Hi! I found what appears to be a type of fossil I don’t recognise. It looks like a almost human like skull, but with a third eye socket in its forehead. I tried to search the web for it, but had no luck. Who or where can I take this to in order to have it identified?

Interesting. While I’m tempted to say me (as I’m a bit of an expert in extinct pokémon, among other things, and yes, I have an analyzer), it would likely be more professional for me to say take it to your regional fossil expert. You’ll likely need to do research to figure out who this would be and where you might find them. Usually, you’ll have the best luck if you look into who offers fossil restoration services, although in some regions, this might be difficult. Hoenn’s fossil expert is a scientist with Devon Co, for example, and thus, he’s not exactly at liberty to work outside of Devon’s labs for security reasons unless you happen to be Ruby or Sapphire. Alola’s fossil expert, meanwhile … literally lives in a trailer somewhere in the vicinity of Lush Jungle, and thus he’s a bit difficult to find in the first place.

Most of the others are associated with museums or laboratories that are a little more open to the public than Devon, so it should be easier to find someone who can help you.

Best of luck!

(As a final note, if you get this fossil restored, would you mind sending images? I’m quite interested in learning more about what this might be!)

What Pokémon do you think/know are descended from tyrunt and tyrantrum? I’ve heard people say tyranitar, but is this myth?

It is indeed a myth, I’m afraid. Tyranitar is actually more of a dragon-like pokémon, and thus, it’s more related to pokémon such as charizard, haxorus, and so on.

However, believe it or not, tyrantrum and all other dinosaur-like pokémon are actually ancestors of avians. It’s a long and complicated subject, actually, but suffice to say, the archen line serves as a sort of “missing link” in the evolutionary family tree between ancient dinosaurs and modern-day bird-like pokémon. So to answer your question in the simplest way possible, according to both fossil records and DNA evidence, the closest living relative of tyrantrum is not tyranitar but rather … torchic.

But more broadly, pretty much every bird-like pokémon is descended from dinosaur-like pokémon such as tyrantrum. Perhaps not entirely directly, but nonetheless.

Also, as an aside, it’s important to note that aerodactyl is not related to either of these (dinosaurs or birds). Rather, it occupies another genus altogether, which it shares with … no known species of pokémon, actually. It’s quite fascinating.

Hey, Bill. I heard a rumor that the Archen line were the parents of all Bird-like Pokemon. Is that true? What about Aerodactyl then? Also, if I may ask, what’s your favorite fossil Pokemon? I’m personally partial to Sheldon and Bastiodon myself!

It’s true! Archen adapted, slowly but surely, into other bird pokémon, depending on the habitat. This frequently resulted in branches of adaptations that became all modern-day bird pokémon.

Aerodactyl, on the other hand, actually belonged to a completely separate line of pokémon that ended with aerodactyl sometime in the late Cretaceous (likely as a result of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event). While the descendants of archen included smaller, bird-like pokémon that could adapt easily to the resulting climate changes, the pterosaur-like pokémon such as aerodactyl were far larger and consumed more energy simply to move, and, well, that would be why they never survived past the extinction event, sad to say.

As for my favorite fossil, now that is a difficult question! I’m quite partial to kabuto myself, as they aren’t technically extinct but have managed to survive in smaller numbers and in extreme environments. Because of this, they’re our best window to the ancient world and could provide a whole host of answers to questions humans have been asking ourselves for aeons.

However, all of them are quite fascinating, and the shieldon family is likewise an excellent choice!

Do Fossil Pokemon need any particular help adjusting to modern life? I plan on raising a Kabutops and I want to make sure s/he will be able to live comfortably and not be freaked out by the dramatic change of scenery by being dead for 300 million years.

Generally, no. So long as you can approximate their diet and living conditions, they should get along well. For example, feed your kabutops meat, offer a pool of warm water for swimming, keep it well exercised and hydrated, and give it a solid surface on which it can sharpen its scythes, and it should thrive in your care.

Of course, there are a few cases in which it might be more of a struggle. For example, archen once ate a very specific fruit that is currently extinct. Some archen may be picky and not easily satisfied by anything but this fruit, which makes the species difficult to raise. However, there is a chance that you may be able to wean it onto a different fruit (persim berries are perhaps the closest fruit in taste, whereas belue is the closest in texture and look) without much of a problem.

