Heavy lifting in N.J.: A 65 million-year-old sea turtle | Philadelphia ...
Being the operative word - paleontology is sometimes a matter of muscles.Squatting in a muddy Gloucester County mine pit Wednesday afternoon, seven strong men grunted and strained and heaved until they managed to lift up their prize: a 65 million-year-old sea turtle.
"It's beautiful," said a weary, dirt-caked Ken Lacovara, an associate professor of biology at Drexel University.
It was also rare. Lacovara and his colleagues have tentatively identified the creature as Taphrosphys sulcatus Unlike box turtles and other North American varieties of today, it did not retract its head straight back into its shell, telescope-style. Instead, it was a side-necked turtle, so called because it folded its head sideways. Lacovara often travels to distant lands in search of fossils - Egypt, Argentina, and China, to name a few - but he maintains a special place in his heart for southern New Jersey. The pit where his team found the turtle, in particular, has been a rich source of prehistory, allowing scientists to peer back to a time when the earth was free of ice, shrouded in heat-trapping greenhouse gases. If you thought Wednesday was hot, the late Cretaceous period was hotter. Temperature estimates vary, but the New Jersey coast was lush with mangroves. The pit is owned by Inversand Co. and is mined for a greenish mineral called glauconite, which is used in water-treatment plants. It is in the Sewell area; company officials asked that its exact location not be disclosed because the terrain is treacherous. They have allowed scientists to dig there for decades, primarily from the New Jersey State Museum, Drexel, and the Academy of Natural Sciences. Representatives from all three were on hand this week, along with volunteers from the 300-member Delaware Valley Paleontological Society, a nonprofit organization that contributed $1,500 to the dig. The group has found bits and pieces of several creatures this week, including sharks, crocodiles, and a fish sometimes called the saber-toothed herring. All were from 65 million years ago, right when most dinosaurs went extinct.
American Box Turtle - News
Unlike box turtles and other North American varieties of today, it did not retract its head straight back into its shell, telescope-style. Instead, it was a side-necked turtle, so called because it folded its head sideways. Lacovara often travels to
Kanter continued:“There are 7 different species of turtles in New Hampshire, including the state-endangered Blanding's turtle, the state-threatened spotted turtle, and the rare Eastern box turtle. Populations of these three turtles are at risk.
Nash, 47, is also leading the charge on a project that aims to find out more about the ornate box turtle, a species often taken from its natural habitat on Colorado's plains to become pets. No studies have been done on these turtles in Colorado,
The series centered around the tragic life of Kirk Andrew Murphy, as was first reported by Jim Burroway on the blog Box Turtle Bulletin. At the age of four, Kirk was a seemingly happy little boy, the middle of three children. His older brother, Mark,
Become a Citizen Scientist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department or just learn more about box turtles in the wild at biologist Audrey Owens' presentation How Tucsonans Can Help Turtles: The Ornate Box Turtle Watch. Details: 10-11 am; Brandi Fenton
Box Turtle Bulletin » The Daily Agenda for Saturday, June 18
What Are Little Boys Made Of?
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapist try to ensure that boys will be boys.
Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of HateWhen we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than two hundred posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
David Benkof: Behind the MaskAt first glance, David Benkof appears to be a young gay man who believes that same-sex marriage will damage the institution of marriage, that there are better options for gay couples than marriage, that the community should join him in prioritizing other more pressing issues, and that the marriage discussion is harming the efforts of gay couples in red states to get recognition for their unions. He also claims that he’s a gay columnist, that he speaks for an influential collection of gay thinkers, and that he is part of the gay and lesbian community and that he shares our goals and dreams. But none of that is true.
featured a new report from NARTH. Written by NARTH president A. Dean Byrd, past president Joseph Nicolosi, and Richard W. Potts, the report carries the unwieldy but self-descriptive title, “Clients perceptions of how reorientation therapy and self-help can promote changes in sexual orientation.” While the title describes what the authors meant to show — how clients describe the benefits of reparative therapy — the report itself actually illustrates something very different: the ex-gay movement’s remarkable ability to instill an almost robot-like parroting of ex-gay rhetoric among their clients. said that a new study “discover[ed] a new strain” of a super-bug “hitting gay men.American Box Turtle - Bookshelf
North American Box Turtles, A Natural History
This volume includes comprehensive information on the species' evolution, behavior, courtship and reproduction, habitat use, diet, population structure, ...Box turtles
Using that criterion, box turtles are found in North America and in ... All of the North American box turtles have highly domed carapaces (top shells). ...Box Turtles
BOX TURTLES OF MANY KINDS ALL AMERICAN BOX TURTLES SHARE A SIMILAR BODY PLAN, but they do not all belong to the same species. There are four North American ...The complete idiot's guide to turtles & tortoises
Chapter 21 North American box turtles have long been among the most popular pet turtles. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, box turtles have a hinge across the ...North American Box Turtles, Natural History and Captive Maintenance
Day-by-day Information Directory
American Box Turtles
A website providing information on the captive care, breeding and conservation of North American Box Turtles (Genus Terrapene)
North American Box Turtles
I was fascinated by the box turtles ability to completely close itself into its shell. ... Unfortunately I have also found many box turtles dead on the road. ...
General Box Turtle Care
American box turtles can be beautiful and personable pets. ... ( The beautiful captive bred ornate box turtle [above] was purchased from Central Florida Reptile Farm. ...
Bill's Box Turtles
Is your box turtle male or female? Plans for a box turtle pen. Award winning box turtle photography.
Box turtle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the American box turtle (the genus Terrapene). For the Asian species called box turtle, see Asian box turtle and keeled box turtle. ...