The underside of the model is also highly detailed and features the small mouth opening, which given its placement on the bottom of the flat head suggests that it was a bottom-feeder possibly eating decomposing plant and animal parts:. The Grant Museum has two Vernon Edwards Cephalaspis models — one painted black pictured in above images and another painted light brown.
During a recent audit, the painted ceramic mould was rediscovered — top and bottom, in 10 pieces:. While it is impossible to know for certain if this particular mould produced these very models, it is an exact match and identical in quality and colouration to known Vernon Edwards master moulds, many of which were recently on sale at a recent auction on his models, sketches and artwork.
Prices and interest in Vernon Edwards appear to be on the rise as competitive bidding for lots met or exceeded nearly all pre-auction estimates.
I hope that collections which have Edwards models appreciate them, not only in terms of monetary value, but as beautiful man-made specimens of scientific worth in their own right. Vernon Edwards.
Image credit Timeline Auctions. Filed under Grant Museum of Zoology. Cephalaspis was a member of the Osteostraci, one of the most advanced sorts of Palaeozoic armored jawless fish.
They were scavengers and bottom-feeders, unable to bite, instead feeding on worms, algae, and small shellfish on the sea-floor by sucking them into their jawless mouths utilizing water pressure; they would have also been prey for the large arthropods of her time, including the thunder-scorpion Brontoscorpio and other sea scorpions i. Cephalaspis had a heavy, armored head, thick scales, and to escape from being eaten, these fish had evolved an early warning system: special sensors on their skin were very sensitive and could detect even the tiniest vibrations in the water - it would become the lateral line system in the modern fish.
This survival mechanism also aided in avoiding predators like the sea scorpions Brontoscorpio and even an ambush predator like Pterygotus. It was also jawless, with its mouth positioned at the bottom of its head facing the floor. It also had a powerful tail, perfect for propelling itself through the water. It had two, black eyes near the top of its head. But when Cephalaspis detected danger and tried to get away from it, with their defensive headgear, they couldn't swim fast for long.
They had to rest frequently, or they'd tire completely very quickly. Their toughened head also possessed a vital weapon, one of the first complex brains, which is much more developed than their rivals, the sea scorpions, who had no memory at all. This brain allowed Cephalaspis and other early vertebrates to process the information surrounding them that they received from their senses and the lateral line system and to escape from dangerous predators, such as the giant Pterygotus.
It's thanks to these primitive fish that we humans can think and solve problems today. Cephalaspis was a group animal that lived in shoals. They would often separate to individually find food.
It yields a stiff fibre used in making various products. The term sisal may refer either to the plant's common name or the fibre, depending on the context. The sisal fibre is traditionally used for rope and twine, and has many other uses, including: paper, cloth, wall coverings, carpets, and dartboards.
Coccosteus is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm. Its fossils have been found throughout Europe and North America. Coccosteus had a joint between the armour of the body and skull.
In addition, it also had an internal joint between its neck vertebrae and the back of the skull, allowing for the mouth to be opened even wider. Along with the longer jaws, this allowed Coccosteus to feed on fairly large prey. The up-and-down movement of the skull also allowed for more water to be pumped through the gills. Possibly, the creature supplemented its diet with organic material filtered from mud using the gills.
Cephalaspis was a genus in the class Osteostraci of Palaeozoic armoured jawless fishes, or ostracoderms. It was a medium sized detritivorous fish that lived in freshwater streams and estuaries of the early Devonian. Cephalaspis was heavily armoured, presumably to defend against predatory placoderms and eurypterids, as well as to serve as a source of calcium for metabolic functions in calcium-poor freshwater environments. It had sensory patches along the rim and centre of its head shield, which were used to sense for worms and other burrowing organisms in the mud.
Cephalaspis easily stirring sand and dust into the water, along with revealing the hiding places of its prey, digging up worms or crustaceans hidden in the mud and algae, as well as sifting through detritus. Araucaria heterophylla synonym A. The genus Araucaria occurs across the South Pacific, especially concentrated in New Caledonia where 13 closely related and similar-appearing species are found.
It is sometimes called a star pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling, although it is not a true pine. Eryops is a genus of extinct, semi-aquatic temnospondyl amphibian found primarily in the Lower Permian-age.
Eryops averaged a little over 1. It weighed about 90 kilograms lb. It probably had few predators, although it would have likely been preyed upon by Dimetrodon, which was larger and was the apex predator at the time. Several complete skeletons of Eryops have been found in the Lower Permian, but skull bones and teeth are the most common fossils. Eryops was better adapted to a terrestrial environment than its ancestors. Sturdy limbs and a strong spine supported the body while out of water.
Peruvian pepper Schinus molle, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, Californian pepper tree, pirul and Peruvian mastic is an evergreen tree that grows to 15 meters 50 feet. It is native to the Peruvian Andes.
The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as "pink peppercorns" although S. Moschops is an extinct genus of therapsid that lived in the Guadalupian epoch, around — million years ago.
Therapsids are synapsids, which were at one time the dominant land animals. Its remains were found in the Karoo region of South Africa. Moschops had a short, thick and massive head, which was broad across the orbits. The occiput was broad and deep, but the skull was more narrow in the dorsal border.
Furthermore, the pterygoid arches and the angular region of the jaw were quite heavy, allowing the insertion of strong jaw muscles. Due to that and because it possessed long-crowned, stout teeth, it is believed that Moschops was a herbivore feeding on nutrient-poor and tough vegetation, like cycad stems.
Phytolacca dioica, is a massive evergreen tree native to the Pampa of South America. It has an umbrella-like canopy that spreads to a girth of 12 to 15 meters 40 to 50 feet and can attain a height of 12 to 18 meters 40 to 60 feet. Because it is derived from herbaceous ancestors, its trunk consists of anomalous secondary thickening rather than true wood. These properties have led it to be used in the art of bonsai, as it is easily manipulated to create the desired effect. Dimetrodon is an extinct genus of synapsid that lived during the Early Permian.
The most prominent feature of Dimetrodon is the large sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It walked on four legs and had a tall, curved skull with large teeth of different sizes set along the jaws.
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