Dan Bowden
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danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
Dan Bowden
@danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
110 followers 29 following 83 posts
Amateur palaeontologist and photography nut. I’m fascinated by all types of fossils, but concentrate on Trilobites, mollusks and Eocene insects from British Columbia.
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danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
A #fossil Snakefly and a modern relative.

The fossil is from the early #Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China.

#PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #FossilFriday
September 5, 2025 at 8:02 PM
danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
Metasequoia cf. occidentalis (the Dawn Redwood) is the most common #fossil plant found in the Lower Middle #Eocene Allenby Formation. Leafy shoots and branchlets are most common, but male and female cones are also occasionally found.

#PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #FossilFriday
Leafy shoots and branchlets of Metasequoia cf. occidentalis from the Allenby Formation, Princeton, British Columbia. Three examples of staminate (male) cones of Metasequoia cf. occidentalis from the Allenby Formation, Princeton, British Columbia. And a single seed (female) cone (bottom right).
August 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
I missed #FossilFriday so here are some cool #Eocene flower #fossils from British Columbia’s Allenby Formation. Collected near Princeton, BC.

#PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Palaeobotany #Paleobotany
August 12, 2025 at 2:28 AM
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Beautifully preserved Fly #fossils from the lower middle #Eocene #AllenbyFormation

Details in the ALT text.

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Insects #Diptera
Four fossil flies (Order Diptera) collected from the Allenby Formation. This lower middle Eocene formation outcrops in and around Princeton, British Columbia. Top Left: March Fly (Bibionidae) Top Right: Fungus Gnat (cf. Mycetophilidae) Bottom Left: Crane Fly (Tipulidae) Bottom Right: indeterminate fly
August 1, 2025 at 7:32 PM
danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
A teaser of some beautiful #Eocene #fossils that I will start featuring on BlueSky.

Collected from the Allenby Formation in the area around Princeton, British Columbia.

There are many more fine #insect, #plant, #fish, and #feather fossils to come. So stay tuned.

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday
Top left: A fossil March Fly Top right: A fossil bird feather Bottom left: A fossil deciduous plant leaf with a toothed margin. Bottom right: A large fossil flower All were collected from the Eocene Allenby Formation of Southern British Columbia, near Princeton.
July 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
I’ve been occupied with other things and missed a bunch of posts I had planned.

So to get the ball rolling again, here are two examples of Ottoia prolifica, a Middle #Cambrian priapulid worm #fossil from the Burgess Shale, Yoho National Park.
#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology
A fine example of Ottoia prolifica, a priapulid worm from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. This photo was taken during my first visit to the Burgess Shale in the summer of 1993. The specimen resides in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. An example of Ottoia prolifica, a priapulid worm from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. This specimen was acquired from an old collection made prior to the Burgess Shale becoming a protected site. Fossils like this were collected by visitors to the park back when such activities were still allowed, but not encouraged. Hundreds if not thousands of fossils were collected by tourists from Walcott’s Quarry and nearby Mount Stephen. These fossils still occasionally show up at local Rock & Gem shows throughout Canada , the USA, Japan, and Europe.
July 14, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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A small selection of some of the #insect #fossils I’ve collected from the lacustrine deposits of the #Eocene aged Allenby Formation that outcrops in and around Princeton, British Columbia.

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #BCfossils
A collection of Eocene insects from the Allenby Formation. Present in this photo are examples of March Flies, Craneflies, Fungus Gnats, Beetles, several types of wasps, Sawflies, ants, Shield Bugs, Water Striders, Assassin Bugs, Froghoppers (spittle bugs) and a few indeterminate insects.
July 5, 2025 at 11:14 PM
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A photo I took of an enigmatic looking #fossil (Aysheaia pedunculata) 32 years ago at the Burgess Shale (Middle #Cambrian) and the same specimen after being prepped, as it appears on the Royal Ontario Museum’s Burgess Shale website.

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Lobopodia
June 18, 2025 at 10:58 PM
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Two slabs of shale, containing #fossils of the #arthropod Leanchoilia superlata, that were excavated by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) crew, at the Middle #Cambrian Burgess Shale, led by Des Collins in 1993. Photos made using a #NikonF2 #35mmfilm

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology
The arthropod Leanchoilia superlata overlaying the “claw” and mouth parts of the lobopod Anomalocaris canadensis. These beautiful fossils are preserved with pyrite and contrast well against the dark shale. Three specimens of the arthropod Leanchoilia superlata on a slab of shale.
June 13, 2025 at 8:55 PM
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In 2002 I made a second visit to the Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park. While in the Walcott Quarry as part of a guided tour, the guide showed us this Wiwaxia corrugata #fossil that had been found by a visitor earlier in the season.

#PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #FossilFriday #Cambrian
Wiwaxia corrugata is a stem mollusc in the unranked clade Halwaxiida.
June 11, 2025 at 10:06 PM
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It’s #trilobitetuesday!

A pair of photos of a nice example of Olenoides serratus I took back in 1993 while visiting the Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park. Shot on expired slide film using my Nikon F2 and a 55mm macro lens.

#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Cambrian #NikonF2
June 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
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Ptychagnostus praecurrens is the most common Middle #Cambrian agnostid #trilobite from the Burgess Shale of BC’s Yoho National Park. Specimens of Ptychagnostus praecurrens typically reach 8-10mm in length.
#FossilFriday #TrilobiteTuesday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology
Two specimens of Ptychagnostus praecurrens at the top right of the slab. Preserved along with two partial tubes of the priapulid worm Selkirkia columbia.
June 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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Examples of the Middle #Cambrian #trilobite Olenoides serratus from the Burgess Shale.The nearly complete specimen was acquired at the BC Gem and Mineral Show in Chilliwack. The others are from a Rock and Gem shop in Burnaby.

