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Showing results for tags 'Trilobites'.
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I was able to take another trip to the Leighton Formation today! It's been a while since I've been able to visit (months and months), but I've finally been able to. Unfortunately, during the winter the place is completely covered in snow and ice. Not really the best collecting conditions... My last trip there was in August of last year, and the spring has been very busy. Today it was time. It was supposed to be overcast with a chance of rain, but it came out sunny and bright. Absolutely beautiful day out. The collecting was very good. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the site. I was working in the same spot as last time, and at another outcrop a little farther down the shoreline. Place hasn't changed much, still as minuscule and weathered as ever. I had a better idea where to look though. Last time, I collected a lot, but I was mainly working in layers where the fossils were very evident. These layers contained a plethora of brachiopods, ostracods, tentaculites and other invertebrates - plus my first conodont. This time, though, I was going to try something a little different. The layers between the extremely fossiliferous layers had finer sediments, and generally seemed to keep the specimens intact better. I chose to mainly work in what I now call the "Chonetes layer". It's the only layer in these outcrops that contain Chonetes bastini brachiopods. The layer doesn't shatter as much as the other shale, so the pieces come out without a lot of cracking. It was also the same place that I found a nice trilo-bit, and I was hoping it would pay off. It did... The best finds of the day went to the trilobite cephalons. I found two Acaste cf. zerinae sp. - mostly intact, but an eye cracked off on the first, and both on the second. I was (luckily) able to find them, and I intend to glue them back on. At least the external molds are completely intact. In all of the following pictures, internal molds come first, external molds second. Cephalon #1, the one-eyed wonder. Cephalon #2 - missing both of the eyes. Sad, it would have been so nice too... Then came the pygidia - four of them! I believe that they are all the same species as the cephalons - A. zerinae - but I could be wrong. I'm sure the trilo-experts here can help me with that. Pygidium #1, the nicest one. Pygidium #2 - this little guy got a bit beat up when the rock split. Pygidium #3 - little bugger needs to be prepped a bit. Pygidium #4 - the internal mold of this cracked in half - and it's missing a piece. This one's a neat little trace fossil. It looks like an infilled burrow to me, but I'll set up a separate thread for that - with better pictures. And this very odd little guy. Another one I'll have to take better pictures on, and as soon as the matrix is pared down a bit I will scrutinize it under a microscope. It's not very evident, but it feathers out at the right end. It could be mineral staining or something, but I'm not sure yet. Then the stuff I couldn't bear to leave behind. I was trying to keep my collecting to new stuff, but some of them just sneaked in there... I feel like we've all experienced this before. Orbiculoidea sp. brachiopod. Lingula sp. brachiopod. Leiopteria rubra bivalve. It was a pretty good day. On top of these finds, I brought back some promising shale pieces to look for micro-fossils in - and a few more interesting unknowns. But that's for another time.. Thanks for reading!
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- bivalves
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Dicranarus Monstrosus fossil, is it real?
Fossil Maniac posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Hello! I saw this Dicaranarus monstrosus fossil online, I want to know if it's authentic or not. Thank you for any help!.thumb.png.14464cb228eb17ba01b9fa6af6904b2f.png)
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Hello all! I'm looking to do some more fossil hunting this summer and I would love to find a good spot for trilobites. I am in western Maryland, and am willing to travel up to 2 hours. Most of the sites I've searched so far have been largely dominated by brachiopods and crinoids (which are still cool), but I really would love to find other species. If anyone has a good site which has trilobites (or anything else super cool) please let me know!! Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated! PS: I understand wanting to keep your spot secret, so if you don't want to post in this thread, don't hesitate to PM me!
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I've been out quite a bit this season, but still haven't had my "wow" trip-maker yet. Due to various situations, most of my digging has been very local, with one away trip to Quebec. For local sites, I've been prospecting new spots and doing due diligence on old ones, too. Around me is Devonian, and more particularly the ugly portions of the Devonian of Ontario that are parsimonious, tough, sometimes lacking in bedding planes, occasionally blank or cherty, and generally displaying fossils as they might appear after being thoroughly whipped in a Ninja blender. But, hey, it's always fun to get out. New site #1: Amherstburg Fm material (L-M.Devonian) Not the best facies of the Amherstburg Fm, but certainly some stromatoporoid action for those who enjoy the lumpy-bumpy spreaders. It isn't the mid Devonian of my city without bumping into a rostroconch. I swear these things are stalking me. A chalk-cherty mass and a view of a very busy coral layer. Another coral layer Bryozoans galore, and some of these can spread quite an area. All bryozoans, but indicative of the diversity among them in this material. More coral horizons -- a colony and some solitary cups Giant colony Big stromato... and close-up:
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Hi! I am a fossil enthusiast with no formal education in the field. My day job is a jeweler/metalsmith and most of my work is fossil and mineral related. I've been lurking on the forum for years and I'm excited to finally be a member! Maranda
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Hello FF! I’ve recently taken home some neat fossils from the Waldron Shale in southern Indiana. I’m new to taking fossil collecting seriously, and thus have little experience in trying to properly prep them. For some, the surrounding matrix often crumbles when I take so much as a dental pick to them, though a toothbrush and soapy water hardly yield results after scrubbing for a while. For others, I can hardly get anything to work (such as the large trilobite mold below). The tools I have present are a dental pick, a toothbrush, water (and dish detergent), a small chisel, a hammer, and a jug of muriatic acid, though I have read the muriatic acid should be used as more of a last resort. I just don’t know if I’m doing the methods I’m currently using wrong (likely), or if I need new methods altogether. For the trilobite mold, I’ve been scrubbing and dental picking for 2 hours with little to show, so perhaps I should alter my methods. Lastly, I plan on purchasing an air scribe in the near future, so is that something I should get before working on these further? Thank you kindly for your time and help!
