digit Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 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 NOVEMBER 30, 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 Find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found personally by you are allowed. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS. 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.) 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. 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). 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. You must include the Common and/or Scientific Name. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the fossil was found. You must include the State, Province, or region where the fossil was found. 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. 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.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Starting this month with a coral: The specimen is from “Muschelgraben” (shell creek) in Pöls, Styria, Austria. This locality was one of the first known and certainly the most heavily exploited fossil site in the Langhian/Badenian “Florianer Schichten” of southern Styria in the 19th century. An impressive list with nearly 200 mollusc species was already published in 1878 by Hilber. Outcrops are mostly slightly covered at the moment, but with some light digging (small, one-handed shovel), fossil-bearing layers can be exposed for about 1 m thickness and about 10-20 m lateral extension. However, this colonial coral was found lying loose in the small creek a few meters below the fossil-bearing bed. Astrea crenulata Goldfuss, 1826 was fist mentioned from this locality by Reuss in 1871. I have already found one at this site during my first visits in 2015. And then again this specimen a few days ago. So, it seems, it is not to be quite rare. I am rather sure its Siderastrea, but not really sure of species. I am wondering what this coral “is doing” in such a murky and muddy environment. Matrix of the coral and the other fossils is a fine grained sand to silt, soft or somewhat hardened, as in the case of this specimen. Maybe this coral is somewhat more tolerable of murky waters? At least I have found this: Foster (1980): “…Siderastrea may have been uniquely adapted for rapid colony growth in turbid, protected environments with abundant suspended organic material.” And this statement here on TFF: “Siderastrea corals of today tend to like shallow well-lit sandy bays and lagoons where they can grow to quite substantial sizes”. This is from Ken, aka @digit. The ”Florianer Schichten" are indeed considered to be deposited in a lagoon or at least in a protect bay. From "Muschelgraben", only Siderstrea is known; but some Dendrophyllum were found occasionally at another site with "Florianer Schichten" a few km away (Fuggaberg near St. Josef). If you would like to see more and nicer Siderastrea corals (aka fossilized golf balls ), have a look here: Three from TFF: Siderastrea 1 Siderastrea 2 Siderastrea 3 And one from NHM in Vienna: Siderastrea 4 Thanks for looking ! Franz Bernhard Found: 11/01/2020 Name: Colonial Coral Siderastrea ?crenulata? (Goldfuss, 1821) Age and Formation: Langhian/Badenian, Miocene - "Florianer Schichten", Styrian Basin, Eastern Alps Site: "Muschelgraben", Pöls, Styria, Austria 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson g Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Heres a different to me, crinoid for the month. I don't find many of this species, and they are usually broken. Date of Discovery (11-7-20) • Scientific and/or Common Name- Eutrochocrinus christyi crinoid calyx • Geologic Age or Geologic Formation- Burlington Formation • State, Province, or Region Found- Henry County, Missouri, USA Not sure why I didn't take pictures of beginning prep with it buried in the encrinite stone, but at least I did remember to take a picture of final cleaning. Unfortunately it's missing about a fifth of the calyx, but it still came out very nice. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOM BUCKLEY Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Very nice indeed. I've only found columns. Tom AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGIST STROKE SURVIVOR CANCER SURVIVOR CURMUDGEON "THERE IS A VERY FINE LINE BETWEEN AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGY AND MENTAL ILLNESS" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Nice find! I have not bumped into that species before. Where do you go for crinoid ID in the Burlington?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 9 hours ago, Jackson g said: Not sure why I didn't take pictures of beginning prep with it buried in the encrinite stone, but at least I did remember to take a picture of final cleaning. We often look back in hindsight to think why didn't I do "before" photos to see the transformation. I've gotten pretty good at remembering to take out the camera and get "in situ" photos before I pick up a find as these are always much enjoyed vicariously here on the forum. Often you end up taking photos of things that don't pan out as spectacular finds but then digital "film" is much cheaper than it was in the old days. At least your find was made in this month so that pre-prep photos were not needed to validate that meaningful preparation was done in the current month. Still, it is nice for others to marvel over the significant difference in appearance some fossils make during their prepping. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasia Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 • Date of Discovery (month, day , year): November, 16, 2020 • Scientific and/or Common Name: Odontopleura ovata • Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Silurian, Ludlow • State, Province, or Region Found: Prągowiec Ravine, Poland 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 13 hours ago, Kasia said: • Date of Discovery (month, day , year): November, 16, 2020 • Scientific and/or Common Name: Odontopleura ovata • Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Silurian, Ludlow • State, Province, or Region Found: Prągowiec Ravine, Poland Nice find, Kasia! That's a super bug. