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  1. zeeceebee

    Bear humerus ID

    Hi, I came across a listing for a humerus from Alaska described as Arctodus simus. At 16" x 5", it still falls within the upper range of Ursus arctos from what I can find. It's way short of the largest described Arctodus specimens (~25 inches), although I know there was also significant sexual dimorphism. I can't see the entepicondylar foramen that differentiates Arctodus from modern bears in these photos. Maybe it's filled in or broken off, or isn't always present? Is anyone more knowledgeable able to confirm the ID? Thanks!
  2. AK hiker

    Alaska 2023 in Review

    It has been a busy past year for me and realized I had not posted some trips from last year so will post a few pictures from my travels. The 2023 spring trip for beach combing down the Alaska Penninsula did not disappoint with glass floats recently washed out by winter storms ready to pickup. There still are glass floats present there that get exposed from past burial by storms, just need to be the next plane by to find and pick them up. The Alaska Geographical Society had another field trip in Denali National Park hosted by Dr. Pat Druckenmiller on dinosaur tracks. I previously posted the trip so will share just one picture. My wife and 3 dogs made a road trip to the end of the Kenia Penninsula to look for plant fossils. I made acquaintances with @Sjfriend getting some tips on where to look, THANKS! We ended up hiking northwest about 2 miles during low tide from Bishop’s Beach, seeing lots of coal and plant fossils eroding out of the beach cliff face. Kilo in the foreground with 11 year old Kobuk back from checking out a Bald Eagle, Cook Inlet by Homer, AK. Kilo tagging along on the first trip fossil hunting. I got three trips into the Talkeetna Mountains hiking last summer. Finding this intact Pseudophyllites indure was worthy of preparation. I took the local rock club president on the second trip as a thank you for cutting a flat surface on the bottom of the P. indure. He was pleased with finding several nice ammonites. Gaudryceras tenduiliratum. One of the few ribbed ammonites present that make it easy to identify. Inoceramus with most large ones in worse shape than this one. As it turns out you don’t have to go far to find fossils around here. Some have shown up in my wife’s flower garden. The third trip was fantastic in that I found another prep worthy ammonite. Not this one, too big for my desk. This beauty, a combo of ammonite and bivalve clams with petrified wood and worm tubes present. Tentative ID Pachydiscus sp. with Inoceramus sp. associated on the ammonite. Difficult for me to get the species as there are subtle differences among the multiple Pachydiscus ammonites in Alaska. Now to the Brooks Range on a sheep hunt which I had previously posted a photo essay on the trip. Coral fossils were abundant, almost everywhere you looked. l Dall sheep left to grow older. Trip into the western Alaska Range with Kilo. Fall colors in the mountains, blink and you will miss it. Lasts only 2 weeks in early September. Kilo with ptarmigan catch of the day. Last trip before freeze up in middle October was shared with one other fishermen evidenced by the tracks. Many of my trips include fishing and hunting with bonus fossil hunting depending on the geology of the areas I’m in. Hope you enjoyed as I have big fingers and have little patience with typing this on my phone where the pictures are and spell check changing the ammo names. Uggh!!! Winter just around the corner.
