#NationalFossilDay

Buried in a museum drawer for nearly 50 years, a fist-size fossil has handed paleontologists the evidence they’d been hunting for: unmistakable claws on one of the oldest known relatives of spiders and scorpions. Learn more on #NationalFossilDay:

Fossilized mammal from age of dinosaurs had spiky hair #NationalFossilDay

Today on #NationalFossilDay I’d like to thank all the amateur collectors who keep notes and donate their good specimens to museums. This was my collection from age 13, most of which is now in collections at the Yale Peabody (donated to Princeton) or the Museum of the Rockies.

Happy #NationalFossilDay! Duckbill dinosaur crests have long aroused speculation & controversy. Some hypothesize it was a visual sign—to attract mates or intimidate rivals—but fossils don't provide enough evidence. The mystery remains unsolved.

Today is #NationalFossilDay! What better way to celebrate than by featuring Michigan's state stone, the Petoskey stone! These beautifully patterned rocks are actually ancient fossilized coral. The fossils date back to the Devonian period around 380 million years ago.

Some scientists dig underground to find fossils that explain events of the past. Astronomers look at the night sky. The oldest fossils found on Earth are ~3.5 billion years old. The light from the Musket Ball Cluster took roughly 5.1 billion years to reach us! #NationalFossilDay

It's #NationalFossilDay! These fascinating fossils are a far crinoid from being extinct. Crinoids, also known as feather stars and sea lilies, are basically upside-down sea stars with stems.

Grand Canyon has more than scenery. It contains an amazing diversity of rock formations with an abundance of fossils hidden within. (1315) Learn more about National Fossil Day: #NationalFossilDay #Paleontology #Geology

This is Dimetrodon grandis, which is NOT a dinosaur. It lived millions of years earlier (284 to 273 million years ago) and belongs to the synapsids, a group that also includes mammals. Find Dimetrodon in our @NMNH's #DeepTime fossil hall. #NationalFossilDay

For most of the nearly 3.5 billion years of documented life on Earth, creatures were simple. Then, beginning about 541 million years ago, life quickly diversified into an array of new, complex forms. #NationalFossilDay

#DIDYOUKNOW: The oldest known #octopus fossil belongs to an animal that lived between 359.3 and 298.9 million years ago. Talk about ancient! #NationalFossilDay 🐙

A fossil preparator removes excess rock from Zuul crurivastator, a recently discovered Cretaceous dinosaur. Happy #NationalFossilDay!

Three dinosaur footprints sit atop the bridge which carries South Confederate Avenue over Plum Run in Gettysburg, PA. The bridge was constructed circa 1938 of sandstone or siltstone and the prints are from the Triassic period, approx. 200-250 million years ago. #NationalFossilDay

This is a living #fossil! 🦴 The Chacoan peccary was thought to be extinct, known to western science only through fossil remains. The first modern-day sightings of live Chacoan peccaries were reported in Paraguay in 1972. #NationalFossilDay #FossilDay #ChacoanPeccary

Today is #NationalFossilDay so here's a photo of one of our favourite fossils, which was discovered in the cliffs on the west shore of Stromness, #Orkney in 1846. It's not a hammer, or an old nail embedded in the rock. Read this🧵 to find out more. (Photo from Stromness Museum)

The Chacoan peccary was thought to be extinct, known only through fossil remains. It wasn't until 1972 when sightings of live Chacoan peccaries were reported in Paraguay. These amazing animals may look like spiky pigs, but are in their own scientific family. #NationalFossilDay

Imagine finding the “bones” of dead stars! 🦴 At the end of a massive star’s life, it can leave behind its core as a neutron star … just a trace of what it once was. Like other fossils, these remains can teach us about the star’s past: #NationalFossilDay

Happy #NationalFossilDay! #Majungasaurus crenatissimus original skull and neck blew this lad away! Every once in a while I come across a specimen that is next-level amazing to behold. I took a few minutes to properly admire its awesomeness, amazed at my fortune. #FossilCrates

At first, I was a tree, now I’m petrified. Thinking all my wooden rings had turned to stone inside...⁣ Well, that explains the expression. #NationalFossilDay

"Earth is constantly changing – nothing on its surface is truly permanent." – [Pub] "Fossils, Rocks, and Time" Happy #NationalFossilDay ! Download your own PDF copy here: #fossils #fossil #geology