That's sofa king cool!

I've often eyeballed fossils and fossil replicas. I'd like to own a Smilodon skull and a replica of a Utahraptor claw.

A Homo erectus hand axe sounds cool.  Who knows?  It could have been made by a direct ancestor.

Thanks guys.  I can't wait to get it!  Ok, well I can, but I feel extremely impatient.

You can get a replica velociraptor claw for only $8 here:

http://storeforknowledge.com/Velociraptor-claw-Replica-P2677C192.aspx

But I think Velociraptor fossils have only been found around Mongolia so I don't know how different it is from a Utahraptor.

And check out this Sabertooth Cat replica skull in matrix:

http://www.boneclones.com/CB-19.htm

That's way cool.

I already have a replica Homo Heidelbergensis skull.  The "Broken Hill" skull from africa.

http://www.boneclones.com/BH-004.htm

I love that too.

Here's a South American Smilodon Skull replica:

http://www.boneclones.com/BC-103.htm

Do you collect rocks, Brian?

I've been a rock collector for 28 years round abouts.

You can get these items with security of its authenticity at paleodirect.com.  Just click on the "Primitive Man" link at the top of the home page.

They carry a lifetime non-conditional guarantee of it's authenticity.  They also tell you where you can find professionals to inspect your item(museums, universities, etc.).

I've been doing business with them for several years and they are great.

You can find cheaper ones at other places.  But this is the ONLY place I trust for these items.

The extra cost is well worth the piece of mind.

Our ancestors and the ancestors of my parrot diverged at about that time, Sapient.  The species that most closely represents our last common ancestor is an amniote, which still laid its eggs in water but had some reptilian characteristics.

Independently of one another, birds and mammals evolved endothermia and a four-chambered heart.  One difference I've noted in the past is the birds' ability to carry sperm within the body at a rather toasty 102 degrees.  Mammalian sperm can't survive at that termperature.  I wonder what the difference is??? I don't think science has an answer yet.

I totally understand. I love natural history--pretty much everything that has to do with ancient life of any kind. It fascinates me that so many creatures existed and are now extinct...and that we don't even have the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fossils! I'd give almost anything to travel back in time and have a look, preferrably with a knowledgeable paleontologist and archaeologist along for the ride.

I haven't focused on the evolution of humans, but I do know a little bit. The Australopithecus afarensis baby found recently was of particular interest to me. It was nearly complete and showed the body structure of the first known erect ape (more ape than human). It's brain was just a bit larger than a chimp's, as I recall, but it was bipedal. It's amazing what the foramen magnum can say about a creature. Lucy had some missing parts, but the position of the hips and foramen magnum told the tale. Now science has a virtually complete specimen to study.

I'm also interested in the animals that branched away from from the Homo line. As I recall, there were some rather burly, heavy-jawed bipedal apes in the lineage...can't remember the names right now. It's interesting to see the whole family tree.

So, do you think Homo ergaster was the ancestor of both Neanderthals and Cro Magnons? Or did Neanderthals spring from other stock? (Or am I thinking of heidelbergensis? H. heidelbergensis was more recent, I think.)

I was also quite interested in the Homo floresiensis discovery. There was a bit of controversy over that. Has it been settled that the "hobbit" was truly fully grown? Last I read, they were classified as diminutive Homo erectus.

Hmmm...I may have been thinking of H. rudolfensis, which was a contemporary of H. habilis. I've done a little Googling and there seems to be some controversy surrounding rudolfensis.

Anyway, the discovery of H. floresiensis shows there are probably a lot of different members of the family tree. I am amused that there is some debate as to whether H. floresiensis arrived on Flores in diminutive form or evolved on the island. The argument cited is that there have been no larger remains found on the island. Well, there have been no smaller remains found on the mainland, correct?

I'm inclined to believe that H. floresiensis was a product of island dwarfism, which is well documented and is occurring even today. The tigers, rhinos and elephants of Sumatra are all smaller than those on the mainland. It doesn't take very long for a species to change in size when confronted by natural pressures, so I doubt any larger hominids will be found on Flores, especially considering it's a jungle island.

It's interesting that H. floresiensis hunted dwarf Stegodon because I was thinking of the dwarfism of mammoths that occurred on Wrangel Island.Have large mammoths been found on Wrangel? Google-ty, Google-ty, Google...couldn't find anything. Drat!

Sounds hella confusing. Maybe if enough bones are found they can figure it out through mitochondrial DNA...but the only non-fossilized species found so far have been H. neanderthalensis, H. floresiensis and (of course) H. sapiens. The others are all too old. Flores may be too hot to have preserved much DNA info from H. floresiensis, but I'd really like to know more about those strange creatures. Their survival into fairly recent times is really strange and reminds me a bit of cryptozoological creatures. H. sapiens must have met H. floresiensis. Scientists are saying the hobbit was wiped out by a volcano, but when certain creatures disappear, I tend to look at H. sapiens and wonder. We're very destructive. Maybe the H. sapiens that met H. floresiensis had some weird-ass religion that made them think tiny people were "satanic."

Very cool. I am envious. I haven't been in a decent museum since I was a teenager.

So did you get your handaxe?  Do you know where it's from?  Aren't you going to tell us?

That's sweet! Can you post a picture of the biface?