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Today I had the pleasure of fossil hunting Deep Springs Road with @Dean Ruocco, Alan Lang, Cynthia, and Marcus. This was my first trip to hunt in NY, while I was hoping for a Dipleura, I was able to see a nice big one be found (I will let Dean post it) Additionally I had some fun take homes that are not too common for my PA honeyhole. The day mostly consisted of Dean, Marcus, and Myself cutting in a bench and working it hard. Cynthia was wearing down some of our spoil piles and providing insight into what exactly we were looking at. Alan was generous letting us use his tools and providing valuable pointers on digging practices. My take homes include: Greenops (Pretty uncommon at my Honeyhole) Eldredgeops (While common in PA, I hear they are uncommon at DSR) Various Bivalves and Brachiopods (I'm always a fan of matrix free shells) Photos of my haul:
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Anybody know the species of these two trilobites?
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Hello, I've been recently fascinated by large isotelus trilobites. Does anyone on here own one and would like to show and talk about it, I would if I owned one but I don't see that happening anytime soon haha. This is the largest I've seen for sale so far that would've been 8 inches, would be nice to be able to find one but I don't have that luxury.
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Northern Arkansas family vacation looking for trilobites!
CrinoidCrazy posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Booking a family trip to northern Arkansas! Finding a trilobite is on my daughter and my “dream come true!” list! Any recommended destinations or places to look would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! -
looking for places to hunt for trilobites in Missouri
fossilhunter21 posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I am going to be in Missouri for a few days and I am looking for places to hunt for trilobites. Thanks in advance. -
From the album: My Collection
A slab with three Distyrax, a Stelckaspis and a Rielaspis. -
Took another trip to the Mahantango (Devonian) over the weekend. Went with @Dean Ruocco While my haul was not too terrific, I did manage to grab some stuff to use as trade pieces / donor pieces. Dean did manage to get some nice trilobites but I will let him post those Brachiopod plate: Normally I would leave this as they are a dime a dozen at my locality but figured I would grab this to give to a friend who is trying to get some material to use in a display cabinet at the college he teaches at. Trilobites: Again not the best stuff but always fun to get more bugs. All these I believe to be Eldregeops rana
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- mahantango
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Hey everyone! So recently I purchased some unprepared Moroccan trilobites. I am having a very hard time preparing them and am making a lot of mistakes. And I was just wondering if these maybe are not the best for practice for a beginner, or is it just me? Thanks, @fossilhunter21
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- tennessee
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Hello Everyone In June last year I went on a trip with my parents to the Late Ordovician / Early Silurian-aged Cotton Formation at the Cotton Hill quarry in Forbes. All relevant permission was obtained from the local council prior to attending. I have heard that the Fossil Club of Australia (formerly NSW) do trips here as a group as well, that's probably the easiest way to attend. I planned to post this in August, however due to Covid I didn’t have access to the fossils to take pictures. Also, I only just recently bought some macro equipment to take photos of the fossils which is why my post took so long. Be sure to zoom in on each photo as they are all highly detailed. (open in a new tab) For useful previous expeditions and information by others see: For those unaware, the fauna is dominated by Sinespinaspis markhami, a small odontopleurid trilobite. Unfortunately, I found no specimens with their free cheeks attached, nor did I find any specimens of the rarer Aulacopleura pogsoni or the even rarer Raphiophorus sandfordi. We had two days of digging, and the temperature was a cool 14-15C on both days, but once the sun came out and with long-sleeve shirt and pants on, we definitely started sweating. As soon as we got out of the car, I found a partial trilobite negative lying on the ground. It was 8mm long and looked like it was left behind by another fossicker. Once we realised where the designated fossicking area was (back near the road entrance, and not in front of the parking area) we could start properly searching for fossils. The first ones we found were on the surface on the westernmost boundary. It’s amazing how big the actual site is. Considering how deep the hole in the ground is, there probably would’ve been thousands or millions of fossils unearthed and used in road material over the years. Both the plates seem to be death assemblages, with hundreds of “trilo-bits” on them along with what looks like tiny shells. When I got home, I wanted to split the L-shaped to expose more of the second layer (you can see one set of cold chisel marks) but the matrix must have been unstable as it cracked into five pieces and exploded. It did set free a new trilobite though, which is cool.
