Dr. Rod Taylor
@fossilrod.bsky.social
Palaeontologist, science interpreter, nature lover and music collector.
This #fossilfriday, we move in time to the #Permian when the #amphibian Seymouria sanjuanensis lived in what is New Mexico today. Clusters of large animals like this one are rarely found in the #fossil record, especially this well preserved.
Photo: Amy Henrici
Photo: Amy Henrici
October 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This #fossilfriday, we move in time to the #Permian when the #amphibian Seymouria sanjuanensis lived in what is New Mexico today. Clusters of large animals like this one are rarely found in the #fossil record, especially this well preserved.
Photo: Amy Henrici
Photo: Amy Henrici
This #FossilFriday: a spectacular 3D reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis, an arthropod from the 500 million year old (Cambrian) Burgess Shale, produced by Lars Fields.
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
September 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This #FossilFriday: a spectacular 3D reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis, an arthropod from the 500 million year old (Cambrian) Burgess Shale, produced by Lars Fields.
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
This #TrilobiteTuesday: A beautifully preserved Badulesia tenera, a Middle Cambrian #trilobite from the Middle Cambrian Manuels River Formation in #Newfoundland. It had a set of distinctive ridges on the cephalon (head), making it easy to recognize.
September 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday: A beautifully preserved Badulesia tenera, a Middle Cambrian #trilobite from the Middle Cambrian Manuels River Formation in #Newfoundland. It had a set of distinctive ridges on the cephalon (head), making it easy to recognize.
Lydonia jiggamintia, a newly described #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland, on the matground-covered seafloor overgrowing a decaying Fractofusus andersoni. Palaeontology isn't just about describing new organisms, it's also about understanding how they lived.
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
September 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Lydonia jiggamintia, a newly described #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland, on the matground-covered seafloor overgrowing a decaying Fractofusus andersoni. Palaeontology isn't just about describing new organisms, it's also about understanding how they lived.
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
This #FossilFriday, here's Franz Anthony's delightful #Ediacaran life artwork, featuring critters from all three Ediacaran assemblages - including our very own Haootia!
August 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
This #FossilFriday, here's Franz Anthony's delightful #Ediacaran life artwork, featuring critters from all three Ediacaran assemblages - including our very own Haootia!
One of our temporary displays at the @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social features a group of Artemia, aka fairy shrimp or sea monkeys. These delicate little crustaceans have a fossil record extending back at least 115 million years! #FossilFriday
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
August 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
One of our temporary displays at the @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social features a group of Artemia, aka fairy shrimp or sea monkeys. These delicate little crustaceans have a fossil record extending back at least 115 million years! #FossilFriday
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
This #FossilFriday, a little foolishness courtesy of my brother Art. 😊🦖
August 15, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This #FossilFriday, a little foolishness courtesy of my brother Art. 😊🦖
This #FossilFriday, here’s a fabulous #fossil poster made available (for free) by the government of #Canada back in the 1990s. I’ve had this on my wall far longer than I want to admit!! 😁
August 1, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This #FossilFriday, here’s a fabulous #fossil poster made available (for free) by the government of #Canada back in the 1990s. I’ve had this on my wall far longer than I want to admit!! 😁
July 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Best day in the field ever? Quite possibly. It’s not every day you find the oldest known muscular animal in the world. Mamsetia manunis - an #Ediacaran fossil at @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social - before and after cleaning on the day it was discovered. #FossilFriday
July 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Best day in the field ever? Quite possibly. It’s not every day you find the oldest known muscular animal in the world. Mamsetia manunis - an #Ediacaran fossil at @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social - before and after cleaning on the day it was discovered. #FossilFriday
I've not posted for #FossilFriday for a few weeks, so let's get back to it with #FractofususFriday! This #Ediacaran beastie from Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, possessed some very complex branching, as highlighted in this close-up image (courtesy of CBC.ca).
June 27, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I've not posted for #FossilFriday for a few weeks, so let's get back to it with #FractofususFriday! This #Ediacaran beastie from Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, possessed some very complex branching, as highlighted in this close-up image (courtesy of CBC.ca).
