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I don’t usually write about fish and, in general, don’t tend to focus much on ichthyology – but take me to a natural history museum and you will see me hunting for a Dunkleosteus. Can you blame me? They were pretty impressive creatures, just look at the image above. Talk about science fiction meets reality, right?!
Yes, they were enormous. Yes, they looked like modern dolphins (mammals) or sharks (fish) but they were actually reptiles. And finally, no, they were not dinosaurs. Ichthyosaurs have got to be one of my favourite groups of extinct reptiles and a great example of convergent evolution.
I cannot think of many events to which I look forward as much as TetZooCon every year, and I am glad to report that this year’s event did not disappoint. Once again, Darren Naish and John Conway managed to put together an incredible panel of talks and palaeoartists for all of us Tetrapod Zoology fanatics to enjoy. Prepare yourselves, my friends, because this post will be a VERY long one!
Visiting natural history, palaeontology and science museums whenever I visit a new city is something of a tradition to me. This time, I had the pleasure of visiting the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona or Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. The museum is located in a part of Barcelona that I can only describe as what looked like the ‘business’ quarter. Getting there from the centre of Barcelona was pretty easy and the Museum is a very short walk from the Meresme-Forum metro station.
Spiders are amazing creatures and there are thousands of identified species in the world. In the UK alone, there are over 600 species across 37 families. Many people will commonly refer to spiders as ‘insects’. Although spiders, like insects, are invertebrates and belong to the phylum Arthropoda, they do not belong to the same class. Insects are part of the Insecta class, whereas spiders – similarly to scorpions, mites and ticks – belong to the class Arachnida.
On the 29th June we visited the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon. This is my second trip to Portugal but my first to Lisbon. The Museum is located near ‘Estacao do Rato’ and features a Botanical Garden right next to it. The entrance was around 5 euros but for an extra euro, you get access to the Botanical Garden as well.
