Olive Shell - NH 095

NH 095

Olive Snails

Category: Gastropods

Family: Olividae

Well after a two week hiatus, the Sholesonian is back up with a blog post. Not to worry though, as during those past two weeks I have been busy with curating the specimens in the Natural History collection as well as capturing new species to add. Today's post is brought through a small donation of nice shells from Myrtle Beach,  South Carolina. Collected in April of 2011, these two shells belong to the Olividae family and are of the Genus Oliva (species is most likely Oliva sayana). These are snail shells that are commonly referred to as 'olive shells' or just 'olives.' 

They are a predatory species of marine snail, feasting on primarily small bivalves (like clams). Known for their elongated shape, these snail shells have been used for centuries in making jewelry and have become so popular, especially among collectors, that it is now the state shell of South Carolina. Also known for burrowing, these guys can be found mainly across the coasts of the Western Atlantic. You can read up a little on the Olive Shells here but there isn't too much to go on and you may have to do some jumping around. 

View Our Collections

While there hasn't been many posts lately, the Sholesonian has been far from stagnant. Now three of the collections have had their catalogs digitized and you the readers can now take a peek at what is in the collections. Note that the yellow highlighted numbers are open and will periodically be filled in as new specimens come in and as others are finally cataloged. Also, not everything has been identified or even has information.

The Geological Collection

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Old Spice - HS 032

HS 032

Old Spice Bottle

Era: 1950's

Details: needs to be restored

Long before Isaiah Mustafa had his claim to fame in now popular Old Spice Commercials, Old Spice had a slightly different set of products. Originally a Shulton Company fragrance for women, it later turned into products for men, including aftershave and shaving soap. This was the case from 1938 until 1990 when the company was purchased by Proctor and Gamble where not only was the trademarked changed from the traditional sailing ship to a more streamlined yacht, but also expanded their products to include deodorants, body wash, and sprays. 

Awhile back I found this bottle slightly buried in my backwoods, probably thrown out by some previous owners before the modern day waste-removal systems. As you can see this is an older bottle, due to the classic brand design and bottle form, and is After Shave Talcum powder instead of the traditional After Shave Lotion. Doing a little bit of research I find that this most closely resembles the 1956 glass bottle form due to its shape. And although it is missing the distinctive bottle stopper which would give a more accurate date to it, the design and writing seems to do the trick. 

NH 027 - Aphid

NH 027

Aphid

Category: True Bugs

Family: Aphididae

So, apologies for not having the new photo system up for this picture and for neglecting to post anything up in awhile. The former is because over time the insect has lost its green coloring and is now more black than it was after first being captured. This guy is actually a bug (as not all insects are bugs but all bugs are insects), and I don't actually know where it came from. Cornell University's Entomology department every year throws Insectapalooza and they happened to have an aphid exhibit. This particular guy was one of the hundreds that they have that managed to escape the net and I subsequently caught it. So I don't know if it was a local species or came from somewhere else for study here, but probably the former. 

Aphids, while they cannot jump and don't always have wings, and despite their small size are known to be quite a pest. This is because the are known to carry hundreds of different plant viruses and even though they move slowly they can cause plants to become sick. They are also known for secreting a substance called honeydew (not the fruit), which contains the excess sugars that the aphid cannot use. A variety of other animals use this substance, especially some ants and bees, to eat. Some ants will even 'milk' the honeydew from the aphids in a symbiotic relationship.

Collected: Comstock Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. October 23, 2010. 

As the aphid appears today, with scale.

Stomach Stone - FOS 021

FOS 021

Gastrolith

Location: Utah

Family: N/A (Trace Fossil)

As I continue to procrastinate here is an interesting specimen that looks like nothing until you realize what it is. Heralding from the Morrison Formation out in Utah (meaning this is from the Upper Jurassic: 161-145 million years ago) this is a type of trace fossil, called a gastrolith, from a dinosaur. The term gastrolith comes from Greek meaning 'stomach stone' and with good reason. Much to how many modern day birds and other animals will require swallowing stones or pebbles in order to 'chew' their food (due to lack of teeth), so did the giant sauropods of the Jurassic/Cretaceous. While they did have teeth, their function was purely to grab a hold of leaves and other vegetation and not to chew (like our front teeth) and they would swallow their meal whole, along with some rocks. These rocks would grind up the food in their stomach (or rather gizzard which is a specialized stomach of sorts) preparing it for digestion. Afterwards the stones would easily pass; as you can see they would round out in the grinding process. 

While this particular specimen was probably used by a giant sauropod (the long-necked dinosaurs) it could have been from any sort of dinosaur that lacked suitable teeth for chewing. Plesiosaurs and their kin have also been known to swallow stones, but to be used as ballast rather than grinding. This means that one would swallow a few to balance them in the water much to how modern day alligators and crocodiles do today. And as it turns out the Morrison Formation where this specimen was found has a long documentation of gastroliths mostly from sauropods of the old old west. And some have even been known to actually be petrified wood. So another interesting fossil from the collection, and you can check out more about gastroliths here. 

(Left) Eye of the Tiger - GEO 070

GEO 070

Tiger's Eye

Class: Mineral

Location: Africa

I'm trying something new here so if you haven't yet check out Part I of this Tiger's Eye post, a kind of before and after. In Part I we looked at a specimen of Tiger's Eye from Africa that was polished whereas here we're looking at the straight from the earth raw material. As it was briefly mentioned in the other post, this mineral is actually another form of quartz, however its still very different from most other specimens like the citrine posted earlier. This is because its formed by pseudomorphous replacement rather than by just growing crystals.

As you'll notice in just about all examples of Tiger's Eye there are a lot of stripes, not just the larger ones but if you look closely you will see lots of very thin strands up and down the piece. This is because the mineral starts off as Riebeckite, specifically Crocidolite which is a type of asbestos and is also blue. It forms naturally and has these very thin strands of mineral, hence being an asbestos. What happens is that the mineral silicon dioxide starts to replace the minerals in the crocidolite, basically turning the asbestos into quartz. Once the pseudomorphous replacement has been completed the mineral Tiger's Eye will be left.

Both specimens GEO 053 and GEO 070 are from Africa according to their labels but they are more than likely not from the same place. Generally Tiger's Eye is mined in South Africa but that doesn't mean that these two specimens were. I'm just putting it out there so people don't think that because I'm connecting these two specimens that they have some sort of link. They don't other than that they are the same species of mineral. One is polished the other is not.

Learn more about Tiger's Eye.

GO TO PART I.

(Right) Eye of the Tiger - GEO 053

GEO 053

Tiger's Eye

Class: Mineral

Location: Africa

To try something a bit different than usual, this is Part I post of a two specimen post; check out Part II here. Tiger's Eye is a well known gemstone with its striped orange-yellow-brown-ish coloring and is apparently the 'planetary stone' for those born under Gemini and is apparently the gemstone for those celebrating their 9th anniversary. I'm generally not one to collect polished stones for the collection, the best pieces of geology are those found raw in their natural state. This is a very cool piece though, so I made an exception to get it.

Historically this gemstone has been believed to bring spiritual and physical health to the wearer along with providing clarity, psychic protection, and good business. However, this is all just superstition and shouldn't be bought into. There are also a few varieties of Tiger's Eye, specifically Tiger's Iron which is a rock rather than silicate mineral, and is made of jasper and hematite. As you'll see in Part II where I talk more about how Tiger's Eye is made, there is a type of the mineral that doesn't complete the process which can lead to Eagle's Eye which is much bluer than it's mammalian cousin.

Learn more about Tiger's Eye.

GO TO PART II.