I’m astonished every time I see detail in fossils. Their age, the heat and the pressure they have been subjected to, and the often random nature of their discovery make it extraordinary that we can see exactly what they were when they were living.
Here’s a great example from Venice’s Natural History Museum:
On the left is a fern and on the right is a horsetail. Or, as the Italians have it, ‘Fronde di felci e equiseti’.
Pigafetta and the Giant ClamAntonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to find a western route to the Spice… read more
OctaclesWhy are they called tentacles when there are eight of them? Surely they ought to be called octacles? A fascinating… read more
Rettile ittiosauroThere's an Ichthyosaur fossil displayed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. They evolved around 250 million years ago and… read more
TentaclesAs a child I never understood why people said an octopus had tentacles. Surely they're octacles? An octopus's tentacles are… read more
Trilobite con pista'Trilobite con pista', it says. No, it's not an item on the Italian menu in the restaurant at lunch time,… read more
Scala Contarini del BovoloSix floors, eighty steps, 28 metres and €9. That's the spiral staircase named after snails, 'del Bovolo', in Venice. The… read more
The gondoliersGondoliers in Venice appear to earn a top salary of €100,000. For that I'd expect some adherence to uniform standards.… read more
The trophy roomA visit to the natural history museum in Venice can be a bit of a shock for those unprepared for… read more