Hi all,

The oldest known fossil horseshoe crab (Lunataspis aurora) have been
reported from Ordovician rocks (445 Ma) in Canada.  If confirmed, this
discovery pushes back the oldest known horseshoe crabs ~100 million years!

For more information, see the article below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080128/sc_livescience/oldesthorseshoecrabf\
ossildiscovered

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday

Hi all,

I recommend two children's books on the evolution of life on
land...before the dinosaurs.  I do not gain any money from the sales
of these books.  I recommend them to you now, because I think they are
high quality, fun, factual, engaging, and educational.

In the interest of full disclosure, I served as a technical consultant
for these books.  Basically, I helped to check facts on insects,
arachnids, and myriapods.

Both books were made by author/illustrator Hannah Bonner.  I think she
intended to correct the popular misconception that dinosaurs were the
oldest land creatures.  She illustrate the rich and interesting story
of life on land...long before the first dinosaurs appeared.

1. When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the
Earth (2004)

This text reviews the history of life on land during the
Carboniferous, Permian, and early Triassic Periods.  It includes the
evolution of amphibians, reptiles, insects, arachnids, and myriapods.
The book ends with the appearance of dinosaurs.

2.  When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A
Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long before Dinosaurs (2007)

This text reviews the history of life on land during the Silurian and
Devonian Periods.  It includes the story of the earliest land plants
and animals (i.e., millipedes, arachnids, eurypterids, insects).  It
also includes the evolution and diversification of early fish.

I have included an additional book review below.


Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday, Instructor

Department of Earth Science
Northeastern Illinois University
Chicago, IL

-------------------------
Hornbook
*Hannah Bonner  When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began
to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long before Dinosaurs; illus.
by the author 
48 pp. National Geographic 10/07 isbn 978-1-4263-0078-3

Library edition isbn 978-1-4263-0079-0 
(Intermediate, Middle
School)

This scientifically thorough but humorous account of prehistoric life
focuses on the time between 444 and 360 million years ago during the
Silurian and Devonian periods. Readers accustomed to thinking that
prehistory is all about dinosaurs might be surprised to discover that
intriguing developments were taking place much earlier, particularly
in the seas. Bonner's friendly and engaging writing enlivens a
comprehensive explanation of conceptually challenging biology at a
level perfectly targeted to elementary- and middle-school readers. The
science is first-rate, framing factual information within the big,
important ideas of paleontology and geology. Equally effective are the
multilayered cartoonlike illustrations containing cultural references
for both adults and children. Most of the illustrations are not just
funny but truly scientific, demonstrating the power of illustration to
help make scientific ideas clearer through clever visual metaphors.
Bonner even slyly pokes fun at the children's science book genre with
an amusing spin on the obligatory experiment add-on (in this case a
"recipe" for how to make a land plant and a land animal). Appendices,
pronunciation guide, glossary, sources, and an index complete the
book. d.j.f.

Greetings:

Northwest Federation director and president for the Oregon Coast Agate
Club in Newport, traveling to Montana mid-July for rock- and fossil-
collecting. I'm a non-commercial collector seeking public-accessible,
legal sites for collecting, especially in western MT. Happy to
patronize private and fee sites as well.

Any assistance to open collecting sites as well as any guide services
greatly appreciated. Please feel free to forward my email to others
able to help.

Thank you, in advance, for your assistance.

Guy DiTorrice
www.OregonFossilGuy.com
Newport OR USA
oregonfossilguy@...

Hi all,

I've put together a preliminary posting of some photos I took at the
Tucson Show. There's a link off my paleo page at:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/fossil.html

or you can go directliy to:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/rgmf07/rgmf07.html

I only worked over two of the hotels so the emphasis is on meteorites
and fossils (mostly trilobites) from the Inn Suites and Ramada. More
pictures will be added as I get time so check back in a week or so.

-Rik

Hi all,

If you ever wanted to taste a trilobite, try the cookie recipes at
these websites:

http://www.georgehart.com/trilobites/trilobite.html

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/education/trilobitecookies2.html

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/education/trilobitecookies.htm

Happy Holidays!

