). It also crystallizes from hot solutions (geyserites) and cold solutions (hyalites) and occurs as a diagenetric mineral derived from the skeletons of certain organisms (diatomites, chert).

Quartz can be divided into two groups on the basis of its appearance: crystallized and microcrystalline. The microcrystalline group can in turn be subdivided into parallel, fibrous crystal arrangement and a heterogeneous, finely granular type.
Quartz can be found in almost all minerals, jaspers, agates, quartz, chalcedony, tiger eye, rhylolite, chert, flints and so on…
Quartz itself has many crystal class modifications. There are too many to mention, but the easiest of these is that quartz is right or left facing. This is caused by the spiral structure of linked silicon-oxygen tetrahedra in quartz. The impurities in quartz give us many different colors and types… (amethyst, citrine, rose, smokey, etc). Quartz crystals are usually hexagonal and prismatic, terminated by 2 (positive and negative) rhombohedra resembling hexagonal dipyramids. Quartz is often twinned. Crystals are usually 6 sided prisms and are terminated by six faces.

Physical properties:
Quartz is very hard - 7 on the Mohs scale, and light. It has no cleavage but good conchoidal fracture. Transparent to translucent with viterous luster. Quartz is rotary polar. It has the ability to rotate the plane of polarization of light passing through a crystal. It's infusible and insoluble in acids except for hydrofluoric acid, in which it decomposes giving off fumes of silicon tetraflouride gas. (so don’t do this! haha!)
Specific gravity is 2.6. Composition is silicon dioxide.
Quartz crystals can range is weight an size. Large crystals have been known to be weighing tons, and some grams…

Occurrences:
Quartz occurrences can be found anywhere. Well-known locations include: Arkansas hot springs, Brazil, Germany, Alps, Ontario and the list goes on…
Quartz is a very important industrial material. Sand is used in glass manufacturing or to make fused silica. The clear rock crystals are used in electronic equipment, as in oscillators for controlling radio frequencies, pressure gauges and in watches. It is also used in paints, abrasives, refractories and precision instruments, and the raw material in silicon carbide. It's used for carvings, and gemstones…

Stay tuned for the next instalment the colored varieties of quartz….

Please Take Our Survey!

2011-01-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

We want to know what you think!!! This is a short, 10 question survey all about what you think of The Fossil Freak Show!

Please take a minute to give us some feedback...

Click here to take survey

THANK YOU!

New Canadian Fossil Website!

2011-01-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

Fossil Freak Show Artist and Guest Poster, Shamus M. from Ottawa, Ontario has created a new website that features his amazing collection, and fossils from Ottawa! Shamus is an avid collector, amateur paleontologist, incredible artist... and only 14 years old! Don't let his age fool you, though. This kid has a remarkable imagination and phenomenal education about fossils and geologic time!

Ottawa Fossil Website

The site has wonderful, descriptive photos, all from The Shamus M. Collection. There is a great Q&A about Ottawa fossils, and articles featuring formations and the incredible species found in that part of Canada. This is a wonderful up and coming site that every fossil hunter can enjoy!

The Mineral Report: Report #4 - Agates

2011-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Report 4: Agates

Photo Credit: www.bernardine.com

Well, agates! Where do we begin... There are so many different locations, patterns, types, etc… I’ll try to touch base on some of the more famous agate. And remember, Agates are the birthstone of May!

Blue Lace Agate

Blue lace agate is banded in intricate patterns of light blue and white. Most of the best material comes from South Africa. Some specimens from Romania and South Africa have coatings of tiny sparkling druzy crystals. Blue lace agate has also been coined the name, “Gem of ecology." Blue lace agate was discovered on Ysterputs Farm in Namibia by a man named George Swanson. Blue lace agate has a Hardness: 7, Lustre: Vitreous, Color: blue, System: Trigonal.

Dendritic Agate

Dendritic agate is not banded and so is not strictly an agate in scientific terms. It gets its name from a Greek word meaning tree-like, and this is quite descriptive of these stones. They are usually colorless, white or gray, light purple, with tree like or fern like inclusions of iron or maganese. The term dendrite comes from the Greek word “dendron” meaning "tree." These inclusions are called dendrites. Most come from USA, Brazil, and India.

