Posted on: Friday December 13, 2024
The Manitoba Museum is a place of discovery, and not only for our visitors! Our Curators travel far and wide to acquire specimens and artifacts for the Museum’s collection. Some of these objects eventually end up on display in our galleries, while others may be significant for scientific research. Some even turn out to be new species.
Alongside a large, animated sea scape, you can see a selection of 450-million-year-old fossils of organisms that once inhabited Manitoba in the Earth History Gallery, Ancient Seas Exhibit. ©Manitoba Museum
This past summer, our Curator of Palaeontology and Geology made some spectacular fossil discoveries near Churchill and Grand Rapids, including at least one never-before-seen extinct species. Back at the Museum, these specimens will be carefully prepared under the microscope, removing overlying rock to tease out secrets hidden in stone. Then, they can be studied and shared through publications and exhibits with the scientific community and the public.
These polar bears interrupted us while collecting an important fossil specimen along the coast near Churchill. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy the photo opportunity and return to collect the specimen once the coast was clear. ©Michael Cuggy
A freshly split rock surface showing a specimen of Lunataspis aurora, the oldest known horseshoe crab. The species was first found in northern Manitoba and described by Manitoba Museum researchers and colleagues in 2008. The specimen is about 4 cm long. ©Manitoba Museum/Joseph Moysiuk
Modern horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, gathering on the shores of Long Island, New York, to reproduce. ©Joseph Moysiuk
Fossil deposits in northern Manitoba are of global scientific significance and Manitoba Museum researchers have been at the forefront in their discovery and study. These fossils are remarkable for their quality of preservation – even traces of soft organisms like jellyfish and seaweeds have been preserved. The rock layers date back to about 450 million years ago, a time long before the dinosaurs when Manitoba was covered by a shallow, tropical sea.
Dr. Joe Moysiuk, Curator of Palaeontology and Geology (front) and a colleague making the discovery of the new sea scorpion. ©Manitoba Museum/Joseph Moysiuk
A new species of eurypterid (sea scorpion) discovered this past summer, showing the head at left and segmented body to the right. So far this is the only specimen known and the largest sea scorpion that has been found in Manitoba. ©Manitoba Museum/Joseph Moysiuk
Few other places in the world preserve such a remarkable record of this time period, and the Manitoba Museum is the only place you can see specimens from these sites on exhibit.