Cary

Hi all,

For most people, their favorite fossil arthropods of all-time are
Trilobites.  What is a trilobite?  Trilobites were a highly successful
group of arthropods that lived in the ancient oceans for about 265
million years!  They lived during the Paleozoic Era from the early
Cambrian to the Late Permian (approx. 515 - 250 million years ago).

Trilobites are found all over the world.

A good website on trilobite fossils is http://www.trilobites.info/

The website includes "Trilobite of the Month."  For July 2006, the
trilobite is Illaenus bayfieldi Billings 1859 from Quebec, Canada.

What did trilobites look like?  See the "Morphology" section.

How did trilobites live?  See the "Paleobiology" section.

How many different kinds of trilobites were there?  See the
"Classification" section.

To see many photos of trilobites, see the "Miscellaneous" section.

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060608/ap_on_sc/millipede_sighting_8

Hi all,

Did you know that the La Brea Tar Pits captured insects as well as
saber-toothed cats, mammoths, and birds?  For more information, see
the Page Museum website at http://www.tarpits.org/

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday

Hi all,

On March 10, 2006, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago
opened a brand new exhibit called "Evolving Planet," which highlights
the geological and biological history of Earth.  The new exhibit
includes an digital Cambrian aquarium (about 505 million years old), a
walk-through Carboniferous coal swamp (about 300 million years old),
many dinosaurs, Cenozoic Green River exhibit (about 50 million years
old), many ice age mammals, and a life-size reconstruction of the
famous human fossil, Lucy!

For more information on the Field Museum and Evolving Planet, see
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

Best Regards,

Cary R. Easterday

Hi all,

This story is about a LIVE scorpion that fought hard NOT to be a fossil!

For more information, see http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3438589

Best Regards,

Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
xenoblatta[AT]hotmail.com

My impression was that the reviews written on it were way more incredible and
false than the special itself.  It shows Arthropleura rearing up and rattling
and kind of lurching to defend itself, but atleast they mention it as a
herbivore and they show it unearthing itself from the floor litter. However, the
funniest part is the demise of the arthropleurid when it gets flipped onto a
very dull cypress knee and gets IMPALED! Wow, armor plating just isn't what I
thought it woud be, ehehe. Most of the Carboniferous shots are simply cypress
trees but all-in-all it was still interesting to watch. They point out that
lightning storms that happen during more oxygen rich periods could have caused
explosions.
From an artist's standpoint, the 3D models are getting more detailed and
polygon-heavy. It makes for great close-ups. Also, watch for a lot of
transparent skin membranes and sub-surface scattering.
Anyone else watch it yet?
-R

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Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Spiders, centipedes and
scorpion-like critters are among the 27 new animal species that
biologists have discovered in the dark, damp caves of two Central
California national parks, officials announced Tuesday.

For more information on this story, please visit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060118/ap_on_sc/new_species

Best Regards,

Cary R. Easterday
Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
xenoblatta[AT]hotmail.com

Thanks Cary. I thought that this special, be it ever so flawed or exaggerated,
still warranted some attention from enthusiasts. Since there is limited material
out there attempting to explain the real story to readers (as opposed to there
being so many dinosaur books), I feel that audiences will be forever tainted by
this CG. It will be hard to tell the kids how things really might have been if
they have 1950's B horror monsters running through their heads. Of course, some
of them were surely more amazing than their hollywood doppleganers.
-R

