Birthday Museum Trip (picture heavy)

[Wrangellian]

20 hours ago, Canadawest said:

Ha! Ha!  You can see the mountain from the Alberta side.  But...we already have too many mountains, so you British Columbians can keep it.

I've found round the same species just south of Radium Hot Springs, B.C.  That is real convoluted terrain and hard to access but Cambrian outcrops with trilos here and there.

I know they were close, but no cigar!

What species have you found south of Radium HS? (maybe a separate topic)

[Kane]

Someone should send a message to the museum to get things straight! We have some serious provincial politics issues. It would be like saying Congress is in Poughkeepsie NY!

[Fossildude19]

Ask any millennial, they'll tell you Congress is located in Poughkeepsie!  

[Kane]

Just now, Fossildude19 said:

Ask any millennial, they'll tell you Congress is located in Poughkeepsie!  

WRONG: they can't spell that. Too complicated

[Fossildude19]

Ah, but they would spell it PuhKipSY

[Kane]

Best to say that Congress is located in the mystical region of Unicorn Hair in state of Pumpkin Spice Latte

[Wrangellian]

Love a good museum tour. That is quite the 'Hall of Trace Fossils'. What are those 2 bumpy plates on the far wall by the Exit sign?

 

[Ridgehiker]

42 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

I know they were close, but no cigar!

What species have you found south of Radium HS? (maybe a separate topic)

 

I'm too lazy to make a new topic...not sure as a large variety and area not studied.   Some are Olenellus and Ogygopsis ( likely O kotzi).   Look up Pedley Pass, Bumpy and satellite view of area. Not a hundredth of the exposures have been looked at with a trained eye.  There's likely a couple dozen Burgess Shales and Marble Canyons waiting to be discovered.

 

Just realized we Canadians have hijacked an American's  thread.  Hope the new guy in the WH doesnt hear about it.

[Wrangellian]

Ha! I'm more worried about the guys in the Admin's seat..

Thanks, will make a note of those locations. Not that I will ever get out there to see them (been to the Walcott Quarry and Mt Stephen) and these sites have a way of turning up in parks so can't be collected anyway. I was under the impression that the area has been fairly well scrutinized of late, because of the realization of what you said.

[Fossildude19]

Well, I was able to recover 32 more photos. Will try to upload them later this week.  

[ynot]

[Kane]

(echoing Tony/Ynot/Yont/Tobias/Wilbur/Other Tony personalities) 

[ynot]

11 minutes ago, Kane said:

(echoing Tony/Ynot/Yont/Tobias/Wilbur/Other Tony personalities) 

ouh- I never met Tobias or Wilber!!Guess I will have to look them up!

But wait- it is to crowded in here already!

Ynot et al.

 

PS By the way--HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!!!!

[Jeffrey P]

Tim, What you have displayed looks great so far. Thanks for posting them. I thought this museum was only dino footprints. I would venture to say that it is likely the best display of fossils in New England. Looking forward to the rest of your shots. Those tracks are definitely the highlight- just awesome!!! Some of the slabs are unbelievable. I'll definitely  check it out someday.

[Fossildude19]

Here are the rest of the photos - a few didn't come out well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed it.  

 

 

 

[ynot]

On 4/30/2017 at 4:08 AM, Fossildude19 said:

Hope you enjoyed it.  

Very much so!

Thanks for sharing it.

Tony

[digit]

Love the virtual tour--looks like a great museum to wander through. Why is it that out of all of those images of great specimens, I'm particularly drawn to the one labeled 'bird in guano'?

 

Like Tony (or Ynot) said, if we never manage to get there in person we can now all feel like we've been there. Alternatively, this may spur some of us to pop into that museum if we are ever in the neighborhood.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Fossildude19]

 

22 hours ago, ynot said:

Very much so!

Thanks for sharing it.

Tony

3 minutes ago, digit said:

Love the virtual tour--looks like a great museum to wander through. Why is it that out of all of those images of great specimens, I'm particularly drawn to the one labeled 'bird in guano'?

Like Tony (or Ynot) said, if we never manage to get there in person we can now all feel like we've been there. Alternatively, this may spur some of us to pop into that museum if we are ever in the neighborhood.

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Glad you gentlemen enjoyed it.  It is definitely worth the visit if you are ever in Western Massachusetts.  

