The controversy about whether famous dinosaurs had feathers has been raging for a while now. We’ve known that some dinosaurs had feathers ever since Archaeopteryx was discovered in 1861, but more recent discoveries of the presence of feather-like structures on larger dinosaurs ( like Lane the Triceratops here at HMNS) that are more distantly related to […]
People come from all over the world to see our Morian Hall of Paleontology, but most of them are so excited to see the dinosaurs that they pass right by the fossils at the entrance to the hall. Those amorphous blocks, seemingly insignificant, are our collection of stromatolites. Stromatolites are columnar structures created by […]
As if things weren’t exciting enough with the addition of our new giant eurypterid, installation has begun on an even bigger, and possibly creepier specimen. The above image shows our new giant crinoid specimen getting set up in time for Memorial Day. So what is a crinoid? Although personally they look to me […]
Who wants to see a seven foot long scorpion? Given the option, most people would respond either with”that’s impossible!” or “no!”, but here at HMNS seven foot arthropods are not only possible, they’re something to get excited about! Unfortunately, although our new specimen is an arthropod, and is about five feet long, it […]
Walliserops trifurcatus is a weird looking creature. It’s a Trilobite, which is a kind of Arthropod that existed in great numbers from the Cambrian period (541 million years ago)to the end of the Permian (about 250 million years ago), long before dinosaurs evolved. They were so prolific, and there were so many species of trilobites […]
Eremotherium, the species of giant ground sloth that we have on display in our Hall of Paleontology, roamed North America 20,000 years ago. Thomas Jefferson, the great statesman who celebrates his 274th birthday today, roamed North America 200 years ago. It may seem like a stretch to connect the two, but in fact it was […]
HMNS is home to 11 permanent exhibit halls that house many wonderful and rare things. Even if you’ve visited our museum several times, we can guarantee you’ll always find something new to see! Next time you stop by HMNS, see if you can spot these five extremely rare items that are on display. Moon Rock Just […]
We’ve all heard of the notorious classified ads. Whether you think the stories emanating from those newspaper columns are romantic or creepy, it can’t be denied that they are interesting to hear about. Here at HMNS we have missed connections everywhere. But I don’t mean human connections, or a least living human connections… The connections that […]
Horseshoe crab death track. Mesolimulus walchi. Solnhofen, Germany. When people walk through our permanent exhibit halls, sometimes they come upon an object that makes them think “what in the world are they doing?“. It can be two fossilized skeletons posed in an unusual arrangement, or an artifact with a strange ritual depicted on it. This […]
Lecture – Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals by Donald Prothero Complete with full-color reconstructions of the beasts–many never before depicted–along with photographs of amazing fossils from around the world, Dr. Donald Prothero will take us on a journey to the Paleocene, 65 million years ago after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. Here […]