Would a fossil fall victim to the culture shock of being brought back to life after 300 million years, however? No. Revived fossils rarely remember the prehistoric era they came from, and those that do are kept strictly for research purposes. Those given to the public, however, are born in this time period and thus are, for all intents and purposes, modern pokémon. They simply act on instinct regarding preferences on occasion.

Is it ethical to bring fossils back to life? (Ecologically and for the sake of the pokemon’s sanity)

First, it’s important to keep in mind that when we say fossils are revived, what we really mean is a specimen was built using a copy of a genetic sample. It doesn’t mean that the pokémon is literally revived from the dead, memories and all. The pokémon’s sanity is typically fine, as it was born in this time period and has no memory of its species’ prehistoric lives or habitats.

The problem, of course, is in the ecological side of things. Fossil pokémon can’t be reintroduced into the wild, for example, because time has progressed to the point where the ecosystem has stabilized without them. Thus, reintroduction would actually be considered the introduction of an invasive species, which could be disastrous for some regions. (Hoenn, for example, as one of its registered fossil pokémon was an apex predator.)

That and a fossil’s survival rate may be questionable at best, given that it may be difficult to find adequate habitats or alternative food sources for them. For example, the archen line lived in the jungles of Unova and fed primarily on the fruit of the archen tree. However, due to climate changes and tectonic shift, Unova is no longer blanketed with tropical rain forest expanses, and the archen tree itself is completely extinct. While it may be possible for archen to at least survive in a comparable climate (the Amazon, for example), the question is whether or not it will adapt to modern local fruits on its own, what with the fact that archen fruit supposedly comprised much of its diet. (This can be a bit of a challenge, even in domesticated settings.)

Thus, if fossils are revived en masse, rather than occasionally for research purposes, the resulting pokémon can only be kept in captivity—except for kabuto, which can be introduced to wild kabuto populations, but that’s a different story. In all other cases, it’s a bit too risky.

In light of all of this, you could say that the question of whether or not it’s ethical at all is still up for debate. Naturally, scientists would take the best possible care of captive fossil pokémon, and contrary to popular belief, most respectable scientists are concerned enough about ethics to revitalize fossils responsibly. (The idea that we would create a specimen capable of thought, study it, and then cull it without a second thought is a gross misrepresentation of modern pokémonology.) Still, whether or not we should revitalize fossils is a bit problematic, as a life in captivity, or for the sole purpose of captivity, is not much of a life at all, according to some people.

I suppose this is one of the rare instances where I leave the question up to you, readers. Officially, there are rules that ensure the process is done responsibly, but there really is no word on whether or not creating life is truly ethical. It’s a problem scientists have faced with artificially created pokémon—such as porygon and voltorb—as well.

Why are all “fossil” pokemon rock type? My friend has a theory that during their time they were not all rock types and that it is the restoration process from the fossil that gives them the type. Is there much evidence of this and what these pokemon were like in the past?

Oddly enough, I’d actually written an entry on the subject here, but suffice to say, I’d like to agree with your friend. The whole restoration process is an imprecise one at best, so errors in the rendering of pokémon—including the physiological makeup of each specimen—would hardly be surprising.

All known pokemon revived from fossils are at least partly rock type. What are the prevailing theories as to why this is and which do you most agree with?

There are actually two prevailing theories at the moment, anon:

1. Although studies have shown that steel-type pokémon are sturdier, rock-types are quite famous for their ability to withstand an incredible amount of weathering. Considering the fact that kabuto still exist, it is therefore generally thought by the supporters of the Type Theory that the ancient pokémon we know today were all rock-types, and they were such because of specific conditions—such as, perhaps, more extreme weather—that forced them to adapt rock-based features in order to withstand their environment. This is certainly true for the kabuto, which has only survived for this long purely because its rock shell deters predators and because that same rock shell weighs just enough to force a kabuto to develop a level of hardiness not present in non-rock-types.

