What's your favorite museum/famous specimen?

[Jared C]

Some fossil specimens have garnered true fame, like Sue or Stan, but I'm curious about those beyond that too. We all know about these ultra famous specimens, but what about some lesser known named specimens? Actually, I just want to see some of the specimens that have really stood out to you, named or not... and if an ultra famous specimen is your favorite, throw that in too!

 

Some things to include for the reading pleasure of others:

 

 - A photo of the specimen

 - the age of the specimen

 - The specimen name (or collection number, if you know it - otherwise just ignore this part)

 - Why it stands out to you (and any other general info/stories you'd like to share about it)

 

 

I'll start - I just found out this stupendous fossil exists

 

"Mr. Sinister" at the Royal Tyrrell museum

 

"Mr. sinister" is a juvenile Mosasaurus hoffmani that was discovered in 2008 in the Korite ammolite mine on the Bearpaw formation of Alberta. The mine is 71 myo, so lower maastrichtian of the late cretaceous.

It's not hard to see why I'm so enamored with it - it's exquisite. The flipper and tail really take the cake for me. However, it should be mentioned that there's also a meter long lizard fish preserved in its gut! The rarity and preservation of this find is inspiring to no end... partly because how superficially similar the shale appears to our Ozan formation 

 

Before this, the closest I had to a favorite was the complete Ptychodus (anonymous?) found in South Texas that's at the Texas through time museum

[Rock Hound]

This thread poses such a good question.

 

I am lacking the specifics; but one of the most interesting fossil finds I've ever seen, was a 5 Foot Long Skull of Sarcosuchus.  The find of a lifetime, in my opinion.  Possibly, it was the Holotype specimen?

Edited July 14, 2022 by Rock Hound

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

Good question!

I've always been a sucker for pterosaurs and flighted dinosaurs - my favourites are for sure Archaeopteryx lithographica (it's debated whether all specimen belong to this species or 2 and possibly 3 separate ones - but that's a different question!) and Anurognathus ammoni.

 

I'm sure we all know Archaeopteryx - the "urvogel" and the first bird (well, that we know of).

It most likely actually had black feathers, and a split tail! (colour 95% accuracy as evidenced by Carney, R., Vinther, J., Shawkey, M. et al. New evidence on the colour and nature of the isolated Archaeopteryx feather. Nat Commun 3, 637 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1642), and

And, of course, my favourite isn't the holotype (which is on display at the London Museum of Natural History - I have a photo of me with it somewhere!), but of course, the exquisitely preserved Berlin specimen:

 

This one is just... Stunning. It has preserved imprints of the feathers, and it's just a piece of art. If you're ever at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin - this is the one to visit!

 

 

 

And, of course, our favourite teeny pterosaur - Anurognathus ammoni - which is super cute, and looks just like Disney's Stitch, or the porgs from Star Wars.

My favourite specimen is the second one, described by Bennet - Bennett, S.C. A second specimen of the pterosaur Anurognathus ammoni. Paläont. Z. 81, 376 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02990250:

 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by IsaacTheFossilMan

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

As always, be very careful when searching for pterosaur facts and figures: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/ is NOT to be trusted, and neither is https://www.reptileevolution.com/ - these sites are both from David Peters (paleoartist), who was ousted from the scientific community: see quote from Wikipedia: "Peters does not usually examine fossils in person like most paleontologists, but instead uses Photoshop on images of fossils. Peters contends that by using image manipulation, specifically a process he refers to as Digital Graphic Segregation, he can see meaningful details in the fossils that paleontologists do not.".

 

It is paramount that we prevent people from being misled by the unscientific, unbased claims made by Peters.

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

I'm going to cheat and put a few more... Everyone knows I love invertebrates, and cephalopods are definitely not an exception - they're some of my favourites (including brachiopods, don't worry @Tidgy's Dad ).

 

Belemnites are... Pretty cool! Their guards can be found opalised (see figure 1), or in calcite (which readily fossilises). If you go to the Jurassic Coast of England, you can walk around for a few minutes and pick up armfuls of them, and they can be found all over the world - but my favourite come from the Posidonia Shale in Germany - which preserves whole ichthyosaurs, crocodiles, ammonites, belemnites, crinoids, and more from the Early Jurassic Toarcian, which are often preserved in pyrite due to the high content of it in the shale - this causes STUNNING preservation. Preservation like THIS:

 

Figure 1 - an opalised Peratolelus sp. rostrum from Cairn Hill Mine, South Australia:

 

But, anyways - have some soft-tissue preservation of belemnites from this shale:

Passaloteuthis bisulcata from Urweltmuseum Hauff, Holzmaden.

