Edward Drinker Cope, Pennsylvania’s Greatest Naturalist

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Edward Drinker Cope, Pennsylvania’s Greatest Naturalist Despite Americans’ age-old fascination with dinosaurs, probably few recognize the name Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897). Although his name may not be as familiar as others in the long record of natural history – John James Audubon, John and William Bartram, Louis Agassiz – he has earned bis rightful place among America’s most accomplished and eminent natural scientists....
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Following in the Footsteps of Isaac Lea’s Historic Footprints

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Following in the Footsteps of Isaac Lea’s Historic Footprints Scientists today undertake research in a single scientific field, usually within a narrow sub-discipline. For instance, modern scientists who call themselves geologists are actually specialists in subfields of geology, such as volcanology, the study of volcanoes and volcanic activity, and paleontology, the study of fossils and forms of life existing in prehistoric or geologic times. However, in...
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Mississippian Amphibian

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mississippian Amphibian When people think of fossil vertebrates, they usually think of fossilized bones or footprints, the most common of remains. On rare occasions, paleontologists may come across other fossils that are truly exceptional, such as an entire body outline or impression. A recent rediscovery of a highly unusual specimen hidden away in the vaults of the Reading Public Museum in Reading, Berks County, has...
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Rising from the Muck: The Marshalls Creek Mastodon

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Rising from the Muck: The Marshalls Creek Mastodon For as long as I can remember, I have known of the little village of Marshalls Creek, near East Stroudsburg, in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Monroe County. My maternal grandparents, Bertha and Arthur Pflieger, rented a cottage each summer in the Poconos at the Cottage Colony, part of the Mountain Lake House, a popular resort for many New Yorkers and city dwellers during the 1940s and the...
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