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- bivalve?
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Well it has finally opened to the public on December 4rth. "The new Dawn of Life Gallery" at The ROM is perhaps the best gallery on the planet covering the earliest life to the emergence of land dwelling creatures. I was fortunate to have a tiny part in the new gallery having prepared a number of the museums specimens and also having donated and sold them some pieces . Here is a tiny taste of what you can see in the new gallery. It will not disappoint.
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So I went to Lost River, WV (Needmore formation) during the fall. I just recently found time to go through the material some more, set up photos, edit, etc. Brachiopod impression? As with the other brachiopods, I’m hoping for genus-level identification. Brachiopod. Any ID’s on its genus? This… Thing. I’m guessing its a brachiopod. But I could also see it being the eye of a trilobite. This brachiopod flaked right off the matrix! Any ideas as to what genus it belongs to? Hmmmm this was clearer before I uploaded it. Any idea how to fix it? Not like its too important because it looks like its just some brachiopod hash. I’m guessing this is the glabella of a Phacops rana. Trilobite pygidium. Hoping for a species-level identification, but genus is probably the best I’m going to get.
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Made it down to the Conasauga Shale as the last of 10 sites on a 4-state, 6-time-period collecting expedition in mid-august. I'll post reports on the other sites (as well as other trips earlier in the summer) later. I elected not to split shale on-site and just collected shale for splitting in a controlled environment. I'm only interested in trilobites that still have the exoskeleton (rather than just impressions). I gently tap the shale until I see a fine crack in a bedding plane and then carefully pry it apart with an Xacto knife. The exoskeletons usually have a hollow space above and below them and are terribly fragile. One must hope that all the exoskeleton ends up on one side of the split. Any still unexposed require tedious removal of matrix under a scope with a fine needle while trying to avoid poking through the exoskeleton into the hollow space underneath. I wick consolidant under the exoskeleton to prevent it from flaking off. Even blowing on it can knock it off. Here are the keepers.
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Hello fellow fossil peeps, I am finally adding myself on here as I was told to do by Asa Kaplan almost a year ago. I love finding fossils and making new discoveries or new to me discoveries. I love to learn and I am joining here to learn more and possibly spread some of the things I have learned as well. I live in Missouri south of St. Louis in Jefferson County. This is primarily where I collect in various groups and formations including the decorah group, plattin group, kimmswick fm, warsaw fm, fern glen fm, and St. Louis fm. Favorite fossils right now are cyclocystoids. I have found the one in my profile pic and several hundred more individual submarginal ossicles and 2 more partially articulated rings (one that is also nearly complete). 2nd favorite thing to hunt for is either cephalopods or trilobites and it depends on my mood and location I am searching. Locally we can find a lot of straight cephalopods such as endoceras, actinoceras, cameroceras but coiled nautiloids and ammonites are rare to non-existent in these formations. In Missouri full or even close to full trilobites are also rare finds although I have been lucky to find a few over the past 2 years they are still very rare. Bryozoans and the wild diversity are also a favorite and very diverse in my area. Archimedes, Evactinopora radiata, diplotrypa, and others are prevalent locally. Thank you,
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I received a couple of trilobites, which the seller has given me the description, as unknown. (He has me fried). See if anyone can help. In photo 1 .... With 2 centimeters long, (it comes from the Cambrian Tenprano (quiongzhusi formation, Yunnan - China) Could it be a kind of Maotunia? The other, Ordovicio ... 1 centimeter long. (Baoshan - Yunnan, Shihtian formation, China). Encrinoides enshiensis? I saw it in a thread on this forum, and it looks like it, but it was from the Silurian. Any clues on that stain?
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From the album: Robs Fossil Collection
Trinucleus fimbriatus (Murchison) Trilobite Ordovician period, Llandeilo series, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales.- 1 comment
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I own a couple of fossils and have found a couple of shells. Some of the fossils I have that I bought include a small dimetrodon rib section a couple species of trilobites and some other cool things like a crocodile tooth and some ammonite fossils. Came here for help with fake fossil id and to learn more about fossils. Thank you
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I started collecting around a year ago and have gained a small collection just wanted to show some the fossils off. Some I've found but most are bought. I will update if I get any new fossils. I can't post all the stuff at once because I need to take all the photos which takes some time. Thank you
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Hello, I have recently acquired three calymenes from Morocco, one of them was broken (or composited), and glued. To hide the glue, it was covered with mud, and after removing the glue I discovered an awful white glue. I tried to dissolve the glue by leaving the fossil in acetone for a whole day, then I left the it in alcohol for another whole day, and nothing happened. I finally soaked it in hot water but another time nothing happened. Does anyone know how to remove it? Thanks!
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