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks Cary. I thought that this special, be it ever so flawed or exaggerated,
still warranted some attention from enthusiasts. Since there is limited material
out there attempting to explain the real story to readers (as opposed to there
being so many dinosaur books), I feel that audiences will be forever tainted by
this CG. It will be hard to tell the kids how things really might have been if
they have 1950's B horror monsters running through their heads. Of course, some
of them were surely more amazing than their hollywood doppleganers. -R--- On Tue
01/10, Cary < ceastk@... > wrote:From: Cary [mailto:
ceastk@...]To: FossilBugz@...: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:26:05
-0000Subject: [FossilBugz] Walking with Monsters on BBC and PBSHi all,From the
makers of Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with PrehistoricBeasts comes the
latest in the "Walking with..." series:  Walking withMonsters.  This show
explores life before the dinosaurs, includinglife
reconstructions of giant sea scorpions (eurypterids), giantdragonflies, giant
spiders, and giant millipedes (Arthropleura).  Iencourage members to enjoy the
show for its entertainment value andspecial effects, but I also caution members
to be very skeptical aboutthe so-called "facts" presented in this program. I
read a programsummary from the Discovery Channel
website(http://discoverychannel.ca/on_tv/releases/walking_with_monsters/) andit
has many factual errors and exaggerations.For example,1.  Arthropleura was a
giant millipede from the Carboniferous Period,but it probably did not move or
hunt like an anaconda.  Scientists arenot even sure that it ate meat.  Fossil
plant remains have been foundin the gut area of one specimen.  Instead,
Arthropleura may have had alarge body size in order to process plant food (like
a large cow) anddiscourage predators.2.  The Earth of the Carboniferous Period
had many coal forests, butthey were centered around the equator--not everywhere
on
the planet. Like today, the Carboniferous Earth had areas with deserts,
temperateforests, beaches, mountainous areas, and large glacial fields.3.  An
ice age did not wipe out swamps and giant insects in theCarboniferous or
Permian.  In fact, it was during the ice ages of theCarboniferous (and there
were many ice ages!) that the coal swamps andgiant insects existed!  If
anything, it was because the ice ages endedthat many plants and animals went
extinct during this time interval.4.  Scientists are not sure if 95% of all life
went extinct at the endof the Permian.  In fact, 95% is the maximum estimate for
marinespecies that may have gone extinct during this time.  The actualpercentage
of marine species is probably less--80%, 85%, 90%???  Thenumber of species that
go extinct on land appears to be closer to 75%or so.  The end-Permian mass
extinction is the largest we know about,but scientists don't know the actual
percentages for sure.5.  Lystrosaurus (that survived the
end-Permian mass extinction) wasnot a precursor to dinosaurs.  In fact, it was
more closely related tomammals than dinosaurs.  It definately wasn't the
earliest ancestor ofall mammals.  Mammal-like vertebrates go back to the
Carboniferous. Dimetrodon was a mammal-like vertebrate in the early Permian. 
Theearliest known chordates (the group which includes mammals) go back tothe
Cambrian.There is much more than could be said, but I must go now.  If youwatch
Walking with Monsters, please let us know what you think about it.Best
Regards,Cary R. EasterdayUniversity of Illinois at
Chicagoxenoblatta[AT]hotmail.com
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

From the makers of Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric
Beasts comes the latest in the "Walking with..." series:  Walking with
Monsters.  This show explores life before the dinosaurs, including
life reconstructions of giant sea scorpions (eurypterids), giant
dragonflies, giant spiders, and giant millipedes (Arthropleura).  I
encourage members to enjoy the show for its entertainment value and
special effects, but I also caution members to be very skeptical about
the so-called "facts" presented in this program. I read a program
summary from the Discovery Channel website
(http://discoverychannel.ca/on_tv/releases/walking_with_monsters/) and
it has many factual errors and exaggerations.

For example,

1.  Arthropleura was a giant millipede from the Carboniferous Period,
but it probably did not move or hunt like an anaconda.  Scientists are
not even sure that it ate meat.  Fossil plant remains have been found
in the gut area of one specimen.  Instead, Arthropleura may have had a
large body size in order to process plant food (like a large cow) and
discourage predators.

2.  The Earth of the Carboniferous Period had many coal forests, but
they were centered around the equator--not everywhere on the planet.
Like today, the Carboniferous Earth had areas with deserts, temperate
forests, beaches, mountainous areas, and large glacial fields.

3.  An ice age did not wipe out swamps and giant insects in the
Carboniferous or Permian.  In fact, it was during the ice ages of the
Carboniferous (and there were many ice ages!) that the coal swamps and
giant insects existed!  If anything, it was because the ice ages ended
that many plants and animals went extinct during this time interval.

4.  Scientists are not sure if 95% of all life went extinct at the end
of the Permian.  In fact, 95% is the maximum estimate for marine
species that may have gone extinct during this time.  The actual
percentage of marine species is probably less--80%, 85%, 90%???  The
number of species that go extinct on land appears to be closer to 75%
or so.  The end-Permian mass extinction is the largest we know about,
but scientists don't know the actual percentages for sure.

