Campus Oddities

February 5, 2010

Preserved in brass

For a self-declared “trilobite guy” Brian Pratt, finding a belt buckle in the shape of Isotelus was a coup. He was so fond of it that the professor in the Dept. of Geological Sciences wore it until it broke, and then added it to the department’s hallway display case.

Isotelus, which dates from the middle and upper Ordovician period, is the state fossil of Ohio but it can also be found in rock about 3,000 meters under Saskatchewan. The brass buckle is the trilobite’s actual size and in the display case, it sits atop a plaster replica of a specimen from the same genus that is among the worlds largest, collected in 1998 on the shore of Hudson Bay.

Pratt has replaced his original Isotelus buckle, and has given several others away as gifts. He also has a matching lapel pin.

If you know of something that has a great story, would make a great photo or is just plain weird and wonderful, please email us at ocn@usask.ca or call 966-6610.