PALAEONTOLOGY[online]

Tag: Victoria E. McCoy

Victoria became interested in palaeontology at the age of four, when she experienced her first fossil dig — excavating fossils from a bucket of gravel at summer camp. She was fascinated by the idea that these were recognizable remains of organisms that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, and she is still pursuing that fascination today with her research into taphonomy and soft-tissue preservation. Victoria is a graduate student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, currently focusing her studies on the preservation of soft tissue within concretions.

Contact Details:

Victoria E. McCoy, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA.

by Victoria McCoy*1 Introduction: Have you ever seen a geode — a boring-looking ball-shaped rock that, when split open, reveals a remarkable crystalline interior? For most people, the first reaction to the dazzling crystal interior is to marvel at its beauty. But for some — and perhaps you fall into this group, since you are reading this article — the second and more important reaction is to wonder how it got that way. The people who ask this question understand that the beauty of nature is far greater when we understand it deeply and see it more fully; in short, they are scientists at heart. If you are a scientist at heart, I have very good news for you. There is something out there that is like a geode, but perhaps even more interesting, at least to fossil lovers: the curious rocks ...