 

Also Passaloteuthis bisulcata, but this time from Museum am Löwentor, Stuttgart.

 

 

And finally! Of course, a fossil from Gloucestershire, in the Cotswolds, England - whoop whoop cool fossils from near me!

Over two decades ago, this ammonite was discovered in a gravel pit by Neville Hollingworth, in 1998.

 

It has been repeatedly studied, most famously in 2021 by the team at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (also in Oxfordshire). I have had the pleasure of talking with the colleagues there about how it all works, and the technology is both impressive and fascinating, allowing us to shed light on quantum and particle physics, as well as allowing us to image really cool fossils like this.

Neutron imaging was used to take 3D images and models of the specimen, shown below:

 

The dark blob on the illuminated part is... Well... Soft tissue. This is extraordinarily rare for ammonites, and super, super exciting. The team even managed to put a 3D model together that we can all view and play with - see here:

 

The study even showed that ammonites were using their siphon (hyponome) to propel them through the water like a jet - much like modern nautili. 

Correlative tomography of an exceptionally preserved Jurassic ammonite implies hyponome-propelled swimming | Geology | GeoScienceWorld

 

 

 

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

There's even a neat valve of a bivalve in the front of the ammonite, with umbo, growth lines and hinge teeth visible!

 

 

Oh, and a gastropod!

 

 

Or two!

 

Neutron imaging, people!

 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by IsaacTheFossilMan

[Plax]

My vote is for Hadrosaurus foulki at ANSP

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

2 minutes ago, Plax said:

My vote is for Hadrosaurus foulkii at ANSP

 

New Jersey's state dinosaur, and the first ever dinosaur to be mounted in 1868, and the first dinosaur described outside Europe, this specimen has an interesting story that can be read here!

 

More recently, Prieto-Márquez et al. (2006) proposed that the genus did not contain any diagnostic features, and is not a valid genus - even though the hadrosaur grouping was named after this specimen - the only specimen of the only species of this genus. However! A paper published by that same author, Prieto-Márquez (2011), concluded that specialisations of the hip allowed for Hadrosaurus to be differentiated from other hadrosaurs - hooray!

 

A cast of the only known bones of the dinosaur can be seen here:

Cropped from IMG_4961 | Academy of Natural Science of Drexel University P… | Flickr

 

But a reconstruction is also shown at the same museum:

Cropped from Hadrosaurus foulkii Dinosaur | Academy of Natural Sciences o… | Flickr

 

Isaac

[Ludwigia]

Helikoprion has always fascinated me. There don't seem to be very many samples of it available and they appear to be very hard to come by.

[FossilNerd]

Not a named museum specimen, but a legendary find here on TFF and a museum worthy fossil for sure! There are multiple threads regarding this massive Xiphactinus, it’s finding, and prep. Also a picture somewhere of it hanging on the wall.  I’d encourage anyone to read the other posts regarding it. 
 

If I can dig them up, I’ll posts links to the other threads. Or maybe @Xiphactinus can provide more info the next time he pops in.  

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by FossilNerd

[FossilNerd]

I just remembered one of my old threads having a post with a picture of it hanging on the wall. If you scroll down @JohnJ also provided a link to a previous thread regarding it. EPIC find and one of my all time favorite fossils. And that is really saying something as I am not a vertebrate/fish guy.  

 

 

 

 

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

9 minutes ago, FossilNerd said:

Not a named museum specimen, but a legendary find here on TFF and a museum worthy fossil for sure! There are multiple threads regarding this massive Xiphactinus, it’s finding, and prep. Also a picture somewhere of it handing on the wall.  I’d encourage anyone to read the other posts regarding it. 
 

If I can dig them up, I’ll posts links to the other threads. Or maybe @Xiphactinus can provide more info the next time he pops in.  

 

 

 

Oh. My. Gosh.

 

I cannot believe I never saw that, that is a literal find of an EON. That is so stunning. Superb find, superb prep, superb display. X is one lucky, lucky guy!

[Ptychodus04]

I have to go with Flexomornis howei for obvious self-promotional reasons. 

 

[Jared C]

Gosh, It's my favorite fossil but I can't even get the ID right, lol. Just making the correction that Mr. sinister is a Mosasaurus missouriensis, not hoffmani 

[rocket]

Europe has some very very good museums for fossils, but my actual favorite is the Giovanni Capellini - Museum in Bologna.

Very unique... cool dinosaurs, fantastic Monte Bolca and really cool and strange old specimens

I will look for pics, did some in March, but, where are they...?