Latest Images

Gumnut Comparison

Tue, 26 May 2026 06:57:16 +0000

The modern gumnut of Eucalyptus compared to an indeterminate fossil gumnut (Eocene).

Family Hyriidae

Fri, 22 May 2026 04:45:36 +0000

The ubiquitous Australian mussel family.

Top: Hyriidae indet. (Maybe subfamily Velesunioninae), Eocene

Left: Velesunio ambiguus, Pleistocene

Right: Velesunio ambiguus, Modern

Ginkgo Family Photo (UPDATED)

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:54:36 +0000

Now that I actually have a Ginkgo biloba leaf, it can finally pay its respects to the Triassic gang. The big dark one, Ginkgoites, is in the Ginkgoaceae family, but the others are in the Karkeniaceae family, so they are more like dead cousins.

For some reason the humiliation that the order Ginkgoales has suffered from world domination to a lone species always makes me very sad. They were such a big thing back in the Mesozoic, them and their close relatives the Czekanowskiales were everywhere, it's such a shame we only get one species of this once beautifully diverse group to appreciate.

Hemipteran eggs and Possible Insect Eggs

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 09:25:08 +0000

On the left, Hemipteran eggs from the Green Shield Bug (Palomena prasina). Credit: @djgwild on iNaturalist LINK

On the right, putative insect (hemipteran?) eggs from the Triassic of Ipswich, Australia, laid on a bennettitale.

Cyathea tomentosissima & Osmundacaulis grigsii

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:48:07 +0000

The caudex of a dead Cyathea tomentosissima (Modern: Highland Lace Tree Fern, native to Papua New Guinea) compared with the partial caudex of the extinct tree fern Osmundacaulis grigsii (Jurassic, Tasmania). On both you can see the hollow rootlike vessels.

Caudex is the scientific term for the "trunk" of tree ferns, which is actually a rhizome of roots and fibres which can store nutrients, carry water, and provides a pretty decent substrate for little plants to grow in.

Fungus Comparison

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:04:42 +0000

An Oligocene fungal mycelium (Basidiomycota indet., possibly order Polyporales) and the modern Hexagonia tenuis (Australian Bracket Fungus).

Serpulidae Comparison

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 07:20:01 +0000

On the left we have the fossil species Pyrgopolon sexangularis from the Cretaceous of Hannover, Germany (seen here on a large echinoid), and on the right we have a modern serpulid (perhaps Galeolaria) from Australia.

Araucaria Female Cone Comparison

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 07:21:29 +0000

The partial female cone of Araucaria mirabilis (Jurassic, Argentina) and the complete female cone of Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop Pine, Modern, Australia).

Spondylus sp. Comparison

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 22:31:00 +0000

A modern Pacific Spondylus tenellus (Scarlet Thorny Oyster) and the Cretaceous (British Flint) Spondylus cf. latus. Neither are actual oysters, they are more like scallops.

Cyathea and Cladophlebis

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 23:39:31 +0000

A modern tree fern (likely Cyathea australis) and the Triassic form-species Cladophlebis australis, which is usually attributed to tree ferns.