Today we went to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery to see the travelling exhibition "Carboniferous Monsters" which is on from 3 Feb to 2 June 2024.
The exhibit is a "pay per visit" one and shows some very fine examples of the top predators from this era. In my opinion, an exceptional treat to anyone who is interested in these fossils.
I have not seen so many fossil objects from this era in one place, many of the larger exhibits are replica casts of the originals and they are mounted authentically.
Dracopristis is a ctenocanth spined shark from New Mexico. These sharks were about 6 foot long with 12 rows of short teeth, suitable for crushing its prey. This is a very complete fossil of this creature, which is mostly known from fragmentary remains.
Actinodon is classified as a Temnospondyli amphibian and is about 6 inches long. This fossil was found in France in 1866. It has a typically wide and flat skull structure.
One of the larger Amphibious specimens is Pholiderpeton which is known to have grown to 15 feet long. Its Latin name translates as "Horny scaled creeping thing". This was a top predator of the time and the fossil was found in Bradford, Yorkshire.
Sphenocodon is a synapsid which is predominantly Permian in age, but is found in the Late Carboniferous era. It is closely related to the sail-backed synapsid Dimetrodon. The fossils are found throughout New Mexico and Western Texas. This is a rare chance to see 3 slightly different skulls from this top predator. For me, this was the unexpected highlight of the visit.
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