All are from old collections
#TrilobiteTuesday #FossilFriday #PaleoSky
June 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
danbowdenpalaeo.bsky.social
For #trilobitetuesday two specimens of Ogygopsis klotzi from my collection. These Burgess Shale #fossils came from old collections made on Mt. Stephen in Yoho National Park. Prior to the 1970’s it was fashionable to collect fossils in the park. A practice that is now illegal.
#FossilFriday #PaleoSky
June 3, 2025 at 9:55 PM
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Pseudagnostus cf. josepha is found at many of the late #Cambrian McKay Group #trilobite localities in the Bull River Valley (British Columbia) where agnostids are known to occur and is the most common #agnostid found at those sites.
#trilobitetuesday #FossilFriday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology
May 27, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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Marrella splendens is an iconic Middle #Cambrian #fossil and the most common genus found in the Burgess Shale, located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada.

Discovered by Charles Walcott, in 1909, he referred to them as “lace crabs” in his field notes.
#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Cambrian
May 25, 2025 at 1:10 AM
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A selection of Upper #Cambrian Pterocephalia #trilobite fossils from the #McKayGroup of Southeastern BC, Canada. Note the size range of the specimens. The top left specimen is 7mm long. The lower right specimen (a pygidium) is 75mm across.

#PaleoSky #TrilobiteTuesday #FossilFriday #Palaeontology
A photo of 8 Pterocephalia trilobite fossils of various sizes illustrating their size range. The top left piece in the photo contains a tiny Pterocephalia measuring 7mm in length along with two even tinier Labiostria westropi trilobites. The large piece at the lower right in the photo is a pygidium (tail) from what would have been a very large specimen. The pygidium measures 75mm across. Closeup photo of the top left piece in the first photo. The largest trilobite (Pterocephalia indet. species) measures 7mm in length.
May 20, 2025 at 7:54 PM
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A perfectly preserved Stiletto Fly (Therevidae) in #Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic.

From my personal collection.
#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Fossil #FossilCollecting #FossilCollector
May 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
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Agnostotes orientalis & Agnostotes weugi are similar looking agnostids from the Upper #Cambrian (Furongian) #McKayGroup of Southeastern British Columbia. It’s thought that A. weugi may have originated from the slightly older A. orientalis.
#PaleoSky #TrilobiteTuesday #Palaeontology #Paleontology
Agnostotes orientalis (length = 13mm). Note the shape of the deuterolobe (axial lobe of the pygidium). The margins of that lobe are angular. Agnostotes weugi (length = 11.5mm). Note the rounded margins of the pygidial deuterolobe (=axil lobe of the pygidium).
May 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
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An unexpected & exciting surprise!

This Anechocephalus rebeccaae #trilobite was hidden away with many similar looking Labiostria westropi that I collected 15-20 years ago in the Upper Cambrian #McKayGroup of SE British Columbia. Rarest bug in my collection!
#PaleoSky #FossilFriday #TrilobiteTuesday
May 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
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Proceratopyge canadensis and Proceratopyge rectispinata are similar species of #trilobites from the Upper #Cambrian #McKayGroup of S.E. British Columbia. Both occur in the Wujiajiania lyndasmithae Subzone of the Elvinia Zone.
#TrilobiteTuesday #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology #PaleoSky
Proceratopyge canadensis Proceratopyge rectispinata Note the diffences between the axial lobes, glabella shape and glabellar furrows. Proceratopyge canadensis (left) and Proceratopyge rectispinata (right)
May 6, 2025 at 9:07 PM
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Now that it’s getting warmer out, it’s Bee season.

These tiny bees preserved in #amber once pollinated flowers 15-20 million years ago, during the #Miocene Epoch, in what is now the Dominican Republic.

Specimens from my collection.

#FossilFriday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology
Miocene Halictid Bee in amber from the Dominican Republic Proplebia doominicana is a stingless bee
May 2, 2025 at 3:28 AM
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It’s #trilobitetuesday again so here’s another Upper #Cambrian #trilobite from Southeastern British Columbia’s #McKayGroup. This one is Orygmaspis doriansmithi. Length = 6mm.
#FossilFriday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #fossil #fossils #FossilCollecting #InvertebrateFossil
April 30, 2025 at 4:14 AM
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These beautiful freshwater snail #fossils are tiny works of art!

From the #Eocene #AllenbyFormation of Southern British Columbia’s interior region.

#MolluscMonday #FossilFriday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology #FossilCollecting
April 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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Two Upper #Cambrian #trilobites of the genus Orygmaspis from the #McKayGroup of Southeastern British Columbia, Canada. See the figures for details on the differences and species names (Alt text).
#trilobitetuesday #FossilFriday #PaleoSky #Palaeontology #Paleontology
Orygmaspis mckelleri Orygmaspis mckelleri Orygmaspis spinula Figure plate of Orygmaspis mckelleri (A) and Orygmaspis spinula from a comprehensive monograph on McKay Group trilobites. The diagrams show the differences between these very similar trilobites. Chatterton, Brian D.E., and Stacey Gibb, 2016. Furongian (Upper Cambrian) trilobites from the McKay Group, Bull River Valley, southeastern BC, Canada. Palaeontographica Canadiana No. 35
April 23, 2025 at 6:46 PM