5.  Lystrosaurus (that survived the end-Permian mass extinction) was
not a precursor to dinosaurs.  In fact, it was more closely related to
mammals than dinosaurs.  It definately wasn't the earliest ancestor of
all mammals.  Mammal-like vertebrates go back to the Carboniferous.
Dimetrodon was a mammal-like vertebrate in the early Permian.  The
earliest known chordates (the group which includes mammals) go back to
the Cambrian.

There is much more than could be said, but I must go now.  If you
watch Walking with Monsters, please let us know what you think about it.

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
University of Illinois at Chicago
xenoblatta[AT]hotmail.com

December 17, 2005 from New Scientist:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg18825304.600

The colour of prehistoric animals is almost impossible to determine,
because fossilisation does not preserve it. But under exceptional
circumstances, colour patterns survive. In the Crato Formation in
north-east Brazil, Sam Heads of the University of Manchester, UK, and
his colleagues found a fossil of a type of carnivorous insect known as
an antlion, in which the colour pattern is beautifully preserved.

The Crato Formation, which dates from the lower Cretaceous between 125
and 112 million years ago, is known for its fossils, and colour
patterns have survived on other insect wings previously found there.
"But it is rare to find the pattern preserved in such clarity," says
Heads. "The wings are oriented in such a way as allows us to
reconstruct the pattern on both wings as it would have appeared in life."

Quite how colour patterns are preserved is a mystery, but rapid burial
and oxygen-free conditions are thought to be important.

The discovery of the antlion, a previously unknown species named
Baisopardus cryptohymen, raises a question about its feeding habits.
Modern antlions are best known for their larvae's habit of trapping
and devouring ants by concealing themselves at the bottom of small
pits. But since ants evolved some 10 million years after this antlion
died, the hungry young insect must have feasted on something else
(Palaeontology, vol 48, p 1409).

It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I announce to you all
that my dad's book, "Never Piss Into the Wind" has received its
first "big" review in this month's issue of GeoTimes.

You can see the review at the GeoTimes web site by going here:
http://www.geotimes.org/current/geomedia.html#author

Thanks,
Scott DuBar
www.jrdubar.com

review:
Who said geology had to be boring?
Gretchen Sproat
As an undergraduate student in geology, it was refreshing to get a
firsthand account of what it is like to be a field geologist from
Jules DuBar. In his autobiography Never Piss Into the Wind, DuBar
takes a no-holds-barred look at his long career studying coastal
deposition in South Carolina. From his tales of playing poker with a
young field assistant at a local Elks club to department politics at
the University of Houston, the book is one entertaining vignette
after another.

Each tale of heading out to study the coast of the southern United
States illustrates another aspect of working in this field. Everyday
living on limited funding is illustrated through a story in which
DuBar explains to his field assistant that food and lodging is
limited to $10 a day in a South Carolina workstation. Other stories
are filled with experiences looking for the ultimate bowl of chili
and beer and dealing with vehicles along back roads. Throughout,
DuBar tells us about his life with humor and, in the process, shows
us the varied sides of geologists.

DuBar's stories impart what textbooks cannot — the entirely human
aspect of the geological sciences. In his stories of working in the
field, the mayhem, good times and hard work intermingle with rather
touchy situations, such as dealing with the mandates of
administrators and with wayward students. It is clear that an
understanding of how to deal with people is imperative to survival
both academically and personally.

While geologists primarily study Earth, studying people could be said
to go hand in hand with their work. It starts with relationships
between professors and students and continues through a career as
colleagues and acquaintances are met along the way. Field exercises
and the occasional conference allow for the opportunity to meet and
interact with new people.

For both the geologist and the layperson, DuBar's book is an
absolutely delightful ramble. For the student geologist, the book is
a relaxing read that begs the question: "Is my chair going to break
from my laughing so hard?" For the nongeologist or later-career
geologist, the book introduces one remarkable personality that some
would call colorful, to say the least.

Anyone who enjoys hearing a good tale and who thinks that a scientist
has a boring life or just hides in a room and looks at samples will
benefit from this book. Never Piss Into the Wind requires little
knowledge of geology to understand the basis of the story — only an
interest in understanding humanity.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Sproat is a senior geology student at Clarion University of
Pennsylvania. She is studying paleontology and sedimentology.

