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Anchor Point Alaska Miocene plant materials
Sjfriend posted a topic in Partners in Paleontology - Member Contributions to Science
I have been in contact with the head of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Museum for a couple years showing some of my better plant fossils from my area. Miocene age, Beluga Formation, This last week I had a Masters Degree student come and visit my collection and my local site. She is going to do her thesis on the local miocene flora. There are papers on plants presumed to be older and younger but none from this section of the formation. I donated approximately 100 lbs of specimens to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North to be used by her then put in the Museum's collection. Based off the papers from other Alaska sites, it appears to be a mix of Salix, Betula, Alnus, Ficus, Populous, Metasequioa, Glyptostrobus, Taxodium and probably others. I know there are at least a few that are not described from this formation based off looking through the papers. Included in the specimens are leaves, twigs, branches, aments (cones and catkins) and other inflorescences. I know there are cones from 3 different families based on shapes and sizes. The student and her professor were quite thrilled and impressed by specimens they were able to take back. I will be donating a lot more from my previous trips after high grading them. And, now I am helping as an offical on-site field agent for this now official University project. So all my digging here for the next 3 years (expected length of project) will be for the university museum. Fine by me as plants are not my #1 fossil to collect.
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- alaska
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The hike started with a group photo with Kobuk and a band of Dall sheep, ewes with lambs. Appropriate start to the hike as the Greek ram horned god called Ammon is the basis for the name ammonite. I returned to an exposure I had visited in the past that was particularity steep with new boots to safely negotiate the steep siltstone. The geology is Matanuska Formation member 3 which I have posted some trips in the past. Multiple new ammonites had been exposed with many molds present and some of the ammonites already lost to erosion being washed down to the bottom gully where they break into bits. This was a double mold. A view of the bottom shows multiple fragments and pieces of shells. Bivalve fossils were evident with these two being mostly intact. I am going to put names on some that I believe are correct and would like confirmation or corrections from the group. 1) Pachydiscus hornbyense Traversed across here leaving my pack to make my steps more nimble. Pictures follow of what was readily visible. 2) The top one is Neophylocerus ramosa, hard to see in the picture but in is finely ribbed and involute with past experience of finding these here before am confident with this ID. This ammonite caught my eye and after cutting foot steps worked at exposing it. 3) Once exposed removed the matrix tentative ID: Packydiscus sp. It is still in the mountains so this is the only pictures I have of it. This view gives an idea of how steep the terrain is here. Falling is not an option. I have posted pictures of this ammonite in the past and it is getting close to its final ride. Another starting to pop out. This one was precariously perched on the concretion. Once they hit the bottom not much is remaining from the impact. 4) An uncommon treat, a heteromorph. Nostroceras sp. ? A double from one concretion. will have to clean the matrix of figure out what they are. 5) Another pair in close proximity. Pachydiscus sp. Ammonite grave yard. Parting view of the sheep overlooking the guy with orange boots on. Back to the Cub and the new boots are no longer new.
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With more nice weather and low tides a friend and headed down the west side of Cook Inlet to dig clams. The island in the background will be explored for fossils after getting some groceries from the tidal flats. It was a weekend day so lots of people out in aircraft and boats digging clams. The boats come across Cook Inlet from the Kenia Penninsula and stay for the full low tide cycle. Kobuk stayed in the plane so I did not have a messy passenger for the rest of the trip. The quarry are down in the sand and show holes as they move pushing water out as they breath. Clams Once the clam bucket was filled with what we wanted to take home and clean I scooted over to Chisik Island which is park of Lake Clark National Park to look at and photograph fossils. This is an easy spot to access as the fossils are on the beach or just a short climb to see. Kobuk has his harness on which I use as his safety belt in the plane. Belemnites Inoceramus are abundant A few ammonites in situ Fossil Point in the background across Tuxedni Bay Beach fossils I had intended to climb to see where the blocks of Inoceramus fossil were eroding out but the tide was coming back in so needed to depart while there was still beach showing. This is a park and want to remind anyone wishing to visit that no collecting of fossils is permitted without required permit from the NPS. AK Hiker