  3. I was very pleasantly surprised (actually more thrilled to be honest) when I heard about the discovery of the northern tyrannosaurid dinosaur Nanuqusaurus hoglundi from the Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation dating 70.6-69.1 Million Years ago in what is now the U.S. State of Alaska. Image Credit and Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260757717_A_Diminutive_New_Tyrannosaur_from_the_Top_of_the_World At first thought to be only 5-6 meters (16-20 feet) in length based on the currently catalogued specimens, it's now believed based on currently undescribed remains to be 8-9 meters (26-30 feet) in length fully grown (compared to the 12.3-12.4 meters (40.4-40.7 feet) in length it's cousin Tyrannosaurus rex could reach fully grown). Image Credit: Artist Nathan Rogers Image Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5w900 Fiorillo, A. R., & Tykoski, R. S., 2014. A diminutive new tyrannosaur from the top of the world. PloS one, 9(3), e91287. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091287 Druckenmiller, P. S., Erickson, G. M., Brinkman, D., Brown, C. M., & Eberle, J. J. (2021). Nesting at extreme polar latitudes by non-avian dinosaurs. Current biology : CB, 31(16), 3469–3478.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.041 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00739-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982221007399%3Fshowall%3Dtrue The Tyrannosaurid Nanuqusaurus is also unique as the northern most tyrannosaur known from Western North America (at the time the continent of Laramidia). Adapted to the colder climates of the region, it shared its habitat with a vast diversity of plants, small mammals, and other non-avian dinosaurs including hadrosaurs such as Edmontosaurus, the pachycephalosaur Alaskacephale, the Ceratopsian Pachyrhinosaurus, and a large currently unnamed genus of troodontidae. But it's confirmed geologic range is only during the early Maastrichtian (70.6-69.1 Million Years ago) of the Cretaceous period. Images Credits and Sources: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260757717_A_Diminutive_New_Tyrannosaur_from_the_Top_of_the_World Fiorillo, A. R., and Gangloff, R. A., 2001. Theropod teeth from the Prince Creek Formation (Cretaceous) of northern Alaska, with speculations on Arctic dinosaur paleoecology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20(4):675-682 Image Credit: Artist Nathan Rogers Image Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5w900 The question I have is why this is? Did anything major happen to the habitat of the Prince Creek Formation between the Early-Late Maastrichtian? Did Nanuqusaurus live up to 66 Million Years ago to the latest Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous period?
  4. Hey everyone I was gifted a mammoth tooth for Christmas! Was just wondering if anyone knows of any good ways to identify the specifics of which species it’s from if it is mammoth or stegodon or other. Was told it was found in Alaska and there is a quarter for scale
  5. This summer I was helping a youth group from church on a camp. The trip was to Kodiak Island for a week. Got lucky and was able to convince the group that a road trip to a distant beach was in order for a bit. Drive about 4 hours for a 2 hour beach stop. Unfortunately for me I was limited on time, didn't have the right equipment, and was in someone else's rig. So I wasn't able to really explore and collect much. But I brought home 2 nice chunks of matrix with lots of shells. The site has limited scientific printed information that I have located. it is Miocene in age. Photos of 1 block I carried out and 1 exposed sand dollar on a different block I brought home as well.
  6. luvmymushpups

