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May 2020 - Finds of the Month Entries


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REMINDER: PLEASE carefully read ALL of the rules below.

Make sure you include all the required information, IN THE REQUESTED FORMAT (below) when you submit your fossil! 

If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me a PM.


Please pay special attention to Rule #5: 

Before and After Preparation Photos must be submitted for prepped specimens NOT  found during the Month of the Contest.

In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds.


Entries will be taken until 11:59:00 PM EDT on MAY 31, 2020

Any fossil submitted after that time, even if the topic is still open, will be deemed ineligible! 

 

Only entries posted with CLEAR photos and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll. 

Photos of the winning specimens may be posted to TFF's Facebook page.

 

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

 

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

 

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. 

Tell us more about your fossil, and why you think it is worthy of the honor. 


To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.

 

Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!
Best of success to all, and good hunting!

 

***********************************


Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

  1. Find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found personally by you are allowed. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS.
  2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per member per contest category.)
  3. Your fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or Significant Preparation * of your fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.
  4. You must include the Date of Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Date of Discovery (if not found in the contest month).
  5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. Please make sure you arrange for photos if someone else is preparing your fossil find and completes the prep requirements in the contest month.
  6. You must include the Common and/or Scientific Name.
  7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the fossil was found.
  8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the fossil was found.
  9. You must include CLEAR, cropped, well-lit images (maximum 4 images). If you are proud enough of your fossil to submit it for FOTM, spend some time to take good photos to show off your fossil.
  10. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

 

* Significant Preparation = Substantial work to reveal and/or repair important diagnostic features, resulting in a dramatic change in the look of the fossil. The qualification of Significant Preparation is decided at the discretion of staff. Any doubts as to the eligibility of the entry will be discussed directly with the entrant.

 

******* Please use the following format for the required information: *******

Date of Discovery   (month, day , year) 

Scientific and/or Common Name

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation

State, Province, or Region Found

Photos of Find

 

 

(Please limit to 4 clear, cropped, and well-lit images.)

(If prepped, before and after photos are required, please.)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright, I'll get this started. Please see my entry below. First picture is of two of the same bivalves. They were found within 15 feet of each other. One was encased within a ball of matrix and the other in the open. I am just entering the calcite covered one. Thought they were neat as a pair as they are roughly the same size. About 4inx3inx2in. Could not believe they were so close to each other.

 

5-3-2020

Trigonia sp. with calcite  

Upper Cretaceous - (75-90 Ma)

North Sulfur River, Delta County, Texas

5eb717e33253c_Trigoniasp.3.thumb.jpg.9962950dd2f16e9148b2d41e5e59818f.jpg-5eb717f139e08_Trigoniasp.4.thumb.jpg.b0f5cb16cf4a3c2593d2ded046f24932.jpg

 

5eb7180040ab1_Trigoniasp.5.thumb.jpg.65a31b0bef62a3ed5cf4a1430fd07f71.jpg

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Wow, very pretty! I'm not sure if your last entry, or this is nicer! Being the shell man I am, I'll lean towards this one. Seems I'm hunting the wrong area of the NSR because I only find teeth and bacculites. I'm :envy:

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Well we should share some info as I just found my first sharks tooth today. Broken, but still a tooth. Been trying to find them. I find quite a few gastropods and some bivalves other than oysters. NSR is very diverse from what i have found. Depends on where you are at and how far you get away from people. I need to find a nice ammonite area to find some very complete ones. 

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That is a very nice Trigonia

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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My contribution to this months entries:

 

My South Dakota prep person let me know that she finally finished the Ceratopsian jaw I collected last September.  I had not put any rush on it since I was not planning to pick it up until this summer.  I will go pick it up on my next collecting trip to SD whenever that happens.  Virus go away.

 

I'm going to label it Triceratops prorsus since its from an upper Hell Creek Formation deposit and other T. prorsus material including partial skulls have been found in the area.  Of course it still could be from a Torosaurus or other undescribed large bodied Ceratopsian if they exist.   

 

Its a good size specimen at over 2 feet long and I was fortunate that it still had a large portion the sheath intact which kept a good portion of the tooth battery in place.  Its pretty complete with no restoration just minor crack fill.

