Author Archives: Alex

In a great example of citizen science, local fossil collector Keith Fisher discovered an interesting site on the Northern Neck of Virginia (that’s the northern part of Virginia between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers). Through his contact with local land-owner … Continue reading →

Comic books are an increasingly popular medium, yet their educational potential has been under-utilized. Moreover, dinosaurs and other ancient animals are frequently featured in comic books.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity to fuse two things I love and see … Continue reading →

Hold onto your seats, folks, because the DINOSAUR FESTIVAL IS UPON US! As I write this post, museum staff are finishing everything for the grand opening of “Dinosaurs: Reign of the Giants!” For those of you wondering, the Dinosaur Festival … Continue reading →

Belkasim has been going through the bone fauna sampled from a cave in Bath County, Virginia. Most of the bones and teeth come from small mammals that are still alive in Virginia today, like shrews, bats, rabbits and raccoons.

A couple weeks ago the VMNH paleo team returned to the renowned Carmel Church fossil site for a few days of excavation.  This 14 million-year-old marine site has been producing for years and this time was no less. We had … Continue reading →

The VMNH paleontology lab has been busy making many different casts for several upcoming exhibit and outreach projects.  Paleo labs often make copies of important fossils so they can be shared with other museums and researchers, used in displays, and brought around … Continue reading →

About 66 million years ago, at the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs, Montana was home to many different kinds of dinosaurs, big and small.  Those dinosaurs lived and bred in the lush riverine landscapes of a much warmer Montana.  … Continue reading →

3D Fossil, an app that was just released this past month features material from the VMNH collection of pre-Dinosaur Age fossils (Paleozoic). These fossils include rare specimens that are not on display, such as the fossil starfish shown above, and … Continue reading →

  This past Saturday, July 30th, Dr. Alex Hastings (Asst. Curator of Paleontology at the VMNH) gave an online presentation for the international community called Science Circle.  This group gets together regularly via Second Life, which allows people from all … Continue reading →

This summer, the VMNH paired up with Lynchburg College and headed to northern Wyoming to help excavate out Jurassic dinosaur bones from a 140 million year old site. The bones belong to a sauropod (long-necked dinosaur), including key parts of the … Continue reading →