Return to home page
I've been interested in the evolution of life on the planet ever since I read Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould, which describes the Cambrian fossils of the Burgess Shale in BC (for a recent reconstruction, see the Digital Burgess website).
I've recently discovered that much of the sedimentary rock in Southern Ontario dates from the Cambrian era, having been the floor of a shallow sea, on and off for over 100 million years. In and around Toronto, much of the rock was deposited during the Ordovician era around 400 million years ago.
Over the past few months, I've collected a number of fossils on the shore of Lake Ontario (as well as some trilobite fossils on the shore of Georgian Bay). So far, I've got fossils of brachiopods (clam-like creatures), orthocones (e.g., nautiloids), crinoids (e.g., sea lilies), early sponges and corals, and the aformentioned trilobites.
For an idea of what the local environment was like back then, click here.
To see examples of the fossils, click here.
Some good online sites about paleontology can be found at:
Return to home page