 

Species Triceratops prorsus

Specimen: Right Dentary

Discovered: 9/15/19

Formation: upper Hell Creek Formation 

Locality: Powder River County, Montana

 

Size: 25" (64 cm ) wide  Site Photos

Trike1b.thumb.jpg.ba266d1b493e2fe3e32b0a44cf71a32b.thumb.jpg.696fb48f87ba099ccb7703da7205bd25.jpgTrike4.thumb.jpg.88754215e4fbe4c9dea75e76f6c862b0.thumb.jpg.c591ad0a786392f50ecfbb606442d9ea.jpg

 

Prepped

 

image2.thumb.jpeg.31575383238543239fddcd62d5a99a5f.jpegimage1.thumb.jpeg.cbe9a24dc17d3fe645d614a337704245.jpegimage3.thumb.jpeg.7e331a3abf29e49d4ab4ce2f1773ba98.jpeg

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Ooh, lovely dentary @Troodon

Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy!

 

Q. Where do dinosaurs study?

A. At Khaan Academy!...

 

My ResearchGate profile

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Hey Folks, 

 

After many years I guess I’ll throw my hat in the this month with a nice polychaete worm called  esconites zelus. I collected the concretion several years ago at; rightfully so, Esconi hill in Braceville, Il.  Since the self isolation routine began I started freezing and thawing some of those concretions I collected several years back, and this one popped open on 5/3/20. 

I feel fortunate that it split as cleanly as it did. The head is about a good centimeter higher in elevation than the tail. A good prepper could remove the small piece still covering the bit of tail still concerned up, and flip it over onto the other half filling in this missing piece. 

Maybe some day. 

 

Date of discovery: 5/3/20. Concretion collected in 2012.

Name: Esconites zelus

Geological age: Mid Pennsylvanian (307 mya)

Formation: Francis Creek shale. 

654309B8-F711-4012-BDED-F734E3A4542A.jpeg

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Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time.

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Seeds are uncommon to find in the coal measures.  The few that I have found before this have all been Trigonocarpus parkinsonii.  For a long time I have been hoping to find a Holcospermum.  Therefore, I was surprised to find a Holcospermum seed on the same block as a Sphenophyllum.  Although Sphenophyllum is generally not a rare plant, good examples are very difficult to find in the Yorkshire coalfield these days, due to there being very few sites to find them.  This is therefore the best Sphenophyllum in my collection, and the only seed I have found that is not Trigonocarpus.

 

 

Found Thursday 14th of May 2020

Holcospermum seed and Sphenophyllum

Late Carboniferous - Pennine Middle Coal Measures formation

South Yorkshire, UK

7D7F8B15-DBCB-4FD0-B099-338AE3DCA6F5.thumb.jpeg.7ac31e117e65f85806e338db2944dfd2.jpeg
85845F5F-C12F-4F7E-A6E0-5369FD8F65F3.thumb.jpeg.00ac01a61f675fc8191ba81b62f8b7f1.jpeg285F4CAB-388D-45FE-8AB8-46EF8D1C298B.thumb.jpeg.75f1a268c88a63fb2409af6c1849f382.jpeg33A32229-2577-43B2-9DD6-A8CD23DD7E26.thumb.jpeg.bbdff7f2695270af915461c2e8efb8bd.jpeg

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My entry for invertebrate category.

I have this echinoid since november 2018 but I don't have good preparation tools so normally I have difficult to prepare my fossils. I only have a dremel engraver so I have many accumulated fossils to prepare.

This fossil a friend prepared for me this month so I want to put in contest but please see if is valid.

 

Date of discovery: 18 november18. Prepared in 4 may of 2020

Name: Clypeaster sp.

Geological age: Miocene (Burdigalian)

Formation: Sesimbra - Portugal

 

 Before preparation:

 

18nov18.thumb.JPG.02c5e165e21e860d258a71bc8af2dfc4.JPG

 

Prepared:

 

95656933_242837346828283_2041229687560077312_n.thumb.jpg.66bb1c31e948649f992119195a3f10bf.jpg

95331148_2862467187153744_2248908428816678912_n.jpg.db566ef1dc66ade17cb4ba835ac3ac7c.jpg

 

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Finally got a chance to get back out and go prospecting a few days ago and get to check off a bucket-list item!

Lighting was a bit hard to get figured out, but I think you should be able to see it fairly well here.

 

Pseudotetrasauropus  is a broad category of footprints from the late Triassic, usually (but not always) being tetradactyl and bipedal.  These tracks resemble those of a prosauropod dinosaur and well match the foot structure.

