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  • MikeR

    The End Of My Pliocene Project

    By MikeR

    When I began this blog late in 2010, my intention was to report on recent field trips however, with the exception of one excursion each into the Upper Miocene, Lower Pliocene and the Calabrian Pleistocene, all of my posts have concentrated on the Upper Pliocene of the US Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. I already had an extensive collection of Florida Upper Pliocene invertebrates that I had collected while a resident of the state in the late 80s and early 90s. The fossils from these beds are
    • 9 comments
    • 9,332 views
  • JohnJ

    Ancient Hunters

    By JohnJ

    June 5, 2010 Barry held his camera barely two feet away from the back of an Agkistrodon piscivorus. Although a small snake, it was still very dangerous and he positioned his camera based on years of experience with these reptiles. Known more commonly as a Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin, the twelve inch juvenile snake had coloration similar to the closely related Copperhead. However, its patterns were muted by late afternoon shadows in a remote location that was not favorable to an easy medic
    • 26 comments
    • 9,135 views
  • andreas

    The Columbianus Zone/alaunium 2/ Norium/upper Triassic, In The So Called “Hallstatt Limestone” Of The Northern Calcareous Alps In Austria

    By andreas

    The columbianus Zone/Alaunium 2/ Norium/Upper Triassic in the so called "Hallstatt Limestone" of the Northern Calcareous Alps in Austria Dear Fossil Forum members! This pictured report about the ammonite bearing Triassic Hallstatt limestone will be the first one of a continuous series of reports. Since the beginning of the geological research in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria in the 19th century, about 500 species of Triassic ammonites have been described from the Hallstatt limestone
    • 14 comments
    • 12,834 views
  • MikeR

    The Problem with Siphocypraea

    By MikeR

    For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f
    • 3 comments
    • 3,951 views

Best Days

I used to think there was nothing worse than living a life I couldn't enjoy. Lately life has been awfully hard, it seems my actions caught up with me and I ended up in jail for a weekend.In the three days I was there I had plenty of regrets and I wanted to get better. In those solitary long hours I focused on freedom and it occurred to me that all I wanted was to get outside in the warm sun and hunt heads with my Dad. He bailed me out the next day.(:

meadow

meadow

Galerie De Paléontologie Et D’Anatomie Comparée

I made my first trip to France in 1997 while working as a bench scientist in a R&D group at a small biotech company. At that time I was performing research in DNA polymerases from thermophilic bacteria found in geysers and deep ocean vents for the use in DNA sequencing when I had the opportunity to attend an international scientific conference; Thermophiles 1997 in Brest, France. A scientific meeting on the European continent with exquisitely catered lunches served with wine, bike excursio

MikeR

MikeR

The Last Pterosaurs

the pterosaurs saw what happened that day a second Sun dropped from the sky the pressure wave blasted those closest to haze and wafted their ashes on high then hundreds more pterosaurs lifeless and torn took flight in a terrible dance broken umbrellas tossed far by the storm untethered kites left to mischance thousands of pterosaurs fell like dead leaves caught up in sudden tumultuous seas waves smashed the pterosaurs huddled on land waves buried eggs under layers of sand the dark wi

xonenine

xonenine

Lises' Trilobite

Lises' Trilobite we've waited for ages, frozen in time adrift on shale seas, or bedded in Lime the dark is unkind, the earth presses down there's hardly a hope we will ever be found! but what is this clamour?, the earth itself trembles and suddenly light, as of angels assembled! she whispers "I'm sorry you waited so long" and lovingly carries her Trilobite home.

xonenine

xonenine

Calvert Cliffs - 2Nd Trip

The images linked to this blog entry are from my second trip to the Calvert Cliff formations (St. Mary's). Not a bad day considering the tide was rather high, the waves choppy, and a large group of loud students from the University of Salisbury showed up. Ran into two other forum members; wolffish and randsphilly

Fossil-Hound

Fossil-Hound

Calvert Cliffs, Md

These are my recent finds from a March 2013 trip to Calvert Cliffs, MD. The image you see is of the Maryland state fossil, Ecphora. Didn't find an intact megaladon this time, but I'll go back out.

Fossil-Hound

Fossil-Hound

Dinosaur Park, Laurel Md

I recently went up to a place named Dinosaur Park, in Laurel Maryland. Mostly triassic aged stuff. The place was originally set up to be an iron mine, and the minors started digging up bones. This location is famous for the discovery of the Astrodon a large Sauropod. The images I have inserted are pictures of carbonized pieces of fern. In more common terms, it's coal. Roughly 120 million years old coal. Some of the coal still has iron traces on it.

Fossil-Hound

Fossil-Hound

The End Of My Pliocene Project

When I began this blog late in 2010, my intention was to report on recent field trips however, with the exception of one excursion each into the Upper Miocene, Lower Pliocene and the Calabrian Pleistocene, all of my posts have concentrated on the Upper Pliocene of the US Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. I already had an extensive collection of Florida Upper Pliocene invertebrates that I had collected while a resident of the state in the late 80s and early 90s. The fossils from these beds are

MikeR

MikeR

The Best Personal Finds From 2012 - Part 2

Lepidodendrids Asolanus camptotaenia Lepidophloios acerosus – new species in my collection. Halonia tortuosa - specific Lepidophloios stem area where halonial shoots are placed. Lepidostrobus - Lepidodendron cone Lepidodendron dichotomum - rare species. Lepidodendron aculeatum – leaf cushion mix (released at the appropriate time). Old (matured) bark of Lepidodendron aculeatum.

