Financing the Skeleton Crew - Carboniferous Bones Need a Home

THESE BONES NEED A HOME LET'S BUILD A PALEO-CENTRE Learn More Here Blue Beach, Nova Scotia has yielded the earliest collection of tetrapod tracks on Earth, with more than 2000 specimens in the study sample of the Blue Beach museum. Here is less than half of those laid out in the driveway for viewing. Prior to this only 3 examples have been described in the scientific literature. Blue Beach is now understood to produce the most significant track discoveries of the decade. We have discovered several new morphotypes, and are clarifying some of the mysteries in how early tetrapod ecosystems worked. This is one example of the acceleration of discovery  at Blue Beach. Our friends and colleagues were pleasantly intrigued by the preservation of the 350 myo footprints found at Blue Beach, Nova Scotia. New Mexico paleontologist, Dr. Spencer Lucas (left) and Nova Scotia's Natural Resources paleontologist, Dr. John Calder (right) discuss aspects of variability and clarity...

(Photo credit: Gerald MacKenzie) Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod tracks from Blue Beach (Nova Scotia, Canada) are found on more than 80 stratigraphic levels within the deposit. These 'track-bearing' layers of sandstone/siltstone/shale are exposed along several kms of shoreline, and are constantly revealed by the erosive force of twice-d aily tides in the Bay of Fundy.  (photo credit: Christopher Mansky) Most of the footprints are preserved as 'undertracks', meaning they are from 'lower levels' than the ones' traversed by these creatures. Very few finds represent the 'actual track level' of the trace-maker, so most of the footprints display incomplete footmarks at best, and may be difficult to recognize until one becomes accustomed to the peculiarities of track preservation. Todays' example is an undertrack from one of the better layers, and shows nearly-complete foot morphology.  (Photo credit: Christopher Mansky) The p...