 

Discovered May 16, 2020

Pseudotertrasauropus footprint

Late Triassic Redonda Formation

Quay County, NM

Pseudotetrasauropus 1.jpg

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5 minutes ago, Cowboy Paleontologist said:

Lighting was a bit hard to get figured out, but I think you should be able to see it fairly well here.

 

 

Try to add another photo taken in sunlight with the find propped at an angle to enhance its features.

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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12 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

Try to add another photo taken in sunlight with the find propped at an angle to enhance its features.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

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Some very nice entries so far, love that ceratopsian jaw. The kind of stuff that makes me so jealous y’all are in areas where you’re permitted to collect stuff like that...if I dared, I could get fined thousands upon thousands of dollars. Stupid Alberta. 

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On 5/19/2020 at 7:33 AM, Vieira said:

 

95656933_242837346828283_2041229687560077312_n.thumb.jpg.66bb1c31e948649f992119195a3f10bf.jpg

Man, I'm not that much of an echinoid person but that is beautiful! Well worth the wait to get it prepped! 

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21 minutes ago, Huntonia said:

Man, I'm not that much of an echinoid person but that is beautiful! Well worth the wait to get it prepped! 

 

Thanks for your words.

 

I love these type of echinoids.

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On 5/10/2020 at 11:29 AM, Troodon said:

My contribution to this months entries:

 

My South Dakota prep person let me know that she finally finished the Ceratopsian jaw I collected last September.  I had not put any rush on it since I was not planning to pick it up until this summer.  I will go pick it up on my next collecting trip to SD whenever that happens.  Virus go away.

 

I'm going to label it Triceratops prorsus since its from an upper Hell Creek Formation deposit and other T. prorsus material including partial skulls have been found in the area.  Of course it still could be from a Torosaurus or other undescribed large bodied Ceratopsian if they exist.   

 

Its a good size specimen at over 2 feet long and I was fortunate that it still had a large portion the sheath intact which kept a good portion of the tooth battery in place.  Its pretty complete with no restoration just minor crack fill.

 

Species Triceratops prorsus

Specimen: Right Dentary

Discovered: 9/15/19

Formation: upper Hell Creek Formation 

Locality: Powder River County, Montana

 

Size: 25" (64 cm ) wide  Site Photos

Trike1b.thumb.jpg.ba266d1b493e2fe3e32b0a44cf71a32b.thumb.jpg.696fb48f87ba099ccb7703da7205bd25.jpgTrike4.thumb.jpg.88754215e4fbe4c9dea75e76f6c862b0.thumb.jpg.c591ad0a786392f50ecfbb606442d9ea.jpg

 

Prepped

 

image2.thumb.jpeg.31575383238543239fddcd62d5a99a5f.jpegimage1.thumb.jpeg.cbe9a24dc17d3fe645d614a337704245.jpegimage3.thumb.jpeg.7e331a3abf29e49d4ab4ce2f1773ba98.jpeg

Beautiful jaw @Troodon!

 

On 5/21/2020 at 12:00 AM, musicnfossils said:

Some very nice entries so far, love that ceratopsian jaw. The kind of stuff that makes me so jealous y’all are in areas where you’re permitted to collect stuff like that...if I dared, I could get fined thousands upon thousands of dollars. Stupid Alberta. 

I agree, I wish I could collect fossils in Alberta too, especially when I went there in 2018 and seen all the amazing fossils just laying there and just wanted to collect them!  But rules are rules, even if we don’t like them. :(

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On 5/10/2020 at 11:29 AM, Troodon said:

Species Triceratops prorsus

Specimen: Right Dentary

Discovered: 9/15/19

Formation: upper Hell Creek Formation 

Locality: Powder River County, Montana

 

What a find! :wub:

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Found this on a boulder which made extraction quite hard :wacko:. Had to piece it together slowly afterwards. Took about 30 mins to an hour extraction and a further 3 hrs repair. Biggest I’ve ever found :P. Measures 12cm long. I have photos of it at the find location but need to find them.

 

 

 

Date of Discovery: May 16, 2020

Scientific and/or Common Name: Hybodont shark. Cf. Nemacanthus

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Rhaetian, Triassic, Westbury Formation

State, Province, or Region Found: Somerset, UK

BBF6090F-E00A-4C4A-AEE2-7C985603BABD.jpeg

91FBF77D-8E18-4A44-863C-503881999643.jpeg

3FC6E644-8803-43C9-A4E5-E9098FBC8763.jpeg

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