1. Weird, wacky, and wonderful creatures from the past….
Fossil Critters
Weird, wacky, and wonderful creatures from the past….

2. Your Assignment Get out your Earth History Chart.
For each slide, draw the creature at the right time period of your chart.
Include the name of the creature and any extra info on the slide.
You can use the front and back of your paper as needed.
Each slide includes a photo of the actual fossil along with artistic sketches of what the critters might have looked like in life.

3. So unlike any animal today that they named it after a hallucination!
Hallucigenia 600 MYA
So unlike any animal today that they named it after a hallucination!

4. Pikaia 550 MYA
“Missing Link” between invertebrates and vertebrates – our great great great ancestor!!

5. Rulers of the seas throughout the Paleozoic
Trilobites 580 to 225 MYA
Rulers of the seas throughout the Paleozoic

6. These guys ate trilobites for lunch!
Anomalocaris 550 MYA
These guys ate trilobites for lunch!

7. Eurypterids (Sea Scorpions) 400 MYA
Up to 6 feet long!

8. A giant armored fish with bones protecting its head like a helmet!
Dunkleosteus MYA
1 Meter
A giant armored fish with bones protecting its head like a helmet!

9. Coal Swamps and Forests 300 MYA
Why do you think they call it “fossil fuel?”
Because the coal we burn today is the remains of these ancient plants!

10. Ancient Amphibians 350 MYA
Soft skin without scales, lay eggs in water, but able to live on land as adults.
Ancient Amphibians 350 MYA
Seymouria
Diplocaulus

11. Squids with shells from the time of the dinosaurs!
Ammonites 225 to 65 MYA

12. Dimetrodon MYA
A primitive reptile, but not a true dinosaur. Was the sail for attracting mates or to gather heat like a solar panel?

13. Pangaea Breaks Apart 200 MYA
Pangaea = 1. An ancient supercontinent where all the land was connected.
2. A band that Mr. Fairley played in.

14. Apatosaurus 150 MYA Sorry – there is no such thing as brontosaurus!
When they found their mistake, they had to keep the original fossil’s name!
They put the wrong head on the wrong body, and named it brontosaurus!

15. “Missing Link” between reptiles and birds
Archeopteryx 150 MYA
“Missing Link” between reptiles and birds

16. Ichthyosaur State Park, NV
Ichthyosaurus MYA
Nevada’s State Fossil!!
Ichthyosaur State Park, NV

17. Tyrannosaurus 75 MYA

18. A primitive rhino-like mammal – some types were bigger than elephants!
Uintatherium 50 MYA
A primitive rhino-like mammal – some types were bigger than elephants!

19. Australopithecus 5 MYA “Lucy”
“Missing Link” between apes and humans – our great great great500 ancestor!!

20. Wooly Mammoth 1 MYA