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With the very wet winter, the triops came out in full bloom in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. When the lake bed dried, they baked into the surface, like fossils in shale.

But they are modern fossils in the archaic sense as well. They are among the oldest surviving group of animals on Earth. They first arose in the Devonian period 350 million years ago, before the dinosaurs came and went.

And they are really weird! They have three eyes and 144 legs, and they breathe through their feet. Their eggs can lie dormant for 20 years without food or water to hatch anew.

They make great pets… with a long shelf life. That’s why I recognized them right away.

11 responses to “Modern Fossils”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Cute and hyperactive fellas… Some earlier shots of the funky pets who liked to eat carrots
    A Noodly Encounter . Guild Navigator

    And a view of the broader playa in magic light
    Good Morning

    Reply
  2. Chucil Avatar
    Chucil

    The triops are awesome!!! Eye opening.

    Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  3. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    Have never heard about them, they are so cool! 144 feet and 3 eyes make one feel really puzzled by nature…wish I could have unlimited memory, this is also fascinating to learn…will research if time permits what they have evolved into…or they were a dead end:)

    Reply
  4. msamaclean © Avatar
    msamaclean ©

    Interesting little guys…I had thought of that exact title for a shot of a fern leaf ‘modern fossil’, embedded in a cement sidewalk!

    Reply
  5. Dr DAD (Daniel A D'Auria MD) Avatar
    Dr DAD (Daniel A D’Auria MD)

    Little morphologic change in over 70 million years. Sounds like it was a great model, well adapted. I don’t think mankind will match that record. In fact, I hope we don’t! This model needs alot of improvements!

    Reply
  6. Kevin Baird Avatar
    Kevin Baird

    Interesting. I hadn’t heard of these critters until Friday, when my son bought a box of them at the California Science Center. They were fresh out of Sea Monkeys.

    Reply
  7. Jim Rees Avatar
    Jim Rees

    So these particular fossils date from just a few months ago?

    When we find the outline of a leaf that fell into wet concrete and left its image behind, my son calls that a "sidewalk fossil."

    Reply
  8. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    right.

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/solerena] – when you do your research these little fellas, watch out for the Russian news…. they must have swapped 5 ft. for 5 cm.

    P.S. Ebert posed with the same sign after getting whacked on the head by a launch pad
    Erik Ebert's Head

    Reply
  9. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    LOL, do not take my-self too seriously – here we go – i can think only in metric system:D
    I have just talked to my kid and purchasing some kit with these: http://www.triops.com/index.php?link=education
    http://www.triops.com/index.php?link=products
    Kids call them “sea monkeys” (triop was a new word for me LOL). Other parents probably already know about these kits as well. Great post, thanks!

    Reply
  10. subarcticmike Avatar
    subarcticmike

    you find the neatest things on a rocket range

    Reply
  11. fire surfer Avatar
    fire surfer

    I bet you are getting a bunch of views because of Burning Man was washed out.
    ‘A buttload of rain is certainly what Burning Man has endured for the 2023 festival. Heavy rains shut off the roads on Friday, trapping an estimated 70,000 attendees in Black Rock City that’s isolated by hundreds of miles, with the nearest metropolitan area being Reno.”
    http://www.iflscience.com/three-eyed-dinosaur-shrimp-are-waking-...

    Reply

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