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From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
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From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
Perhaps Myrtaceae? -
From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
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From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
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From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
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From the album: Titringo Creek Siltstone leaves
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Recently we had a quick exploratory trip just south of Sydney in search of Triassic fish and Tertiary leaves. Our first stop yielded a terrific but partially weathered nodule exposed in an outcrop of the Ashfield Shale. A clear layer was present in the cross section so it was likely to yield a fish! This is it after most of it was removed, unfortunately I don't have any before photos but the layer through the middle is clearly visible: Will include photos of the prep later in this post. Our next stop was the main focus of our trip but wasn't too eventful unfortunately. We drove around back roads looking for new outcrops of an unnamed Tertiary formation which sometimes yields very well preserved leaves and insects. We found a few outcrops of it but only one section of road yielded any good leaves. The site: A freshly broken rock with leaves: As soon as we got home I started on the fish nodule. The fish layer had already partially split which was helpful, but meant the inside was quite weathered and covered in calcium carbonate. Splitting the nodule carefully with a knife: A fresh split. Note the white calcium carbonate encrusting the surface: Soaking the pieces in acetic acid (8% vinegar) to dissolve away the calcium carbonate: The same piece I showed before after acid preparation, the fish are now clearly visible: Splitting the rest of the nodule: Reassembling after acid prep: The rock is a thick siderite nodule so is very heavy once all glued together. With pieces this large I usually make a spray foam cradle for the pieces to sit in, meaning I can disassemble it to move it around. Loosely assembled and starting with the spray foam: Surprisingly, this nodule ended up being packed with fish. The main large fish in the middle is likely a species of Elonichthys, but throughout the rest of the nodule are several other genera including Saurichthys, Cleithrolepis and Elpisopholis. Overall I can count just under 60 individual fish on this one rock, many are just small sections of scale pattern though. The Cleithrolepis is likely complete but sits underneath a couple of other fish, and the Saurichthys is tiny and incomplete but its long snout is unmistakable. The preservation in most of the specimens is poor, as with most other Ashfield Shale nodules, but the association of so many fish is of interest! One half of the nodule, I haven't quite finished the counterpart yet but it does have slightly better preservation. Note the partially exposed Cleithrolepis just in front of the pectoral fins of the largest fish: A small but particularly densely packed section: Will include more photos in coming days!
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Hi all, posting some of the photos of fossils I found at Turimetta Beach in NSW. Can anyone recognise any plants or animals in any of these? Would love to know some more about them! Thanks # 1 #2 # 3 # 4 # 5
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Hi everyone! Looking for help in ID-ing a found object from the beach. We are absolutely bewildered as to what this is! details: -Found 1 hour north of Sydney, Australia on the beach -Heavy, fossilised object with very distinct “ribbon” like formation patter on end -texture is reminiscent of a claw or tusk -plaque-like material in crevices (it is not sand)
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I recently decided to try a new (for me) method of preparation which involves dissolving away bone in hydrochloric acid. This method was used on the specimens published in various papers on the Hunter Siltstone, an important Devonian fish locality in NSW. Fossils are dissolved in hydrochloric acid, leaving an impression of the bone which is then cast in latex and/or resin. This method is used because the rocks tend to split right through the bone itself, so you miss a lot of the features present on the exterior. After a cast of the specimen is made, it can be coated in black ink and photographed with a coating of ammonium chloride so all the details are clearer. Here is the specimen I decided to try - a partial acanthodian jaw. This is what it looked like as split, just a cross section of the bone. The first step is dissolving away the bone in hydrochloric acid. I don't have any photos of this step but I just used a store bought bottle I had laying around, not watered down or anything. I think it took 2-3 days for all of the bone to dissolve away on this specimen. Keep in mind hydrochloric is nasty stuff, definitely best to wear gloves, avoid splashing