Browse Items (155 total)

(uncatalogued) The holes in this Gryphaeid oyster were left behind by a boring sponge. Boring organisms have the ability to dissolve calcareous shell which allows them to encrust other living and dead organisms.

(DSM# 10758) Extant genus - Clionid sponges are well known borers of other marine organisms such as clams and snails. They are able to dissolve shell material which helps secure them to a surface.

(DSM# FK342) Extinct genus - This is a marine crab that has only one species assigned to it. It is exclusively found in Cretaceous sediments of the southeastern United States.

(unnumbered) Fossilized tree sap is well known for preserving insects and other small animals.

(DSM# 1871) This crab was found near the Mississippi State University campus and has not yet been identified to Genus or species level.

(DSM# M266) Extinct order - Belemnites' closest living relative is the cuttle fish. The fossil you see here is the internal skeleton of the creature.

Extinct order - Belemnitella's closest living relative is the cuttle fish. The fossil you see here is the internal skeleton of the creature.

(DSM# FK313) Extinct genus - This cephalopod genus was able to survive the K-Pg extinction at the end of the Cretaceous only to go extinct during the Miocene period.

(DSM# 10173) Extinct genus - This straight-shelled ammonite is also known as the "walking stick rock". It is thought that they lived in the middle of the water column and did not spend significant time on the ocean floor or the surface.

(DSM# FK124) Extinct genus - Baculites and other ammonites show intricate patterns on their shells called suture marks. Suture patterns are unique to species and indicate the shape of the chamber in which the animal lived.