DEWDROPS

MUMMIFIED BRANCHIOSTEGUS

An amazing mummified tilefish, Branchiostegus japonicus (Houttuyn, 1782) from Holocene deposits near Shizuoka, Japan. This specimen shows remarkable detail right down to the scales. Quite spectacular, truly.

Modern cousins of this fellow live as far south as the Arafura Sea today. Collection and photos from the deeply awesome Takashi Ito. サンさん、ありがとうございました

DEEPLY GROOVED DECAPOD

A beautiful example of the "deeply groovy" decapod, Dorippe sinica, from Holocene deposits near Shizuoka, Japan. This regal fellow has a strongly sculptured carapace. He looks like he would have been quite the bruiser moving about on the seafloor looking for tasty snacks. He likely enjoyed just about any form of meat, potentially dining on fish, worms, eggs, squid, starfish or even a few of his slow-moving cousins.

The carapace is deeply grooved with conspicuous wart-like tubercles; anterolateral margin, between the base of the exorbital tooth and cervical groove, smooth, without tubercles or denticles.

The teeth on the lower orbital margin in the cluster. Carpus of cheliped distinctly granulated on the upper surface and with a conspicuous row of granules along the anterior margin. Though missing here, the merus of second and third pereiopods are almost cylindrical. (Türkay 1995). This specimen was collected and is the collection of the deeply awesome Takashi Ito of Japan

FRENCHMAN MOUNTAIN TRILOBITE: BRISTOLIA INSOLENS

Bristolia insolens

A stunning Cambrian trilobite, Bristolia insolens, from Frenchman Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada.

The mountain provides an example of the Great unconformity with the tilted Paleozoic Tapeats Sandstone underlain by Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Schist. An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two strata of different ages. We know when we find these that the sediment was not laid down in a continuous deposition. The range also boasts some of the oldest rock on the North American continent, at about two billion years old.

This spectacular specimen is in the collection of York Yuxi Wang. It is about 4-5cm long; 3-4cm wide.