This #FossilFriday, I give you Plumeropriscum. It’s a smallish frond with a short stem, and is a pretty common critter on the famous E surface at Mistaken Point. It lived 565 million years ago, but was first described in 2016.
May 16, 2025 at 12:02 PM
This #FossilFriday, I give you Plumeropriscum. It’s a smallish frond with a short stem, and is a pretty common critter on the famous E surface at Mistaken Point. It lived 565 million years ago, but was first described in 2016.
This #TrilobiteTuesday: Manuels River, a Middle Cambrian locality in #Newfoundland, features some of the best preserved trilobites you'll ever see. @triloben.bsky.social has donated some fantastic specimens to @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social, which are currently on display here in a temporary exhibit.
May 13, 2025 at 12:40 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday: Manuels River, a Middle Cambrian locality in #Newfoundland, features some of the best preserved trilobites you'll ever see. @triloben.bsky.social has donated some fantastic specimens to @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social, which are currently on display here in a temporary exhibit.
This #FossilFriday: here's Gigarimaneta samsoni, an #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland. It lived flat on the deep sea floor, growing outwards in a roughly circular fashion in a series of branching, multi-unit 'arms'. The bottom photo has been coloured to better show the individual arms.
May 9, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This #FossilFriday: here's Gigarimaneta samsoni, an #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland. It lived flat on the deep sea floor, growing outwards in a roughly circular fashion in a series of branching, multi-unit 'arms'. The bottom photo has been coloured to better show the individual arms.
This #FossilFriday, something a little different that my usual #Ediacaran posts. These impressively large, 350 million year old (#Carboniferous) salamander footprints were discovered near Deer Lake, western #Newfoundland, in 2015. (photo: Ken Tuach)
April 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
This #FossilFriday, something a little different that my usual #Ediacaran posts. These impressively large, 350 million year old (#Carboniferous) salamander footprints were discovered near Deer Lake, western #Newfoundland, in 2015. (photo: Ken Tuach)
This #TrilobiteTuesday: a remarkable collection of Middle Cambrian Kootenia #trilobite bodies - most likely a mass mortality assemblage - from Gallants, western #Newfoundland.
Photo: Doug Boyce
Photo: Doug Boyce
April 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday: a remarkable collection of Middle Cambrian Kootenia #trilobite bodies - most likely a mass mortality assemblage - from Gallants, western #Newfoundland.
Photo: Doug Boyce
Photo: Doug Boyce
This #TrilobiteTuesday, here's Gravicalymene bakeri: an Ordovician #trilobite from Tasmania, named after Tom Baker - AKA Doctor Who! It was named after #DoctorWho by the author, as the Doctor inspired him to study #science and time. Very cool. 😁
Image: tinyurl.com/4b8mnbkd
Image: tinyurl.com/4b8mnbkd
April 1, 2025 at 2:15 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday, here's Gravicalymene bakeri: an Ordovician #trilobite from Tasmania, named after Tom Baker - AKA Doctor Who! It was named after #DoctorWho by the author, as the Doctor inspired him to study #science and time. Very cool. 😁
Image: tinyurl.com/4b8mnbkd
Image: tinyurl.com/4b8mnbkd
This #TrilobiteTuesday, one of my favourites: Paradoxides davidis, a #Cambrian #trilobite from Manuels River, Newfoundland, housed at @natural-history.bsky.social. The hypostome (mouthshield) has come off of the shell and is sitting near the tail of the animal. The preservation here is incredible!
March 11, 2025 at 2:49 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday, one of my favourites: Paradoxides davidis, a #Cambrian #trilobite from Manuels River, Newfoundland, housed at @natural-history.bsky.social. The hypostome (mouthshield) has come off of the shell and is sitting near the tail of the animal. The preservation here is incredible!
This #FossilFriday, let’s also celebrate #FractofususFriday! Here’s a cast of several #Fractofusus specimens growing around (and likely absorbing nutrients from) a large mass of decaying tissue on the #Ediacaran sea floor. From Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland.
