Fossil Evidence

On Pharyngula, PZ Myers tries to imagine an ancient squid, preying on reptilian whales and arranging their vertebrae as a testament to its glory. He writes "I love the idea of ancient giant cephalopods creating art and us finding the works now. But then, reality sinks in: that's a genuinely, flamboyantly extravagant claim, and the evidence better be really, really solid. And it's not." The claim comes from a fossil site in Nevada, where a cluster of ichthyosaur remains have long been thought to come from "an accidental stranding or from a toxic plankton bloom." But paleontologist Mark…