Photo: Siobhan Motherway Source: Museum Victoria
One of the most eye-catching objects in Melbourne Museum's Discovery Centre is this large slab of rock, upon which are mounted several specimens of ammonoid (the curly ones) and nautiloid (the pointy ones) fossils. These creatures lived about 380 million years ago, and are related to modern squids, octopus and cuttlefish.
One of the best things about working in a centre with diverse and publically-accessible collections is listening to the array of interpretations visitors make about the objects. This fossil slab has been the subject of a variety of different theories and questions, including: "it's dinosaur fossils! Those round ones are EYES and the pointy ones are big sharp CLAWS!" and "is this real? It looks like a movie prop..."
One thing remains common in all visitor interactions with this object, though; everyone wants to touch it. It's remarkably tactile with its roughened rocky base and the smooth rounded shapes of the fossils, irresistible to the fingers of toddler and elder alike.
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