By National Museum of Natural Science
National Museum of Natural Science
Hokutolite (Anglesobarite)National Museum of Natural Science
Geology Department
A nearly complete fossil skull of short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, was dredged from the sea bottom in Penghu Channel, Taiwan Strait. This fossil short-finned pilot whale resembles extant Globicephala macrorhynchus with respect to the morphological characteristics on the skull. This fossil evidence can be inferred that the paleoenvironmental changes in marine and terrestrial habitats in the area of Penghu Channel in the Late Pleistocene.
Hokutolite is a variety of barytes of deposited Barite (BaSO4) by very acid hot springs. Generally it also contains minor strontium and minute traces of radium, marking a recent deposit. Hokutolite is mineral of very rare occurrence worldwide. It crystallizes precipitatedly from hot spring water of geothermal valley at Hokuto (Beitou). Hokutolite is the only one mineral named after a place of Taiwan.
Enargite EnargiteNational Museum of Natural Science
Manganese NoduleNational Museum of Natural Science
Stony meteoriteNational Museum of Natural Science
Iron meteorites Iron meteoritesNational Museum of Natural Science
Banded iron Banded ironNational Museum of Natural Science
Glaucophane Schist Glaucophane SchistNational Museum of Natural Science
Glaucophane schist was metamorphic rock formed in the low-temperature and high-pressure environment, its protolith was mainly basic volcanic rock. It was formed by the high-pressure and low temperature regional metamorphism, indicating that the Pre-Pacific oceanic plate subducted toward west of the Eurasian plate.
NepheriteNational Museum of Natural Science
Alunogen AlunogenNational Museum of Natural Science
SwineforditeNational Museum of Natural Science
The type of specimen was named by Tien et al. in 1975, and preserved in the collections of NMNS in 1989. Swinefordite is a hydrated clay mineral. These two specimens were collected from Foote Quarry, Cleveland County, NC, USA. One shows a stable phase of dehydration; the other unstable jelly phase of hydration.
Native gold Native goldNational Museum of Natural Science
Native gold is the main source of gold. In Taiwan, Chiufen-Chinkuashih area was well known for the high quality and high quantity of its native gold. In the past, it had the largest production in the Far East area and was one of the important suppliers of gold in global markets.
CordieriteNational Museum of Natural Science
Wen-Shi Wen-ShiNational Museum of Natural Science
Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach 1799National Museum of Natural Science
This skull of woolly mammoth was recovered from Siberia’s permafrost
Ursus spelaeus Rosenmulle 1794National Museum of Natural Science
Coelodonta sp.National Museum of Natural Science
Bubalus teilhardi Yung 1932National Museum of Natural Science
This skull of Bubalus teilhardi was recovered by a fishery boat during trawling operations in the Penghu Channel between the Penghu Archipelago and the main island of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait. Bubalus teilhardi had its origin in the Middle Pleistocene of northern China, from where it migrated to Taiwan by way of the land bridge between Taiwan and mainland China during the Glaciation in the Late Pleistocene.
Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis Liu 1977National Museum of Natural Science
This partial skull with both right and left upper molars of Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis was recovered from the Penghu Channel. Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis once lived around Huaiho River, northern China in Middle Pleistocene. The Taiwan strait were transformed to exposed shelf due to the sea level dropped by glacial advance. The new land can be inferred to have allowed large mammals, such as Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis to migrate, explore and inhabit it.
Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray 1846National Museum of Natural Science
Cervus sp.National Museum of Natural Science
This deer skull with nearly complete antler belongs to Cervus sp. which is dominant in fossil amount in Cho-Chen fauna in the Middle Pleistocene.
Aepyornis maximusNational Museum of Natural Science
Dinosaur’s eggsNational Museum of Natural Science
Pseuorca yuanliensis Chang and & Cheng 1998 Pseuorca yuanliensis Chang and & Cheng 1998National Museum of Natural Science
Crocuta crocuta ultima Matsumoto 1915 Crocuta crocuta ultima Matsumoto 1915National Museum of Natural Science
Canoptum spinosum Yeh 1987 Canoptum spinosum Yeh 1987National Museum of Natural Science
Loripes goliath Yokoyama 1928 Loripes goliath Yokoyama 1928National Museum of Natural Science