Regards,

 

[Bguild]

Loved this museum. Definitely one of the hidden treasures of Western Mass. Edward Hitchcock's Ichnology Collection is unreal and I believe it's the largest, most documented collection of tracks in the world. 

 

Nash's Dinosaur Track Site is nearby as well. I had to stop there to purchase my own footprint from the rock shop after drooling over Hitchcock's collection all afternoon.

 

P.S. Happy belated birthday!!!

[Fossildude19]

1 minute ago, Bguild said:

Loved this museum. Definitely one of the hidden treasures of Western Mass. Edward Hitchcock's Ichnology Collection is unreal and I believe it's the largest collection of tracks in the world. 

 

Nash's Dinosaur Trackway is nearby as well. I had to stop there to purchase my own footprint after drooling over Hitchcock's collection all afternoon.

 

P.S. Happy belated birthday!!!

 

Thanks! 

Haven't been to Nash's.  Will have to check it out sometime. 

Regards,

[Peat Burns]

This is an awesome photo tour.  Thank you for posting it.  I love that not all the fossils were the palaeontological equivalent of "charismatic megafauna" and included smaller, more obscure taxa that may have not been world-class in preservation (like the little Bellerophon as an example).

 

I was wondering how the displayed fossils were primarily grouped.  Did they have the fossils grouped primarily by time period, where within each time period they had the full range of phylogenetic diversity (porifera through chordata)? Or did they have the fossils grouped more by taxonomy, where for instance they had a display for trilobites with fossils from different time periods in the same case?  If it was both, was it 50/50 or more heavy with time based vs. Taxon based.  If both, how did they distribute the two types of groupings (intermingled or separate locations)?  Sorry for all the questions.  I'm organizing a public display and am always studying other museums and curious how they organize things.  In my case, space is an issue, so I may not be able to combine both types of groupings.

[Fossildude19]

1 hour ago, Peat Burns said:

This is an awesome photo tour.  Thank you for posting it.  I love that not all the fossils were the palaeontological equivalent of "charismatic megafauna" and included smaller, more obscure taxa that may have not been world-class in preservation (like the little Bellerophron as an example).

 

I was wondering how the displayed fossils were primarily grouped.  Did they have the fossils grouped primarily by time period, where within each time period they had the full range of phylogenetic diversity (porifera through chordata)? Or did they have the fossils grouped more by taxonomy, where for instance they had a display for trilobites with fossils from different time periods in the same case?  If it was both, was it 50/50 or more heavy with time based vs. Taxon based.  If both, how did they distribute the two types of groupings (intermingled or separate locations)?  Sorry for all the questions.  I'm organizing a public display and am always studying other museums and curious how they organize things.  In my case, space is an issue, so I may not be able to combine both types of groupings.

 

 

Hmm. Good question. 

They had a bunch of drawers to open, and they were grouped by Taxon. Then they had some various displays dealing with Taphonomy. 

Then they had the Hall of Ichnofossils. 

If I had to narrow it down, I would say it was grouped mostly by taxon, and then some by region. 

Being a New England museum, a few of the displays were focused on the fossils and geology of the region. 

 

They had some showpieces, but many were casts, which I think is perfectly fine, and better than not having fossils, at all.

It was also quite small, relatively speaking - you could probably visit everything in about a 45 minute tour. 

But it packed allot into the small package.  

Glad you enjoyed it.

Regards,

 

Tim

 

[Peat Burns]

Thank you, @Fossildude19.  I love small museums that maximize space (Black Hills Institute Museum in S. Dakota is a good example of a small museum *packed* with fossils from floor to ceiling -- great use of space).  It's a tough decision regarding taxon-based vs time-period based if a museum has limited space or lacks duplicate fossil examples to do both.  On the one hand, it is very desirable to show the evolutionary change within taxa, and on the other hand, it is also very desirable to show change in fossil assemblages over time.  One can always use illustrations to depict one vs. the other, but deciding which method to use for the display of the fossils is tough!  

 

Thanks again for the excellent virtual tour and the info.

[Yvie]

Thank you Tim for putting this on,looks like you had a great birthday.Love they way they use the space.

 

   Yvie

[Fossildude19]

2 minutes ago, Yvie said:

Thank you Tim for putting this on,looks like you had a great birthday.Love they way they use the space.

 

   Yvie