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Some millions of years ago, different species of dinosaurs roamed around the earth that is today home to homo sapiens and thousands of other creatures. Dinosaurs may have been wiped off of the earth’s surface, but we still know a lot about these wondrous creatures, all thanks to fossils and science! If you have watched ‘Jurassic Park’ you must know about the Velociraptor dinosaur or raptor as it is the first dinosaur seen in the movie! These creatures lived and breathed during the end of the Cretaceous Period about 75 to 70 million years ago.

Velociraptor is among the most bird-like creatures ever discovered when it comes to dinosaurs. It was surprisingly small but very fast and vicious. The creature had a sickle-shaped claw on one toe on both feet which played a significant role in making the Velociraptor dinosaur a formidable predator! It also had a special bone in the wrist area allowing it to swivel the wrists sideways in what may be called a flapping motion. It was also capable

Choosing the right gift items for a fossil hunter or a future or practicing paleontologist can be no simple feat. Since they like to discover and collect fossils for research, hobby, or profit, you may probably think of gifting a fossil to make them feel special. While a fossil is a good idea, it should be authentic and rare like a Megalodontooth. If you can lay your hands on such pieces, things would work wonder for you; however, if not, here are the top three gifts you can gift to a fossil hunter:

Funny Paleontologist Apparel
Today, many apparel stores provide customized printed t-shirts designed specifically for fossil collectors or paleontologists. They generally have a wide selection of apparel with funny and witty quotes dedicated to fossil hunters. But if you don’t find the t-shirt you are looking for, you also have the option of customizing your t-shirt by placing a special order. However, you may have to spend some time finding a reliable and trusted store, which is why many people

While trilobite preparatorsand seasoned collectors can skillfully observe and identify fake trilobites, displayed in numerous fossil shows, new trilobite enthusiasts and collectors, who are unfamiliar with how fossils are fabricated, often fail to recognize faked specimens. This lack of knowledge and experience is tremendously increasing the market of fake fossils traders.

But if you don’t want to fall for such fake, take note of mentioned clues below that help you identify fake trilobite in no time. 

Air bubbles are signs on resins

The presence of tiny holes, not bigger than a half-millimeter in diameter in exoskeleton or matrix, should ring the bells. The curing of casting resin creates the formation of bubbles that often create small holes when they burst. 

Differences in matrix color

The difference in matrix color indicates a fake cast and those two different specimens have been fixed together. Closely observe the matrix and look for fine lines that separate two colors. For instance,

The late Miocene / early Pliocene fossils of the Caldera region of Chile are very special. The preservation of these fossils is incredible with great color and size. Many folks remember the big, top quality Megalodon teeth the emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then the Great White shark and the rare Great White transition teeth which were finally named as a species in 2012 (C. hubbelli). But there are many other rare, well preserved shark species that were found in the Chilean Bahia Iglesa Fm. deposits. Many Chilean fossil shark teeth represent the best available specimens for their species, and many these species are still available today in small numbers sourced from old hoards or collections. Unfortunately, the export of all Chilean fossils stopped in 2006 and nearly all of the Bahia Iglesa Fm. collecting area is now a national preserve that can only be accessed by universities or museums. Below are my top 10 Chilean fossil shark teeth for every rare fossil shark tooth collection.

Are you a budding paleontologist? Or do you just love reading interesting facts about the prehistoric era and the creatures that roamed around before humankind came to dominate the earth and its resources? Either way, planning museum visits with friends and family sounds like something that you may be doing regularly! After all, it is the one place where you get to see and admire all the relics from the past. Talking about museums, coming across fossils and bones of creatures that are now extinct is pretty exciting. Fossils of dinosaurs are the most sought after. These wondrous creatures were wiped off the earth about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period. Today dinosaur bones and teeth have been dug out from around the globe. While about 700 species of dinosaurs have been discovered, Tyrannosaurus Rex, popularly referred to as T-Rex, is considered to be one among the most massive carnivores to have ever walked the earth during the late Cretaceous period! Tyrannosaurus

Trilobites are a group of now-extinct marine arthropods that are believed to have first appeared around 540 million years ago in what is today known as Siberia. From there, they quickly spread to other locations around the world, including the United States. Redlichiida and Ptychoparlid bigotinids are regarded as some of the earliest orders of trilobites. The name “trilobite” comes from the fact their bodies could be divided into three parts, both axially and longitudinally. Below are some more interesting facts about this arthropod that lived and thrived on our ocean floors.

1. There are more than 20,000 recognized trilobite species today.

There is no continent where you will not find trilobite fossils. The species varied from each other in many factors, including size and skeletal structure. The biggest one measured almost 28 inches in length while the smallest was less than a millimeter. Some had smooth, convex shells while some had defensive spines.

2. They are the official fossils

One of the most ancient of all the modern sharks, Cow sharks are divided into the following five species: Sharpnose Sevengill, Broadnose Sevengill, Atlantic Sixgill, Bluntnose Sixgill, and the Bigeyed Sixgill. Of the five species, Atlantic Sixgill is the most recently discovered Cow shark. The reason why all these sharks have ‘gill’ at the end of their names is due to the obvious fact that they all possessed gill slits. But what’s with ‘Seven’ gill or ‘Six’ gill? While all the other sharks have the usual 5-gill slits, Cow sharks are unique in their make up as they possess one additional, or in certain classes such as the Sharpnose and Broadnose, two additional gill slits.

This distinct group of sharks first made their way into the fossil record in the late Cretaceous geological period and four of the early Cow sharks still exist to this date. These sharks have not shown many changes in their physical attributes in 65 million years. Hexanchus griseus, the Broadnose Sixgill species, and Notorynchus

Paleontologists, scientists, and those enthusiastic about delving into the prehistoric age know that the great white shark of today is not the largest of the shark. Megalodon, a super-shark that ruled aquatic life in the prehistoric age, nearly 20 to 2.6 million years ago, was three times larger than the Great White shark, growing up to 16-18 meters (55-60 feet) in length. With a size so enormous, no doubt it is the largest of all sharks and was one of the most feared predators ever existed on Earth.

Most of the information about the gigantic Megalodon comes from the size of its tooth collected by researchers in different places all around the world. Judging by the tooth size, which may reach up to 18 cm (7 inches) long, researchers concluded that not only it was the largest and a fearsome creature of the prehistoric era, but also one of the most powerful predators with an estimated bite force of between 10.8 to 18.2 tones, which is quite impressive when compared with the bite force of

Tyrannosaurus rex, T-Rex for short, was a large bipedal predator with small arms and two-fingered claws that became extinct about 65 million years ago. Also known as the “King of the Dinosaurs”, T-Rex roamed on Earth only for two million years, a relatively short period of time considering dinosaurs ruled the land, water, and sky for about 165 million years. 

For more than 20 million years, there was one apex predator shark that lurked in the world’s oceans, and it’s name was Megalodon. It was the biggest prehistoric shark ever. This extraordinarily ginormous shark was also the largest marine predator in the history of Earth. It was much bigger than the modern Great White Shark as well as the mighty Kronosaurus, an extinct giant pliosaur. Here are a few more interesting facts about this extinct mackerel shark: