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I just finished up a prep for @Fossil-Hound of some E. rana trilobites from Penn Dixie. It was a lot of fun and they were cool to prep. I got to really put my Micro Jack to work! Here are a few pics of a before and after.
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So, the Director of the site (Penn Dixie), recently sent me a photo that was provided by a visitor to the site. This bug was collected from the Windom in May, and before you ask, this is unfortunately the only photo I have to go off of. From what I can see, I am thinking a Dechenella sp., but it has been requested that I try to find a little more info. I thought I would send it out to the bug experts on the forum. I realize that the lack of prep and the existence of only one photo may make this impossible, but I said I would try regardless. The pygidium would be useful, but is not visible. Thank you in advance!
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A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to Penn Dixie for the,"dig with the experts" event and had a blast! Found lots of great stuff, too numerous to post. Here is one of my favorites finds, a complete Eldredgeops rana with what looks to be a cephalopod(?). On the other side is/was a pyritized worm tube coming out of the bugs eye. Unfortunately, half the tube flew off while prepping. .
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Hi Everyone, This season I'm planning to do at least one fossil hunting trip outside of my usual stomping grounds in the Massachusetts area. I looked at a couple of trip options and have decided on taking a couple days off of work to drive up to Penn Dixie in upstate NY. It's roughly an 8 hour drive from Massachusetts to Hamburg, NY. Friday/Monday would be my travel days (with some stops along the way), leaving me Saturday and Sunday to actually do some digging at Penn Dixie. Many of the forums members here seem to frequent Penn Dixie and for good reason! I have yet to visit the quarry, but it looks like a great spot to dig for Devonian fossils and certainly seems popular. I'm primarily interested in digging for trilobites and with a little luck will hopefully find some Phacops and Greenops trilobites of my own. I was hoping to see if you guys had any tips so that I can make the most of my two days up there. Where do the trilobites like to hide?! Right now I'm targeting the end of June for the trip (Tentatively the weekend of June 24/25). My summer is pretty jam packed so if this date doesn't work I might be looking at taking the trip up in late August/early September. If any TFF members will be at Penn Dixie on June 24/25 I'd love to say hi and split some shale with you . Additionally, if anyone has any suggested tools that aren't on my packing list or papers worth reading any/all suggestions are welcome! Resources. https://penndixie.org/our-geology/ https://penndixie.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/penn-dixie-field-trip-from-71st-nysga-1999.pdf Packing List: 3 lbs hand sledge Chisel end rock hammer Assorted cold chisels Pry bar Eyewear Work gloves Thanks as always!
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Hi everyone! Yesterday, Viola and I traveled across the border to join in on the fun for the "Dig with the Experts" program at Penn Dixie in New York State. It was sunny and hot, but we had a fantastic time collecting a bunch of Devonian fossils! Enjoy the pictures! Monica Picture #1: Viola showing off a chunk of rock with a rugose coral in it - we didn't keep this piece since it's was pretty big, and we opted to keep only the loose horn corals that we found. Picture #2: Viola showing off a pyritized brachiopod in another chunk of rock - so pretty! Picture #3: Viola trying her hand at using the rock hammer. Picture #4: Viola found a friend to hammer rocks with! Picture #5: The non-trilobite fossils that I collected and kept. I really like the orthoconic nautiloid in the upper left-hand corner of the picture - it was completely hidden within a rock that I split so it was a very nice surprise! Picture #6: The trilobites that I found and kept, including an enrolled little guy that popped out of the side of a rock that I was hammering - he was very cooperative. PS - I'll post pictures of the fossils that Viola decided to keep as soon as she washes them - stay tuned for that...