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I got a weather window and some time to get out for a hike to the Talkeetna Mountains near my home recently. It is an hour long flight to where I went this time and beautiful scenery on the way there. The Nelchina caribou heard uses this area in the spring through fall with their trails from eons use evident in some areas like this mountain. Alaska’s state flower is the Forget Me Knot with many in full bloom. This is at 5,000 foot elevation and the alpine flowers are just now greening up. The caribou trails are nice to use if they happen to be where you are going. Bones from a likely wolf killed caribou. The formation in the background has abundant belemnites. The spring melt with water erosion moves lots of the loose grey mudstone exposing concretions with weathering, some fracture open. This large clam was laying on the bottom and next flood will be gone. Fossil Dog (Kobuk) in action trying to get a parka squirrel who had been chipping at him. Entertaining but really we need to keep hiking as we’re 4 miles from the plane and have not gotten to where I wanted to look at another exposure. D2DCA8DF-76FF-46C0-92B0-6D987105F3A9.MOV The size if some of the ammonites is impressive with these being chunks at the bottom of the exposure I was hiking too. Kobuk is carrying my water which is something he can’t break in his pack. Time to turn around and disappointed as this exposure had looked promising for the bigger ammonites with the float I was seeing in the bottom. On the way back went a different way and found some small gastropods. These slabs of clams were mixed in with conglomerate aggregate and I have seen these type of fossils in several other locations near by. Mixture of fossils and rounded rock. The weather really improved for the flight home making for another spectacular trip. The Talkeetna Mountain in the foreground and Chugach Mountains in the background. Rock glacier is in Hicks Creek valley. Matanuska Glacier The area hiked on this trip is in Cretaceous rocks. There are Jurassic exposures in the Talkeetna Mountains and will get to those sometime too. AK Hiker
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A new study reveals that nearly all types of dinosaurs that were present in the Arctic reproduced in the region, and remained there year-round. These dinosaurs encountered ~4 months of darkness per year, temperatures below zero, and snow https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00739-9?utm_source=EA
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- alaska
- late cretaceous
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My wife and I recently traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska for a mini vacation and toured the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus. It brought back some old memories as I completed my undergraduate training there in 1986. Here are a few pictures from the displays that I found interesting. The hadrosaurs display is fairly new and in the entryway Mammoth display Dinosaur interpretive displaysRay Troll art. Enjoy! AK Hiker
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Another piece from my grandmother's collection. It is labeled "Fossil Tusk or Horn, Shop in Anchorage" August 1985". It is rather small, measuring almost exactly 3 inches in length. It appears mammalian, and if it's from Alaska, I assume it's probably Pleistocene in age. Although she had it labeled as a tusk or horn, I'm more inclined to believe it's part of a bone, especially considering there is a foramen visible on one side. Anyone have an inkling?
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Looking for a bit of assistance in identifying a few items... this one was found while hunting the brooks range.. they could be found everywhere at our drop off site.. mountainous valley with creek beds... Close to Happy Valley Camp
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The snow has arrived at the elevations that I like to hike covering up the fossil beds now. These pictures are from one of my last hikes in the Talkeetna Mountains and as you can see these are oversized fossils. The ice axe next to the clam is 30". Kobuk and one to the bigger ammonites measured at 65 cm diameter is another whopper. Ok, now a Where's Waldo picture. How many ammonites do you see in the picture? I have the answer and they as still are all still there in the outcrop, some are broken. The answer is nine ammonites. Until next year happy fossil hunting!
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I have here a polar bear tooth from St. Lawrence, Alaska. I was told it was fossilized, Pleistocene to be precise. The seller had other similar teeth available on offer, in darker shades, claiming they were all fossilized and simply preserved in different ways. Ultimately, I chose this one. As far as the literature goes, it has been argued that the polar bear does go back to the late Pleistocene: Ingólfsson, Ólafur; Wiig, Øystein (2009). "Late Pleistocene fossil find in Svalbard: the oldest remains of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1744) ever discovered". Polar Research. 28 (3). doi:10.3402/polar.v28i3.6131 I know coloration is not the ideal determination of fossilization, and yet I also read that the burn test wouldn't work on a tooth. Is there, then, any way to confirm if this is fossilized?
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I found this bone in Interior Alaska down river of some bluffs that I know have produced mammoth bones and other Pleistocene age fossils. I am curious if anybody can identify this bone and whether it is really from the quaternary or is it more recent. There is crystallization in the holes in the bone and it feels more dense than a normal bone would. Be thankful for any thoughts and information.
