April 2015 Archives

Museum intern Justy Alicea (left) and SMIF technician Jimmy Thostenson set up the CT scanner using a live X-ray image of teeth inside the scanner. (Photo courtesy of Andrea De Renzis)

A Guide to Digital Paleontology

Apr 30, 2015

[This is the unabridged version of museum interns Andrea De Renzis and Justy Alicea’s April 2015 eNewsletter article.] Traditional specimen-based … Continue

UF 242076, a peripheral element of the plastron of Staurotypus moschus. (Photo © VP FLMNH)

Fossil Friday 4/24/15: A kinosternid turtle

Apr 24, 2015

This Fossil Friday we have a peripheral element of the plastron (ventral surface of the shell) of a kinosternid turtle … Continue

Thomas Farm Trip and Earth Day Festivities

Apr 20, 2015

Last week myself and the other interns took a field trip for two days to dig at the fossil site … Continue

Fossil Friday 4/17/15: Fossil Plants preservation and Identification

Apr 17, 2015

We all must have had in a point of our life heard about how extinct organisms remains become fossilized, either … Continue

The fruits of Jorge Moreno Bernal‘s labor at Lake Alajuela. Two crocodile teeth, a ray tooth (both bottom-right), and a possible mammalian pelvis or shoulder plate.

Update on BioMuseo Adventures

Apr 15, 2015

In a previous post, Jeremy told us of some of the many exciting things that have been happening in the field as … Continue

Ocean currents before the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. Photo Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Smithsonian’s Panama Debate Fueled by Zircon Dating | Newsdesk

Apr 10, 2015

Camilo Montes and colleagues have made exciting discoveries about the dating of the rise of the Isthmus of Panama using … Continue

Fossil Friday: A simple Cone Shell

Apr 10, 2015

For this edition of Fossil Friday we have the Cone Shell (Conus molis) that was a predatory gastropod from the … Continue

The skull of Archaeolemur at the Duke Fossil Primate Center.

Duke Trip

Apr 8, 2015

Last week Justy, Nathan and myself headed to Duke to microCT scan fossils from the Panama Canal. Our main goal … Continue

Fossil Friday 4/3/15: A vermetid gastropod

Apr 3, 2015

This Fossil Friday I am happy to introduce a vermetid gastropod, Petaloconchus sculpturatus. Vermetid gastropods, or “worm shells,” are unlike … Continue

Celebrating after a successful plaster jacketing.

Full Plaster Jacket

Apr 1, 2015

Today was yet another beautiful day at Lago Alajuela, where we have spent the last two days searching for fossils … Continue

Month: April 2015