Ellensburg Agate

Ellensburg agate is a rare amygdaloidal nodule or geode type agate found in Kittitas County near Ellensburg, Washington. It is prized for its color, which ranges from pale sky blue, to a bright cornflower blue, to a deep blue-violet. It was deposited by glacial movement so the true location of its origin is unknown. This stone was held in high esteem by the North American Indian tribes. In some instances, only the chief was allowed to wear one, and in any case it was essential that at least the chief have one of these agates. When European settlers arrived, the natives tried to trade their blue treasures with the new neighbors, but settlers had little interest in the pretty stone. Today this stone is highly sought after, and commands high prices. One magazine has named this stone the 3rd rarest gemstone in the world…

Fire Agate

Fire agate is the name given to a brilliant multi-colored gemstone that combines a deep brown base hue with flashes of orange, red, green and gold that looks like tongues of living flames. The best stones come from Mexico. Fire agates iridescent colors are produced by light interference at thin layers of regularly spaced iron oxide crystals within the chalcedony. Being that Fire agate deposits are found in just a few locations in the world, and combined with the fact that it’s one of the most difficult materials to cut properly. Fire agate has remained scarce and largely unknown to the general public. Fire agate contains silica and iron oxides, known as schiller layers, that are small enough to allow light to enter the stone forming iridescent colors known as fire.

Holly Blue Agate

Holly blue agate is one of my favourites, takes a great polish, amd is easy to work. Holly blue agate is a blue-violet stone found near Holly, Oregon. It is one of the rarer varieties of agate and is highly prized for its rich color. Holly blue agate locations have since been closed, there is a far amount of this material on the market, at reasonable costs. But this will change as time passes and material gets harder to get…

Moss Agate

Moss agate is not technically an agate, because it is not banded. It is a chalcedony (see Report 3 below) agate with dendritic inclusions of moss-colored green minerals. Spots of red sometimes occur in specimens. Most Moss agate comes from India. Not much more can be said about this stone.

Purple Sage Agate

Purple Sage agate is a member of the quartz family. It occurs only in eastern Oregon. Purple Sage agate ranges in color from pale lavender to purplish black, and many pieces also display black lines and dendritic formations. The material is quite hard, and free from fractures, and takes a great polish.

Stayed tuned for more on the different types of Agates, as there are many more than these… But to change things up we are going to change from minerals, to some mining and cutting of stones… Next week the big Moyie Lake staking frenzy... stay tuned!!

Dinosaur Zombies - Martin Kevil's Creation

2011-01-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Martin Kevil is one of the Fossil Freak Show Artists ... with a twist! You can see Martin's first drawing for the show on the Kid's Blog Dino Day, featuring Euoplocephalus!!! Martin has an incredible talent for specifics when it comes to drawing dinosaurs...and an amazing imagination when it comes to his comic!

A few characters from Reawakening: Becklespinax altispinax, Metriacanthosaurus parkeri & Deinonychus antirrhopus

Let's get to know Martin and his comic!

I am a 17 year old (as of Aug. 5, 2010) artist and a Paleontologist in training. I spend most of my time working on my comic, "Reawakening," when I'm not working on school work and hanging out with my family, that is! I do some Paleo-art and plan to become a professonial paleo-artist/Paleontologist.

Martin working on his comic.

Now to talk about my comic. "Reawakening" is a zombie comic that centers around dinosaurs (for the first/second series). I wanted to create a comic that was different and unique, so I went for two of the most popular themes. Dinosaurs and zombies have the potential to work great together, and I'm utilizing that potential. So far it is working out very nicely. Issue 1 is done and ready to be inked (As of Jan.2, 2011). The first 5 issues are destined to be released in April or May 2011.

Reawakening Logo

To read more info about the comic, visit http://reawakening.weebly.com/

Creative Kids Contest WINNERS!!

2010-12-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

WAY TO GO, BLAKE!

GREAT WORK, GARRETT!

Check out all of the awesome kids' drawings!

SEASON 1 FINALE!

2010-12-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's been an amazing year for us Freaks! We have had SO much fun with the show, making new friends and finding some awesome fossils! THANK YOU to all that supported us during our first season...we hope you'll follow us for next season!!

Check out the Season 1 finale by clicking HERE.

ROCK ON!!

New Episode!

2010-12-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

THE NEW EPISODE IS OUT! EPISODE 18: THE FREAKS DO TUBER'S TRAIL

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Kid Guest Post: Shamus M.

2010-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

The Triarthrus

The Billings Formation

A special Kid Guest Post by: Shamus M.

From The Shamus M. Collection: Triarthrus spinosus

Triarthrus is a genus of trilobite from the late ordovician, they were the last of the Olenid trilobites, which were more diverse in the cambrian period. They grew to sizes of approx. 1-2 inches, and were thought to be preyed on by orthoceras. They were also thought to be ground feeders, eating whatever they could scavenge. they are a more common species in the areas it is present, and is one of very few species which soft body parts get preserved (ex: legs, antennae). For this reason, they are commonly used in scientific diagrams showing the anatomy of trilobites.