Hi all,

Do you think that spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and their
relatives are cool?  The International Society of Arachnology (ISA) is
a great place to see them at http://www.arachnology.org/  Don't forget
to visit the ISA "Arachno Web" pages which include information on:

*Black Widow spiders
*Brown Recluse spiders
*Silk and webs
*Tarantulas
*Wolf spiders
*Myths
*Museum collections
*Photos
*****Paleontology (i.e., fossil history) of arachnids
*Publications and Societies
*Mailing lists
*General information for teachers, kids, and parents

Enjoy!

Cary R. Easterday

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceaste2[AT]uic.edu

Hi all,

I haven't found a convenient photograph of a fossil whipscorpion
(order Uropygi) yet, so I will post a photograph of a close
relative--a short-tailed whipscorpion (order Schizomida).  This
specimen is reported from Columbian amber (South America), dating from
the Pliocene to Pleistocene.  Enjoy!

Best Regards,

Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceaste2[AT]uic.edu

Hi all,

The FossilBugz homepage for the month of July shows a whip scorpion,
an arachnid of the order Uropygi.  I will post an image of a fossil
whip scorpion later.

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceastk@y...

--- In FossilBugz@yahoogroups.com, "Cary" <ceastk@y...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I posted a new image for the FossilBugz homepage.  Can you identify
> this arthropod?  I will give the answer later this month!
>
> Best Regards,
> Cary R. Easterday
> Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> ceastk@y...

Hi all,

To prevent further junk emails, I have modified our FossilBugz group
settings.  Outside messages will be filtered out.  FossilBugz members
are welcome to post emails anytime.

If anyone has questions or comments, please contact me anytime.

Best Regards,

Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceaste2[AT]uic.edu

Hi all,

If you are intrested in paleontology, one of the best reference books
in the past 20 years is now available free online.  For more
information, please see the email from Tim Palmer below.

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceaste2[AT]uic.edu
--------------------------------------------

Palaeobiology, A Synthesis, edited by DEG Briggs and PR Crowther, was
one of the great palaeontological publishing successes of the last 20
years.  Originally produced in 1990 as a joint venture between the
Palaeontological Association and Blackwell Scientific Publications,
its encyclopaedic form made it an ideal and widely-used teaching
reference across the world.

The hard copy has been out of print for some years, and Blackwell's
more recent 'Paleobiology' (by the same editors) does not cover
exactly the same ground.  Therefore The Palaeontological Association
and Blackwells have arranged for the original 1990 text to be freely
downloadable, chapter by chapter, to any interested person.  Multiple
copies may be taken, so this remains an ideal teaching resource.

Links from the Palaeontological Association website at www.palass.org
will soon be set up.  In the meanwhile, the text can be accessed
through the Blackwell website at www.blackwellpublishing.com, or
direct through www.earth-pages.com.

Tim Palmer
Executive Officer, The Palaeontological Association

This is an autobiography by my dad, a retired paleontologist. He's
been getting almost nothing but great reviews, especially from fellow
geologists, and I thought some of you here might be interested in it.

Anyone interested can read chapter excerpts and reviews at
http://www.jrdubar.com or at http://www.neverpissintothewind.com.
(Both point to the same place.)

Thanks,
Scott

Hi all,

I posted a new image for the FossilBugz homepage.  Can you identify
this arthropod?  I will give the answer later this month!

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceastk@...

Hi all,

The Museum of Paleontology is one of the best websites for general
information on fossils, geologic time, and everything else a
paleontologist needs to know.  The website is

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/

The Museum is located at the University of California at Berkeley.

Take and look and let us know what do you think about the Museum of
Paleontology!

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Enviromental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceastk@...

Hi all,

The answers to the "State Fossils" trivia challenge are below!

