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A fossil hunt in Taiwan


FF7_Yuffie

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Finding info on where to find fossils is hard in Taiwan, so I haven't been able to really go. But I made a friend who said he would take me, and this Sunday he did. Plan was to go to a place where you can find shark and fish teeth and rare whale fossils---but it was inaccessible because of the typhoon over the weekend which flooded the area. So, went to Plan B--an area where you can find sea urchin fossils. Unfortunately, the vast majority are only partial pieces, and that is all I found. But some nice partial pieces with nice patterns and colors on them. Plus, I did find SOMETHING, so it stands to reason, if I keep going I'll eventually unearth a complete urchin. Then went to a different area where you can shell fossils--this was a difficult area to collect. Very, very hard rock and the way the fossil bed is, it's very difficult to find fossils and unearth them. But, I did find two nice shell fossils. Hopefully on my next trip, the shark tooth place will be accessible.

 

But, for a first fossil hunt, I'm pleased to have found a few bits to take back. Bloody hot weather though. I was exhausted. And I don't envy the people who sat next to me on the train on the way back since I was covered in sweat  and smelt of sea water because a rock I thought was secure, turned out to not be secure and I ended up sliding in over my waterproof boots.

 

It was a fun day out. Hope I can go again soon. Here's a pic of what I found, and a few closer showing the color and patterns on some of the urchin shells. 

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Congratulations on a successful hunt! :) 

Thanks for sharing your finds with us. 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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6 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Congratulations on a successful hunt! :) 

Thanks for sharing your finds with us. 

 

Thanks, I hope I can post more and better in the future. Next time gonna hopefully be going to a place where can find crabs which will be fun.

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Cool, keep us posted in future hunts.  Nice to see what your country has in fossils.  Do you know the age?

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3 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Cool, keep us posted in future hunts.  Nice to see what your country has in fossils.  Do you know the age?

 

Thanks.

 

They are 20-24 million years old. it's pretty much the same formation as the Yehliu geopark (Da­liao  Formation -- collecting isn't allowed at the geopark--but you can see lots of nice urchins and shells stuck in the rock) but is another outcrap of Daliao but located further around the coast and a place where collecting is allowed. 

 

There are two types of urchin fossils found there which are unique to Taiwan -- Astriclypeus yeliuensis and Echinodiscus yeliuensis. No idea if any of my piece are them, and I think they'll be too small and fragmented to be sure.

 

The shell fossils are from an older formation--about 2 million years older.

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Really cool to see and hear of fossil finds and conditions in a place that to most of us seems very far away and exotic, Jack! Thanks for sharing, and hoping to see more from future hunts! :default_clap2:

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'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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11 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

Really cool to see and hear of fossil finds and conditions in a place that to most of us seems very far away and exotic, Jack! Thanks for sharing, and hoping to see more from future hunts! :default_clap2:

 

Thanks. Yeah, it's a more unusual area to get a few fossils from. Hope to build up a nice collection of fossils from here, now I know a few places to go.

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