From The Shamus M. Collection: Triarthrus spinosus

Triarthrus are found in very few locations: Rome, New york, Ohio, Kuntucky, and eastern Canada (mainly Ottawa, Ontario), making them a more prized specimen. The Triarthrus branches down 4 times: Triarthrus spinosus, Triarthrus rougensis, Triarthrus eatoni, Triarthrus becki. All triarthrus specimens are found in shales (mainly black).

From The Shamus M. Collection: Triarthrus spinosus
Triarthrus in the Billings formation are always discovered with or near an orthoceras, this is because the orthoceras were the top predator of the area, and likely hunted the Triarthrus. The Billings formation also has come up with completly different fossils. In the formation, there are a peculiar creature which very little is known about. This is an orthograptus. Another creature found in the formation is a brachiopod, which were un-even, shelled mullusks (like a clam or oyster).
The Billings formation was a deep sea bed in the late ordovician, and it is beleived that most of the fossils were washed down, then preserved (it was unlikly to have creatures living so deep in the ocean). But referring to todays cephalopods (squid), we can say that it would have been possible for the orthoceras' to have lived in the depths.

Shamus M. is a 13 year old collector from Ottawa, Ontario.
Check out
The Shamus M. Collection!

Dry Dredgers' ROCK!

2010-12-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

We love paleo societies with a zealous passion and quirky sense of humor! That's why our brothers and sisters over in Cincinnati, Ohio fit right into the Fossil Freak Family. The Dry Dredgers are a wonderful group of fossil hunters that have passed on this hobby, generation to generation, since 1942.

Greg Courtney, the Education Chairman of the Dry Dredgers, shows us how not to clean trilobites!

Check out the Dry Dredgers group by CLICKING HERE!
See more of Greg's awesome humor by CLICKING HERE!

The Mineral Report - New Reports!

2010-12-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Contributing Poster, Dennis Gandner has issued another awesome Mineral Report! These are quick, easy to read "reports" about gems and minerals, including the pictures, chemical makeup and physical properties, locations found and history. Check them out and learn a little something about our Earth's amazing gems and minerals!
Click the tab "The Mineral Report" at the top of the page, weekly to see new reports...or click here to catch up!

Crab Draw Winner and a Special Holiday Message!

2010-12-13T20:44:00.001-08:00

Guest Post: Zach Miller Separated by Squamosals

2010-12-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

Separated by Squamosals

Zach Miller

It has often been remarked (and lamented) that the parietal bone is the single most diagnostic bone in the entire ceratopsid skeleton. Indeed, many horned dinosaurs are named partially if not entirely based on the structure of this bone, which makes up the midline and dorsal margin of the frill. Ceratopsids with particularly unique parietal ornamentation include Centrosaurus brinkmanni, Styracosaurus albertensis, Rubeosaurus ovatus, and Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai. Most often, it’s the centrosaurine branch of the Ceratopside which provides the most diverse parietals. While the Chasmosaurinae is more conservative, it’s hard to ignore the decorative parietals of Anchiceratops, Arrhinoceratops, and especially Kosmoceratops.

However, the structure of the parietal alone is not always indicative of the taxon’s subfamily. In Triceratops, for example, the short, round parietal meant that for almost a century, that genus was placed with the short-frilled centrosaurines. Were we to find only the partial of Kosmoceratops, one could hardly blame paleontologists for classifying it alongside Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus. The parietals of Albertaceratops and Medusaceratops are so similar that, in the former’s original description, specimens later attributed to the latter were included in Albertaceratops!

No, dear reader, it is the structure of the squamosal that can, alone, determine whether a horned dinosaur is chasmosaurine or centrosaurine (the structure of the snout is also an excellent indicator). All centrosaurines share a particular squamosal morphology that is distinct from the squamosal morphology shared by all chasmosaurines. For the uninformed, the ceratopsid frill is made up of central parietal bone and is bordered on either side by squamosals. Because the squamosals are of differing morphology between the groups, this affects the shape of the parietals.

Let’s begin with centrosaurines. Their squamosal bones are shaped something like a stone axe blade and make up only a small portion of the frill’s lateral margin. This seems to hold true for basal and derived members of the group. The squamosals are sparsely decorated with small epiocciptals along their margins. As a result of the small size of the squamosal bones, the parietal is large and round in centrosaurines, and the parietal fenestrae tend to be circular and relatively small.

Photo Credit: Farke AA, Wolff EDS, Tanke DH (2009) Evidence of Combat in Triceratops. PLoS ONE 4(1): e4252. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004252

By contrast, chasmosaurine squamosals resemble onion paring knives in overall shape, tapering toward their distal end. Even the short-frilled Triceratops has chasmosaurine-style squamosal bone, although it looks more like a giant “L”than a knife. In chasmosaurines close to Chasmosaurus and Pentaceratops, the squamosals are decorated by large, triangular epioccipitals. This is especially apparent in Arrhinoceratops and Anchiceratops. Because of their large squamosals, chasmosaurines have relatively narrow parietals that, in most taxa, are perforated by large, subtriangular or ovoid fenestrae. Oddly, some chasmosaurine specimens are known to have accessory fenestrae on the squamosal bones, too. These squamosal fenestrae are probably not pathlogical, but rather develop through the same reabsorption processes which affect the parietals.