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasia Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Nice find, Kasia! That's a super bug. Thanks - I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it, because it's enormous comparing to any other Silurian trilo I have ever found in this location. It's at least 3 times bigger than all the other specimens I have - even the other Odontopleuras on the same slab 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 14 hours ago, Kasia said: Scientific and/or Common Name: Odontopleura ovata Fantastic find congratulations 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasia Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Bobby Rico said: Fantastic find congratulations thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 My entry for the month is the Anzu wyliei hand claw I found during my September trip to the Hell Creek Formation. My preparer just finished the prep so here are before and after photos. For those not familar with this dinosaur its a genus of caenagnathidae from the late Cretaceous. Its a toothless dinosaur +3 meter high with long arms and wicked hand claws. Anzu wyliei Hand Claw poss Digit I Discovered : Sept 23, 2020 Hell Creek Formation Cretaceous: Maastrichtian Powder River Co. , Montana 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captcrunch227 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Well I’m gonna throw my hat into the ring here. I’ve been pulling out pieces of Protohadros byrdi locally. It’s ugly and fragmented, but it’s all from the same critter. Which for around here is almost unheard of. So far I have 2 caudal vertebrae, pubis, rib, portion of a limb bone, scapula, and a few other unidentified pieces. So you're probably wondering how I'm able to give an ID based on something that looks like it went through a blender (or in this case, a bulldozer). Well luckily the bones I found give us a rather solid ID. The convex and concave nature of the pubis ventrally and dorsally, the exact match of the scapula regarding shape and angle, the same cross section in rib, and shape of the caudal vertebrae. I've also had a friend who is one of the worlds foremost experts on the Woodbine look at it as well as a paleontologist from the local university and they also concur. There is also a real lack of diversity of Woodbine fauna (and Appalachia in general it appears). So that helps to narrow down the contenders. But the neat thing about Protohadros is that it's a neat blend of iguanodontid and hadrosaurid characteristics. So this shows in the bones making it quite unique without a real possibility of another potential match. So there you have it! That's why I feel fairly confident labeling this Protohadros byrdi. Protohadros byrdi Woodbine Formation Denton County Texas 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Collected Nov. 16, 2020 Heterosalenia sp. echinoid (new species currently being described) Lower Glen Rose Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Comal County, Texas, USA Size 15mm JohnJ discovered this species in July, 2013. It is currently being described by John Jagt in a collaborative project with @JohnJ and @erose. I have loaned my specimen to their project for photography and data collection, which needless to say, has me completely thrilled. It's being cleaned up a bit, but here is it as I found it after just a rudimentary cleaning. 12 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricWonders Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 On 11/23/2020 at 7:04 AM, Troodon said: My entry for the month is the Anzu wyliei hand claw I found during my September trip to the Hell Creek Formation. My preparer just finished the prep so here are before and after photos. For those not familar with this dinosaur its a genus of caenagnathidae from the late Cretaceous. Its a toothless dinosaur +3 meter high with long arms and wicked hand claws. Anzu wyliei Hand Claw poss Digit I Discovered : Sept 23, 2020 Hell Creek Formation Cretaceous: Maastrichtian Powder River Co. , Montana Incredible piece! I’ve wanted one of those since I got into fossils, they’re some of my favorite fossils! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 On 11/24/2020 at 2:28 PM, JamieLynn said: Collected Nov. 16, 2020 Heterosalenia sp. echinoid (new species currently being described) Lower Glen Rose Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Comal County, Texas, USA Size 15mm JohnJ discovered this species in July, 2013. It is currently being described by John Jagt in a collaborative project with @JohnJ and @erose. I have loaned my specimen to their project for photography and data collection, which needless to say, has me completely thrilled. It's being cleaned up a bit, but here is it as I found it after just a rudimentary cleaning. OK, I'm biased....Ten votes for Jamie's echinoid....Can I do that? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymig Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Sinistrofulgur roseae (Extinct, Sinistral, Marine Gastropod related to Lighting Whelk "a rarely-seen shell") & Chione elevata (The Florida Cross-barred Venus) Belle Glade Member of the Bermont Formation Ionian, 800,000 years old Cape Coral, Florida, USA 11/16/2020 prep (4 hours) a day or two after the find poolside A large, well preserved, fossil Lightning Whelk that I dug up recently 11/16/2020 in Florida full of bivalve shells (Chione elevata). The bleached spot on the back of this large (185mm) whelk is the only part of the shell that was protruding from the ground. I cleaned the sand away from the clam shells with a toothpick and small brush then added a little glue in strategic spots. Found while on a walk around the neighborhood around 7am in the morning (79F). It was found with other fossil shells in a patch of bare ground along the roadside. More pics/info here. 8 Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOM BUCKLEY Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Very, very nice. I guess I should spend more time looking down. It might also keep me from stumbling as much as I do. Tom AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGIST STROKE SURVIVOR CANCER SURVIVOR CURMUDGEON "THERE IS A VERY FINE LINE BETWEEN AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGY AND MENTAL ILLNESS" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkdoctor Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Date of Discovery/Recovery: 7/31/20 Scientific and/or Common Name: Schizodelphis morckhoviensis, partial skull Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Eastover Formation, 5.5 MYA State, Province, or Region Found: Virginia Found by: Aaron Alford (@Sharkdoctor) Recovered by: @sharkdoctor @Gizmo Prepared by: Mike Ellwood Donated to: Calvert Marine Museum Before prep: During prep, in jacket: After prep: 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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