Which 6 should i keep?

[butchndad]

Today was my 27th trip to Big Brook. Cold to start but not as cold as last week when I had to give up and leave. Park rules only allow you to keep 6 “artifacts”. So here is what I found. Which 6 would you suggest i keep?  And why?  Thank you all

[JamieLynn]

I"ve not personally been there, but the 6 fossil rule got me curious. I do not see in the "Supplemental Rules for Fossiling at Big Brook Park, Marlboro, New Jersey" anything about only 6. It does say this: Removal of small paleontological items is permitted. Items removed from the park shall be no more than what would fit in a 12 ounce can or a sandwich size zip lock bag. This limit is per person, per day. Visitors are encouraged to share the results of their fossil activity 

 

Are there multiple areas you can collect at Big Brook? Maybe other areas have different rules....

 

 

[butchndad]

1 hour ago, JamieLynn said:

I"ve not personally been there, but the 6 fossil rule got me curious. I do not see in the "Supplemental Rules for Fossiling at Big Brook Park, Marlboro, New Jersey" anything about only 6. It does say this: Removal of small paleontological items is permitted. Items removed from the park shall be no more than what would fit in a 12 ounce can or a sandwich size zip lock bag. This limit is per person, per day. Visitors are encouraged to share the results of their fossil activity 

 

Are there multiple areas you can collect at Big Brook? Maybe other areas have different rules....

 

 

Big Brook Park is different than Big Brook Preserve and i should have said that i went to the Preserve not the Park

i have always gone to the Preserve but would be curious to hear if others go to the Park

i've actually tried to access Big Brook (the stream itself) outside both the Preserve and the Park but so far it never looked promising

here is one article stating 5 not 6 is the limit https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/fossil-park-nj/   "By law, you're allowed to bring up to 5 fossils home"

but i'm sure i've read 6 elsewhere and will see if i can find that

here are the rules from the Department of Parks & Recreation site and it too says 5; http://cnrecparks.squarespace.com/big-brook-preserve/   7. No person may harvest more than five fossils per day.

[Nimravis]

You could keep your favorite of each type, but my choice would be the large belemnites.

[Ludwigia]

I'm sorta reluctant to suggest you keep something you don't want, so I'll let you decide for yourself. You yourself are the one who knows best What will you do with the rest of them?

[butchndad]

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

I'm sorta reluctant to suggest you keep something you don't want, so I'll let you decide for yourself. You yourself are the one who knows best What will you do with the rest of them?

Hi Ludwiga.  I already know which are my favorites but am curious as to what other folks would do and especially if there are any particular reasons why.  And, since most people here are alot more knowledgeable than me, i'd like to hear their reasoning  and learn something.  For instance, is the round one in the bottom left corner a Lateral/Vomerine Pycnodont? I have a number of medial teeth but no lateral so i would keep that over some things that i already have a specimen of.  And i just thought it would be a fun question to ask.  To answer your last question, at the entrance there is signage with a shelf and i have left fossils (and pans) there, hopefully for kids.

[MarcoSr]

What I would keep is based upon my preferences.  You should choose based upon your preferences.  My six:

 

 

 

 

1. species

2. condition

3. condition

4. size

5 species, condition

6. size, condition

 

 

Marco Sr.

[Ludwigia]

53 minutes ago, butchndad said:

Hi Ludwiga.  I already know which are my favorites but am curious as to what other folks would do and especially if there are any particular reasons why.  And, since most people here are alot more knowledgeable than me, i'd like to hear their reasoning  and learn something.  For instance, is the round one in the bottom left corner a Lateral/Vomerine Pycnodont? I have a number of medial teeth but no lateral so i would keep that over some things that i already have a specimen of.  And i just thought it would be a fun question to ask.  To answer your last question, at the entrance there is signage with a shelf and i have left fossils (and pans) there, hopefully for kids.

Ok. Here's my choice. My reasoning is that they appear to be well-preserved and I like the looks of them.

[FossilDAWG]

You found some great fossils, it would have been very hard for me to choose just 5.  If forced to choose, I would pretty much agree with Marco Sr's selection.