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Alaskan Polar Bear & Walrus Fossils - Date Ranges
BellamyBlake posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Hi everyone, I recently came across online Alaskan fossils. Specifically they are a Polar Bear and Walrus tooth from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. There doesn't seem to be much of a consensus on the age ranges for those teeth, and having those would be useful to me. According to a geological map, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, is Quaternary at its earliest: https://alaska.usgs.gov/science/geology/state_map/interactive_map/AKgeologic_map.html. That already puts me at a range of 2.6 million - 11,000 years, pretty wide. Initial research suggests polar bears evolved maybe 150,000 years ago, and their oldest fossils are around 120,000. I have no idea on the walrus yet. Does this mean, though, that my polar bear tooth is between 11,000 and 120,000 years old, or could it be narrowed down further? I'd love some insight from those who have knowledge of these aspects of paleontology. I would appreciate age ranged on the polar bear and walrus fossils found on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Thank you, Bellamy -
I have here a tooth that a merchant claims to be a fossilized polar bear tooth, found on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. To me, it looks like it could be sea lion. Any idea? \ Then again, here's a (replica) grizzly bear tooth that looks similar to me, too:
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Here is the next part of my north slope trip pictures. After camping for two days I headed west and stopped on the Canning River to fish for char. The gravel bar I landed on had pieces of fossil coral and the river cut bank was of the same Kingak Shale with some large concretions. The view out of the plane shows the Ignek valley, east and west. After fishing headed west and stopped at the Kavic Camp for fuel, bring cash as avgas is $12 a gallon and glad to get it! Saddelrochit Mountains Looking west Ignek River valley Looking east Ignek River valley with Ignek Mesa behind the rear lift strut. Coral present in Canning River bed. Pingo- a feature of permafrost, ice lens buildup of up to 300/400 foot elevation. Polygons- ice lens in the soil giving the polygon shapes seen next to the pingo. No place to land here or would have checked it out. Reached the Colville River in the evening and flew all the way to the Killik River where the Colville takes a sharp bend. Killik River Colville River at the Killik River bend. Upon returning home read that there are known dinosaur track ways there and would have like to hike over and see them. Camp at Killik River ( the next day) Landed for lunch and was greeted by several bunches of caribou Kobuk and caribou bone Lignite present on most of the gravel bars. Colville River bar where fossils were seen. Bone or antler fragment.
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Dinosaurs' unique bone structure key to carrying weight Trabecular structure different than mammals, birds Southern Methodist University, PhysOrg, August 20, 2020 The paper is: Trevor G. Aguirre, Aniket Ingrole, Luca Fuller, Tim W. Seek, Anthony R. Fiorillo, Joseph J. W. Sertich, Seth W. Donahue. Differing trabecular bone architecture in dinosaurs and mammals contribute to stiffness and limits on bone strain. PLOS ONE, 2020; 15 (8): e0237042 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237042 Yours, Paul H.
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The first juvenile dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Arctic Alaska is presented in this paper. Paper https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0235078 Article http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/alaskan-saurornitholestine-dinosaur-08618.html Inreresting tooth
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- alaska
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I have studying ammonite anatomy and nomenclature as well as the local geology where I have been hiking. Today I rough prepared several ammonites and feel like I can make an educated attempt to name 2 of 3 that I worked on. I am reasonably certain they are from member three of the Matanuska Formation in the Talkeetna Mountains. I have shared some pictures of where I found one on the snow at the bottom of an avalanche so pictures of that one first as it is new to me. In my effort to learn these will describe why I believe it is Gaudryceras tenailiratum; wide umbilicus, course ribs, rounded venter, pattern of major rib separated with repeating pattern of secondary ribs, the ribs are asymmetrical with the anterior side sloping in concave slope and the slopes abruptly. I did not prepare the back side as it was a double and left the mold from the other ammonite as I think it pretty cool. The next one also is ribbed and I believe is Neophylloceras ramosum and base that decision on the pictures from the Gological Survey Professional Paper 432 as well as the description. I have seen these one many times and have a few in the garden. I found that prepping them I have become quite attached as it takes time and learn the morphology as cleaning the fossil. This one had several shells in the matrix and I left a portion of one. Will make another post for the third ammonite Thanks in advance for any helpl!!!
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Ok, tired of AK Hiker getting all the glory for Alaska finds hehe Made a run to my local fossil spot yesterday (which includes about 3 miles driving down the beach). Try to only go down when the tide is falling to 1, give more time to explore, and 2, more time to escape when the tides rolls back in. We can have between 8 - 28 feet of tide change! During big high tides the water is to the bluff. Some of the driving is loose sand / gravel so want to make sure if accidentally get stuck have time to get the car dug out before it takes a salt bath! We're searching through the Kenai group, Beluga formation, mid-late Miocene age plants. Most of it is splitting slabs that have been weathered out sitting at bottom of bluff along beach. Most slabs have exposed fossils but they are quickly worn down so it's rock breaking time to find sharper fossils. Most I have not ID'd yet (some I have a very hard time seeing / understanding the differences) First photos are of the area searched (bluff) and the view across Cook Inlet. In 1st one you can see Mt Illiamna across the Inlet which is one of our local dormant volcanoes (3 within 100 miles have erupted in last 30 years or so. Last in 2009)
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Wishbone Hill by Sutton, Alaska is an old coal strip mine area so unfortunately a lot of trash, motorized recreation and shooting. Did I mention shooting? On the drive in will pass where trees have been shot so much they have fallen down, I should have taken a picture of that as for about an 1/8th of a mile 50 trees have been cut down by bullets. My wife, dogs and I did an eight mile round trip day hike first with the strip mine visible in the background. There is road access to the mine area and fossil collecting is allowed. Wishbone Hill with the notch in middle for reference later too where the plant fossil pictures were taken. Above tree line Eska Falls Day Hike. Really a nice trail but need 4 wheel drive to access the trail head. This petrified log is on the west end of the cut Petrified log Back to the truck just in time! This is the upper part of the Chickaloon Formation, a Tertiary deposit. There area multiple papers online if interested in the history and geology. These pictures were taken in a 20 minute walk. The two bigger petrified logs are visible on the middle cut. If you visit sorry about all the trash, not proud of the shape this area is in. The last time I was there was 20 years ago and not any better then. If you like to shoot bring your guns, you will fit right in!
