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  • 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
    • 12,831 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
    • 3,950 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
    • 9,133 views
  • 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
    • 9,330 views

Some Centric Fossil Diatoms

Diatoms are monocellular organisms which contain chlorophyll, and manufacture their own food in the same manner as plants, through the process of photosynthesis.  They are one of the major producers of the Earth's oxygen.  Their long geological history makes them very useful in the correlation of sedimentary rocks, and they are of equal value in reconstructing paleoenvironments.  They are remarkably common everywhere there is any water at all!  I have studied fossil marine diatoms for many years

Rumi

Rumi

Microfossils of the Permian Florena Shale: Part3

In 1958, Louis S. Kornicker and John Imbrie wrote a brief paper on the holothurian sclerites of the Florena Shale in which they described four species.  I have found 3 specimens of one of these, Microantyx permiana Kornicker and Imbrie, 1958.  Two of these  specimens were badly broken, but one is in fair condition.     The sclerites are wheel-shaped with short spokes, and the openings between the spokes are roughly triangular.  In this dorsal view we can see a distinctive tr

Rumi

Rumi

Microfossils of the Permian Florena Shale: Part 4

In this entry I would like to show two of the commonest Foraminifera from my sample of the Florena Shale.  The most common forams by far are the fusulinids, but as these are not identifiable without thin sections, they will have to wait until I'm equipped to deal with them.  Excepting the fusulinids, the commonest foram is Globivalvulina bulloides (Brady, 1876):     This taxon has an enrolled biserial structure, and in spiral view it typically exhibits one large and two smal

Rumi

Rumi

Microfossils of the Permian Florena Shale: Part 2

In this second entry I would like to show well-preserved specimens of two ostracodes: the very long-ranging taxon Amphissites centronotus (Ulrich and Bassler, 1906), and the Permian taxon Cornigella parva Kellett, 1933.  The former belongs in the family Amphissitidae, while the latter is placed in the family Drepanellidae.     This specimen is a relatively late instar, but not fully mature, as final instar specimens average about 50% larger.  The species is very easy to reco

Rumi

Rumi

Microfossils of the Permian Florena Shale: Part 1

I recently received some samples of washed residues from various shales and marls noted for their microfossil content.  One of the best of these is from southern Kansas, of Permian (Wolfcampian) age, from the Council Grove Group, Beattie Limestone Formation, Florena Shale Member.  The sample is amazingly rich, and I have recovered numerous species of Foraminifera and Ostracoda, as well as many nice bryozoan fragments.  In this blog entry I would like to show one of the more interesting microfoss

Rumi

Rumi

GMR Greenville, NC December 18 2016

Sunday, 12/18/2016, will be a day documented with great detail in my personal memory bank. As you read this, keep in mind, I am one of those people who remain in constant awe of the world around me; curiously exploring every little detail, often finding excitement in the things most would consider average or common. Every Trip I’ve made to Greens Mill Run these past three years has been one of such joy, excitement and inspiration – regardless of what treasures (and junk) I had found or imagined

AshHendrick

AshHendrick

Logos, Pathos, and Ethos as Learned by a Novice Fossil Hunter

Toby (my 10yo son) and I at the site for a group #BlackFriday #Fossil hunt #optoutside #outddoorresearch, Nov 25, 2016 There's a particular creek/ditch site my son and I like to frequent. It's not the easiest site and not always as productive as we'd like, but it's a good site nonetheless. I've been studying the stratigraphy to better Vertebra understand what could be there as I get to know the species of the fossils we find. We h

reddesilets

reddesilets

Episode 4 - My Favorite Trilobite

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I last posted.  I have been so busy with school, family life, and lots of technical problems.  But I finally was able to finish my video and I am so excited to share my work with all of you!   This video is about my latest fossil cleaning, It is my favorite trilobite to date! It is actually a complete body fossil, not just a shell, or a piece of one.  I did learn a few new things this time.  I had some trouble with this one because the air

Zachster

Zachster

Episode 3: The Golden Trilobite!

Hello everyone! Sorry that it has been a while since I posted.  I have been so busy with school.  Physics keeps me pretty busy lol!  So I have been working on my trilobites.  This time I found out that working with the air abrasive it can be good to point the air parallel with the grooves of the trilobite.  This way I can maximize the removal of the matrix and minimize the removal of the actual fossil. Because the angle of the air abrasive is parallel the force vector has a minimal contact

Zachster

Zachster

Quick Post: The Bucket

So I thought that I would do quick little posts along with the more in depth ones. I decided that I can use these to answer questions or explain one thing quickly. This time I decided that I would talk about the orange bucked I have sitting on the floor. It is a dust trap machine. It uses water to catch the air abrasive material and the rock bits that are cut away by the abrasive. It works really well!! I have been using it for a couple of weeks and I just cleaned out our vacuum and t

