Regular readers might recall that it was about a year ago that I brought a bouncing baby trilobite into my house.
That baby seems to have had a pretty good 2011, but... I don't know. It seems to have grown rather quiet and unsmiling lately.
I mean especially quiet and unsmiling rather than merely quiet and unsmiling as trilobites tend to be.
In hopes of changing this situation, I recently brought a new fossil into the house.
It seems to have worked!
Which is to say that my trilobite hasn't become even more quiet and unsmiling.
Which is enough for me to declare victory and move on to other things (like pondering whether or not Michele Bachmann will be available to mow my lawn this summer now that she's stopped running for president).
Here's what the new fossil looks like:
As you probably were able to guess, it's a Knightia atta fishie from the Green River formation in Lincoln County, Wyoming.
I'm told that the rocks there were formed by the deposition of calcareous muds and ash between 40 and 60 million years ago.
"Unlike the harsh desert-like conditions typical of this area today, the climate of the fossil lakes was probably mild and subtropical, as indicated by the fossil fauna (alligators, stingrays, boa constrictors, and warm water fish) and the flora (palm fronds)."
That's what the card that came with my new fossil fishie says, anyway.
Wherever my new fossil may have come from and however long ago it may have sweet-talked its way into this rock, I'm pleased that it's now shacking up with me and the others in my household for as long as it chooses to stay.
If it intends to stay more than 40 million years, though, I hope it gives me some advance warning so I can stock up on the chips and dip.
It looks to me like somebody tried to blot out the two little feet you see in all those Darwin bumper statements.
ReplyDeleteBut looks can be deceiving. The front looks a lot like Tweety Bird to me, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear Michele B. sees Jesus in the face.