A Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils

About this book

Compiled from decades of visiting beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US collecting fossils and conducting extensive research, A Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils is the definitive guide for amateur collectors and professionals interested in learning more about the deep history they tread on during their vacations. Authored by Bob, Pam, and Ashby Gale, this guide offers over twelve hundred high-quality color photographs and detailed descriptions of more than three hundred fossil specimens found on beaches from Texas, east to Florida, and north to New Jersey.

The book includes descriptions and identifying information for the fossil remains of mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish. Because the tides provide a new beach to explore every day, and beachcombers need immediate comparison for identification, A Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils is essential for quick and easy reference. And while the seemingly infinite varieties of shark teeth form much of what beachcombers find on their sandy strolls, this guide also illuminates the fossilized remains of species that walked in a different world. From glyptodonts (a giant, prehistoric armadillo) and giant sloths to the intricately patterned remains of the ancestors of manta rays and pufferfish, this book not only teaches its readers not only what treasures to look for but how to look for them.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Bob Gale is the Ecologist and Public Lands Director for MountainTrue, an environmental nonprofit organization in the mountain region of North Carolina. He spent fifteen years as a nature photojournalist, and his articles on forest, river, beach, and saltmarsh ecology, as well as palaeontology, have appeared in South Carolina Wildlife, American Forests, Islander, and other publications. He also authored the natural history sections for the Highroad Guide to the North Carolina Mountains.

Pam Gale, a working professional artist, taught art for many years in elementary schools in the Carolinas. She is the founder of Kreation Station, an art instruction studio on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She also founded and runs Majik Studios, LLC, in Asheville, North Carolina, a teaching studio of professional artists, from which she produces her own art and illustrations.

Ashby Gale is a palaeontologist and the principal of Charleston Fossil Adventures, LLC, in Charleston, South Carolina. He previously served as an interpretive ranger and a program specialist at Edisto Beach State Park, South Carolina, where he became the park's authority on coastal palaeontology, adding to its fossil exhibits and designs. He has authored multiple articles for Explore Edisto magazine and provided photographs for their natural history segments.