The Barnyard of Old New Critters (BONC) #1

Mmm, that Thanksgiving dinner was good. I'm just waking up from it.

Hey, there are still two days left of free shipping from Charlie's Playhouse. I can't compete with Wal-Mart's 105% discounts on everything, but there you have it.

Here's the first installment of a series I'll call BONC, or the Barnyard of Old New Critters, which highlights oddball creatures from the fossil record. Why "old" and "new?" They're old because they lived millions of years ago, and they're new because scientists just dug them up recently and nobody's heard of them yet. Why "barnyard?" Because "museum" and "gallery" were too stuffy. We need to round up our kids and get into the barnyard with these creatures, pet 'em, feed 'em, name 'em, and befriend 'em. Whenever there's a new BONC, wake the kids!

BONC #1: A half-naked turtle


Which came first, the turtle's top shell or its bottom shell? Well, we just found out. A new turtle fossil -- with a name too difficult to pronounce so let's not even bother -- shows that the bottom shell came first. This critter lived in water and evolved its bottom shell to protect against attacks from meanies swimming below it. It wasn't until millions of years later when it moved onto land that it needed a top shell to protect against meanies tromping or flying above it.

Think of a turtle that lives on land today. It's got a big old hard shell on top to protect against predators. That makes sense. But it's got that other one on the bottom. Why? How on earth would it be attacked from below? Hawks who sit in holes and wait for a turtle to crawl over it? A really really tiny tiny fox? No, this is ridiculous. That bottom shell is just a leftover from millions of years ago when it lived in water. Cool.

Next time you see a turtle, ask your friends which came first, the top or the bottom!

See an artist's drawing and read more more about this BONC creature here.

Here's little Leo, getting a good start on life. Thanks so much to Scott for sending this to me!

Here's my new resolution: to make room in my life for this blog. My plan of attack is to blog first thing each morning when I wake up, regrettably around 4 or 5 am. So for all my legions of fans (read: three people), prepare yourselves for some morning blog love.

And here's today's report. Last week I took a Giant Timeline Floor Mat and Creature Cards to my younger son's pre-K class for a romp. What fun! At their age (about 4), kids respond very physically, running up and down the timeline and squealing at the strange creatures. We first matched the Creature Cards on the timeline, and then had a rollicking game of charades. One young friend (third photo) did a great impression of a Gastornis with its huge beak. I hear from the teachers and other moms that the kids can't stop talking about their visit with the Giant Timeline. If you've got one, think about taking it into your kids' classroom -- no special prep or expertise is needed, and you'll be soooo popular.