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Bone Identification Request


Jerry W.

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With a bone I found yesterday, upon cutting it open, I saw what appears to have been a tube going through it that had been permineralized like the rest.  Was this originally some sort of blood vessel that went down the length of the bone or could it be something else?  Thanks!

gem 3.jpg

gem part front.jpg

gem side.jpg

gem back.jpg

 

Note:  Dino-bone such as this specimen is found in numerous locations in the immediate area of the Four-Corners states of the U.S.  I live in that immediate area and I am able to easily travel to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, or Colorado and back home in a single day on my expeditions.  Some areas such as on an Indian Reservation or B.L.M. land prohibits taking such specimens without a permit, while in other areas the taking of such specimens is allowed.  If anyone comes to this part of the U.S. to find such a specimen, please be careful to avoid collecting such in an illegal or prohibited manner.  Thank you.

Edited by Jerry W.
Legal Clarification
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Beautiful preservation.  Some bones do have canals and such running through them, esp verts and skull bones.  That does not mean that I have any idea what we are looking at here.  

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3 hours ago, Jerry W. said:

 ome areas such as on an Indian Reservation or B.L.M. land prohibits taking such specimens without a permit, while in other areas the taking of such specimens is allowed.  If anyone comes to this part of the U.S. to find such a specimen, please be careful to avoid collecting such in an illegal or prohibited manner.

As far as I am aware, some BLM regional offices will let you casual collect (picking up loose fossils only and no digging) common invertebrates. It's wise to contact them first to see if they will allow it in their region before collecting.

I am curious, is there lands in this area beside private lands you can legally collect the fossils from? I will be working in the western Colorado (near by Grand Junction area) this summer, assuming the virus outbreak will not affect my work schedule, and I have been looking up on the internet on where I can legally collect fossils from.

By the way, great find!!!

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16 hours ago, Darbi said:

As far as I am aware, some BLM regional offices will let you casual collect (picking up loose fossils only and no digging) common invertebrates. It's wise to contact them first to see if they will allow it in their region before collecting.

I am curious, is there lands in this area beside private lands you can legally collect the fossils from? I will be working in the western Colorado (near by Grand Junction area) this summer, assuming the virus outbreak will not affect my work schedule, and I have been looking up on the internet on where I can legally collect fossils from.

By the way, great find!!!

I have several thoughts about that.  Usually, problems surface when you collect fossils of verts.  Fossilized invertebrates and plants/petrified wood is generally fine to collect in any place you have a right to walk, certainly with exceptions for state and national parkland, forests, etc. You'll have to look that up. 

 

Most river bottoms, banks, etc. are public lands, and so are roadway easements.  Look for some new roadway construction where hills are being knocked down and poke around there after quitting time or on weekends.  As for private land, look for companies that have large tracts of land like power companies, quarries, railways, mines, construction companies, etc. and go ask if you can look around there.  Many places really don't care if you are cool about it, or have beer money to give the right person.  If you get in good with someone, they will often tell you right where to go if something is there on their place.  The same goes for some ranchers, but not as often if they are old crusty types with lots of dogs.

 

Most importantly, get with people from the local rock and mineral clubs.  Go to their meeting and introduce yourself as the best rockhounding buddy there is, the kind that springs for gas money and brings food.  There will be some old guy(s) there who will show you where to go and get you right on something good.  You might even contact the club there in Grand Junction before you go just to get a contact person in advance.

 

Once you make friends up there, they can get you over into Utah out to around the Moab area.  That is a primo dino fossil area, but you are going to need someone to show you surface areas that aren't picked over too much, or where digging is okay.  There are numerous private quarries there that would love you to come spend your money there.

 

That's about all I have for suggestions.

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Jerry W missed a few important points here. 

1) Colorado law states that collecting fossil in roadcuts is NOT allowed.  i.e illegal.  

 

2) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get permission form landowners to collect on private land.  Almost all the land around Moab is BLM land... it will take a lot of homework to find a) dinosaur bearing rocks (Morrison Fm in Moab and GJ) and B) find out who owns said land, and c) get permission there.  Same goes for the Grand junction area.  

 

3) there are limits on how much Pet'd wood you can collect on BLM land, and you are not allowed to sell or trade anything you collect on BLM land.  For personal use only.

 

In the Grand Junction area, there are a lot of late Cretaceous marine shales exposed.  These are fair places to go look for inverts (again,most of it is BLM land, inverts are OK). 

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