    todays find...need help identifying

    I have been finding many bones along the Yukon River near my home. the river flooded this spring and cut the bank away. It reached highwater again with the rain but is now going down and washed away some more sand and dirt. I found this today. . A different place from the other, but nearby. I found this in the sand. I think it is bone but not completely sure about that because it is thick and heavy. I tried to get a scale but it was hard with just me to hold everything while taking pictures. can you help me with the ID
  7. johntaylor

    Help ID fossil. Maybe tusk?

    A family friend passed away and left me his rock, mineral, and fossil collection. Much of it was labeled, but there were several boxes of odds and ends that I’ve been working to identify. I believe this is fossilized bone. Tusk? This was in a box marked “Alaska.” 15cm long. 10cm wide. 11-18mm thick. Any ideas of what this might be?
  8. luvmymushpups

    what is this? found in alaska

    I found this along the yukon river in central alaska. where the river flooded and cut the bank away. It was found next to a vertabrae and at first i thought it was a broken chip. it is very rock like but obviously shaped like a bone. what bone is is?
  9. luvmymushpups

    5 vertabrae in the neck of something big

    the receding river is uncovering these in central Alaska. the river has washed away about 50 feet horizontally and 20 feet vertically. I just found c2 and can get all 5 to line up together.. I think I have it together correctly...it seems to fit. it is a big mamal any guesses closer than big mammal? I also have the segment that broke off of the 5th vertebrae . it was lying next to it the jaw bone and what was identified as fragment of skull was found in the same place. was found in the same area i can post more pictures one by one due to sloth slow internet
  10. luvmymushpups

    bone compares to stag moose

    in Alaska, this spring the river flooded and cut the bank away. in this area vertebrae's and other bones from a large mammal have been uncovered and I have been gathering them. I have a cervical spine with vertabraesC3-C5. I have been trying to identify them. As of yet i have not found what they match. I tried moose, and caribou since they live here, modern bison, steepe, bison horse and cow and nothing matched . I also found a partial jaw and someone commented that the teeth matched with stag moose. I decided to try that and found a 3d image on line to compare with. ( i didnt even know they had such a thing) here are the comparison, i will also post the partial jaw also
  11. I went on a hunting trip this August in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge of northern Alaska. This was in the Brooks Range which was mainly composed of limestone in the 2 areas we hiked. Our base camps were setup with aircraft tied down, bear fence around camp and all food in bear proof containers when we left on the hikes. Fossil corral was present in all the river bars we traversed. Hash block with shell material. Stromatoporid fossils were abundant. Dall sheep ram tracks. Crinoid Cotton grass and cloud berries at 4,500 elevation meadow. Ewe sheep crossing the meadow after we did. The first 4 days of the trip was hampered by smoke from fires burning in the Yukon Territory, Canada. We camped in the same meadow and awoke to no smoke and fog the rolled in from the coastal plane over night. I was constantly examining the abundant fossils on this trip which was a big part of my enjoyment. It would be interesting to know time it took for the limestone to be etched from this corral. There is liquid water maybe 4 month of the year at this latitude and elevation. The limestone cap rocks erode vertically leaving these dramatic land forms. These stromatoporid fossils were present in all areas we traversed. Most common were the black forms of various ovoid and loculated shape. Dall sheep rams below where we camped one evening. Sheep in camp the following morning. More amazing land forms from the on end limestone. Fossil corral eroding slower than the limestone. The whole scree slope had pieces of corral in the limestone. A massive landslide with some blocks of limestone being bigger than most homes. This area is part of the Porcupine caribou herd and had trails used for 100's of years cut into the mountains. Parka squirrel as the natives call them, used to make winter parkas in the past. Last one, shell fossils were uncommon and when I saw them heavily metamorphized. For the hunters we saw 27 rams and elected to harvest none as no older ones located in 10 days of hiking.
  12. I was able to get into the Alaska Geographic field course, Paleontology in Denali with a short notice cancelation this month. I had done this course two years ago and throughly enjoyed the experience. During he first evening introductions I mentioned I had attended 2 years ago and immediately was teased that I had failed the last time and was back again, LOL. Dr. Pat Druckenmiller, the director of The Museum of the North was the instructor again and was most knowledgeable giving a background lecture of the areas geology and how the dinosaur tracks could have formed. He is holding a likely front foot track from a hadrosaur. Possible pterosaur track. Hadrosaur track. Same track with boot for scale. Ceratopsian likely hind foot track. Another likely track. Some of the attendees looking at another hadrosaur track. One of the first group of tracks identified in the park was named the Dinosaur Dance Floor pictured here, Closer look at the tracks in situ. Making a peal of the possible pterosaur track. Fossilized wood. Metasequoia leaf impression and fossil wood. The snow was late leaving this year with the wild flowers just starting to bloom. We saw two family groups of bears on the trip from the best possible location, sitting in the van while driving the road. This is all that is left of a moose calf after it became a bear snack. It is a hungry world up here. A winter killed Dall sheep skull. I aged the ram at 11 years old which is about as long as they live. A brown bear was digging up ground squirrels here and farther up the valley we explored. A view from the second day hike with snow still present. BTW I passed the course this year by finding a nice pair of Dino tracks:)
  13. Easyrider1

    What do we have?

