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Link to SHARKS: BUILT FOR THE JOB Submitted by Mark Hodson
Kern County Fossils - This page is under construction
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Buena Vista Museum Of Natural History Banner
Paleo Artwork By Ben Nafus
BVM Mural
Please email bvmnh@sharktoothhill.com if you are interested in attending the Paleontology Workshop.

PALEONTOLOGY

Paleontology is the study of fossils. A fossil is defined as any trace of a past life form. Although wood, bones, and shells are the most common fossils, under certain conditions soft tissues, tracks and trails, and even coprolites (fossil feces) may be preserved as fossils. Paleontologists study these fossils and attempt to use them to reconstruct the history of the Earth and the life on it.

INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS

Though the Museum specializes in local Miocene vertebrate fossils, invertebrate fauna are well represented in the fossil record and in the Museum. A description of each invertebrate phylum is given and fossils are on display. Shells or other hard skeletal parts of trilobites, brachiopods, crinoids and other extinct or seldom seen creatures are on display. Many are marine invertebrates whose Paleozoic Era heyday has long since passed. More recent Miocene invertebrate fossils, including clams, gastropods and crabs are compared to similar fauna of today.

Click to view pictures and more information about:
SEA LION
TURTLES
SAND DOLLARS
WHALES
SHARKS
SABERTOOTH CATS
RHINOS
AMMONITES

PALEO LINKS

Department Of Paleobiology
National Museum of Natural History - Smithsonian Institution - Introduces paleobiology and leads to their own "Digital Shark Tooth Key" to the common genera of Neogene shark teeth.

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Link to Sharktooth Hill located in Kern County, California
Link to The San Joaquin Valley Through Time - Submitted by Tim Elam
Link to The McKittrick Tar Seeps - Submitted by Tim Elam
Link to Mount St. Helens - 20 Years Later - Submitted by Tim Elam
Link to The San Andreas Fault
Link to Yosemite Valley