Search the Community

I was recently out vacationing in Wyoming and spent Saturday morning (7/24/21) hunting in the badlands. As I sat down to rest for a moment, I looked down and saw what I thought were a radius/ulna pair from a small mammal. Upon closer inspection, it was a pair of lower jaws freshly exposed on the edge of a nodule and on the backside, a small skull. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I spent a bit of time making sure the specimen was consolidated (Paleobond Penetrant, wish I had brought some 4417) and packed it up for the trip home. I was thinking it would make a great Vertebrate Fossil of the Month but as I am unsure of my identification and being a skilled preparator, I thought it would be more interesting to show the process. I do suspect the specimen to be the marsupial, Herpetotherium fugax. However, without seeing the teeth, this is mostly a guess. I do have another specimen with a similar endocast which is what I am using as my basis for an identification at the moment. Though I am quite unsure if the endocasts of the Insectivores have the same character. Pardon my anatomy if I get this wrong but there is a fold between the parietal lobes and the occipital lobe that you can see in the above photo and that is what I'm guessing my ID on. Once we get the teeth exposed, we will know for sure. Here are the pieces on my desk with some better lighting and measurements. A bit of cranium on the negative. The top of the skull. And the lower jaw that was seen exposed. The plan is as follows: 1. Clean the blocks of any mud/loose chips 2. Glue the blocks solidly back together 3. Bulk matrix removal with pneumatic tools (ARO/Paleotool Microjack-3) 4. Fine matrix removal under a scope/micro abrasion I'll write up each step as I progress. Enjoy! And @jpc I apologize for not visiting you, but it was a whirlwind trip. I'll catch you next time!