March 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
This #FossilFriday, let’s also celebrate #FractofususFriday! Here’s a cast of several #Fractofusus specimens growing around (and likely absorbing nutrients from) a large mass of decaying tissue on the #Ediacaran sea floor. From Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland.
“So Rod, what did you do at work today?” (an ongoing series)
Ferrofluid is an oil that contains tiny magnetic particles (iron or magnetite) so it reacts to magnets, allowing us to see - at least in part - what magnetic fields look like. They’re normally invisible, so this is pretty cool stuff. 🤓
Ferrofluid is an oil that contains tiny magnetic particles (iron or magnetite) so it reacts to magnets, allowing us to see - at least in part - what magnetic fields look like. They’re normally invisible, so this is pretty cool stuff. 🤓
March 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
“So Rod, what did you do at work today?” (an ongoing series)
Ferrofluid is an oil that contains tiny magnetic particles (iron or magnetite) so it reacts to magnets, allowing us to see - at least in part - what magnetic fields look like. They’re normally invisible, so this is pretty cool stuff. 🤓
Ferrofluid is an oil that contains tiny magnetic particles (iron or magnetite) so it reacts to magnets, allowing us to see - at least in part - what magnetic fields look like. They’re normally invisible, so this is pretty cool stuff. 🤓
When the sunlight is at just the right angle the #Ediacaran fossils at Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, almost seem to jump off of the surface. It’s a truly magnificent sight (and site!) to behold.
#FossilFriday #FractofususFriday
#FossilFriday #FractofususFriday
February 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
When the sunlight is at just the right angle the #Ediacaran fossils at Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, almost seem to jump off of the surface. It’s a truly magnificent sight (and site!) to behold.
#FossilFriday #FractofususFriday
#FossilFriday #FractofususFriday
#Trilobites had the ability to recover from non-fatal predation attacks, and regenerate damaged shell with later moults. For #TrilobiteTuesday, this #Cambrian Gabriellus kierorum from BC, Canada had a large chunk bitten off - but appears to be recovering nicely!
Image: AMNH
Image: AMNH
February 25, 2025 at 12:56 PM
#Trilobites had the ability to recover from non-fatal predation attacks, and regenerate damaged shell with later moults. For #TrilobiteTuesday, this #Cambrian Gabriellus kierorum from BC, Canada had a large chunk bitten off - but appears to be recovering nicely!
Image: AMNH
Image: AMNH
This #FossilFriday: a couple of specimens of Lecanospira, an #Ordovician gastropod from western #Newfoundland (a common genus around much of eastern North America at the time). I collected these back in the early ‘90s, while doing my MSc fieldwork.
February 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
This #FossilFriday: a couple of specimens of Lecanospira, an #Ordovician gastropod from western #Newfoundland (a common genus around much of eastern North America at the time). I collected these back in the early ‘90s, while doing my MSc fieldwork.
This #TrilobiteTuesday, a nicely preserved Olenellus sp. from the Lower Cambrian of western Newfoundland; it's approx. 3 cm long.
Image: ShaleAndStoneCo.
Image: ShaleAndStoneCo.
February 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday, a nicely preserved Olenellus sp. from the Lower Cambrian of western Newfoundland; it's approx. 3 cm long.
Image: ShaleAndStoneCo.
Image: ShaleAndStoneCo.
This #FossilFriday, the first fossil identified at the new #Ediacaran aged fossil locality in Upper Island Cove, #Newfoundland. This #Charnia is only the tip of a massive iceberg: we can't wait to start sharing the results from this remarkable site!
Photo: R. Blenkinsopp
Photo: R. Blenkinsopp
January 24, 2025 at 12:51 PM
This #FossilFriday, the first fossil identified at the new #Ediacaran aged fossil locality in Upper Island Cove, #Newfoundland. This #Charnia is only the tip of a massive iceberg: we can't wait to start sharing the results from this remarkable site!
Photo: R. Blenkinsopp
Photo: R. Blenkinsopp