Oxides

This is the Oxide collection.

Oxides from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

We owe the earth's vast Iron deposits to Oxygen's appearance 3.7 billion years ago. Oxygen was produced by tiny blue-green bacteria, which converted Earth's early Carbon Dioxide atmosphere to Oxygen as part of their respiration process- something that plants still do today.

Free iron atoms in the oceans came into oxygen and rusted, falling to the bottom of the sea. As the continents drifted, these iron deposits came onto dry land.

These bacteria formed huge, reef like communities, called stromatolites. You can see fossilized stromatolite colonies on the second floor of the museum.

Meteorites

After you've finished looking through the mineral section, take a look at the hutch to the far right. This is the Amherst College meteorite collection. These hunks of rock and metal are ancient. They were formed by the same cloud of gas and dust that formed everything in our solar system.

Meteors from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

Horses

If you look out the door behind you, you can see a horse skeleton staring back. It took nearly 50 million years for the horse to evolve from the size of a cat to where it stands today.

Horse Evolution from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

Wall of Mammals

To the left of the earliest horse, you'll see a wall of mammal skeletons reaching up to the ceiling. These bones are from the Cenozoic era- All the time since the dinosaurs went extinct. Without giant reptiles to dominate the landscape, mammals had a chance to undergo rapid diversification.

Wall of Mammals from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

The birds behind you represent a startling trend. Much of life as we know it is disappearing at a rate not seen since the dinosaurs went extinct. Many of these extinctions are due to human encroachment. Some of these birds, like the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, simply lost the land where they lived. Others, like the Great Auk and Moa were hunted to extinction.

Sadly, there is no strength in numbers when it comes to human-caused extinctions. Eskimo Curlews may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands a century ago. It is thought that there were about 5 billion Passenger Pigeons when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. The last Passenger Pigeon ever died in a Cincinnati zoo, in 1914.

If you will look to your right, you can see the remains of mammals that went extinct under more mysterious circumstances.

Ice Age America

These fossils are representative of some of the mammals that roamed North America just over 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age.

Ice Age America from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

You may notice that the Mammoth, Mastodon, Cave Bear, Megaloceros, and Dire Wolf look pretty similar to some present day animals. Why did these ones die out while their cousins are still around?

Sometimes it has to do with food availability. Larger animals need more food to live, and the introduction of humans may have cramped the ability to get nutrients. Sometimes it has to do with adaptability. Maybe these creatures couldn't deal with humans arriving and the ice age ending at the same time. Some researchers say other causes, like new diseases or a natural disaster caused these animal's extinction. Finding answers for these questions is all part of a paleontologist's job.

Megaloceros

The first part of this exhibit will focus on the giant deer, Megaloceros.

Megaloceros from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

Sexual selection is a tough gambit. The famous example of walking the line between females and food is the Peacock. The male's tail is a Peahen magnet, with a large, full tail advertising good genes. It is also a target and a hindrance. A tiger looking for a meal could easily spot a peacock's tail, and it's unlikely that a big bunch of tailfeathers would make it possible to escape. The selection for tailfeathers goes between two variables: big enough to attract females, light enough to escape predation.

Smilodon

The phrase "dynamic megafauna" refers to large animals that are able to capture the public's imagination. If any of these creatures fit the phrase, it would be Smilodon.

Smilodon from Ted Rogers on Vimeo.

Fossils of Smilodon, as well as the Dire Wolf next to it, have been found in the La Brea tar pits, preserved for thousands of years. It's thought that large herbivores would come to the pits to drink, become stuck, and attract predators while bleating for help. Predators looking for an easy meal would end up in the same situation.

For the next part of the tour, please concentrate on the drawers behind you, closest to the entrance.