Petrified Trees

I've posted about the Florissant Fossil Beds in the past - it's one of the greatest fossil beds ever discovered. Here are a couple of petrified trees.

These are redwood trees, preserved in a volcanic eruption around 35 million years ago.

Our World Tuesday

Old Critter

Taken at the Denver Aquarium - more to come. I like how the fossil appears to be chasing the fish...

Camera Critters

Saturday's Critters

Petrified Tree (Yellowstone)

Volcanic eruptions create large-scale fossils. In the case of Yellowstone, this includes the stump of a fossilized tree, which I think is a good Scenic Sunday blog post.

In the past, there was more to this, but souvenir hunters used to take pieces of the trees home with them. A fence was finally built around the site, and this is all that remains.

Chicago - Field Museum

The Field Museum is a famous museum of natural history in Chicago, and a must-see for anyone interested in such things. It includes many dinosaur skeletons, including Sue, an impressive T-Rex skeleton found in the main hall.

In addition to Sue are numerous dinosaur skeletons of various shapes and sizes.

It also includes numerous preserved animals.

We also saw the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibit, with hieroglyphics and mummies, and more.

These photos barely scratch the surface of this museum, and it's a great way to spend a day.

Dinosaur Ridge

Very close to Red Rocks is Dinosaur Ridge,where many years ago, road construction revealed dinosaur tracks, which are now clearly visible.

You can see broken shale in places as you're walking up the road.

Here's an Ornithomimus track.

And this one's from an Iguanodon.

Here's a series of tracks leading up the ridge.

All in all, it makes for a fascinating little diversion.

Florissant

About 30 minutes west of Colorado Springs is the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Fossilized redwood stumps up to 14 feet in diameter can be found, and it's one of the richest fossil deposits in the world. It's well worth the effort for those interested in such things.

The park also includes the restored Hornbek Homestead.