it and use it in a well ventilated space! After leaving the rock to soak in water for a few days after the acid bath, I was ready to make a latex cast of the impression. The first coat of latex should be super thin to ensure as much detail as possible is captured. After the second or third thin layer, I started to apply thicker layers. The latex I used ended up being from 1999, it was only bought a few years ago so mustn't be in very high demand! Here is a photo of the latex cast and the finished specimen. In the second photo I applied a coating of indian ink for good contrast when I eventually applied ammonium chloride for photography. This was my first time using ammonium chloride so it took a lot of attempts before I was happy with my results. I'm still a bit unsatisfied, not sure if it's because of the ammonium chloride itself or if it's just showing up imperfections in the cast more. This ended up being an ischnacanthid acanthodian jaw, either Grenfellacanthus or something new. Have linked the Grenfellacanthus paper here for those interested: LINK
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- devonian
- hunter siltsone
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Fairly recent bit of opal fossil research
The Amateur Paleontologist posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
After learning about Weewarrasaurus, I thought it'd be nice to report the 'lesser-known' recent bit of research about the opalised fossil site Lightning Ridge (New South Wales, Australia) It's basically the most up-to-date paper dealing with the geology - including age, stratigraphy and lithology - and vertebrate paleontology. The paper provides many new details about the Griman Creek Formation (GCF), a Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous) formation which crops out in the area around Lightning Ridge. The GCF is a formation especially known for its diverse vertebrate paleo-ecosystem; of which many species are represented by quite a few opalised fossils The paper is also rather neat as it contains a nice overview of all the vertebrate groups represented at the GCF - an overview complete with a comprehensive (and up-to-date) list of vertebrate taxa, and several nice pictures of opalised vertebrate fossils Finally, the paper also indicates that a new ornithopod genus (Fostoria) from the GCF is soon going to be published Bell, P. R., Fanti, F., Hart, L. J., Milan, L. A., Craven, S. J., Brougham, T., & Smith, E. (2018). Revised geology, age, and vertebrate diversity of the dinosaur-bearing Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Abstract: The mid-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation (GCF), which crops out near the town of Lightning Ridge in the Surat Basin of north-central New South Wales, Australia, is noteworthy for its opalised vertebrate fauna. The fossil assemblage comprises remains of aspidorhynchid teleosts, lamniform chondrichthyans, dipnoans, chelid and possible meiolaniform turtles, leptocleidid-like and possible elasmosaurid plesiosaurians, anhanguerian pterosaurs, titanosauriform sauropods, megaraptoran theropods, ankylosaurians, several forms of non-iguano- dontian and iguanodontian ornithopods, crocodylomorphs, enantiornithine birds, and stem and true mono- tremes, making it one of the most diverse mid-Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrate faunas in Australia. A detailed stratigraphic survey of twenty subterranean opal mines provides new information on the geology, age and pa- laeoenvironment of the main fossil-bearing beds. Vertebrate remains derive from the ‘Finch Clay facies’, lat- erally-extensive but discontinuous lenses of claystone that likely accumulated relatively rapidly in near-coastal but freshwater embayments (i.e. lagoonal conditions), and probably represent a single, roughly con- temporaneous fauna. U-Pb age dating of detrital zircons extracted from a distinct layer of volcanogenic claystone immediately overlying one of the opalised fossil-bearing layers yields a maximum depositional age of 100.2–96.6 Ma. These new dates confirm an early to mid-Cenomanian age for the fauna, rather than Albian, as has been reported previously. The GCF at Lightning Ridge is therefore equivalent to the middle part of the Winton Formation (Queensland) and several million years older than the sauropod-dominated fauna at Winton. For those who want the paper, PM me your email address and I'll send it to you -Christian- 7 replies
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- stratigraphy
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Hi everyone! I found these formations when walking along the banks of the Murrumbidgee river near Wee Jasper in New South Wales, and was chatting with a friend of mine about what they might be. They're circular, and we saw them mostly on two large rock shelves at the waterline, where it looked like the rock around them had eroded preferentially. Some of them were filled with what appeared to be quartz, and I was wondering if they might be trace fossils or e.g. rudist shells? That said, I believe the rocks around here are Devonian so the latter seems unlikely. Thanks in advance for any input !
