hadrosauridae Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Earlier, I posted a box of some of my older material I found hiding in my garage. Included in that box were a couple of turtle bits including a partial carapace and partial plastron. This bit is a hypoplastron (if my research is correct) of Basilemys Axestemys?. This poor thing was in terrible condition when I opened up the foil pack. Here are the pics as I opened it and the opposite side (disintegrating even worse) after I glued back together. I took 30 minutes of cell phone video of the initial cleaning and then compressed it down. Sorry, theres no audio. This was a "quick and dirty" video and edit. Here are pics of both sides at the end of the day. Still a little bit left to do, but its very hard glue and delicate spots. 13 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Nicely done! 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Excellent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Nice work. What did you do to make it so shiny? It is a soft shelled turtle,not Basilemys. Basilemys is a big non-soft-shelled turtle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Tidgy and i think that's turned out beautifully. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 29 minutes ago, jpc said: Nice work. What did you do to make it so shiny? It is a soft shelled turtle,not Basilemys. Basilemys is a big non-soft-shelled turtle. Its the PVA I used to strengthen it while I continue to work. I plan on wiping it down with acetone to remove the shine when I'm done. Thanks for the info, I was trying to ID based on the patterning. I know theres at least half a dozen species from this formation. I'll have look at my soft shell options to see what fits. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuMert Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Looks good now 1 My sites & reports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 2 hours ago, hadrosauridae said: Thanks for the info, I was trying to ID based on the patterning. I know theres at least half a dozen species from this formation. I'll have look at my soft shell options to see what fits. OK, from my attempts at googling this (which is difficult when most of the linked articles are behind subscription/pay walls), The closest match I have found is from a species of softshell called Axestemys. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I have not tried to ID soft shells to the genus but Axestemys is a good educated guess, but it does get huge. I could try but my Hay 1902 (Fossil Turtles of North America) is at work, and I am working from home. There are 29 species of turtle form the Hell Creek and Lance Fms I don't know how many are soft shells, but my guess is quite a few. What did you use to glue the bone together? If you used the same PVA dissolved in acetone, the acetone you use to clean the excess off will also dissolve your joints. Try to wipe off only a square cm at a time to minimize accidentally ungluing anything. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 No, I used CA for the repairs, but thats also a dangerous game as too aggressive PVA (in acetone) or acetone use will soften the CA and risk it separating and creating a mess to put back together. Thats why I am being cautious on the final cleaning. Softening that surface CA could cause the fragile and already fractured horns to fall apart. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 It takes about 5 minutes to soften the CA. The pva will soften in seconds, so there should be not too much threat. But do be careful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Beautiful work 1 Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Looked like a real challenge. Nice job RB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 OK, so I finally finished the cleaning of this piece. Here it is next to the one started prepping first (I know the first still isnt complete). I THINK it has evidence of a survived predation attack. There is a clear, conical impression between the horns and another shallower impression on the opposite side and slightly more toward the edge. Although it seems odd that there arent other marks on any other parts of the surface if it is from a bite. Although it does have a thickened and rough profile around it which seems like a healing scar. I will say that these horns are as much of a pain as I thought they would be, but the only way I could make it better would be to dissolve the glue completely then glue them back together bit by bit. But they are in the position as found, and frankly I dont think I'm good enough to tackle that level of reconstruction. 2 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Cool... I didn't realize you had found two of them. Nice work. I love these things when the spines are complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 The small one I found last year, the large one was from several years ago. I didnt have the tools then to prep it. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renaud Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 Beautiful work ! I have several publications which talk about trionychids of the Hell Creek formation. I have listed the following taxa (I may have forgotten...). You can eliminate Helopanoplia distincta et Hutchemys sterea, the morphology of their hypoplastron differ completely from your. I haven't read the whole list of criteria to differentiate the 3 other species, but I think your hypoplastron corresponds to Gilmoremys (general morphology, shape of the inguinal process, shape of plastral fontanelle with xiphiplastron, proximal part slightly narrower than Axestemys, etc.). > Axestemys infernalis ( https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337382811_A_new_species_of_trionychid_turtle_Axestemys_infernalis_sp_nov_from_the_Late_Cretaceous_Maastrichtian_Hell_Creek_and_Lance_formations_of_the_Northern_Great_Plains_USA ) > Axestemys splendidus ( https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260636886_Giant_fossil_soft-shelled_turtles_of_North_America ) > Gilmoremys lancensis ( https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259887738_New_Material_of_Gilmoremys_lancensis_nov_comb_Testudines_Trionychidae_from_the_Hell_Creek_Formation_and_the_Diagnosis_of_Plastomenid_Turtles ) > Helopanoplia distincta ( https://peerj.com/articles/4169.pdf ) > Hutchemys sterea ( https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/New-soft-shelled-turtles-(Plastomeninae%2C-from-the-Hutchison/83bca24bf2ad7861dde29eeb9251f181804c2408 ) other link : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283761188_A_Review_of_the_Fossil_Record_of_New_World_Turtles_of_the_Clade_Pan-Trionychidae 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Renaud said: Beautiful work ! I have several publications which talk about trionychids of the Hell Creek formation. I have listed the following taxa (I may have forgotten...). You can eliminate Helopanoplia distincta et Hutchemys sterea, the morphology of their hypoplastron differ completely from your. I haven't read the whole list of criteria to differentiate the 3 other species, but I think your hypoplastron corresponds to Gilmoremys (general morphology, shape of the inguinal process, shape of plastral fontanelle with xiphiplastron, proximal part slightly narrower than Axestemys, etc.). Thank you for those wonderful resource links! I believe you are correct, as both of my specimens look to be wonderful matches to the hypoplastron of Gilmoremys. I knew there were multiple species of turtle from late cretaceous of north america, but I didnt know how many. This is why I love this forum! So many people with detailed information across a wide range of times and animals. Merci beaucoup pour votre aide "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 The preservation quality of those bones is simply beautiful Great work bringing it out! 1 Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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