    No sure what we have, from family member estate, He did live in West Virginia, Florida, and working for years on the Alaska Pipeline.. Thank You Brad
  14. Atlantic City

    Tooth Identification Help (Alaska)

    Can anyone help with identifying this tooth? All I know is it comes from Alaska... exactly where in AK I can't say. I'm thinking walrus but it is quite small (just over 1 inch). Thanks.
  15. Just saw a story on the news about snow crab season being cancelled in Alaska. The fisheries reported than in less than 2 years ONE BILLION crabs have disappeared. There are virtually no crabs to be found and no one knows where they went or what happened. The theory that will be investigated is climate change and search parties will be sent to colder waters to look for them. Sadly hundreds of fisherman will not be able to make a living. Climate done changed people.
  16. Emily F

    Alaska ID Help

    Hi! My mom brought me this back from the Bristol Bay Area in Alaska, and wanted to know if it was some sort of whale bone, or just a funny shaped rock. Texture is fairly porous on the elongated portion and more dense on the bulbous bit. Found on a coastal beach on Bristol bay. Measures around 6.5 by 11cm at its widest point. Thank you for the help!
  17. Gatorsmax69

    Alaska Fossil?

    Found this in Alaska along the Anchor River. Unsure if it is a fossilized anything? Almost looks like there are wing impressions on both sides of the narrow segments, which is about an inch long.
  18. I just wanted to share this, thought it might be of interest and there's definitely room for improvement and tips! This was the first fossil mammoth tusk I restored and prepared a few years ago- a juvenile mammoth tusk that was split laterally almost perfectly down the middle. It was sourced from central Alaska, though not sure if it was discovered in a mining operation or if it was exposed on a river bank as so many are. The first step was to submerge and soak the entire tusk in a PVA solution, followed by Apoxie sculpt and banding to merge the two broken pieces and restore some of the tip. I haven't ever done this before so I used the grey Apoxie, in retrospect maybe the white color would have been easier for later coloring? Maybe mixing color in the Apoxie pre-hardening? After banding and curing, the two pieces held together and it was time to sand sand sand down to I think 2000gr. Lastly, I colored the Apoxie fill with various wood stain colors, however I wasn't a huge fan of that- does anyone have any recommendations on how to do that better? I've never been a painter and know nothing about what to use or color matching, but would love some info! I've done other projects and thought about taking on restoration projects where this knowledge would be really helpful but admittedly I'm really inexperienced with coloring any sort of anything. I've seen people reconstruct 1/3 of a cave bear skull and it's like you'd never know unless you were really looking for it. I have no idea how they do that! I'm sure that takes some serious artistic talent that I don't posses, but any tips for this would be appreciated. Originally I built a stand out of bent/polished brass and a block of wood I got from a trophy store that is somehow still in business in this little Alaska town. A couple years after I made the original stand I decided to make a new stand out of a small petrified wood slab/slice. I really like the look of it better (though I'm not crazy about the brass anymore), but I had a really hard time drilling the holes in the slab- I broke a few bits before I bought some stone/tile bits, and even those weren't great! I was only able to drill the holes just barely deep enough to hold the brass wire. Any tips on drilling petrified wood?? I have a few other small things and potentially a few larger items that would look killer on a similar stand. I've done a few tusks since this one, none of them with such significant damage, though none are complete tusks I think I'll post another one of the interesting ones that has amazing vivianite and what I think are actual cobalt crystals in the internal cavity. The restoration done on this tusk is only for me, I have no plans on selling this so in looking for reconstruction/restoration tips & tricks, it's purely for my own collection and enjoyment- not to try and fool some unwitting buyer on our favorite auction website! To be honest, the preparation is the most fun for me! Enjoy! Nick
  19. I was able to get out for the first mountain hike this season recently after being held back due to storms. The weather had been too hot the last several weeks to get out in the mountains due to afternoon thunderstorms building up making it hazardous for hiking and to leave an aircraft exposed at 5,000’ elevation. Most of the large pictured ammonites are Pachydiscus sp. so here we go, a photo trip in the Matanuska Formation, Member 3. Yes, it is as steep as it looks. Not for the faint of heart. This particular ammonite has been exposed for three seasons now and too steep to get a closer view. One of my old friends:) A new ammonite from the spring snow melt erosion. This concretion has 4 ammonites present in it. Another “Old Friend”, each season gets a little most erosion around it and subsequent exposures. The suture pattern and description matches Pachydiscus kamishakensis. Where there is one often will be more in close proximity. Pelecypods are present in great abundance but most are fragmented. One of the few pelecypods mostly intact. Another old friend, 26” peleycpod. I have posted pictures of the giant clam previously. I’m going clam digging tomorrow and one like this would do for a years worth of chowder. I have been mainly focused on looking at ammonites and taking my time on this trip started noticing other fossils. This is a piece of a baculite imbedded in a concretion. Once I noticed this one I saw more similar smaller baculite fragments. The backseat passenger looking at an area where belamites occur. The alpine flowers were out in full bloom. Back to the Red and White magic carpet ride to fly home.
  20. I finally made it to Alaska and was able to go to coyote lake in Sutton, Alaska. It is described as being a half mile of dirt road after the pavement ends that is passable in dry weather. It had not rained for more than a week, and there were burn limits so I thought I would have a chance. I drove maybe 10 feet onto the path where a stream was running down the road before I backed out. At the end of the payment were a couple of houses, with the expected rusting cars on their lots and the no parking signs. Slightly further back there was a pull-off for parking. Started up the trail past the rusting cars and the barking dog. I was starting to be worried when the dog came up to me. He would not leave me alone. he wanted to be rubbed and petted. The leaf fossils were abundant I brought home several bits of metasequoia , horsetails, and large broadleafed leaves that I don't recognize. The best of the broadleaf leaves were in rocks that were too big for me to carry home. While I was there man and his grandsons came up by atv to hunt fossils and fish. Nice people, nice place. and the dog went home before I finished so I didn't have to worry that he was lost.
  21. AK hiker

