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I would like to get started in Micro-paleontology. At this time my assets are a modest 20x-40x stereo microscope, curiosity, and now that I am retired, time. I am working my way through this discussion forum and find it fascinating and exciting. What are good samples for a novice to get started with? Are there good places to purchase samples? I would like to learn to prep the fossils myself. Any advice to get me started would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, Has anyone used a digital microscope (such as Dino-lite) in real time for fossil prep??

I am in the process of creating a micropaleontology themed artwork., and even after having received a good amount of expert help, I feel overwhelmed by the subject and would like to get more opinions on my composition. The piece will consist of a series of disc-shaped layers, each of which will bear microfossils from a different geologic time period. These layers will be stacked like a roll of coins, so as to look like a drill core. The attached image shows a part of my research spreadsheet, including images and descriptions of each layer. If anyone here has any thoughts on the organisms I have chosen, or how I have portrayed them, I would love to hear! Am I missing any perennial favorites? Is my selection skewed too much in one direction or another? Thanks for taking the time to look, and thanks in advance for your comments!

Finally managed to get out on a Florida fossil hunting trip for the 2014/15 season here in South Florida. Instead of going to the Peace River (where the water level is still dropping from a huge spike due to heavy rains nearly a month ago around Thanksgiving) I contacted Jeff (jcbshark) and we planned an outing at the creek where he collects his world famous cookiecutter shark micro-matrix. Earlier this year I had searched--cup by cup--through nearly a 5-gallon bucket of micro-matrix I had collected from the Peace River looking for cookiecutter shark teeth (to no avail). It seems that cookiecutter shark fossils are absent (or incredibly rare) in the deposits that the Peace cuts through. I've been fascinated with cookiecutter sharks since I learned about them as a kid (yup, I was a fish geek even then). The odd hole-saw-like fused lower dentition of this shark has been on my fossil bucket list since I first saw the images on this forum. Many of these images were posted by people searching through samples of the micro-matrix that Jeff had sent out to TFF members. It was high time I got in on the fun. I met up with Jeff and a few of his wife's relatives (who were new to fossil hunting) on the creek early Saturday morning. We were later joined by Chris (Search4) who came along to try his luck. The air temps were still climbing out of the low 60's but the skies were clear and the temps would later top out in the upper 70's so the chilly water (likely somewhere in the mid 50's) was actually quite bearable once you got used to it (read that as "numb"). The creek was mostly pretty shallow and I didn't get any deeper than about knee-deep all morning. My wife Tammy (always the more practical) was wise enough to bring her waders for comfort (and style). Jeff led us to the location he had previously collected his cookiecutter micro-matrix though he mentioned that there was likely nothing special about this spot and that the same sort of matrix could likely be gathered from anywhere along the creek. The creek which is the source of the cookiecutter micro-matrix. I had brought my micro-matrix collecting gear and soon got to work. I have sifting screens that I've made for searching the gravel beds of the Peace River and its tributaries. I've previously described how I make my sifting screen (and my probe) here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/42992-end-of-year-peace-river-trip/#entry467550 I've since converted one of my sifters from 1/4" mesh to 1/2" mesh for when I work areas with coarser gravel or when I want to work through larger amounts of gravel quickly while looking for larger items. I brought my 1/2" sifter along with one of my 1/4" sifters as well as some 1/16" window screen mesh cut to size so that it fits comfortably into the sifting screens. The technique I use to collect micro-matrix is to double sift using a stacked pair of sifting screens. I place the fine window screen mesh inside the sifter with the 1/2" mesh. On top of this sifting screen I stack my sifter with the 1/4" mesh. The arrangement can be seen below: Loose window screen mesh fits inside one sifter and a second sifter fits on top of the first. The stacked sifters efficiently sort out the micro-matrix.

I'm handy with a microscope; I have a nice low power stereo dissecting scope & 4-5 other microscopes plus a variety of hand lenses, hand held field microscope. I can do well enough with rock & mineral identification and not too bad with fossils. However, I'm not sure of what I'm looking when examining samples under the scope. Could use some guidance. Kim