 

I'm curious about how this poll is supposed to work.  The intent of the law is to limit the rate of removal of fossils from the area so it will be more likely that everybody will be able to find something.  To comply with the law you are supposed to remove only 6 (or 5, whatever the actual limit is) fossils per visit.  "Keep" does not mean take 60 home, choose 6 (or 5), and throw the rest in your garden or something.  So for this "poll" to have any validity you would have had to post your finds before you left the creek at the end of the day, get results from the community, select 6 (or 5) to keep, and return the rest to the creek.  Yet you say you gave up for the day and left before you took this photo and made your post.  There are 66 fossils (according to my count) in the photo.  You say you have left fossils and pans at the entrance for kids to take/use, which is great, but to actually comply with the law you would have had to leave 61 of them in the park.

 

Don

[FossilNerd]

18 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

You found some great fossils, it would have been very hard for me to choose just 5.  If forced to choose, I would pretty much agree with Marco Sr's selection.

 

I'm curious about how this poll is supposed to work.  The intent of the law is to limit the rate of removal of fossils from the area so it will be more likely that everybody will be able to find something.  To comply with the law you are supposed to remove only 6 (or 5, whatever the actual limit is) fossils per visit.  "Keep" does not mean take 60 home, choose 6 (or 5), and throw the rest in your garden or something.  So for this "poll" to have any validity you would have had to post your finds before you left the creek at the end of the day, get results from the community, select 6 (or 5) to keep, and return the rest to the creek.  Yet you say you gave up for the day and left before you took this photo and made your post.  There are 66 fossils (according to my count) in the photo.  You say you have left fossils and pans at the entrance for kids to take/use, which is great, but to actually comply with the law you would have had to leave 61 of them in the park.

 

Don

I was curious about this as well... Unless all these fossils were from multiple visits, the rules were already broken. 

 

To answer the OPs questions, it would be hard for me to choose just 6 (or 5?). Many of the finds are lacking in my collection. 

[Jackson g]

1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said:

There are 66 fossils (according to my count) in the photo.  You say you have left fossils and pans at the entrance for kids to take/use, which is great, but to actually comply with the law you would have had to leave 61 of them in the park.

All the more reason to go out and explore, and find your own hunting grounds! Then you can take as much (within good reason) as youd like, as long as the law allows. I've been to sites like the Waco pit in TX where there are literally tens of thousands of fossils littered along the land, but you may only take 3 home! That was a tough one, but left with some cool heteromorph ammonites! I do agree, your best off making your personal choices and returning the fossils to the park, regardless if you left with them already. Theres some really nice teeth there.

[Top Trilo]

I think it depends on what you already have, since you've been 27 times I'm sure you have quite the collection. If you have a lot of belemites that maybe you could pick a different one (Unless its one of the best you've collected, same goes for all types) Pick what you have the least of but still like unless its one of your favorite species or its one of the best you've collected.

[Jeffrey P]

14 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

What I would keep is based upon my preferences.  You should choose based upon your preferences.  My six:

 

 

 

 

1. species

2. condition

3. condition

4. size

5 species, condition

6. size, condition

 

 

Marco Sr.

In my mind I picked five of the six you picked. I would have kept one of the brachiopods. 

[The Jersey Devil]

The best shark tooth in the pic is actually the fourth one in the top row. Pristine Cretalamna in matrix which is probably pyrite. You also got a partial reptilian tooth, probably mosasaur

[Trevor]

Frame them as rocks and then take all of them.

 

Also, the semblance of the matter is that it looks like they are already on your kitchen table; so, maybe the above re-casting (ha get it) of fossils as rocks was done.

[butchndad]

16 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

What I would keep is based upon my preferences.  You should choose based upon your preferences.  My six:

 

 

 

 

1. species

2. condition

3. condition

4. size

5 species, condition

6. size, condition

 

 

Marco Sr.

 

2 hours ago, The Jersey Devil said:

The best shark tooth in the pic is actually the fourth one in the top row. Pristine Cretalamna in matrix which is probably pyrite. You also got a partial reptilian tooth, probably mosasaur

 

49 minutes ago, Trevor said:

Frame them as rocks and then take all of them.

