Professor Bob Gillham, is an emeritus professor at the University of Waterloo, Earth Sciences department. He donated two beautiful fossil specimens to us from China, which he was given as gifts when he travelled there to give presentations.
Chan Han fish
Chan
Han
Fish
(Osteohilus)
Age:
Pliocene
Location:
Yichang,
Hubei
Province,
China
Sinoceras - an animal 440 million years ago
Sinoceras is a kind of Nautiloid Mollusc (soft-bodied). It is only found in China and its name “Sino” is an ancient Chinese name. Sinoceras are preserved in hard limestone. They are one of the most important fossils of Ordovician and they were the top predator of this time. Nautiloids have large shells, which grow as the animal does. The animal lives in the last chamber of its shell, and new chambers grow as the animal does. The shell of fossil nautiloids were straight, curved, coiled, or rarely in a helical coil.
The Mollusc group is very large and diverse. It began in the Late Cambrian, some 515 million years ago, and members of this family are still present on the Earth today. This group includes ammonoids, belemnites, and modern coleoids (such as octopus and squid).