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Blog post: The terrible fossil record of sea otters
Boesse posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Hi all - in the hopes of attempting to reach a wider audience, and anyone who has collected possible sea otter fossils, I'm sharing the first two posts from my blog "The Coastal Paleontologist" in a short series on sea otter paleontology and evolution. The first one is mostly a bit on sea otter biology, and the second is the first one that really deals with the paleontology aspect. The third (and fourth?) posts will deal with what the limited fossil record can tell us about sea otter evolution. The sea otter fossil record is quite poor, and I'm hoping that some of you may have found some fossil specimens and might consider making them available for scientific study. Anyway, here's part 1: https://coastalpaleo.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-terrible-fossil-record-of-sea.html And part 2: http://coastalpaleo.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-terrible-fossil-record-of-sea.html Part 3: will update as soon as I get it finished! And a teaser - the left mandible of the holotype specimen of Enhydra macrodonta from the Crannell Junction locality right off of Highway 101 near Arcata, California. I spent about 3 years emailing various curators about this fossil, if they had it on loan, and I finally got a response from Dr. William Miller III at Humboldt State University in Arcata that he didn't remember such a specimen existing there. The paleontologist who named it, Dr. Frank Kilmer, who was retired, mailed me a letter indicating that the mandibles had been given back to the private collector (!!!) after the species was published - but nobody at HSU knew their name! One former student did, but would not return my phone calls. I visited HSU in 2008 when I was an undergraduate student and rifled through their teaching collection and found A mandible, but I didn't think it was THE mandible, because of Kilmer's letter, and a misplaced label suggesting it was from a different locality (and therefore a duplicate specimen rather than the original). Dr. Miller indicated I should arrange for the fossils to be transferred to a larger museum, as he was certain that the collection would be thrown in the garbage after he retired! I visited again two years later and set aside all the specimens that should be transferred and secured an agreement from HSU for the material to be transferred to UC Berkeley, which finally happened about five years later. I did not realize that this mandible was in fact THE mandible, or at least half of the holotype (the right mandible is still missing, presumably in that private collection) until I was able to download a much, much higher quality scan of the photographic plates in Kilmer's 1972 paper, and I was able to match barnacle scars between the published image and the fossil. So, we may not have the more complete of the two mandibles, but at least we have one of them, and it is my hope that there is more material in private collections and that more can be discovered in the future.
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There are brown bears to watch out for. As requested some scenery pictures from a previous trips in the Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska, USA . As I get more versed in the strata and fossil nomenclature will include with the posts and finds. Notice the snow still present in June of last year and I am ready to get out again weather permitting which was a no go this weekend so sat and read numerous post on TFF for my education. Love the site and will figure out the decorum and how to interact as this is new to me.
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- alaska
- invertabrate fossils
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Hi everyone! First time posting here. I went out over the weekend to do something outdoors during the quarantine (easy to do in Alaska) and went to a spot known for marine fossils (especially sea lilies) on the Little Nelchina River here in Alaska. I was picking up fossils on an eroded cliff side above the river when I noticed this laying on top. My question is, is it a bivalve or tooth? I don't notice a hinge line or umbo if this is a bivalve, but this may be due to the deteriorated condition and the fact that I am a rookie at this. It appears to be broken in half, with the inside showing black sheeny layering. I appreciate everyone's help on this!
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I never knew what a Thalatosaur was before! https://earthsky.org/earth/alaskan-fossil-reveals-new-marine-reptile-species
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- alaska
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Hey everybody, I’m new to the forum and was hoping some of you have some thoughts on a few rock/fossils I have. I found all three of them on a gravel bar on a river in Interior Alaska. I believe the geology of the area is mostly quaternary. I believe the first specimen is part of a mammoth tooth. (A friend of mine found a mammoth scapula on the same stretch of the river.) A sedimentologist at the university in town is also leaning towards the opinion that it’s part of a mammoth tooth. I’ve never seen mammoth teeth have that type of coloration before though. The second sample looks to me like it could be a very weathered and replaced bone? The third specimen I’m really not sure about. It just looks very suspicious to me. I know it’s not one but It almost looks like a belemnite and is oddly polished and shiny for a rock in that area. Any thoughts and ideas would be great.
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