 

Also, the semblance of the matter is that it looks like they are already on your kitchen table; so, maybe the above re-casting (ha get it) of fossils as rocks was done.

one of the two reasons i initially bring them all home is to ask questions and learn.

@MarcoSr you circled the first and third teeth at the top left and gave as the reason species for #1 and condition for #3.  I had thought them the same species but obviously wrong.  Sand Tiger and Mackerel?

@The Jersey Devil i really liked the tooth in matrix having never found one like that before.  Should i do anything to preserve it?  Also you aree identifying the partial above what MarcoSr circled as #5 as a Mosasaur tooth?

For all three of you gentlemen MarcoSr, The Jersey Devil and @Trevor (and anyone else), two more questions please; 1) is the round one in very bottom left a lateral pycnodont tooth?  I've found a number of the medials (perhaps an easier shape to recognize) but never a lateral. 2) are the number of grooves in the cow-nosed ray teeth only a function of placement in the mouth?

thank you all

[dalmayshun]

Taking them home initially seems to me to defeat the purpose....do you take the others back and hide them? Part of the fun of finding fossils is to find them  "in situ" where natures forces deposited them ...sounds more like that area would  have been "salted" much like I do at the beach using previously collected seashells for my grandchildren to find. Nice to want to learn, just not sure about the process. 

[MarcoSr]

15 hours ago, butchndad said:

 

 

one of the two reasons i initially bring them all home is to ask questions and learn.

@MarcoSr you circled the first and third teeth at the top left and gave as the reason species for #1 and condition for #3.  I had thought them the same species but obviously wrong.  Sand Tiger and Mackerel?

@The Jersey Devil i really liked the tooth in matrix having never found one like that before.  Should i do anything to preserve it?  Also you aree identifying the partial above what MarcoSr circled as #5 as a Mosasaur tooth?

For all three of you gentlemen MarcoSr, The Jersey Devil and @Trevor (and anyone else), two more questions please; 1) is the round one in very bottom left a lateral pycnodont tooth?  I've found a number of the medials (perhaps an easier shape to recognize) but never a lateral. 2) are the number of grooves in the cow-nosed ray teeth only a function of placement in the mouth?

thank you all

 

#1 & #3 if they have nutrient groves are probably #1 Carcharias (sand tiger) and #3 Scapanorhynchus (Goblin).  However, I'm not seeing any evidence of a nutrient groove on #1 which would make it something else.

 

I don't keep anything in pyrite unless it is really rare because it is a pain to deal with pyrite rot (iron sulfide (the rust), corrosive sulfuric acid and harmful sulfur dioxide gas. )

 

Hard to tell for sure from the picture, but the round specimen in the very bottom left looks like a pycnodont tooth.

 

I'm not familiar with the fauna where you are collecting.  The tooth that I circled (#5) I believe is Brachyrhizodus wichitaensis.   Brachyrhizodus  vary in width (probably due to position) and can have more root grooves as they get wider.  I don't think that the partial tooth next to #5 is Brachyrhizodus.  It reminds me more of a type of tooth that Welton 1993 calls Myliobatidae Genus Undertermined.  I'm sure Case named it in one of his papers.

 

Marco Sr.

 

 

[The Jersey Devil]

Big Brook pyrite on teeth is generally stable is what it seems like. But pyrite can be tricky elsewhere and on other fossils.

 

The tooth above the ray tooth Marco circled is reptile

[Notidanodon]

@MarcoSr i believe that it is marcasite (a type of pyrite most oftenly found) that is unstable and will undergo 'pyrite rot' in some cases, if the pyrite is not the marcasite variant, it will be stable for what seems to be an indefinite period of time. an example of this is, from the isle of sheppey, were i spend most of my hunting trips, pyrite (marcasite here) replaced fossils from division D of the london clay will almost always decay if prior treatment isnt taken. in contrast, the pyrite nodules know as pyrite balls coming from a different bed are pure pyrite (the stable stuff) and none i have have shown any signs of decay, if what @The Jersey Devil says is true, the pyrite at big brook may be pure pyrite so wont decay

hope this helps, 

in any case, marcasite is a pain

[putt510]

Look buddy, just keep all of them. It is not a big deal. Enjoy them; keep them safe.