New York -  eurypterid, Eurypterus remipes, Silurian

Ohio - trilobite, Isotelus sp., Ordovician

Pennsylvania - trilobite, Phacops rana, Devonian

Wisconsin - trilobite, Calymene celebra, Silurian

A full list of Official State Fossils is found at
http://www.intersurf.com/~chalcedony/statefossil.html

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago

--- In FossilBugz@yahoogroups.com, "Cary" <ceastk@y...> wrote:
> Oregon recently announced its official state fossil--the dawn redwood
> or Metasequoia (see article below from theworldlink.com).  Four states
> have arthropods as their state fossils.  Can you name the states and
> the fossils?  I'll provide the answers later in June.
>
> Best Regards,
> Cary R. Easterday
> http://www2.uic.edu/~ceaste2/index.html
>
> Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> ceaste2@u...
>
> ---------------------
> Oregon adopts state fossil
>
> SALEM (AP) - Oregon has an official flower, bird, rock and gemstone,
> but MacKenzie Smith, 11, noticed it was missing something: a state
fossil.
>
> Smith lobbied state lawmakers and testified earlier this session on a
> bill to make the Metasequoia the state fossil, and Wednesday the
> fifth-grade student saw his hard work pay off.
>
> Fossils of the metasequoia - an ancient redwood that died off in
> Oregon five million years ago and has since been reintroduced - is one
> of the most abundant fossils in the state, according to the bill.
>
> Wearing a double-breasted suit, the Tigard student sat next to Gov.
> Ted Kulongoski on the desk in the governor's ceremonial office and
> smiled as he watched the governor sign the bill into law.
>
> He was joined by his class from Templeton Elementary School, who sat
> on the floor and answered trivia questions from lawmakers.
>
> "Who likes fossils? And I'm not talking about me," Kulongoski said to
> the class.
>
> Kulongoski asked them if they liked to go fishing, then the group
> exchanged favorite fishing spots.
>
> After signing the bill, Kulongoski gave Smith a copy and gave him a
> tour of his private office.

Hi all,

Member Ryan Durney has permitted us to post some of his artwork on the
"FossilBugz" homepage.  The artwork features a Permo-Carboniferous
giant dragonfly, Meganeura, hunting some cockroaches.  (Poor roaches!)

We'll post some more of his artwork later.  To see his artwork now,
visit http://www.ryandurney.com

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
ceastk@...

Oregon recently announced its official state fossil--the dawn redwood
or Metasequoia (see article below from theworldlink.com).  Four states
have arthropods as their state fossils.  Can you name the states and
the fossils?  I'll provide the answers later in June.

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
http://www2.uic.edu/~ceaste2/index.html

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
ceaste2@...

---------------------
Oregon adopts state fossil

SALEM (AP) - Oregon has an official flower, bird, rock and gemstone,
but MacKenzie Smith, 11, noticed it was missing something: a state fossil.

Smith lobbied state lawmakers and testified earlier this session on a
bill to make the Metasequoia the state fossil, and Wednesday the
fifth-grade student saw his hard work pay off.

Fossils of the metasequoia - an ancient redwood that died off in
Oregon five million years ago and has since been reintroduced - is one
of the most abundant fossils in the state, according to the bill.

Wearing a double-breasted suit, the Tigard student sat next to Gov.
Ted Kulongoski on the desk in the governor's ceremonial office and
smiled as he watched the governor sign the bill into law.

He was joined by his class from Templeton Elementary School, who sat
on the floor and answered trivia questions from lawmakers.

"Who likes fossils? And I'm not talking about me," Kulongoski said to
the class.

Kulongoski asked them if they liked to go fishing, then the group
exchanged favorite fishing spots.

After signing the bill, Kulongoski gave Smith a copy and gave him a
tour of his private office.

A portfolio of my work is available here:

http://www.ryandurney.com

Stay tuned for a cambrian struggle. Thanks for viewing!

Hi Ryan,

I look forward to seeing more of your work! If people want to see more
illustrations, please post your website address too.  Thanks for sharing!!

Best Regards,
Cary R. Easterday
xenoblatta@...

--- In FossilBugz@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Durney" <OnDrawnWings@e...>
wrote:
> Hi all. It occurred to me that most people who join sort of introduce
> themselves. I am currently a full-time freelance illustrator. I have
> illustrated many published projects, including 27 short picture books
> and have written 7. I am also truly in awe of prehistoric creatures,
> so it came natural to me to try to recreate them from my immagination.
> With Cary's permission, I'll post my prehistoric bug related work here
> in hopes that you might get a kick out of them. For some of them, I
> had some guidance from Cary R. Easterday and some from Simon J. Braddy
> but any mistakes or laughable detail is MY mistake, not theirs. So,
> check the photo archives and tell me what you think!
>
> Kind Regards,
> -R