Find the PalaeoPoem here: https://www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/hyeanas-den

William Buckland found the site, first believing the remains to be washed there by the biblical flood but then finding evidence of hyena feeding and coprolites. Illustration by Conybeare.

William compares the hyena stomach to a “Papin’s Digester”, a pressure cooker used in the 17th-19th centuries that could melt bones!

Find the poem here: https://www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/oldhamia-antiqua!

John Joly was an Irish scientist of many interests and, in 1899, he proposed the oldest age of Earth at 100my - which now we know to be 4.5by old!

The trace fossils Oldhamia capture the behaviors of ancient animals ~635-485mya! For example, these fossils demonstrate the feeding behavior of marine worm-like organisms digging for bacteria to eat under microbial mats on the sea floor.

🧪forgot to add this for the science feed!

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/ode-to-a-trilobite

Trilobite fossils are recognizable with 3 distinct body segments. They had large compound eyes, allowing them to see all changes in the world from their “fossil grave”. Timothy was a self-taught paleontologist who became the State Paleontologist of New York.

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/frozen-mammoths (the full poem is in “A song of geology”, published 1969).

Many mammoths have been found in ice! They are found in Siberia and in other parts of Russia and Alaska, and are especially well preserved - even containing DNA and their last meals! There is ongoing debate on how and whether mammoths should be revived through cloning.

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/fossil-fish

Two especially exciting findings were a large predatory fish, Holoptychius, and a heap of extinct armored fish, placoderms, that died together simultaneously!

This comedic poem was written in Scots in 1863 after finding a rich assemblage of fish fossils. These fish were found in the “Auld Red Stanes” or the Old Red Sandstone in the UK dating to 419-358mya.

John Mill wrote "The Fossil Spirit: A Boy's Dream of Geology," possibly the first children's book on geology. It included illustrations and poetry based on science from 1854. Listen to the poem and read about John Mill here: palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

Missed our poster last year? Check it out: drive.google.com/file/d/1LgPq...