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In the past month I have had some really nice trilos pass through my workshop and this one will be no exception. Unfortunately , yet once again it is not mine to keep. It was found by Quarryman Dave on the forum here on Monday May 22, 2017 at Penn Dixie. Penn Dixie does obviously have the potential for you to find something more than the common eldgregeops that it is known for. Jason a forum member who works at Penn Dixie spent his afternoon off getting to know us crazy Canadians. Unfortunately he left shortly before this was found. This find turned a relatively unproductive day into actually a pretty good one. Unfortunately for us we excavated an area that had particularly ugly smoke creek matrix that really did not want to split or break out ......... even with 3 strong guys , multiple pry bars and the diamond rock saw. We probably left 10 good blocks for the next group foolish enough to try to muscle them out. Between Dave and myself, I think we found 3 complete prone eldregeops and 6 or 7 enrolled ones all in matrix. We generally give anything that is not in matrix or 100% to the kids that are always at this fossil park. If you have never been , plan to get there some day, it is worth it and they are all good people that run it. On Monday when we were there they had about 300 grade 6 students on a field trip and we were kept busy handing out goodies to them and answering their question "What is this" As for this greenops under consideration, its not quite as rare as the bellacartwrightia that is up for consideration for the May Fossil of the Month but it is rare enough that I have never found a complete one myself. I have a couple that are like 90% complete. This one although a bit twisted looks to be 98% complete. It is in a quite typical 2/3 enrolled position with the genal spines flying out to the sides. It has some minor damage on the pygidium , the very tip of one of the genal spines is missing and it has 3 broken pygidial spines. I will likely repair all of those defects as this will be a display piece and is unlikely to ever be sold. It was found as just a pygidium (tail) poking through the matrix. They always break in the same place for a molt or incomplete so I would always recommend taking home any greenops pygidium that sneaks under the matrix before the start of the pygidium. Perhaps one in 100 of the pygidium's will continue into something very very nice. You can see here (lol) that this one will be a real beauty ....... not really, just kidding but the best specimens are always pretty much completely buried. At that point I had about 1/2 hour invested in the prep. Here are some pictures at about 3 hours with probably another 3 to go. The eyes on this one are amazing with some pyritization on one of them that makes it real interesting. I will make this somewhat into a flying trilo and will try to preserve the pyritized worm burrow that you can see. Stay tuned for more pictures as I make progress on this bug.
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Well as of late I don't seem to be prepping many for me, although I have had some stunning fossils pass by my workshop in the last few months I know these are common as dirt. I found this little gem (dimension 27.17 mm x 17.26 mm) on Monday May 22 at Penn Dixie. So I took time this morning while working on a stunning greenops for someone else to quickly have a go at this little beauty for myself. I will post something on the greenops prep in a bit. It is going to be a nice one. A trilobite does not have to be rare to be beautiful. As far as I can recall the phacops rana ( I know that is not the correct name but it probably was when I found my first one) was the first complete trilobite I ever found, so they will always have a special place for me. The mind gets fuzzy with old age as the senility begins to creep in. This one was from Penn Dixie and took a whopping 12 minutes to prep. Other than the tip of the cephalon (head) everything was buried. Buried trilos always have the best potential to be pristine. Came out pretty nice for a quickie. Was prepped on a Comco air abrasion unit with no airscribing, using 40 micron dolomite at 25 PSI with a .030 and .015 inch nozzle under a Olympus scope at 10x magnification. No restoration, no gluing, no coatings.
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Masterfully prepared by Malcolm Thornley @Malcolmt. This trilobite is one of the more uncommon species found at Penn Dixie and highly sought after within the Devonian strata of western New York. Recovered from a field dig, Bellacartwrightia sp. appears similar to G. boothi but there are subtle differences. Bellacartwrightia sp. has small bumps running down the axial lobe and a small spike towards the back of the cephalon. This particular specimen is wrapped around the rock. When it was first discovered only the pygidium was visible. Special note: This species is similar to that of B. whitelyi but currently B. whitelyi has never been confirmed as found from the Penn Dixie Windom Shale. Further classification is being undertaken to either confirm this species is B. whitelyi or a new species of Bellacartwrightia. See the Bellacartwrightia entry in Trilobites of New York; Whitelyi, Kloc, Brett 2002.
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Posted this without telling Jason .... so hopefully he is cool with me posting. Jason went on a trip to Penn Dixie with a group from the forum here over Easter and found some fossils that Jason thought might be worth prepping. I was invited to attend, but there was no getting away from the wife and family over Easter. That was just a non starter. Anyway for some reason or other he realized that some of the fossils he found were actually quite nice and I guess he probably heard from some of the people on the trip that I might be able to do something with them for him. Well after a flurry of PM's, he decided to risk sending some off, to some old geezer that he didn't know from a hole in the wall, way up in Canada.... lol. So he sent me a few to have a look at and after 4 days with Fedex they arrived safely yesterday... Big note to anyone out there ...... always use regular USPS to send fossils to Canada it is the least hassle and the least expensive way to do it. Jason learned a bit of a lesson by using Fedex. Based on a quick look he is going to have a few nice ones in what he sent me, including one potentially large complete and stunning greenops. It has the potential to be one of the better greenops that I have seen come out of Penn Dixie. As with all the really good ones from there, other than part of the pygidium poking out of the matrix it is buried. A bit of a shame the matrix broke right at the edge of the greenops but I guess if it hadn't he would never have seen it. As a result the very tip of one of the pygidial spines is broken of. I could fix that up but not sure if I will , will wait to see final look of the fossil. Using a scope I have already exposed enough to know that a significant amount of the greenops is there including little spines that are generally missing. If you find something like his greenops ........ do not try to do anything with it yourself .... don't even think about it. I have seen far to many spectacular specimens destroyed by someone who just couldn't wait. They just had to pick away to see what was under there. Please have someone experienced who knows what they are doing and who has the right equipment look at it. Fossils like this are rare and fragile, touch it wrong and you have destroyed it. Unfortunately for Jason two other greenops he thought might be good that he sent me are just pygidiums. To have found 3 complete greenops at Penn Dixie in one day is absolutely unheard of and that is even knowing the exact layer in which they are found. Anyway, grabbed one of the fossils at random, eldredgeops rana and here is a quick prep sequence. Prepped using ARO, Pferd and other airscribes and Comco air abrasion unit set at 30 PSI 40 micron dolomite under a Nikon scope. Used a Comco .018 purple high precision nozzle until near the very end when I switched to a .010. Here is a bad picture of the fossil before starting Here it is 15 minutes into prep Here it is 30 mins into prep
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We finally got a chance to make it to Penn Dixie this year. Met up with Jay and had a good time. I made a short video of some of our adventures. I'll be posting a bit more fossil pictures. The brother found several roller trilobites out of the matrix in full condition.
