Help identifying mid Devonian trilobite species

[ScottBlooded]

8 minutes ago, Misha said:

I agree with everyone else, this is fantastic

Seeing this topic pop up again I remembered your find and I think I even saw the original post on reddit. Thank you for sharing this story and paper.

 

Do you have access to the full article? Or maybe @piranha? I would like to read through it and I tried going there through my university and with sci-hub but neither worked

Sent you a PM

[piranha]

Geologically speaking, two years later is only the blink of an eye. I was delighted to make the introduction and play a small part to help facilitate the publication of this magnificent new trilobite. The Jasper Burns mystery specimens are no longer so mysterious! Congrats again on this wonderful outcome!

[jpc]

What a great story.  Scotblooded... excellent work!  And great find.

[Sjfriend]

Great find and wonderful to get it written up! And so new into the hobby lol. As is often said, beginners luck is often better than skill 

 

Son will have stories for decades. 

[JohnJ]

Moved this topic to a more appropriate forum.    Congratulations, Brian!  

 

 

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Congrats Brian ! A great story of a beautiful collaboration between amateur and professional !

 

Coco

[DPS Ammonite]

You hit the paleontological lottery. A coauthorship is better than it being named after you. Congratulations.

[ScottBlooded]

6 hours ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

Congrats Brian ! A great story of a beautiful collaboration between amateur and professional !

 

Coco

It’s like my post died and went to the hall of honored ancestors. A privilege.

[ScottBlooded]

One thing I forgot, I met a real life paleontologist (and member of the forum, @Reklaw) while I was out there! He and his partner were swinging by the area while visiting from out of state (I believe to teach paleontology to kids? Apologies if I’m misremembering). Had a nice chat, I explained what I was out there doing and if they thought I was full of it, neither one of them let on. Were very encouraging and excited for me. Also did not make fun of my enormous pink hat with safari flaps, a Herculean feat. At the end, they gave me a Polaroid they took of the encounter, the only photograph I have of myself working at my site (it’s my site now, obviously hah). I’m the hairy guy on the left.

Thank you both. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by ScottBlooded

[historianmichael]

Congratulations on your remarkable find and contribution to paleontology! You truly hit the jackpot with not only a new species but also a new genus! I can’t wait to see the new thread with photos of the specimen fully prepped and other specimens you found. Out or curiosity where did you ultimately donate the fossils?

[digit]

Another great win for science when this forum (and its awesome membership) can act as matchmaker and put amateur collectors in contact with the key professionals to extend our knowledge of fossils!

 

 

And 2 years (during a pandemic!)--this one was really fast-tracked!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[ScottBlooded]

49 minutes ago, historianmichael said:

Congratulations on your remarkable find and contribution to paleontology! You truly hit the jackpot with not only a new species but also a new genus! I can’t wait to see the new thread with photos of the specimen fully prepped and other specimens you found. Out or curiosity where did you ultimately donate the fossils?

They went to the Smithsonian, another very strange sentence for me to type. I picture them being rolled down the corridor in the warehouse from the end of Raiders. 

[ScottBlooded]

43 minutes ago, digit said:

Another great win for science when this forum (and its awesome membership) can act as matchmaker and put amateur collectors in contact with the key professionals to extend our knowledge of fossils!

 

 

And 2 years (during a pandemic!)--this one was really fast-tracked!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Hah, as you can imagine I was incredibly motivated personally. As for David Holloway’s work, I have no frame of reference for these things but I was astonished by how fast and efficient he was. Then got lucky, from what I understand, on the review process. I was also expecting this to go much slower. Still, I’m an impatient casual, so two years felt like a life time! 

[jpc]

My wife saw this over my shoulder and said. "too bad we can't see the pink hat better".  She is a big fan of fun hats.  Can I request a better shot of it?  After all, you did show us some great pix of the fossil.... : )

[digit]

When you are watching from the "outside" it can seem a lifetime but it actually shows David was motivated to get this one published.

