Specimens - Natural World
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Chambered Nautilus Nautilus pompileus
Think of an octopus or a squid that lives in a large, round shell and then you'll understand what a Chambered Nautilus is like. This creature has the ability to take water into a sac in its body, and then expel this water quickly, creating a cool method of propulsion. By using this type of movement the Chambered Nautilus moves shell-first through the water. So this undersea animal never actually sees where it's going, only the places where it's been. (94.125.3) |
Mastodon Mammut Americanum
It's not often that you find the remains of a prehistoric animal right in your own backyard. That's what happened on the Christensen farm in 1976. As workers used machinery to create a pond, they accidently scooped up the skull, teeth and some rib bones of the mastodon. The mastodon is an extinct relative of the modern elephant that roamed the earth more than 10 thousand years ago. All of this happened near the town of Greenfield, Indiana. You can see the mastodon on display at The Children's Museum (78.200.1). |
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Morpho Butterfly Morpho menelaus
This brightly colored butterfly can be found in the rainforests of South America. The Morpho butterfly is well known among insect collectors due to its brilliant blue colorization. This blue color comes from tiny iridescent scales that cover the butterfly's wings. Pilots flying over the rainforest can occasionally see brief flashes of blue as these butterflies travel above the forest canopy. (96.53.3) |
Ammonites
Dactilioceras sp.
These creatures, known as ammonites, are ancient relatives of the modern day octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. although the specimens in this photo are only a few inches in diameter, some fossil ammonites have been found that are larger than 8 feet across. These ammonites were found in Germany among rocks that date to about 150 million years ago! Ammonites became extinct more than 65 million years ago. (96.16.2) |
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Crinoid Platycrinites Saffordi
Crinoids are often referred to as "sea lilies" because of their strong resemblance to plants, however they are actually animals that are closely related to starfish and sea urchins. This specimen was found in Montgomery County, Indiana. The remains of this creature are over 300 million years old! This crinoid fossil comes from a time that geologists call the "Mississippian Period" or the "Age of the Crinoids." (92.23.1) |
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