E108 Collectible Fossils
   Fossil collecting is not limited to museums. It is an extremely popular hobby. Fossils are artifacts of living creatures and plants. They are visually fascinating and many are absolutely beautiful. Educators find them extremely helpful as they permit students to actually see the remains of some long gone species. When a kid gets to actually hold an eight inch tooth from a huge Megalodon shark, he or she will never forget the experience. The same hold true with many other fossils.
   This poster presents the fossils that are widely available to private collectors. These include the well-known fish from Wyoming’s Green Mountain Formation, the famous ferns from St. Claire, Pennsylvania, the Chesapecten so abundant around the Chesapeake Bay and the petrified wood of the American Southwest. It includes such favorites as trilobites and coprolite. The latter is petrified dinosaur dung. Kids love talking about "dinosaur poo poo." Many outstanding specimens are shown. All are accompanied by an illustration of the prehistoric species, except in cases where appearance is unknown due to soft parts not fossilizing. In such cases, an illustration of a closely related modern species is presented. Interesting captions provide information and cite the geological period in which the species. A geological time chart puts everything in perspective.