Image courtesy of Davidson, J. P. (2002). Bonehead mistakes: The background in scientific literature and illustrations for Edward Drinker Cope’s first restoration of Elasmosaurus platyurus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 152, p. 220 (via JSTOR)

Fossil remains of Plesiosaurus macrocephalus, a large marine reptile similar to Elasmosaurus platyurus.

That’s Some Nerve!, ANSP’s 200 Stories

Commercially produced stereoview of Angelo Heilprin (center) and two “French gentlemen of Martinique” on the lower slope of Mont Pelée: Ewell Sale Stewart Library & Archives Coll. 147, Expedition no. 53.

When he first learned of the devastating 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée in Martinique, Academy geologist Angelo Heilprin (1853–1907) realized the importance of studying the seismic forces involved. He also wondered how having this knowledge could help geologists learn about future eruptions. He took the first steamer to the island and made his famous ascent of the active volcano. Despite falling rocks and the hazard of deadly gases, he remained in the vicinity for four hours. He returned to the summit a second time to record more data and to take photographs. His calm demeanor during this hazardous work won him praise and spread his fame as a fearless scientist throughout the world. American journalist George Kennan, who accompanied Heilprin on his first ascent, described him as “the nerviest and pluckiest man I ever knew.”

Ice Age Discovery, ANSP’s 200 Stories

Edgar B. Howard and John Lambert Cotter examine Clovis points from Blackwater Draw, New Mexico. Bones from a fossil mammoth appear in the background.

In 1932 a road construction crew encountered large quantities of bison and mammoth bones while looking for gravel near Clovis, New Mexico. Alerted to the news, Academy Curator of Geology and Paleontology Edgar B. Howard quickly investigated. In 1936, Howard, other Academy staff, and experts from the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the California Institute of Technology began excavation at the Blackwater Draw site.

The site contained fossils from a variety of extinct Pleistocene mammals, including horses, camels, bison, and mammoths. The site also contained several pointy stone and bone tools that were from the same time period as the mammoth bones, thus making Blackwater Draw the first site to demonstrate that Paleo-Indians (the earliest Native Americans) lived alongside Ice Age mammals. The tools, called Clovis points, were found with the large mammal remains. The discovery of these points in extinct species led some researchers to propose that Clovis big-game hunters contributed to the mass extinction of several large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene.

Aging the Rocks, ANSP’s 200 Stories

Illustrations from Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group of the United States

By the early nineteenth century, Academy members knew that fossils could provide information on the age of geologic formations in the United States. But before this potential could be realized, they had to learn more about American fossils.

Academy member Samuel George Morton was the man for the job. In collaboration with Lardner Vanuxem, he published the Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group of the United States (1834). The pair had sought and examined invertebrate fossils from the eastern and southern states, enabling them to trace Cretaceous rocks from New Jersey to Louisiana and relate the fossils to similar forms in Europe. Thanks to the work of the Academy, American scientists had the information they needed to assess the age of geologic formations.

Are your small children future researchers? Bring them to the Big Dig at the Academy where they can dig for dinosaur bones in a replica of the New Mexico Badlands! After they’re done, visit our Fossil Prep Lab to see how fossils are prepared after they are removed from the ground.