peashooter85:The Devil’s CorkscrewIn the Midwest and Western United States during the 19th century f
peashooter85:The Devil’s CorkscrewIn the Midwest and Western United States during the 19th century farmers and ranchers began to unearth strange spiral shaped stone objects from the ground. Some could be as long a 10 - 15 feet, although most were around 6-8 feet in length. They did not have any idea what created the strange objects, naming the “devil’s corkscrews”. The phenomena of devil’s corkscrews did not catch the attention of geologists, paleontologists, and other scientists until the late 19th century, when investigations into the phenomena were first conducted in earnest. At first it was theorized that the screws were the fossilized remains of an ancient prehistoric underwater creature. Others theorized that they were large fossilized worms or petrified vines. The mystery as to their origin was finally solved when in the 1890′s paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope and geologist/paleontologist Dr. E. H. Barbour documented that bones were often encased within the spirals.Called “daemonolix” (devil’s helix) by scientists, it was revealed that the spirals were the burrowing dens of a beaver-like creature called the palaeocastor, which lived around the American West and Midwest around 30 million years ago. The palaeocaster dug a spiral shaped burrow, which eventually became overgrown with roots and vegetation. Over many millions of years the vegetation petrified forming the spiral shaped daemonolix. The palaeocaster dug these spiral shaped burrows for two reasons. First, the spiral shape made it easier for the animal to climb out of the hole, much like a spiral stair case. Second, the spiral opened prevented drafts of air from entering the burrow, thus maintaining a constant temperature inside regardless of outside weather. -- source link