So if you can only find one bone in a ceratopsid skeleton, hope for a parietal. But if you can only find one other bone, pray for a squamosal—then you’ll at least know whether you’re dealing with a chasmosaurine or centrosaurine.

Zachary Miller is an artist, a blogger, a writer, a teacher and a volunteer. He runs and writes the blog When Pigs Fly Returns, a "paleo-themed" blog complete with Zach's amazing art, talented use of words and incredible sense of humor. Zach's artistic gifts can also be see on Art Evolved, one of The Freaks' favorite paleo-art websites!

Episode 17: The Freaks Do Cessford!

2010-12-10T18:12:00.001-08:00

Cyber Freaks

2010-12-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Freaky Pete and Skippy are always looking for new, awesome websites that pertain to the paleo world! Here are some of the websites and blogs that The Freaks frequent:

Art Evolved: A beautiful collection of fascinating paleo art done by a Freaky group of fossil lovers just like us!

Meteorite Men: This is Skippy's favorite show!

Dinosaur George: Dinosaur George Blasing is the guru of everything dinosaur...and we can't help but love this guy!

Royal Tyrell Museum: Our favorite museum with some of the world's best dinosaur exhibits.

World Fossil Forum: A great place to meet other fossil freaks!

Fossils of Texas: Our friend Roz, down in Texas (yee-haw!) displays the amazing fossils she and her husband find on their adventures.

The KT Cafe: FFS Artist, Eric Warren not only creates beautiful pieces for our show and blogs, but he has an entire site of amazing art!!

Discovery Channel Canada: We ALWAYS find awesome pages and shows on this site...and it's Canadian, EH!

Science Daily: A wonderful resource for science news in every field!

The Artistic Indulgence: FFS Artist, Mike Menasco has an incredible talent for any kind of art!

The Fossil Freak Show: The best show on the internet! This show is the best thing to hit the web since....wait...is this shameless plugging?

Top Documentary Films: This site is a great resource for documentaries of any kind! We like the science and nature videos!

Dry Dredgers: This Cincinnati, Ohio based paleo society is full of extremely passionate fossil hunters, just like us!

IT'S TIME TO VOTE!

2010-12-09T00:45:00.000-08:00

The Creative Kids Contest voting is underway!

Here's how to vote:
1. Sign into your Facebook account

2. Type the following link into your address bar:
www.facebook.com/creativekidscontest
3. Click "add as friend"
(friend requests will be updated several times a day)
4. VOTE! Instructions for voting are on the status!
If you need assistance with voting, please EMAIL US.

Freaky Elves!

2010-12-08T19:32:00.001-08:00

Creative Kids Contest DEADLINE!

2010-12-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT (Pacific Standard Time -8), VOTING STARTS FOR THE CONTEST! IF YOU HAVEN'T SUBMITTED YOUR DRAWING, SEND IT IN BEFORE MIDNIGHT! GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL FREAKY FOSSIL KIDS!!!!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Holiday Treat from your FREAKS!

2010-12-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

As a special holiday treat to our freaky friends and fans out there, we're giving you 10% off each item you buy from The Fossil Freak Store! It's our way of saying, "Happy Holidays, and thank you for your support!"

CLICK HERE to head over to The Fossil Freak Store!
Enjoy 10% off from now until January 1st!!!
***And don't forget to combine our discount with the coupon codes for specific days!
CLICK HERE to read about the deals that change each day

Art Evolved!!

2010-12-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

You know us Freaks LOVE paleo-art! If you want to check out some phenomenal art based on the paleo world, we have a website for you!

Art Evolved is run by several amazing artists and passionate paleo people...that just want to share their talent with art lovers like us! There are 15 incredibly talented members that each have a unique and amazing style to their art. So go check them out!

ART EVOLVED WEBSITE

Land of The Lost - Remembering 1975

2010-12-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhh yes. Remember the days....

2010-12-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

May each candle you light, make your Hanukkah bright!

2010-12-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

This is a big month with a lot going on for everyone! So, when you need a break from the holiday shopping, cooking and spending time with your family...you can relax with The Freaks! We have tons of awesome stuff happening in the next month:
December 1-9 - Hanukkah for our Jewish friends!
December 13th - The winner of the Crab Draw from Facebook will be announced!
December 20th - Episode 18 is released!
December 21st - A special message from The Freaks, along with the winners of the Creative Kids Contest!
December 24th & 25th- Christmas Eve/Christmas!
December 28th - SEASON 1 Finale Episode! ....and it's a doozy!
December 31st - New Year's Eve!
We will kick off the 2011 New Year with our SECOND SEASON of THE FOSSIL FREAK SHOW!