Zachster

Zachster

How ranges in PSI help clean fossils

Hello everyone! So i have been hard at work. Last time I damaged a couple of fossils because the PSI on the sandblasting machine was too high while I was working on removing matrix directly off the fossil. This time I learned that higher pressures like 20 or 40 PSI can be useful for removing large amounts of matrix that are not directly touching the fossil. While lower pressures like 5 PSI are useful for removing small amounts of matrix to expose details of fossils. Also it is a good idea t

Zachster

Zachster

Getting Started

Hey guys! So I thought that I would start a new blog here. I have been looking for videos and other instructional material on line for how to prep / clean a fossil and have not found much. Google did not seem to be to helpful in this matter. I did find a few more things on this forum and they were very helpful. I learned what materials I needed and some techniques of how to clean fossils, but nothing like "Make sure to do this.....", "don't do this....". So I was able to gain access to my S

Zachster

Zachster

Caloosahatchee 2015

A topic early last year in the Fossil Forum asked “What are your goals for 2015”. My response in that discussion was a desire to collect from the Duplin Formation in South Carolina to expand upon the species list within my Pliocene Project. Although I did not have the opportunity to bring those specific goals to fruition, I did add significantly to that list with unplanned collecting trips to two sites exposing the Golden Gate Member of the Tamiami Formation containing a number of species not

MikeR

MikeR

Masiakasaurus vs Noasaurus!

Welcome to the first entry of my dino blog! I figured for the first entry I should do something exciting and personal to me, so I'm doing a face-off between my two favourite dinosaurs: masiakasaurus and noasaurus! These two dinos are roughly the same size and are the two smallest abelisaurids found so far. Before we get into the match-up, lets look at some stats and figures for the reptiles themselves. First off we have masiakasaurus, a piscivorous dinosaur with long, outward jutting teet

paleoblog23

paleoblog23

Brief

Please read this section before continue in this blog Currently this blog only contains my personal information on: 1- micropaleontology of a section in Iran (Arak) which described here. (in website gallery only images+microfacies- complete refrence is in the excel file) 2- some palynological works _______________________________________ you probably fisrt should download the following: - Map of the area: http://wikisend.com/download/391330/Map-final.jpg - Excel file for the complete

mohsenamini

mohsenamini

Getting Started - Reading and Learning

Some Background: I was already somewhat familiar with the idea that one had to have a license to collect certain fossils. As a child, I'd spent enough summer days at Kelly Rock Springs to find the occasional 'other fossil' in addition to the plethora of shark teeth usually found. These other fossils would get enjoyed for the afternoon and then left behind. I never found anything particularly impressive, I needed glasses but couldn't be bothered to wear them around water and thus really couldn't

JenniferinFL

JenniferinFL

Denton Fossils

Today I went fossil hunting down to Denton, Texas. The weather was fairly nice with some wind. The outcome were some turrilite fragments, a ton of exogyra arietina (for selling), an echinoid, some Cetaceous/Jurassic sea floor, brachiopods and a clam. Echinoid Brachiopods Some of many Exogyra Arietina Turrilite Cretaceous or Jurassic sea floor

Pterodactyl

Pterodactyl

My First Blog Entry

Hello and welcome to Pterodactyl's first blog on the forum. On my blog I will share my fossil hunting experiences, new and old stuff in my collection and anything else I feel like I should add. To keep you excited I'm going to Denton, TX to fossil hunt and I will also be going to San-Francisco to hunt as well. Hope you enjoy.

Pterodactyl

Pterodactyl

The Tamiami Fossil Reefs

Belying its status as the third most populous state in the nation and America’s self-proclaimed vacation wonderland, Florida was perhaps the last paleontological frontier in the lower 48 states. South Florida in particular was thought of as a vast impenetrable swamp and it was not until the Academy of Natural Sciences 1886 scientific expedition led by Angelo Heilprin along Florida’s southwestern coast and interior that it was discovered that South Florida until quite recently was submerged. It

MikeR

MikeR

GMR Entry #1 - June 2015 - October 2015

To date, I have found a few hundred shark teeth of assorted species and condition, around 100 belemnites and then various other items while screening for fossils at the GMR. This will be my first "trip report" blog on finds from all previous trips (June 2015-October 2015). These images are just the "best" finds within the things I've found at GMR to kick start the reporting I hope to do more timely and detailed with individual trip analysis. There will be several items/categories I am missing an

AshHendrick

AshHendrick

Meet your Host, Mr. Ash!

Hello, I'm Ash. I'm long winded when I type. I'm an oxymoron in who I am, what I do, how I am perceived and also how I perceive. This initial blog post is not going to contain anything more than a get to know me, so if you want to read about my fossil finds, go ahead and skip to the next topic. For those who end up finding interested in what I have to say beyond the fossil finds, you may come back to this post with hope to understand my through process. This is the background of my life, the r

AshHendrick

AshHendrick

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