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A few days ago we visited Penrose State Forest (south of Sydney, Australia) to look for fossilised leaves. There are a few specimens from this locality in the Australian Museum collection and one of our contacts tracked down the sites many years ago. I'm not sure which species are represented here, there are a few similar described Tertiary sites like this one in Australia but this one hasn't been studied to my understanding. I doubt these can be reliably identified given the poor quality of preservation but they're still really pretty imo, the matrix is gorgeous. Here is the first specimen, I'll post some others as I photograph them
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Currently excavating my backyard. We're digging through about 2m of rock (yes it's very expensive lol). I went outside to have a look at the rock and see if I spotted anything interesting. I'm currently studying paleontology/geology at Uni. Anyway I was wondering what people thought of this. It's colour pattern and shape drew me to have a closer look. Am I looking at a concretion? Something else? Just curious. The rocks will be removed and broken up in a few days so last chance to see if anything interesting in them. Found in the Hunter Valley NSW Australia. The area is known for Permian rocks/fossils, though the sites are about 15 minute drives from here. Thanks
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- hunter valley
- new south wales
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Can radioactive fossils damage other specimens?
Maniraptora posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I know next to nothing about radioactivity-- enough to know licking fossils is inadvisable, although I'll admit that wasn't terribly disappointing news. What I'm wondering is whether specimens not radioactive enough to endanger a person are capable of damaging other specimens. Is there a need to segregate displays here, or am I just confused about the mechanics of this? My specific reason for asking is that at the moment I'm planning for my current favorite mineral specimen (which I am babying forever), an almandine garnet from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, to share a small shelf area with a tooth from the phosphate deposits in Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco and a few dinosaur bone pieces from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana (one from Dawson County) and Lance Creek Formation of Niobrara County, Wyoming. The shelf is not enclosed, by the way. Thanks for your help!- 17 replies
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- radioactivity
- minerals
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Opalised Australian dinosaur fossil studied using innovative 3D printing technology
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
High-tech tools reveal opalized fossil skeleton by Flinders University, August 29, 202 Absolute gem of a find: Opalised dinosaur fossil studied using innovative 3D printing technology. The rare fossils may represent a new Australian dinosaur species Cosmos Magazine, August 29, 2022 Dinosaur Bones Shimmering With Opal Reveal a New Species in Australia A discovery in an Australian opal mine remained unexamined for three decades—it turned out to be the most complete opalized dinosaur skeleton in the world, Gemma Conroy, Smithsonian,June 3, 2019 “Opalized” Dinosaur Skeleton Discovered 30 Years Ago, Now Scientists Have Named the Species. One man was hunting gems and found a load of natural history instead. Rose Heichelbech, Dusty Ol Thing Bell, P.R., Brougham, T., Herne, M.C., Frauenfelder, T. and Smith, E.T., 2019. Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid- Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39(1), p.e1564757. Yours, Paul H. -
Are these fossils? And if so, what of? Found under Seacliff Bridge in New South Wales
spagbutcher posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi everyone! I'm new to fossil hunting and I found a few interesting rocks underneath Sea Cliff Bridge near Wollongong in Australia. There was a lot of coal in the area for context. I will attach some photos of the rocks I found, I'm particularly interested in the small white (quartz??) lines intersecting the black part of the stone. Any help would be hugely appreciated! Thanks -
Bicknell, R.D.C., Smith, P.M. 2021 The First Fossil Scorpion from Australia. Alcheringa (ahead-of-print publication) PDF LINK