Fossil Freak Store Deals for December!

2010-12-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

December is the month for DEALS at the Zazzle Fossil Freak Store! Here's a preview of the awesome coupon codes you can get this month:

New Page: The Mineral Report!!

2010-12-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

Our awesome buddy, Dennis Gandner, has honored us with his knowledge and expertise about mining, gems and minerals, by writing informative and insightful posts for the blog! You'll find THE MINERAL REPORT by clicking the tab above! Check back every week for a new exciting installment!! The first report is already up! Go check it out!

Freaky Reads: Books The Freaks Recommend!

2010-11-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

There are some AMAZING books out there that we Freaks swear by. They are wonderful for information, reference and pictorial guides when it comes to fossil hunting and paleontology research! Here is a list of the books we highly recommend picking up (with links to buy online, too!)

West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island
Rolf Ludvigsen and Graham Beard have really captured the essence of the creatures that used to swim the oceans of what is now Vancouver Island. This book brilliantly describes species, locations and fascinating facts about the fossils found here. If you live here on The Island, plan to visit or are just curious about the fossils of our area, this is the book for you!

CLICK HERE to buy the book!

A Pictorial Guide to Fossils
A wonderful book with outstanding references! This 514 page book by Gerard R. Case covers every family of fossils found with brilliant black and white photos.

CLICK HERE to buy the book!

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fossils
An excellent field book by Ida Thompson, that fits perfectly in your fossil backpack! "This, the first all-photographic field guide to cover fossils found throughout North America north of Mexico, includes nearly 500 full-color photographs identifying corals, trilobites, shells, teeth, bones, as well as fossil-bearing rocks and outcrop formations. The descriptive text includes information on size, geological period, geographical distribution, and ecology of the animal or plant before it was fossilized. In addition, the book provides lists of Geological Survey offices and major fossil collections, a geological time chart, and a guide to collecting and preserving fossils"

CLICK HERE to buy the book!

Written in Stone: Evolution, The Fossil Record and Our Place in Nature
Our buddy, Brian Switek's new book is ready for your viewing pleasure! The reviews for Brian's book are absolutely amazing! His talent for writing, and passion for evolution and nature collide in the form of intriguing and inspiring pages of his book.

CLICK HERE to buy the book!

South-Central Ontario Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Marine Life of the Region
Bill Hessin wrote this geographically based book for South-Central Ontario with over 300 beautiful pictures and 286 pages! There's even a CD that comes with the book!

CLICK HERE to buy the book!

We have some amazing fans and friends, and asked them to suggest THEIR favorites

Becca Wall, our favorite paleontology student at Ole Miss suggests:

Raptor Red by Dr. Robert Bakker
Dinosaurs in the Attic by Douglas Preston
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston

Dwayne Buffalo, The Freaks' "Ammolite Expert" and great friend suggests:

Discovering the Mysterious Ammonites by Neal Larson

Nate Banks, Archeologist, Paleontologist and our awesome pal suggests:

Trilobites by Levi-Setti
Ammonites and Other Cephalopods of The Pierre Seaway by Neal Larson

Kenn Cloak, fellow Fossil Freak, extreme fossil hunter and artifact collector suggests:

Vertebrate Fossils: A Neophyte's Guide by Frank A Kocsis, Jr.

Eric Warren, Fossil Freak Show artist, wonderful buddy and fossil hunter suggests:

Classics...

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs...1985...David Norman...an excellent and still useable reference book with a great history of dino paleontology section and timeless art by the paleo art grandmaster, John Sibbick...cheap used and well worth having

The Dinosaur Heresies...1986...Robert Bakker...hilarious, informative and even if Bakker is out there on some points, will make you think! awesome art as well...I own an autographed copy...out of print but easy to find on Amazon

The Giant Golden Book of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Reptiles...this book is the grand daddy of all kids books...HUGE size...text is written like a timetraveller story and the art is by Rudolph Zallinger...of the famous Age of Reptiles mural at Yale fame

Kids or novice informative books...

National Geographic Dinosaurs...great art and done like a basic encyclopedia

The Princeton Field Guide...a bit of a disappointment considering the author, but very informative...some great art but the book seems rushed through the design process...excellent for basic reference guide

Paleontology History and general interest...

