Thursday, February 16, 2017

"Like New" Coprolite Fossils From East Central Utah

     You can't make this stuff up!




      I ordered several Jurassic age coprolite (fossilized dinosaur scat) from east central Utah from a rock shop. 






       The order form lists the condition of this "Christmas Poop -- Better than Coal" as "Like New." These are "Authentic Fossils" and they are "Like New."      

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆



☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

      The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry of east central Utah has produced some of the most well-preserved and complete sets of carnivore dinosaur skeletons (and dinosaur poop!) in the Jurassic formations of North America. 





     Over 15,000 dinosaur bones have been discovered so far from this quarry, a natural predator trap (similar to the La Brea Tar Pits). Many of the rearticulated dinosaur skeletons reside in over 65 museums worldwide. 




      The quarried mudstone is part of the distinctive red Morrison Formation (of Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater fame).




      Interstate-70 divides the area into the north and south halves of the San Rafael Swell, where the quarry is located. (I-70 starts/ends west of the quarry).






      The atypical predator/prey ratio (3:1) represented at the quarry may be explained by the pack hunting tendencies of the most prevalent skeletons, the Allosaurus.  




       The high percentage of smaller individual allosaurs suggests that younger dinosaurs worked together to capture and kill prey. The predators may have followed their prey into the mud and subsequently became mired in the predator trap themselves. (Insert "drain the swamp" joke here).




Look! Fossils "like new!"
Steph

64 comments:

  1. Not being a Game of Thrones watcher, I had to look up the dragon skull photo above, and one of the clues in this Sunday's Cox/Rathvon acrostic. The source of the quote, subtitled Ponto el Vortoj --spoiler alert if you search it -- may be of interest to readers of this blog.

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  2. So, how much did you pay for four pieces of dinosaur crap?

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    Replies
    1. $2.50 plus shipping. They were a bit hit with kindergarteners and high school juniors alike.

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  3. Smartflower solar panels. I like how they fold up in strong winds or at night.

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    Replies
    1. What do they mean by "self-utilization"? Seems like a lot of hype on the website.

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    2. Yeah, there is hype, for sure. . .

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  4. Speaking of renewable energy, I think we missed this milestone last week.

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  5. That is a major milestone (kilometerstone?)!

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    Replies
    1. As the article explains, they're looking at installed capacity, not actual generated power. But I've noticed over the past decade or so, flying over the Plains states, and driving through California, how obviously wind farms have changed the view of the surface.

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  6. My brother and his teenage kids are considering coming out for some Colorado DUNEBOARDING.

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  7. Ten women in science in a 1 minute video

    {You may leave the sound off as it doesn't add much to the sequence of still photos.}

    Rosalind Franklin, of DNA's "Franklin, Watson and Crick" is included, as well as Hedy Lamarr and her contribution (with a composer) of a new frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum technology used in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology today.

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  8. In college, I took some summer classes (along with 19 other undergraduates from Midwestern colleges) in French and cathedral architecture at Chartres in France. I learned that "ananas" is the French word for "pineapple," and that "banane" is the French word for "banana."
    At the end of our stay, I wrote an awful (in the sense of "really bad," not "awe-inspiring") "poem" that included a limerick about each of my fellow students and our Benedictine fearless leader/chaperone/"tour guide."
    The first limerick was about me (of course):
    "A jamboney writer named Joe
    Wrote vingt leetle poems in a row.
    This one is the first
    And also the worst,
    So here's how the rest of them go..."

    One of the "rest of them" was about a wonderful young woman named Shawn who seemed to me to have a positive attitude about everything. Its beginning went like this:
    "A fine judge of enjoyment named Shawn
    Goes ananas over every new dawn..."
    I remember agonizing over whether to use the word "ananas" or "banane".
    "Banane," of course, fit our English idiom, "going bananas." And "banane" (2 syllables) also scanned better than the 3-syllable "ananas." But in the end, I went with "ananas." I could not resist its similarity with our English word "bananas."
    Subsequently, whenever I hear someone use the idiom "going bananas," I subliminally substitute, rephrase, and say to myself "Going Pineapples!"

    LegoSays"GnarlyDuneboarding,Dudes!"

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    Replies
    1. Lego, I went ananas over your post! Thanks for sharing it.

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  9. SATurday's week 2 of SAT preparation class with 6 juniors is complete. I am SATed, SATisfied, and SATurated. Hope the kids are also. . .

    Only 3 weeks to test day, SATurday, March 11!

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    Replies
    1. It's been a long time since I SAT for that test. I'm sure you did a senSATional job. Hope you received just compenSATion.

      OK, now we need a new topic of converSATion...

      Delete
    2. The kids said it was helpful; it certainly was a focused 3 hours (starting with Ethiopian, Nigerian, and Ugandan food).

      These kids have spent their entire math careers having to show their work. Now, we don't care how you get there, just eliminate two answers and pick the one of the two remaining with a format that fits the answer protocols.

      Then, the "grid-in" problems are a whole other thing where the bubbling may be the hardest part of some answers.

      It's a weird, strange trip.

      Yes, on to SUNday!

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  10. New topic: Globeville, CO : an unfortunate claim to fame.

    I am sure developers are not disclosing this information to the flocks of new CO folks {10,000 a month!}

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  11. Replies
    1. What do you get if you cross a snollygoster with a gerrymander?

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    2. Remember when "45" meant "revolutions per minute"? Maybe it does again?

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    3. I took one glance at the headline and subheadline and went directly here. Now I'll go back and read the article.

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    4. My wife says her cousin dated the author of that piece in law school.

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    5. Six degrees (and less) of separation!

      I wonder if the law school specialty was blind trusts (sorry, too good to resist).

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    6. I think I'd rather help a tree grow in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. . .

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    7. Seems bogus, anyway. There's no vinyl in cremains, and how much ash can you suspend in vinyl and still get a playable record? I think StoryCorps is a better idea, if you want to preserve a loved one's voice.

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    8. StoryCorps: far better than StoryCorpse.

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    9. I estimate that at least half the new members we swear in at the Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corps mistakenly pronounce that final "ps". They must wonder about the snickers among the audience.

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  12. The music on this is all wrong. It should have been my college roommate singing, in a Cockney accent, "My Baby has Gone Down the Plug Hole."

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  13. We've talked about Iceland here before. One student, upon hearing that the mid-Atlantic ridge is on land in Iceland, asked me if I had directions to the rift as she is going there this summer. . .

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    Replies
    1. Here it is. In StreetView, you can see the road sign marking the turnoff (with US and EU flags).

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    2. Thanks, jan.

      There's no pineapple on the pizza at the ridge, though. . .

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    3. There better not be. Iceland isn't far enough from New Haven to get away with that.

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  14. The Internet is amazing. I just saw a news flash on the Times site, saying it was discovered that Kim Jong-nam was killed by agent VX. So, I go to Wikipedia to find some details about VX, and there's already a note there about Kim, with two references, from the Wall Street Journal and RT (formerly Russia Today)!

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  15. It was announced at Rally Day today that Oprah Winfrey will speak at Smith College's graduation in May.

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  16. A new slot near the slot canyons of Zion NP which is close to Bryce NP. . .

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  17. I'd listen carefully to anything Emily Tucker Prud’hommeau has to say. And, by the time you finished saying her name there would be no time left for fillers.

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  18. New post on "Dendritic Images: From Gems to Streams: AGate-Way Drug?" is now up.

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