I Found A Fish - Part 4 - Questions?

[sward]

Here's the latest update on my new adventure along with some questions.

The latest pic of the whole piece after several more hours of prep. Note the scallop in the lower right corner. I may try to leave it as it seems to be a nice touch.

Here are a couple of close-ups of what I'm thinking is the fish. I assume the brown, textured areas are the fish. I have found no identifiable pieces such as fins, etc. I was also assuming I would run into identifiable bone, but nothing but this brown substance.

Would this be some of the skin/scales? When I come to this layer, there is a thin, very fragile layer of almost "hair-like" substance underneath it (as seen on the back side of one of the pieces), and then I find the brown area I'm thinking is the fish.

Now to the questions.

Is the brown textured areas in the above pics the fish? I was assuming I would run into bone like the verts I found on top of the ground as below:

There are multiple seams of "shock-quartz" running throughout this piece. The hillside where I recovered this from has several seams of the quartz running through it, may of which are exposed on the surface. I there any significance to this?

As usual, I appreciate any and all comments, thoughts and recommendations on how I should proceed.

Edited April 7, 2012 by sward

[Auspex]

During diagenesis, the decomposing fish, and the bacteria doing the job, altered the chemistry of the sediment in the immediate (contact) area; the brown substance is the result. Anything preserved of the fish (bones, etc.) should be within it.

[sward]

During diagenesis, the decomposing fish, and the bacteria doing the job, altered the chemistry of the sediment in the immediate (contact) area; the brown substance is the result. Anything preserved of the fish (bones, etc.) should be within it.

Auspex,

Are you then recommending removing this brown substance?

[Auspex]

Auspex,

Are you then recommending removing this brown substance?

If your goal is to expose the bones, my presumption is that they lie within.

Then again, it's not my fossil; there is nothing to be lost by awaiting wiser council

[vertman]

Hi there! It is hard for me to tall a whole lot from the pictures, but I will venture some guesses based on what I see. It looks like you have been playing around in the Lower Britton? The picture with the verts is cool. I think those are examples from a fish called Pachyrhizodus caninus? In this first picture, it looks like you have part of a tail fin ray? I do not believe the brown stuff in the images is bone. Could it be bentonite instead? If your find is from the Lower Britton there should be bentonite seams running here and there throughout the exposure. If you have this piece out I would be glad to look at it for you. I could also show you an example of the same species that I took from that formation a few years ago.

Nice fine, by the way.

[vertman]

Hi! Well, I just finished spending a good day with Steven (sward). He was kind enough to bring his fish and other things from his site over to my house. I was able to look at the specimen and other pieces pretty thoroughly. I must say a couple of things. He definitely found a fish and I strongly believe he found it in the Washita Group, most probably the Grayson Formation. I have seen a fish similar to this before, a gar from the Duck Creek. I believe the genus name is Osmeroides (thanks to Mark McKinzie for sharing that name with me).

I will post much more about today a little later. My wife and I are off to a concert in a bit...

[sward]

I had the true honor of meeting Richard (vertman) Saturday. I must say that his collection of fossils is outstanding. I've never seen anything like it. I can only dream of ever finding a small portion of what he has in his front yard. Having never been to his house, I was slowly driving while looking at the house numbers. It became obvious I had found the right place when I noticed the flower gardens in the front yard were all lined with ammos.

Richard had offered to take a look at my fish so I jumped at the first opportunity to have someone of his knowledge and experience take a look at it and make some recommendations. I was only expecting him to spend a little time with me to look at it and possibly identify it. However, I was able to spend the whole day with him. We spent quite some time in his "fossil room" while I was in awe of his fossils as well as examining my fish and some representative samples I had brought from the same area. He then was nice enough to take me to several of his hunting spots and let me collect until my heart was content. I ended up coming home with a bag full of fossils, all of which were new to me.

He explained everything in detail and helped me understand the geology much better. I had a wonderful time and it was great to meet him. I ended up learning so much from him.

Thank you Richard and TFF.

[vertman]

Steven,

The honor was mine. It is great to see the interesting fossils that people find. I also relearned a lesson yesterday that I have forgotten and learned again several times over. The lesson is, it is really a very good and positive experience taking out new folks to areas that have become normal or old hat to me. Some of the things I may have been taking for granted were really interesting and important to you. I really like that.

I appreciate all the kind words, but I am not totally sure I know exactly where your fish came from geologically and also exactly what it is. I have involved someone much better than I am, Mark McKinzie, to help with the identification of the fish and exactly where it came from. Hopefully within the next couple of days we can provide a much better idea. Right now the thought is it may have actually come from the Pawpaw Formation, not the Grayson. It really depends on what the limestone layer at the top of your hill is. If it is Grayson, then your fish probably came from the Grayson. However, if it is Main Street, the fish probably came from the underlying Pawpaw which is definitely present in your hillside based on the ammonite findings you shared with me.

More to follow...