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From the album: Penn_Dixie_Quarry_Blasdell_New_York
Eldredgeops rana Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Trilobita Order: Phacopida Family: Phacopidae Genus: Eldredgeops Species: E. rana Geological Time Scale Eon: Proterozoic Era: Paleozoic Period: Devonian Epoch: Middle Stratigraphy Hamilton Group Moscow Formation Windom Member Provenance Collector: Malcolm Thornley Date Collected: 11/30/2016 Acquired by: Field Collection Location New York United States-
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I've already posted a picture of this one in the fossil trips section, so my apologies for the duplication. I'm seeking confirmation that this is indeed a Bellacartwrightia whiteleyi. He's a bit beat up, missing eyes and a pygidium (or it may be hidden beneath the matrix), but what leads me to this conditional assumption is the (1) raised spines on the axial lobe, and (2) the longer and somewhat broader genal spines than what one finds on a Greenops. I just want to get the label on this one and put any uncertainty to bed. My thanks for ID assistance!
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Trilobite Preparation work wanted for money or trade!
Fossil-Hound posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
I just spent the past few days digging up some neat Devonian-era fossils from the Penn Dixie Hamburg, New York site and have two Greenops and 10 Eldredgeops that need prepped. Would anyone out there be willing to prepare these fossils for either a fee or for some of the spoils? I have a lot of high quality Eldredgeops, cephalopods, bryozoans, and crinoids that I could give up in exchange for the fossil preparations. I also have a bunch of shark teeth from Calvert Cliffs along with some neat shells (Turitella and Ecphora). Send me a personal message if you're up to the task or respond if you have any referrals. -
So, I had a Greenops boothi that was missing the the glabella and the entire left portions of the cephalon. @ischua and I dug this fella up at Penn Dixie in the fall. I decided to finally have a go at him to see how much could be salvaged. Here's the before: A little more work: A little more: And, finally: For size:
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More from the new workshop - Eldredgeops multi w/coral
DevonianDigger posted a topic in Fossil Preparation
So, in my previous post, "Day One In The New Workshop", I had posted a pic of a plate that I had hoped would be an Eldredgeops rana mass mortality plate. I decided to do some work on it to see if there were any more than the two hiding in the matrix. Apparently the rest of the trilobites opted for the blue pill. Turns out there was just the two, one enrolled, one prone, and neither 100% complete. There was also a nice little piece of what would appear to be Streptelasma ungula coral. I have been asked several times to "blog" about my prep work as I go. In an attempt to abide, I am going to try and share as I go with this piece and others! So, after some initial prep, it looked a little better. Once I determined that these little fellas were not with friends, I used my Dremel engraver to rough out and shape the surrounding matrix. I did, at one point, accidentally pop the lentil-sized roller off of the matrix. Thankfully, I had the foresight to hold down the actual fossils with my thumb as I was working around them, thus denying him the opportunity to experience flight. In the above picture you can see that I started to smooth out the rough cuts surrounding them. I did this with my secret weapon, the tattoo machine with a 7RL needle. As you can see in the final picture from the day (above), I started to prep out the coral and continued to contour around the "bases" of the two bugs. You can also see that the roller has a squished head, and that there is a small piece missing from the right eye of the prone. (As I mentioned earlier, neither of the two were in perfect shape to begin with.) In my next post for this one, I will show the surrounding matrix contoured out and hopefully more detail on the buglets. This is proving to be a tricky prep as they are tiny! (See below) Next time, I will try to get more "step-by-step" pictures to walk through the entire process!.thumb.jpg.3a5910d0c47d9cf4dace0d92722833a2.jpg)
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Now on staff at Penn Dixie!
