Flx Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Hi Fossils Preparation Fans, Last week I received 1900kg of unprepared dinosaur bones in plaster jackets. Now my neigborhood thinks I lost my mind and I received a lot of eye-rolling from my wife. However, my two sons (7y and 2.5y old dino fans) and myself think it was an excellent idea to acquire the material. The fossils have been collected in the upper layers of the Morisson Formation. Location: Moffat County, Colorado As always when buying unprepared dinosaur bones you do not really know what you get. However, it seems that most material is Apatosaurus (or some other Diplodicoidea) with some small pieces which are likely Allosaurus. I will know more after I started preparing the material. The bone quality and completeness of the bones is ranging from very good to poor according to the seller (what that means I will find out soon). Anyway, this will keep me busy for one or two years. If there is interest I will post a picture once in a while. 1 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterpillar Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Work ahead for the long winter evenings 1 http://www.paleotheque.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) Definitely looks like more work than I would be able to tackle at this point with our 4.5yo and 6mo. But also looks like an awesome project I could entirely find myself in. Given the chance I'd probably have done the same As such, very interested to see how you progress Edited August 30, 2021 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Corrected auto-correct '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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Wow, sounds like a great project 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 19 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said: Definitely arms like more work than I would be able to tackle at this point with our 4.5yo and 6mo. But also looks like an awesome project I could entirely find myself in. Given the chance I'd probably have done the same As such, very interested to see how you progress Thanks! Well, I am not in a hurry preparing all the material. It has been laying around 150M years anyway. Usually I find some time after the kids are in bed. Maybe 1h per day in average. Therefore, the last similar sized prep project took me 2.5 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerogrower Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Wow just wow!! Please keep us updated as you go, I for one would love to see your progress! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 22 minutes ago, Flx said: Thanks! Well, I am not in a hurry preparing all the material. It has been laying around 150M years anyway. Usually I find some time after the kids are in bed. Maybe 1h per day in average. Therefore, the last similar sized prep project took me 2.5 years. I completely know the feeling, though to me 1h of prep-work a day sounds like such a luxury! I normally don't get as much. And, in any case, no more mechanical stuff after lights out, as we live in a tiny apartment and I therefore do most of my preparation in the kitchen... The most time I get is the three weeks a year my wife visits her family with the kids. But as in just missed my slot, I'll note probably here to wait another year to finish the mosasaur paddle I started on last year '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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Yes, I certainly would be interested to watch your progress. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Would certainly be interested in seeing your progress on these. and you must have one heck of a large prep room? How are you even going to move these around? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 2 hours ago, RJB said: Would certainly be interested in seeing your progress on these. and you must have one heck of a large prep room? How are you even going to move these around? RB Well, since my wife likes horses we moved to a farm a few kilometers outside of Zurich already a few years ago. There is plenty of space for prepping there and nobody cares about the noise. I didn't quite figure out how to handle the really big plaster jackets yet. So far, I can move the crates around with a pallet mover. Furthermore, I plan to install a winch for lifting the large jackets (about 300kg). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Wow! That sounds like quite the professional operation! '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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Wow, thats cool to say the least! "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 7 hours ago, aerogrower said: Wow just wow!! Please keep us updated as you go, I for one would love to see your progress! 6 hours ago, Ludwigia said: Yes, I certainly would be interested to watch your progress. Okay! I already opened one of the smaller jackets which seems to contain a sauropod caudal vertebra. I will post some pictures soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 4 hours ago, Flx said: I didn't quite figure out how to handle the really big plaster jackets yet. So far, I can move the crates around with a pallet mover. Furthermore, I plan to install a winch for lifting the large jackets (about 300kg). If you prep the jackets while still on the pallets, you can move them around at will with your pallet jack. Then, when it's time to flip them over, they will weigh a lot less and your support jacket for the actual bones will be a lot smaller. I remember the days of only prepping for an hour. I'm prepping for 4-5 hours in the evening M-F and 6-8 daily on the weekends. 2 1 Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said: If you prep the jackets while still on the pallets, you can move them around at will with your pallet jack. Then, when it's time to flip them over, they will weigh a lot less and your support jacket for the actual bones will be a lot smaller. I remember the days of only prepping for an hour. I'm prepping for 4-5 hours in the evening M-F and 6-8 daily on the weekends. Yes, this makes sense. Also, some jackets contain multiple bones. I can probably seperate them to make the individual pieces easier to handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilhunter21 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) Wow! That is awesome! Would love to see your progress! Edited August 30, 2021 by fossilhunter21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Quite a project. You're doing a great job on the Camptosaurus block these should be equally rewarding and maybe a few more surprises. Watch out for very small teeth like Stego's they can certainly be there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Looks like a fun, cool and time consuming project, and would really enjoy seeing the progress. Cool material too, dinosaurs straight out of my own state. 1 “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 21 hours ago, Flx said: I plan to install a winch for lifting the large jackets (about 300kg). There used to be a home remodeling show here where in the opening the guy would say, "go big or go home". You most certainly fit that category! Best of luck to ya. RB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 (edited) Quick update: I took one of the smaller plaster jackets to get a feeling for the matrix and the bone quality. The matrix was soft and brittle wich makes preparation quite fast. The bone itself contained hundreds of cracks which is normal for Morrison Fm fossils. I spent several hours with filling all the hairline cracks with low viscosity cyanoacrylate. This is important to make sure that the bone is not falling apart while removing the plaster jacket piece by piece. Anyway, I am quite happy with the material so far. As you can see, the fossils is a pretty nice and almost complete caudal vertebra. About 5% of what you see is crack fill. Obviously, the vertebra belongs to a sauropod due to it's ridiculous size (about 46cm / 18 inch high). On the right of the vert, you can see a reconstruction of the animal. Edited September 3, 2021 by Flx 4 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 Not sure about the family/genus yet. I think it looks a bit like a Camarasaurus C10 ,C11 or C12. However, there are so many sauropods in Morrison Fm. and I cannot find useful reference pictures for most of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 It does have affinities to Camarasaurus lewisi holotype C10 (BYU9047) (41cm high) with that short horizontal process if its complete and not a partial. C11 was just a nub and not visible in C12. However probably indistinguishable between other Camarasaurus species. Nice vertebra. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 What Troodon said,, "Nice vertebra" RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 Ok, since my last update I bought and installed a winch that enables me to lift the heavy plaster jackets. I successfully lifted a 300kg block labeled with "2 sauropod vertebrae" and put it on top of the crate. The block is now on a confortable height so I can start with the preparation. My plan is to remove the rock material above the fossil to understand the location and orientation of the vertebrae. Then, I can brobably cut the block into smaller pieces that are easier to handle. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flx Posted September 20, 2021 Author Share Posted September 20, 2021 I started to carefully remove the overlaying rock millimeter by millimeter using a knife and my airscribe. After removing about 20cm of matrix (whch took about 3-4 hours) I had the feeling that there was probably no fossil inside that block. Anyway, I continued and a few minutes later I finally touched down on bone. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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