The Guilded Dinosaur...tells the story of OC Marsh and E D Cope, their feud, discoveries and great history piece

Terrible Lizard...great book about the early Victorian history of dino paleontology

Hunting Dinosaurs...companion book to a 1993 Nat Geo magazine article...outstanding articles written like a travel piece and blow your mind photography and interviews...out of print but easy to find

Dinosaur Hunters...self explanatory

Expert Level...

Dinosaurs the Encyclopedia...supplements 1-6 as well...desribes EVERY SINGLE GENUS EVER...great history of sections...the set is useless as individual books (like any encylcopedia set...duh) but this is a must have...EXPENSIVE, the set will cost you close to a grand, but well worth it...

Dinosauria...encyclopedia by Padian and Currie

New Book : William Hessin - South Central Ontario Fossils

2010-11-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our good buddy and phenomenal paleontologist, William Hessin has written a new book, and we couldn't be more excited! South Central Ontario Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Marine Life of the Region is available in print or CD, and if you become a member of the South-Central Ontario Fossil Club group on Facebook and the CD is half price!

*Over 300 different fossils belonging to at least 27 major groups are identified in the 286 page book

*Summarizes the rock formations the fossils are found in and covers over 100 fossil collecting localities

*Over 300 text figures including the fossils themselves, maps and charts

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE, ORDER THE BOOK AND CD!

ROCK ON!

New Episode!!

2010-11-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

Episode 17: The Freaks Do Cessford, has been released! Watch below, or CLICK HERE!

News! Freaky New Dinosaur Discovered!

2010-11-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

Paleontologists in Portugal unearthed a surprising creature. It's a Stegosaur...a 150 million year old, long neck Stegosaur. And he is a thing of beauty. They named him, "Miragaia longicollum" The familiar Stegosaurus' neck has about 12 cervical vertebra, where this new Freaky guy's neck has an additional 5 vertebra (17 total). This makes his neck over 5.9 feet!

Compare the 2 Stegosaurs:

Check out the full article on National Geographic by clicking HERE!

Fossil Freak Store- FREE SHIPPING!

2010-11-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Our Canadian fans and friends can get FREE SHIPPING until December 1st on all orders $35 or over!!!

Free Shipping on ALL ORDERS OVER $35

To qualify for this free shipping offer, one or more Zazzle products must be purchased with a net sale price equal to or greater than 35.00 dollars and standard shipping must be selected as the shipping option. The coupon code CASHIPPINGCA must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The free shipping offer is for standard shipping to addresses to Canada only. Offer is valid from November 25, 2010 through December 1, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers. Offer valid on Zazzle.ca only.

2010-11-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

The Freaks are wishing all of their American friends and fans a very, very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Guest Post: Vince Koh

2010-11-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

Ammonites & The Living Fossil - Paleontology

Nautilus and Allonautilus are the last living genera of externally shelled cephalopods .These slow moving Cephalopods are considered primitive when compared to their faster moving relatives. In addition to having an external shell, these cephalopods do not have lenses in their eyes.
Nautiloids and ammonoids were once one of the dominant groups, both in terms of number of species and biomass, found in the ocean's of the world. The remaining seven species of Nautilus and Allonautilus are living fossils. Nautiluses have been on the planet for 500 million years!

Their great grandfathers were the fossilized ammonites now available as a novelty or collectors item. Ammonites are used as a Feng Shui Wealth enhancer because of it's spiral chambers from a sliced piece. The swirls in the ammonite represents the cosmic universe and if you look at each ammonite closely you can actually see an "Yin & Yang" symbol in each and every one of them, start lookingat it near the middle and you'll understand what I mean.

Ammonites are crystalized or in better terms Calcitized, the mineral which is fossilized are usually calcite and sometimes if you are lucky you will find Pyrites in them together with other minerals. Pyrite is called fools gold and is termed as lucky because it is silver metallic in color so if you have pyrites at home or inside an ammonite it is doubly auspicious.

Name: CleonicerasPhylum Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda Subclass: Ammonoidea
Order Ammonitida Period: Middle Cretaceous, Albian Stage (150 Million Years)
Location:Madagasca

The grey thing on this Cleoniceras ammonite are Pyrites. Normally Cleoniceras ammonites are flat and more elongated than the Cymatoceras Sakkavalus(Nautilus). Note the hollow parts of this ammonite. The chambers seemed to have holes and are not fully covered. Reasons were because when the ammonite died and when it's flesh were decomposed mud and minerals of sorts filled the chambers however certain areas of the chambers were not filled with minerals when the ammonite was laying in the depths of the seabed. So after millions of years when the minerals started to crystalize so did the hollow chambers and that was the reason why some ammonites have the so called "Holes" in them.You can see that the "Holes" are actually crystallized.

Check the "Holes" out, they are actually crystallized.

