The Johnson Geo Centre's 2023 palaeontology lecture series is online! This series looks at the rich palaeontological history of Newfoundland & Labrador, given by the people conducting this research on the oldest known animals on the planet.

It’s been too long since we’ve had a #FractofususFriday for #FossilFriday! Here’s a cast of several #Fractofusus specimens growing around (and likely absorbing nutrients from) a large mass of decaying tissue on the #Ediacaran sea floor. From Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland.

What do you want to know?.

“So Rod, what did you do at work today?” (an ongoing series). Ferrofluid is an oil that contains tiny magnetic particles, so it reacts to magnets, allowing us to see - at least in part - what magnetic fields look like. They’re normally invisible, so this is cool stuff. 🤓

When the sunlight is at just the right angle the #Ediacaran fossils at Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, almost seem to jump off of the surface. It’s a truly magnificent sight (and site!) to behold. #FossilFriday #FractofususFriday

#Trilobites had the ability to recover from non-fatal predation attacks, and regenerate damaged shell with later moults. For #TrilobiteTuesday, this #Cambrian Gabriellus kierorum from BC, Canada had a large chunk bitten off - but appears to be recovering nicely!. Image: @AMNH

This #FossilFriday: a couple of specimens of Lecanospira, an #Ordovician gastropod from western #Newfoundland (a common genus around much of eastern North America at the time). I collected these back in the early ‘90s, while doing my MSc fieldwork.

This #TrilobiteTuesday, a nicely preserved Olenellus sp. from the Lower Cambrian of western Newfoundland; it's approx. 3 cm long. Image: ShaleAndStoneCo.

This #FossilFriday, the first fossil identified at the new #Ediacaran aged fossil locality in Upper Island Cove, #Newfoundland. This #Charnia is only the tip of a massive iceberg: we can't wait to start sharing the results from this remarkable site!. Photo: R. Blenkinsopp

This #TrilobiteTuesday, a fabulous plate of #Silurian #trilobites from Joachim Barrande's "Système silurien du centre de la Bohême" (published between 1852 and 1881).

This #FossilFriday: a Jurassic(?) coquina, a stone formed from fossil debris (collection locality/exact age unknown). It has belemnite (cephalopod) and bivalve (mollusc) shells on both sides and is a great teaching specimen, so is a regular addition to our touch fossil trolley.

For the first #TrilobiteTuesday of 2025, here’s a model of Paradoxides elegans I just 3D printed. Probably not the most accurate biological model, but it’s great as an educational tool. And it’s fun. 😃.

This #FossilFriday, more material from my PhD - almost a fossil itself by now! 😉 This beautifully preserved crayfish (Palaeocambarus) and fish (Lycoptera) pair were collected from the Early #Cretaceous Jehol biota of Liaoning Province, northeast #China.

This #FossilFriday, let's go to the #Cambrian aged Burgess Shale in #Canada for one of my favorite #arthropods, #Waptia fieldensis. They're rarely more than 6 cm long, but they show remarkable preservation: guts, eyes, antennae, even - very rarely- eggs! (

This #TrilobiteTuesday, one of my favorite Middle Cambrian #trilobites from Manuels River, #Newfoundland: the very rare Anopolenus henrici. Almost complete, but the genal spines (projecting back from the sides of the head) have come off; one of them is lying across the thorax.

This #FossilFriday, one of the stranger #Ediacaran fossils from #Newfoundland: Hapsidophyllas lived on the ancient seafloor and had multiple complex branches coming from a central basal rod. This lesser-known specimen is found on the D surface at Mistaken Point.

It’s #FossilFriday! Here’s a spectacular Primocandelabrum from the #Ediacaran aged MUN surface at Port Union, #Newfoundland. It lived on the deep sea floor and looked a bit like a tiny tree: a central trunk led to smaller branches, which were covered with yet smaller branches.

Interested in learning about the newly discovered Ediacaran fossil site in Upper Island Cove? Here's your chance! Come join the MUN Paleobiology research group give their first public update on ongoing research at this remarkable fossil site.

Like a lot of people recently, I've started up a BlueSky account to accompany my X/Twitter account. I'll be rambling about fossils over there as well, come join me! 🤗. @fossilrod.bsky.social

2/2 Its pointed snout got stuck in the pterosaur's wing, and all three were subsequently fossilized together. This kind of interaction is very rarely preserved in the fossil record, making this a truly unique specimen. Source:

1/2 This #FossilFriday, a remarkable #Jurassic scene: a pterosaur (Rhamphorhynchus), eating a fish (Leptolepides) it had just caught, was in turn speared by a much larger fish (Aspidorhynchus) looking for a meal of its own.