Archaeotherium was a pig like animal whose narrow head was covered in numerous knobs. From the shape of its teeth it is thought Archaeotherium could eat nearly anything from tubers (plants like potatoes) to dead animals. This specimen consists of...
Shark teeth like these are common in the fossil record for two reasons. First, just like modern sharks, prehistoric sharks had an unlimited supply of teeth. As a tooth became worn, it would fall out, to be replaced by another growing in a row...
Even though they do not look like it, Mosasaurs were actually a branch of the Monitor Lizard family! They lived in inland waters during the Cretaceous. They could grow very large, with mouths full of sharp teeth. They used these sharp teeth to...
This fossil sea urchin looks “irregular” because it’s base is flat and upper parts are domed. Like today's urchins, it was covered in spines, sometimes so small the animal looked like it was covered in velvet. Sea urchins are still alive...
Glyptodonts were large, armadillo like mammals that lived between twenty and three million years ago. Originally they had armadillo-like armor, but evolved to have armor fused like a dome with a “helmet” for its head and even armor on its tail!...
This predatory animal, also known as a “Sea Scorpion,” crawled along the sea floor looking for food, which included trilobites and cephalopods. These animals are related to spiders and horseshoe crabs, and the lobsters they look like. Most of...
Looks can be deceiving in the fossil record. While these early fossils may look like ancient seastars, they are actually a quite different animal. Scientists call these creatures bryozoan, or moss animals. These animals spent a quiet life in the...
Most things that are preserved in the fossil record are known to geologists simply as “hard parts.” These are things like teeth, bones and shells – items that are more durable and much more likely to survive as fossils. But every once in a...
Squids breathe through the use of two gills, and have either an internal shell or none at all. The fossilized remains of the internal shell of a squid are called Belemites. The diet of a prehistoric squid would have been much like squids of today:...
Horseshoe crabs are actually more closely related to spiders then crabs. Their tail is not a weapon; it is used to help flip it right side up if it should get turned over and acts as a rudder as it moves through the sand. These animals are classic...
Gastropods have a very large, muscular foot, a fairly developed head with eyes, mouth, and tentacles, and carry their house around on their back in the form of a shell. Sound familiar? Gastropods are snails! Like today's snails, some Gastropods...
Blastoids, commonly known as "Sea Lillies", are ancient animals very similar to starfish. They had a long stem like structure and a system of “roots” to hold them in the sediment of the sea floor. They spent their lives slowly...
Gastropods have a very large, muscular foot, a fairly developed head with eyes, mouth, and tentacles, and carry their house around on their back in the form of a shell. Sound familiar? Gastropods are snails! Like today's snails, some Gastropods...
In life Brittlestars are in one piece, but upon dying their different sections tend to separate and disintegrate. Whole fossils like this are extremely rare and preserved only when the animals were suddenly buried whole. Brittle arms were useful...
Crinoids were prehistoric animals that looked like flowers. Their bodies were pear shaped and covered with plates. Attached to the top of this body were feeding arms that waved in water currents to grab food particles that floated by. These...
In life Brittlestars are in one piece, but upon dying their different sections tend to separate and disintegrate. Whole fossils like this are extremely rare and preserved only when the animals were suddenly buried whole. Brittle arms were useful...
Fossils; Animals, fossil; Dinosaurs, fossil; Skin; South Dakota; Edmontosaurus
This unusual fossil was discovered among the jumbled bones of a duckbill dinosaur bone bed. At this site in central South Dakota thousands of duckbill bones can be found piled together like jack straws. This rare skin impression was also found....