 

This news made my morning--another perfect example of the synergy of citizen science supporting the professionals. News articles like to focus on the drama and discord between the ivory tower academics and us plebians but the truth of the matter is there is often an extensive network of educated amateurs with the time, experience and motivation to get out in the field and bring new discoveries to light. You, by your own admission, are the rankest of the rank amateurs but your curiosity (combined with astounding "beginner's luck") led you to make the appropriate connections to enable to you to work with one of the experts in the field.

 

Not only does your son have the honor of a Devonian bug named after him (ensuring which will be his favorite fossil species) but you have the honor of being part of that species' official attribution:

 

Needmorella simoni Holloway & Scott, 2022

 

What a wonderfully special early Christmas present this is. I must say that I feel a bit of vicarious pride in the fact that it was through TFF that @piranha (no slouch to being involved in new trilobite taxa) was able to assist in recognizing this novelty and putting you in touch with the specialist that could make this paper happen.

 

You've set the bar incredibly high and it will be hard to top such a find but I hope the experience increases your passion for fossil hunting in your area. Though it may seem like shameless self-promotion and quintessential "blowing of one's own horn" I think it would make a great story for a local newspaper or TV news program to cover. At the risk of unleashing a wave of new fossil hunters to the area's sites, I think it would be a great public interest story that demonstrates how citizen science works. Just a thought....

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[digit]

24 minutes ago, jpc said:

My wife saw this over my shoulder and said. "too bad we can't see the pink hat better".  She is a big fan of fun hats.  Can I request a better shot of it?  After all, you did show us some great pix of the fossil.... : )

Indeed. Let's see the pink hat.

 

I've known rock hounds to spray paint their rock hammers and tools a bright fluorescent pink so they don't lose them in the field. I know a famous Australian underwater photographer who is an incredible hulk of a manly man and a former stone mason who spray paints his underwater camera housings a similarly vibrant pink. He often takes down several rigs on a dive with different lenses (wide angle and close-up macro) and leaves them lying about on the sand during the dive. The high visibility allows him to locate the camera from quite a distance. We enjoyed teasing him mercilessly about his "Barbie fashion accessory" on a visit he did to the Florida Keys some years back.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[ScottBlooded]

Well, here it is @jpc @digit. You know I honestly hadn’t thought about the utility for visibility, pink is just my favorite color. But now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve lost/nearly lost so much stuff in the scree that I think I’ve got a new item on the agenda: create Barbie’s Dream Paleontology Kit.

@digitthank you. I can’t imagine, after this, that I’ll ever stop doing paleo stuff. The thought did occur that it’s going to be hard to top this for excitement, but I’m a fairly realistic dude and can be just as excited by any of it. It’s all so fascinating. Just the other day I found Devonian drift wood like feet away from where I found the holotype. That kinda stuff will keep me interested forever. That combined with the continued help and support of this community.

I had considered contacting a local paper, if for no other reason than that I’d like to get my state (West Virginia) a little positive recognition, no matter how small. We get sadly little of it. But as you say, I’m not a big fan of attention. Heck, this is the first selfie I’ve posted online in like 8 years. We’ll see!

[digit]

3 minutes ago, ScottBlooded said:

I had considered contacting a local paper, if for no other reason than that I’d like to get my state (West Virginia) a little positive recognition, no matter how small. We get sadly little of it. But as you say, I’m not a big fan of attention.

Consider it recognition for the role of citizen science and for Devonian trilobites with yourself has merely an innocent bystander.

 

BTW: The hat definitely works!

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[jpc]

My wife loves the hat and says it goes great with the beard.  I have to agree.  Great look.  She suspected it was originally white and you dyed it...?  She is more likely to note things like that than I am.  

[ScottBlooded]

6 hours ago, jpc said:

My wife loves the hat and says it goes great with the beard.  I have to agree.  Great look.  She suspected it was originally white and you dyed it...?  She is more likely to note things like that than I am.  

Hah! I’m flattered, thank you and your wife. That bad boy in fact CAME pink, it was a joke gift from my wife but jokes on her, I love it. 

[connorp]

What a great story! Thank you for sharing, and congratulations.

[aek]

Incredible story. Congrats

[Jeffrey P]

Just saw this story and it is a wonderful one. Big congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[jdp]

This is fantastic. These sorts of stories are the absolute best.