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What is this?


Ruger9a

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Can anyone tell me what is fossil is?  I bought it several years ago from a seller who said he got it from China about 15 years ago.  I'm not sure if it is a bird, lizard or something altogether different.  It's only 45mm x 25mm.  Help!

20191218_173901 (2).jpg

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Less blurry pictures and a picture of the entire fossil, and the entire slab, looking directly down on it. 

 

From the color of the matrix, I'd be more inclined to say it may be from France. 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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OK guys, I freely admit I am not a good photographer.  I gave it another try anyway, hope these photos are better.  Is it my imagination or does it look like it has a neck and a small head turned left and downwards?  It also looks to me like it has a grayish coating on it.  All help is appreciated.

20191218_223307.jpg

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6 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Less blurry pictures and a picture of the entire fossil, and the entire slab, looking directly down on it. 

 

From the color of the matrix, I'd be more inclined to say it may be from France. 

As fossildude19 has already noticed, the matrix looks more like France. Then it could be a Dapalis macrurus from the Oligocene of Aix-en-Provence.
If the fish really comes from China, maybe Tungtingichthys from the Eocene of Hunan (and other places) is a possibility.

http://www.uua.cn/show-33-857-1.html

 

In Chinese and English:

http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/200812/W020090813369583037275.pdf

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Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC).

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8 hours ago, Randyw said:

Here’s the way it looks to me. I could have top and belly mixed up but I don’t believe so...

 

You are spot on.  :) 

 

5dfaf44e99870_20191218_223651(2).jpg.d7670d008e8d2d9bb94770e9e7253d97.jpg

 

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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OMG, you are both correct - it's a fish.  I can't believe I never noticed that.  Thanks guys.  Is this fish worth prepping?

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I don't think there is a lot here to expose, personally. 

A quick once over with air abrasion using baking soda might  reveal more bone structure. 

To be honest, this looks pretty worn already.  :unsure: 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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If it's a rare type of fish I'm not sure I want to attempt prepping it.  If it's not that rare - I just received my air abrasion tool yesterday...….  Should I give it a try?  I don't want to ruin a rarer type fish that someone else would appreciate as is or someone with more air prepping expertise could save.  

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As you can probably tell, fossil fish is not high on my collector list.  I purchased it because I thought it was a lizard.

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Just now, Ruger9a said:

If it's a rare type of fish I'm not sure I want to attempt prepping it.  If it's not that rare - I just received my air abrasion tool yesterday...….  Should I give it a try?  I don't want to ruin a rarer type fish that someone else would appreciate as is or someone with more air prepping expertise could save.  

My gut feeling is that this is a Dapalis macrurus, which is what I was thinking when I mentioned it could be from France. 

While not exactly rare, it is a fairly decent fish, although just a partial. (Missing the tail, or caudal fin) 

 

I would suggest to try to abrade the pectoral fin a bit, using sodium bicarbonate. (Baking soda.) 

See if it uncovers more detail. If not, you can stop. 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Thanks Tim.  I will/may do just as you suggest and take the chance.  Depends on how well my air abrading tool works and my prepping skills are.  I'll practice a bit on a poorly preserved, more common fish in my collection first.  Thanks again.

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I believe this to be a perchoid fish from an Eocene site in China, I read a paper on the site and the fish there are currently undescribed, and I will try to find the paper on it! I believe these come a site that starts with an H? This fish looks almost identical to the ones I've seen from that site,with dorsal and pectoral spines.

"Life is too complex for me to wrap my mind around, that's why I have fossils and not pets!":tff:

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Thanks Mioplosus_Lover24.  Please keep me posted.  Since I haven't prepped it yet.  I know very little about fossil fish species.  I really wish I could have gotten more information from the seller but that's water under the bridge now.  I'm very pleased so many knowledgeable folks from this forum are taking their time to help me.  I'm going to "try" prepping a small spot on it this weekend as Tim suggested.  

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Tim, I was researching the two species you thought it might be and OMG, I can't tell a difference in the two.  This is the main reason why I usually defer from collecting fish, I just don't seem to have the eyes for it I guess.  Thanks again.

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