    Alaska Penninsula Trip

    I made two trips this spring down the Alaska Penninsula and will share some photos from these trips. The first are from the Pacific side taken last week of petrified wood from volcanic ash coverage, fossilization and subsequent exposure. Currently the biggest “trees” there are stunted alders with a tall one reaching 8’ in height. Brown bears use the beaches for travel and while searching for food. Their trails are unique in that they will step in the same spot and leave foot sized depressions as well as compact paths. A partial view of Aniakchak Crater with one of many small cinder cones and Surprise Lake on the way to get fuel on the Bristol Bay side. On the way home stopped to look at a site to view the fossils there. This area is a National Wildlife Refuge so no collecting of fossils is permitted. We were not the only ones walking along the beach. Wolf and brown bear tracks. Red fox neighbor to our first camp. Japanese glass floats are still being washed up on shore or re-exposed after winter storms and present until collected by passing aircraft pilots. Sea lion remains that were likely hauled up from the beach by a brown bear. Sleepy brown bear in the afternoon sun. Also no brown bears were collected on the trip but a good excuse to get out in the field for an another adventure.
  22. Mammoths and other large animals survived in the north much longer than previously believed. New DNA research indicates that the climate, not humans, led to the demise of these large creatures, Norway Science, January, 2022 The open access paper is: Wang, Y., Pedersen, M.W., Alsos, I.G., De Sanctis, B., Racimo, F., Prohaska, A., Coissac, E., Owens, H.L., Merkel, M.K.F., Fernandez-Guerra, A. and Rouillard, A.,2021. Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics. Nature, 600(7887), pp.86-92. It concludes that mammoths survived in continental northeast Siberia until 7,300 BP; North America until 8,600 BP; and the Taimyr Peninsula as late as 3,900 BP. Yours, Paul H.
  23. val horn

    alaska

    I have the opportunity to go to alaska in late may early june. I have never been to alaska before. I have seen several published sites, and some conflicting information on legal rules. I was thinking about ammonites at slide mountain, leaves at coyote lake and wishbone hill. possibly collecting near Homer on the beach. If anyone has experience at these places I would appreciate their feedback. I really dont want to get myself arrested.
  24. andoran

    Coral from Alaska

    I purchased this from a store in Alaska. I have no information about it at all. It looks similar to what I'm seeing online about Stingray Coral, but I can't find out anything about what that actually is. Does anyone have any idea what this might be?
  25. 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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