Another field find

[Ludwigia]

Just wanted to show you some things I found recently on a plowed-up field in the southwestern German region of Klettgau. My wife and I were there for a hike last week and I heard that it was possible to find fossils in the area. So when I got home I did a bit of research and headed back down there the other day. There is supposed to be an exposure in the middle of a forest, but I didn't have the coordinates, and despite an hour or so of driving up and down the loggers roads, I wasn't able to track it down. However, a few fields which can expose Early Jurassic fossils were also mentioned, so I had a go at them and after criss-crossing them for a couple of hours I managed to come up with a couple of things. As is often the case, I forgot to take my camera along, so I'm afraid I can't show you the landscape, which, by the way, is very nice. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, here are the two finds after prep. The first is a Chlamys sp. bivalve 2.5cm. in length. Two bits of shell popped off which I had to glue back on.

 

 

The second and last find took quite a few hours to prep, since it was stuck in a concretion. I wasn't even sure if it would be worth the effort, but it turned out very well in the end. I just had to fill in a bit of the outer whorls with Apoxie Sculpt and carve the inner whorls in order to complete the picture. It's a Lytoceras fibriatum with ø 20cm. The geological map marked the field only as Early Jurassic, but this species can be placed somewhere in the Pliensbachian.

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Oooooooooooh! 
Very nice!

 

[LabRatKing]

[Ludwigia]

16 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Oooooooooooh! 
Very nice!

 

 

9 minutes ago, LabRatKing said:

[daves64]

I need to visit the fields there apparently. All you find in plowed fields around here is dirt... and rocks.. and dirt.. and weeds... did I mention dirt? Beautiful finds! 

[Ludwigia]

47 minutes ago, daves64 said:

I need to visit the fields there apparently. All you find in plowed fields around here is dirt... and rocks.. and dirt.. and weeds... did I mention dirt? Beautiful finds! 

I'd be happy to take you around if you ever happen to get to this part of the world.

[PaleoOrdo]

Very nice finds, Ludwigia! What are the plant-like patterns seen on the surface of the Lytoceras fibriatum?

[jeannie55]

Very nice. 

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, PaleoOrdo said:

Very nice finds, Ludwigia! What are the plant-like patterns seen on the surface of the Lytoceras fibriatum?

Those are the so-called sutures or septal lobes, imprints left behind where the septal chambers of the phragmocone were attached to the shell. These often show up on the steinkern, or cast, which is the type of preservation here. There is however a bit of original shell left on the whorls in the middle.

[Ludwigia]

3 minutes ago, jeannie55 said:

Very nice. 

Thanks.

[LabRatKing]

37 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Those are the so-called sutures or septal lobes, imprints left behind where the septal chambers of the phragmocone were attached to the shell. These often show up on the steinkern, or cast, which is the type of preservation here. There is however a bit of original shell left on the whorls in the middle.

Often seen on other similar critters too:

 

[PaleoOrdo]

Thanks for the explanation, I now understand some words that I wondered about before.

[Ludwigia]

3 hours ago, PaleoOrdo said:

Thanks for the explanation, I now understand some words that I wondered about before.

You're welcome.

[Everhardus]

I’ve read about Klettgau, nice to see these finds !

[Ludwigia]

7 hours ago, Everhardus said:

I’ve read about Klettgau, nice to see these finds !

Thanks Marcel. Wish I could have found that site in the woods though. The zigzag zone is exposed and I've never hunted that one.

[Jeffrey P]

Love that bivalve and the suture pattern on the ammonite. Congrats Roger. You find wonderful treasures everywhere.

[Pagurus]

That's a tasty-looking bivalve, and an ammonite photo worthy of framing. All your research and hard work sure pays off for you. Impressive yet again.

[Everhardus]

By the way, how do you go about restoring these inner whorls ? Modelling while the apoxie is still wet or afterwards, for example with a rotating tool while apoxie is hard ?

 

[Ludwigia]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Love that bivalve and the suture pattern on the ammonite. Congrats Roger. You find wonderful treasures everywhere.

Thanks Jeff.

 

1 hour ago, Pagurus said:

That's a tasty-looking bivalve, and an ammonite photo worthy of framing. All your research and hard work sure pays off for you. Impressive yet again.

And thanks to you too

 

55 minutes ago, Everhardus said:

By the way, how do you go about restoring these inner whorls ? Modelling while the apoxie is still wet or afterwards, for example with a rotating tool while apoxie is hard ?

 

There was enough matrix in the center for me to be able to sculpt them with the pointy airscribe.

[Everhardus]

Not something i would have thought of, sculpting with the airscribe . I’ll give that a go since i was not pleased with my attempts with the Dremel. 

[Ludwigia]

9 hours ago, Everhardus said:

Not something i would have thought of, sculpting with the airscribe . I’ll give that a go since i was not pleased with my attempts with the Dremel. 

You have to work with a bit of delicacy, but it's a pretty good method in my opinion.

[JimB88]

Hey a pectin! Cool! Those are some good finds Roger, and excellent prep.

[Ludwigia]

52 minutes ago, JimB88 said:

Hey a pectin! Cool! Those are some good finds Roger, and excellent prep.