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So, some of you may have heard of the small outback opal mining town of White Cliffs, New South Wales Australia. For many who read this post, I suspect that you have never even heard of it, or even know that it produces opal fossils. White Cliffs is a 12 hour drive from Sydney, traveling north west (towards Broken Hill), you travel over the Blue Mountains, through the farms of the central-west, the gold and copper town of Cobar and then hitting the historical town of Wilcannia and then traveling north to White Cliffs. White Cliffs claim to fame is an opalised replacement of ikalite - known as a pineapple - presumably cause if its spikey appearance. Not much in the town... A post office come grocery store, a pub and petrol station opposite. Geology: The Wallumbilla Formation (Doncaster Member) crops out as mesa overlaying palaeozoic conglomerates. It represents a near-shore costal setting based on size fraction of the rock (sandstones - claystone) and the invertebrate / vertebrate fossil assemblage (gastropods, bivalves, crinoids, belemnites, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs). Low-lying hills (mesas) in the distance - white dirt representing the the Wallumbilla Formation (Doncaster Member). I was really hopeful that because of its long history of opal mining, its remoteness and the fact that fossils had been found here in the past, that finding fossils here would be really easy and plentiful. I was proven so wrong. 101 holes and none of them had fossils... This is all that remains of the opal rush that took place in 1889. So in the four days that we were there I found lots of opalised wood, a few shells and that was about it. Top left and bottom left - partial shells. Middle - a really nice example of a cut and polished slice of opal wood, and right one of the bits of wood found. Overall if you are prepared to put in the time, you can find fossils, but from my experience it was very hard to find material from just specking.
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A Late Devonian (?) ‘mystery fossil’ from New South Wales, Australia
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
McLean, G., 2017. A ‘mystery fossil’ is evidence for massive Devonian trees in Australia. Records of the Australian Museum, 69, pp.101-118. https://journals.australian.museum/mclean-2017-rec-aust-mus-692-101118/ https://media.australian.museum/media/Uploads/Journals/37694/1661_complete.pdf Yours, Paul H. -
Found in a dam/quarry on the road between Gunningbland and Forbes in central western NSW. The pictured specimen is the counterpart. For reference - CAMPBELL, K. S. W., DURHAM, G. J. 1970. A new trinucleid trilobite from the Upper Ordovician of New South Wales. Palaeontology, 13, 4, 573–580. link WEBBY, B. 1974. Upper Ordovician trilobites from central New South Wales. Palaeontology, 17, 2, 203–252. link
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A new genus and species of Devonian plant from Australia
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
360-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals Extinct Species of Fern-Like Plant SciNews, June 17, 2020 http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/keraphyton-mawsoniae-08545.html the paper is; Champreux, A., Meyer-Berthaud, B., and Decombeix, A.-L., 2020, Keraphyton gen. nov., a new Late Devonian fern-like plant from Australia. PeerJ 8: e9321; doi: 10.7717/peerj.9321 https://peerj.com/articles/9321/ Yours, Paul H.-
- mandowa mudstone
- tamworth belt
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A partial incisor I acquired. The only information included was the general area in which it was found - Glen Innes.
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- diprotodon
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Holloway, D.J., Smith, P.M., Thomas, G. 2020 The Trilobites Prophalaron gen. nov. (Calymenidae) and Dicranurus (Odontopleuridae) from the Upper Ordovician of New South Wales. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology (in press) doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2020.1740322 Prophalaron jonesi gen. et sp. nov Dicranurus webbyi sp. nov.
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Chasing Opal and Fossils in the Australian Outback An ambitious collaboration between scientists and a local mining community seeks to preserve one-of-a-kind opalized fossils. BY Clare Watson, Undark https://undark.org/article/chasing-opal-fossils-australian-outback/ A recent paper is: Bell, P.R., Fanti, F., Hart, L.J., Milan, L.A., Craven, S.J., Brougham, T. and Smith, E., 2019. Revised geology, age, and vertebrate diversity of the dinosaur-bearing Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 514, pp.655-671. Yours, Paul H.
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- opal
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