Check these Giant Cleoniceras they are about 1 Metre high

Name:Cymatoceras sakalavusPhylum Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass Nautiloidea
Order Nautilida, Family CymatoceratidaePeriod: Middle Cretaceous, Albian Stage (150 Million Years)
Location:Madagasca

Cymatoceras are rounded and thicker in appreance to the Cleoniceras ammonite, some people here says that it's the female version of the Cleoniceras but it is entirely not true. They are of different species and I doubt anyone can tell the sex of these fossils except on one occasion when we sold a pair of sliced Cymatoceras there were small little round like crystalized pearls inside the hollow chambers, nothing that I've seen before. They look like eggs to me so maybe that particular piece of fossil was a female.

Usually these ammonites are placed at the earth sector like the SW or NE area to enhance the wealth. To me I keep them because of it's beauty. Usually sliced specimens do not have nice iridisence while whole piece specimens do. That is because no one would slice a beautiful ammonite because than it won't be able to command a good price. Sliced ammo nites usually have defected surface or poor coloring so the focus on such ammonites is on it's chambers while whole ammonites are focus on it's colors.

Name: Placenticeras meeki Age: Upper CretaceousLocation: Bearpaw Formation, Southern Alberta, Canada, Rocky Mountains

The best and most expensive of all ammonites, they are called Ammolites instead. These are the only fossil which can command a hefty price tag and considered a Gem because it is opalized unlike the Madagascans.

Above is the beautiful Russian Periphinctes Ammonite. There are tons of ammonites in the world, take some time to check them out, they are really interesting and magnificiently beautiful without a doubt.

Vince Koh is a Feng Shui Consultant in Singapore. He also a blogger on Alivenotdead.com. Go check him out!

Reminders!!

2010-11-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

If you aren't a fan on our Facebook, then get over there quickly!

We're having a LONGUSORBUS CONICULOSIS crab giveaway!

We will draw a name from our Facebook friends, and award the winner with a very rare Longusorbus.

You have to be a fan by December 1st in order to be eligible for the draw.

CLICK HERE to meet us over at Facebook!

Crab pictured is not necessarily the crab being used in the give away

The Creative Kids Contest needs your drawings! 12 and under children can submit their drawing of anything paleontological, and our Facebook fans will vote for the winner in each age group! The prizes are AMAZING, and all you have to do is draw!

CLICK HERE to get the flyer

CLICK HERE for details!

Entries must be submitted by December 8th at 11:59pm (pacific), as voting starts on December 9th!

Guest Post: Sherry Konkus

2010-11-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Introducing Stupid Dinosaur Lies!

Tired of being bombarded by creationist claims about dinosaurs so false and stupid it makes you sick to your stomach? Then try visiting Stupid Dinosaur Lies! A site I created that acts as a breath of fresh air for those who are sick and tired of searching for dinosaur sites only to encounter dinosaur idiocy made by creationists who show no shame in blaring out one stupid lie after another about dinosaurs out of complete ignorance of the fossil record clearly revealing to us that there's no such thing as a world where humans and dinosaurs coexist. SDL is chock load of articles dealing with how creationists deal with dinosaurs stupidly and dishonestly. It includes creationist book walkthroughs and rebuttals to stupidity and lies found within their pages, exposing how creationists fabricate dragon legends to pose them as “reports” of live dinosaur sightings, how creationists borrow science fiction to beget science fiction, and rebuttals to claims found in sites such as Genesis Park that contain claims of dinosaurs illustrated in ancient art, exposing the truth about claims about the likes of the so-called Bishop Bells dinosaurs and the faint rock carving underneath the bridge which creationists stupidly claims to accurately depict a sauropod dinosaur while it doesn't. It shows how creationists get their dinosaur imagery wrong and how what they claim about biblical morality, socialism, and the so-called solutions they offer to solve all the world's problems along with scapegoating Darwin for all the world's evils is nothing more than unfounded paranoia made up of scare tactics invented by creationists to keep followers in line. This is THE one-stop browsing site to find articles discussing everything from exposing creationist hypocrisy to exposing all the falsehoods and flaws of Ken Ham's creation crackhouse located near Cincinnati, Ohio. Stupid Dinosaur Lies is a non-for-profit website dedicated to raising money towards keeping this site active and fulfill a dream that's near and dear to my heart. On SDL there is an article that tells about the story about my struggle to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a harpist and the struggle I'm having right now to own and play a very special harp name “Gilligan” who is a Venus Classic Grand Concert Harp I'm renting from a place in Florida called Budget Harp Rentals that is in need to be completely restored to the fullest. I love this instrument deeply and I wish to buy it and restore it to pristine condition at W&W Venus Harps located in Chicago, Ill and I need your help to fulfill that dream. For details, please see My Harp Story and learn where to go to make a paypal donation towards making things possible to own and restore this very special pedal harp and show your appreciation for Stupid Dinosaur Lies along the way!