RomanK

RomanK

The Best Personal Finds From 2012 - Part 1

I wouldn't say last year was failed. I have found some new species and several exapmles of quite good preservartion to add in my collection. And some of that finds forced me to learn books deeply. All last year finds I systemized according to their genus and all are Carboniferous except coated Cordaites leaves. Calamites Calamostachys - spore cones. Calamites (Crucicalamites) multiramis - quite rare find. Calamites Goepperti - the best Calamites bark I've found (Calamophyl

RomanK

RomanK

The Black Layer

The end of the Pliocene epoch was a very tumultuous time along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. With the rise of the Isthmus of Panama, global climate patterns and ocean currents changed. Global change was nothing new and can be observed in the fauna differences between the Lower Pliocene Zone 1 ( Zanclean) and the Upper Pliocene Zone 2 (Piacenzian) Yorktown Formation when a cool temperate fauna was replaced by warm temperate/subtropical species. This local turnover howe

MikeR

MikeR

Lepidophloios Bark Understanding

All paleobotany amateur know that Lepidophloios leaf cushion is broader then long . That is the main distinguishing feature of Lepidophloios comparing with Lepidodendron which has longer then broad leaf cusion, i.e. vice versa. Tangential cross scheme to distinguish Lepidodendron from Lepidoploios. If you look at any paleobotany book you can see the Lepidophloios leaf cushion scheme consist of two nominal area - leaf scar (at the bottom) and remaining part of the leaf cushion above the leaf

RomanK

RomanK

Chuckatuck

Anyone who has avidly collected fossils for any length of time will have those localities which stand out as their all time favorites based upon the richness or uniqueness of its fossil content. My list includes the APAC mine in Sarasota which I have described in previous posts, the Upper Cretaceous coon Creek deposits of Mississippi and Tennessee, and the subject of this post, The Lone Star Quarry near the town of Chuckatuck, Virginia (fig. 1). This quarry exposed the Moore House Member of th

MikeR

MikeR

Devonian Sites At Donbass Region

Site No1 Razdolneview Site views Volcanogenic tuffs There are two type os fossils: compessed prints and petrified wood. Prints Petwood Cell structure of the tissue Site No2 Styla Styla lake Devonian outcrops Palaeovolcano (Maph-Khaya mnt.) Lepidodendropsis prints Look more pictures in my gallery 1 and gallery 2.

RomanK

RomanK

Return To The Rushmere

In a previous post (http://www.thefossil...ushmere-member/) I described the Upper Pliocene fossils from the Rushmere Member of the Yorktown Formation in North Carolina and late last year (that is how far I am behind in my cleaning and curating) I returned to two of those Rushmere sites on the Roanoke River (my localities 1011 and 1012) as well as a new site (locality 1019) on the Tar River. On that particular day locality 1012, which is primarily explored for a lag deposit at the base of Rushme

MikeR

MikeR

Scouting Out New Sites

Today I set out to find a site that I saw in a flicker image that a geology student posted. I didn't find that particular spot, but I found many long the way. I did stop at once but only stayed about 20min. I wanted to keep moving. I found a few things and I know I'll be going back

Ameenah

Ameenah

As I Promised ... My Finds From This Past Week And This Morn :)

First here are some things I found behind a mall in Madison, Tn 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 This was just cool 9 10 here is what I found again behind a mall but in Providence, Tn the first 5 are all from one plate I couldnt capture everything on it due to my camera limitations. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 And last but not least my after work hour and 15 min hunt The first pic is of the inside of my huntin

Ameenah

Ameenah

Jackson Bluff Formation

Many of my posts have mentioned the work of Wendell Cooke Mansfield, one of the giants of early 20th century molluscan paleontology. Among his many accomplishments as a geologist with the United States Geological Survey, Mansfield was the first to publish a biostratigraphical zonation of the Yorktown formation (posthumously in Julia Gardner’s Yorktown publication), describe Pliocene fossils from the sands and limestones which were coming to light in South Florida during the construction of the

MikeR

MikeR

My 2Day Hunt

Day 1 Last saturday on the way home I stoped at a road cut that I had my eye on for some time. I found some lovley bryozoans my favorite thus far. I only stayed about 20minutes because it had been a long day but I do plan to go back. Collection from an Ordovician outcrop in Nashville, Tn Day 2 Collection from an Ordovician outcrop in Hendersonville, Tn I went back to the road cut that I had found the trilo head in hopes of finding another. I spent 5 hours out there. The weather wa

Ameenah

Ameenah

Earth 2 Intro

Location: Eden Delta, Earth 2. Year: 3400. Season: Spring. Upon the plains of the terraformed planet, a massive animal roamed. Spinosaurus. It ignored the herd of Deinotherium nearby, as their skin would be too thick to penetrate. Instead, it was heading towards the river. As soon as it got there, it noticed a group of Andrewsarchus nearby. It decided that it would kill these, as they would provide competition for food. The dinosaur ran towards the small group, and quickly charged at the ol

Carcharodontosaurus

Carcharodontosaurus

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