Fossilized snake with exploded head

There is a temporary exhibit called "Geopalooza! A Hard Rock Anthology" at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. If you are in Houston this summer (until August 24), this is something absolutely worth checking out: you can see some outstanding geodes, crystals, meteorites, and fossil specimens. I have been to many natural history museums, but I rarely get as high as I did at the HMNS the other day ['getting high' is the right terminology here: you get to (or have to) listen to Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan while looking at the rocks]. Even if you are not too much into rocks, minerals, fossils, and natural science in general, these pieces are so beautiful that they can simply be viewed as works of art.

Here is for example a fossil snake from the Eocene Green River Formation in Wyoming. This formation has not only one of the most significant fossil sites in the US, but it also contains the largest oil shale deposit in the country: there are 1.5 trillion barrels of shale oil within the former lake sediments. Preservation of both fossils and of organic matter requires special conditions on the lake bottom: a partial or total lack of oxygen not only prevents oxidation of organic material, but also makes life difficult for critters that otherwise would totally churn the sediment and leave no undisturbed animal remains behind.


One of the museum curators was around when I was checking out this snake and she explained that the reason why the head bones are in such a disarray - compared to the beautifully arranged backbone and ribs - is that, as the snake's body started to decompose, the easiest way out for the accumulating gases was through the head.

I think this snake must belong to the species Boavus idelmani, and is probably one of the best preserved fossil snakes in North America.


The rest of the photos from Geopalooza are here.