DevonianDigger posted a topic in Partners in Paleontology - Member Contributions to Science
I'm excited to share that I have officially joined the staff at the renowned Penn Dixie site. I've managed to turn my hobby, which has been greatly furthered by knowledge gained from the supportive and generous members of TFF, into a job! I am now an educator at the site and will be travelling to regional schools, museums and events to share the wonders of the site with the general public in addition to working at the site during the spring, summer, and fall! So a giant "thank you!" to all the TFF members who have helped me along in my journey thus far! I look forward to seeing many of you this year at the site and chatting with you all online! -Jay -
Just spent the first morning in the new workshop playing with some bugs. Thought I would share day 1 progress. Eldredgeops rana after first prep session. Greenops boothi after some basic prep. Missing the cranidium and left librigena unfortunately. Tiny little Eldredgeops rana, with another little cephalon in association. Thinking this one has the potential to be a nice multi. Usually when I find these tiny little fellas this close together it's a mass mortality.
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While moving into my new workshop I came across some cool pieces from my collection that I'm not sure I had ever photographed. My camera flash is broken, so I just took these using a cell phone. There are a few oddities that I'm not sure of their IDs, and a few that are just cool pieces. Appears to be a partial Actinopteria decussata. Not a common find at the site. Looks like a nautiloid, perhaps a Orthoceras or Spyroceras, but has a really weird surface texture to it. Nice long section of crinoid stem. This was very tough to stabilize, it was practically jumping out of the matrix piece by piece. A big honkin' Eldredgeops rana that's partially enrolled. Still prepping him out. Unfortunately he's missing a chunk of the left librigina. You can also see the spines of a well-preserved Spinatrypa spinosa in the bottom of the frame. I don't know what this is. It's concave, and I think it's the interior of a Spyroceras, but I can't be sure it's such an odd segment to try and classify from.
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A few more pictures from the pit. It first I thought trace tubes but now after cleaning I'm not sure. There is texture and segmentation everything is now pyrite
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@ischua and I did another late fall dig today at Penn Dixie, and we came across this little bit of nonsense. Notice the little white hair-like bits that are sticking out of it. (It's about 5" long and a little less than an inch wide.) We were thinking it's plant matter of some type, but I have no clue. Never seen anything like it before.
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I am new to the forum, so I hope I am doing this correctly. If more information or pictures are required please let me know. I found this fossil at the Penn Dixie site in Hamburg, New York, on the north end of the site. I have not been able to find anyone who can tell me what this may be. Thank you for any help you can give me.
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Cold weather has taken vacation here and Fall is stretching well into snow season. @DevonianDigger and I put new tools to the test and Penn Dixie delivered as usual. I think we moved about a ton of rock The Pile!
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Hit up the site again today with @ischua, found a lot of trilobites. Mike was lucky enough to land a plate with two complete, prone Eldredgeops rana overlapping. Gorgeous piece, hoping he'll post pics when he's able. In the meantime, I started to prep out some of my completes that I found including this fella, which I am very proud of: I know, I know... doesn't seem all that impressive of a prep job... That is until you see this: Still could use a little more work but I need a finer abrasive first. Also, needs a coating, I just painted him with some water to make him shiny for his photo debut!
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This is my first whole prep of a complete trilobite. I had to remove a lot of matrix to get this one clear. It needs a good blasting to clean out the detail....I think I did okay Please let me know what I can improve upon
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Hello all! I am throwing myself at the mercy of the community in the hopes that I might stumble across a kind and generous person or two who may be interested in helping to support the continued growth of the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center in Hamburg, NY. Many of you have been to the site, or hope to go to the site in the future. As one of the nation's top fossil parks, the importance of the site should go without saying. The continued support of the local community as well that of organizations and generous individuals allows the site to not only remain open to the public, but also to grow and provide a more robust and enjoyable experience for both professionals and amateurs alike. This Nov. 3rd, the Hamburg Natural History Society, (the parent organization of Penn Dixie,) will be hosting an annual fundraiser. I am approaching the Fossil Forum community in the hopes that I can talk some generous souls into donating fossil specimens from other parts of the globe for auction at the event. The organization is, of course, a non-for-profit and your contribution can be counted as a write-off. Anyone interested in helping to support this wonderful site and guarantee its existence for future generations, please feel free to DM me for additional information. Thank you all in advance! Jay (DevonianDigger)
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