2. The second theory assumes that not all fossil pokémon were rock-types. For example, there are theories that state that tirtouga and carracosta were never actually rock-types but rather pure water pokémon. Likewise, amaura might have been purely ice or ice/dragon, shieldon might have simply been steel or steel/ground, and so forth. However, during the most common fossilization process for pokémon, gaps of gas or liquid throughout an organism’s body is filled with mineral-rich water that is then compressed and settled, forming rock. As the fossil resurrection process is still new, it is often thought that the pokémon born from this technique are not accurate representations of their ancient counterparts but instead half their original species and half the rock that had encased them. The fact that the half-rock kabuto still exists is purely coincidental.

As for which theory I support, I tend to lean more towards the latter than the former. In most regions, the fossil resurrection process is not done via cloning, as one would assume, but rather via organic conversion—or, in layman’s terms, the pokémon is put back together via a machine. Which, from my own extremely scientific standpoint (and certainly not experience, of course), is a process that I can safely say not everyone can get completely right.

Tirtouga and Carracosta

Tirtouga
The Prototurtle Pokémon
Type: Water/Rock
Official Registration #: 564
Entry: A two-foot-tall Protostega pokémon. The presence of tirtouga and other ancient marine pokémon throughout Unova (and, for that matter, its home nation of the United States) indicate that there had once been vast seas taking up the majority of the continent. However, thanks to the receding water levels, tirtouga from the interior seas died out completely, while those that called the present-day coastlines home eventually made way for modern-day turtle species such as the squirtle line. Many Unovans have pointed out that all of their discovered fossil species are therefore the ancestors of modern pokémon. Because this is true, some casual pokémon fans in Unova like to jokingly imply that this indicates a lack of variety among Unova’s faunal species, whereas some casual pokémonologists like to jokingly respond with the idea that it’s a shame tirtouga’s habitat is no longer submerged in the ocean.

Carracosta
The Prototurtle Pokémon
Type: Water/Rock
Official Registration #: 565
Entry: The evolved form of tirtouga, by battle experience. An amphibious pokémon, carracosta uses its front flippers not only for swimming but also for attacking, and it is generally known that a single slap from this pokémon’s flipper can rip a hole in the side of a tanker. Of course, given the fact that tankers did not exist when carracosta inhabited the seas, one should ask why the scientific community chose that oddly specific example to gauge its strength—or, better yet, how we know that it can rip a hole in the side of a tanker—to which this writer responds with science.

Archen and Archeops

Archen
The First Bird Pokémon
Type: Rock/Flying
Official Registration #: 566
Entry: A two-foot-tall Archaeopteryx pokémon. Although incapable of flying, this feathered pokémon once hopped from treetop to treetop in the ancient Unovan forests in order to forage for food. Remarkably, recent evidence has linked archen to all bird pokémon, meaning every bird pokémon in existence is really descended from this mighty, dinosaur-like creature. Every bird pokémon, that is, from the mighty braviary to the somewhat less mighty psyduck.

Archeops
The First Bird Pokémon
Type: Rock/Flying
Official Registration #: 567
Entry: The evolved form of archen, by battle experience. While these fast predatory pokémon were capable of flight, they much preferred chasing after prey on foot in large groups. Evidence suggests that these were vastly intelligent pokémon capable of coordinating well enough to take down prey much larger and stronger than any individual archeops. Thus, it is even more astounding that for all its cunning and swiftness, we refer to its modern-day counterparts as “birbs” and make memes out of them.

Shieldon and Bastiodon

Shieldon
The Shield Pokémon
Type: Rock/Steel
Official Registration #: 410
Entry: A two-foot-tall pokémon that strongly resembles the Protoceratops. Like cranidos, shieldon inhabited the jungles of Sinnoh over 100 million years ago. Also like cranidos, shieldon had a habit of assaulting the plant life of the Sinnohan jungles, only rather than headbutt trees, it preferred to rub its face against the rough bark in order to toughen the iron-like hide that covered its face. In short, between the cranidos and shieldon, the jungles of Sinnoh barely stood a chance.

Bastiodon
The Shield Pokémon
Type: Rock/Steel
Official Registration #: 411
Entry: The evolved form of shieldon, by battle experience. After evolution, bastiodon’s facial plates harden to the point where it can resist virtually any frontal attack. This allowed the normally docile bastiodon and its shieldon young to graze in peace. Should anyone wonder why those two statements should be related, one only needs to remember that bastiodon thrived during the exact same era as the “charge forward without any intent whatsoever of changing course for any reason” rampardos.