Pacific Paleontology

02/07/2026

“Cliona, the Parasitic Sponge”
Some sea sponges like this Cliona are parasitic, drilling into the calcium carbonate shells of other marine creatures to set up residence, in this case the host shell of a giant princess slipper snail, Grandicrepidula princeps. What we are seeing here is the fossilized trace of the Cliona sponge’s drillings on the inside of the snail shell; a calcitic cast of the internal mesh chambers of the sponge. Like an ant mound casting, this represents the trace of the sponge’s home, a cast of it, inside the shell of the snail, a subfield of paleontology dealing with traces of ancient life called “ichnology”.

01/03/2026

This exterior and interior vertical cross section burrow shot beautifully captures the dynamic exploits of two Callianassid Ghost Shrimp in their Ophiomorpha burrows as the ancient shrimp desperately wriggled upwards to escape during sediment burial on the Pliocene seafloor of the ancient Monterey Bay. This is a classic example of the knobby feces-lined Ophiomorpha burrow (right) and an adjacent cross-sectional split view of a second Ophiomorpha burrow (left) showing the linear horizontal "escape traces" of sediment inside the burrow marking the upward migration of the host shrimp as its burrow filled with choking sediment infill during the burial event all those millions of years ago. The modern wave-cut beach erosion of the sea cliff here on the Monterey Bay beautifully highlights these burrows and accentuates their ancient sedimentary architecture relative to the background matrix, typically not visible without the wave-action. Pliocene Purisima Formation, New Brighton State Park, Santa Cruz, CA, Tuesday December 30th, 2025, 1:28pm. Research carried out under California State Parks Permit with the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Pacific Paleontology

10/28/2025

Advancements in Best Practices for Mitigation Paleontology
First update in the last 15 years to guide mitigation paleontology in California and elsewhere. This is super important for our practice and gives teeth to the foundational work of Paul Murphey, et. al. 2019, "A Foundation for Best Practices in Mitigation Paleontology". What is still needed is legislative protections and guidelines akin to what archeology has in place. Much more work is needed.https://www.paleosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Murphey-et-al.-2019-Best-practices-in-mitigation-paleontology.pdf, andhttps://vertpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SVP_Mitigation_Paleontology_Best_Practices_First_edition_October_2025.pdf

01/20/2025

The Giant Carnivorous Sea Snail Clinopegma stantoni

The story of Clinopegma stantoni has been simmering here in Santa Cruz County for the past 116 years but is one that has been 5 million years in the making! A little background on the name and history of this giant sea snail: Clino refers to slope and pegma is peg = pointed stick The species is named in honor of Dr. Timothy W. Stanton, chief paleontologist. United States Geological Survey, whose work on Mesozoic faunas is well known.

The genus Clinopegma was named by Ulysses S. Grant, IV and Hoyt Rodney Gale published in 1931 in their monumental work on Pliocene and Pleistocene fossil mollusks of California. Interestingly, here, U.S. Grant the IV, was the grandson of Ulysses S. Grant the first, president of the United States. His grandson became a distinguished professor of paleontology at Berkeley

With regards to Clinopegma stantoni the species was named by Ralph Arnold in 1908 from the Año Nuevo park on the south side of the point in the upper member of the Purisima Fm. between Tunitas Creek and Pescadero Creek and near Ano Nuevo Creek in San Mateo County and also between New Brighton and Capitola beaches here in Santa Cruz and a couple other minor places and that’s it!

Coincidentally, Arnold also named a brand new species of Brittle Star, Amphiura sanctaecrucis that very same year of 1908 and that was discovered high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains and recently re-discovered en masse, dozens of individuals, in what’s called a brittle bed, but more on that in the movie…

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12/06/2024

If you are in Santa Cruz tonight and looking for some fun fossiliferous festivities, please consider dropping by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and checking out our booth Pacific Paleontology, Inc. and looking into our new Internship Programs for kids and adults! https://bit.ly/PaPaExpedition https://loom.ly/BLtV_VE

11/28/2024

This is quite possibly the paleontological find of the century in Santa Cruz, literally! An extinct deep sea brittle star, named over 120 years ago in honor of Santa Cruz; Amphiura sanctaecrucis, found high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains! With gratitude out today to forthcoming coauthors Charles L Powell, John Barron, Sabine Stöhr, and others.

Ancient “serpent star” fossils, Amphiura sanctaecrucis, not seen in the area since the early 1900s have been unearthed in the Santa Cruz Mountains and donated to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

11/24/2024

Young and old alike had a wonderful time this past weekend on expeditions exploring for the fossilized remains of hundreds of creatures turned to stone in the rock layers of the ancient Monterey Bay and beyond with Pacific Paleontology, Hosted by State Parks and the Cruz Museum of Natural History.

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11/24/2024

Young and old alike had a wonderful time this past weekend on expeditions exploring for the fossilized remains of hundreds of creatures turned to stone in the rock layers of the ancient Monterey Bay and beyond with Pacific Paleontology Hosted by State Parks and the Cruz Museum of Natural History.

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10/29/2024

Sandhills Habitat History Update; another journey back into Deep Time. When I started finding these strange "rocks" as a kid exploring around our ancient ocean Sandhills Habitat here in Santa Cruz, I was curious what they could possibly be, since I suspected they may not in fact be rocks. And they aren't! These are the crushing mouth plate "teeth" of the Sheepshead Wrasse, Semicossyphus sp., which are used to crush clams, crabs, and fish! Interestingly, all sheepshead fish are born female and most mature into males later in life, living up to 21 years of age. They still live in the ocean waters of Monterey Bay today! The next time you find an interesting natural object, it may have a fascinating story to tell!

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10/14/2024

Please consider joining Pacific Paleontology and CA State Parks for this fun family foray foraging for fossils back in time to the Pliocene Era a few million years into the distant past. Free. https://ranchodeloso.org/events/ . , , , , Pacific Paleontology, , , , , ,