Guest Post: Andrea Cau (Theropoda)

2010-11-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Our guest poster is Andrea Cau from Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini, Bologna (Italy), and the author of the amazing blog, Theropoda. This is a recent post of his, and has been translated into English from Italian, so some words didn't fit in the literal translation.

Cannibalism in _Tyrannosaurus_

In a previous post, I had talked about the extra-scientific connotation of certain technical terms used in paleontology, which generate, because of their hybrid colloquial meaning, misunderstandings and distorted reactions in non-professional reader. Among these terms I would definitely include "cannibalism". In the natural sciences, cannibalism is one of several forms of predation. It differs from the others only for a taxonomic characteristic: the object of predation and the predator are of the same species. The cannibalistic predation is relatively common in nature, and should be the abolition of unhatched eggs, killing of other children of the same species scavengers on carcasses, to predation active "real". Among the existing terrestrial vertebrates, it is described thoroughly between reptiles and birds, as well as in various mammalian carnivores and omnivores. However, our intimate perception of this natural behavior, like many others evolved as functional adaptations (and often not even perceived as different from any other by the animal predation), is strongly distorted from the innate human need to anthropomorphize other animals . In humans, cannibalism (except for cases arising from extreme contingencies or pathological) always has a cultural connotation. Be that as taboo, as a ritual, "our" cannibalism breaks the arbitrary boundaries between nature and culture, becoming symbolic connotations and values. However, this in no way means that the same may apply to other animals. Given this premise, necessary and essential, we pass to the recent study of Longrich et al. (2010).

Longrich et al. (2010) described 17 specimens of dinosaur remains from various museum collections, which bear traces of predation by Tyrannosaurus. Of these, 4 are the remains of Tyrannosaurus rex (3 bones of the foot and humerus). Form and format to the other, leave safely from Tyrannosaurus on the remains of prey. In addition, Tyrannosaurus is the only taxon of large predator known in the Hell Creek Formation can leave similar signs. Given that, currently, there is no evidence of more than one species of giant predatory theropods, nor tyrannosauroide in the Hell Creek Formation, the evidence shows that Tyrannosaurus practiced cannibalism. Many of the teeth marks found in the study are attributable to sub-adult specimens of Tyrannosaurus(or an adult bite, but practicing with the back teeth - smaller than the maxillary anterior teeth). As mentioned in the introduction, this conclusion does not have anything bizarre, macabre or sensational, for those studying the theropods (or, in general, animals). The fact that the signs come from limb bones (and not from the skull or the spine) and showing no signs of healing, is inclined to interpret as a bite to eat meat products, rather than the outcome of fights between two animals alive . In addition, the location of the bites in areas rich in little fabric, suggests that it is on a carcass scavengers previously ravaged by other animals, as in the case discussed here.

I showed credible evidence of cannibalism to Deinonychus and Mapusaurus in previous post. In light of the many evidences in various species of theropods, and considering the spread of cannibalism in modern reptiles and mammals, these studies confirm the practice of animal behavior. Cannibalism in the inner part of the population dynamics of predators and, in the case of superpredator, it is one of the main forms of regulation of the number of individuals present in a range. The abundance of probable evidence of scavengers, in combination with cannibalism, confirms the hypothesis thatTyrannosaurus was an opportunistic predator and non-selective.

As I wrote at the beginning of the post, any subject that goes beyond the issues highlighted in objectively analyzing the data is pure mystification (paleontological and ignorance). Of course, I have no doubt that the mystification will proliferate shade of a fetish as powerful as "T. rex cannibalistic."

Bibliography:

Longrich NR, Horner JR, Erickson GM, Currie PJ. 2010. Cannibalism inTyrannosaurus rex. PLoS ONE 5 (10): e13419. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013419

A Special Message From The Freaks!

2010-11-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

Fossils in The News

2010-11-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

Check out these awesome articles about fossils and new discoveries!

Cambrian Explosion: New Timeline for Appearances of Skeletal Animals in Fossil Record

The "Cambrian Explosion" is defined as a time in our history, about 542 million years ago, when the Earth suddenly began spitting out new species of creatures. Geologists at UCSB (University California- Santa Barbara) have done some intense testing and re-defined the timeline.

Rendering of T. Rex tail. (Credit: iStockphoto)

T. Rex's Big Tail Was Its Key to Speed and Hunting Prowess

The bones and muscles that were attached to T. Rex's tail and top of his legs were much different than first assumed....

New Discoveries in North America's Great Plains Bring Ammonites to Life

What do Ammonites and methane seeps have to do with each other? Why does this discovery separate ammonites even further from modern nautilus and coleoids? It's all about ecology!