This is our travel journal, a record of the adventures with the children where ever that may be.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

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(wilson) Several days ago we drove out of Tete d'Indien to the southern part of Gaspe to the Miguasha Natural History Museum. They didn't have any dinosaurs there, but it is known to be the best collection of animals from the Devonian time period, AKA the age of fishes. They highlighted several species of fish. They were Euphanerops (a kind of lamprey thing), Escuminaspis (a kind of jawless fish), Miguashaia (a primitive ceolecanth), Holoptychius and Quebecius (some lobe-finned fish), Bothriolepis (a small placoderm fish), Triazeugonathus and Homolocanthus (acanthodians), and the Prince of Miguasha, Eusthenopteron. Eusthenopteron could get over three feet in length and they think it could also breathe air. It's fins were strong, so they were transforming into legs and feet. Scientists used to think Eusthenopteron was capable of climbing out of the water, but now they think that its fins were too weak. Thousands of the Bothriolepis fish fossils have been found. They kind of look like eels with a big, bony head and spikes coming out the sides. Their eyes and nostrils were also all grouped into a small opening on the top. They had also discovered some lungfish at Miguasha (remember the huge one at the zoo?). The lungfish they find at Miguasha are Scaumenacia (kind of hard to say). It had large fins and a long nose. Triazeugonathus was a small fish-about 1 to 2 inches long-whose fins were tipped with small spines. One of my favorite fishes they had there was Elpistostege, which looked kind of like an amphibious lizard with fins instead of feet. Miguasha was really cool, and I liked the fish fossils and the huge mural of the fish they had drawn up on a wall. It's a lot better than the one in my closet! Sorry, no time for extra features today. We have to leave the hotel right now (that's right a hotel), it was too late to find a campground. Plus, I'm sorry that the names were so hard!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

We're back! I'd love to see some of your drawings of these fish. Did you know the Natural History Museum has a show now called Lizards Alive? Just thought I'd mention it. love,monkey

9:59 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's some cool stuff! Speaking and while on the subject of labor day, I'll be leaving tomorrow to go see my grandparents in OK, then to Stillwater for my dad's high school reunion, and finally the Tulsa, just as an added bonus. We're going to the zoo there and my Mom read that it's the third largest zoo in the U.S. I think. Write more when I'm back!

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11:32 AM

 

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