This week, I had a special assignment at the Museum of Evolution in Uppsala, where I have done some voluntary work this semester. They are planning a new exhibition about human evolution, and asked me to take away the old exhibition of marine invertebrate and plant fossils where they were going to put the new stuff. Maybe that doesn’t sound very exciting, but aside from the dusty work, I got to see some pretty amazing fossils!
Now, the fossils had been there before, on display, so there were of course ample opportunities to see them earlier, but it is so different to actually pick the fossils up, feel them, turn them around, and pull them closer so you can spot cool details, compared to standing at a distance and hastily looking at them through a glass door. Also, being the one to take them out and put them in boxes of appropriate size almost forces you to notice them – unlike when you pass by, you gaze quickly scanning for anything interesting.
And when you really look at them, there are plenty of truly remarkable specimens: completely awesome trilobites; peculiar brachiopods with a squared ventral (bottom) shell that projects up above the dorsal (top) part, making them look more like corals; spiked slug shells (or maybe they were clams, I can’t remember), and some colossal ammonites! My only regret is that I discovered what a treasure laid here just before it is gone: now it is too late to see it again. Too bad I forgot to ask if I could take some photos to share this incredible experience… Oh well… Now you will never see those fossils anyway!
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