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September 2021 - Finds of the Month Entries


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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 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

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

  1. Find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found personally by you are allowed. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS.
  2. 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.)
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. 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.
  6. You must include the Common and/or Scientific Name.
  7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the fossil was found.
  8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the fossil was found.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.)

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So, I thought I would include a little conodont for this month's contest...

 

This is the first conodont from the Leighton Formation, and so has some scientific value. I asked a Paleozoic conodont researcher about this specimen - he identified it as a P2 element - but since it's common to multiple genera, it would be difficult to assign. I have placed it in the genus Spathognathodus, but I cannot be certain on this ID. It is based on other conodonts that have been found in Maine, but this could very well be a new species. Hopefully in my next collecting trip there will be another conodont element waiting for me. ;)

 

Below are pictures of the specimen, the first is of it before prep, the second is of it after. Unfortunately, I had to heavily consolidate it to prevent damage to it, which is the reason for the specular highlights and blurriness in the post-prep photo. The last two photos are of an articulated conodont jaw, with element abbreviations; and a general diagram of element placement. Both figures come from Purnell, M. A., Donoghue, P. C. T., Aldrige, R. J. (2000) Orientation and Anatomical Notation in Conodonts. Journal of Paleontology, 74(1). 

 

Date of Discovery: September 4, 2021; prepped September September 5, 2021. 

Scientific Name: Spathognathodus? sp.

Geologic Name or Geologic Formation: Leighton Formation, Přídolí, Silurian. 

State, Province, or Region Found: Pembroke, Washington County, Maine. 

 

842735998_conodont.thumb.jpg.3815a1b77bc2e9af023b86b1fbd61c15.jpg

 

2044507185_conodont1.thumb.jpg.93ba801f1b6d6e3b502da39a52b93139.jpg

 

1498258265_ScreenShot2021-09-07at6_52_31PM.png.258557e5d7cc5372eacdecfaaa30f23c.png 1202361_ScreenShot2021-09-07at6_52_48PM.png.25d9e8e1385fcdc2b13f26520393d662.png

 

 

Edited by Mainefossils
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The more I learn, the more I find that I know nothing. 

 

Regards, 

Asher 

 

 

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Presented for your consideration is what will probably be "The Best Invertebrate Fossil of My Lifetime" (though I am open to another spectacular find to appear in front of my amazed eyes, :chuckle:)

 

Special thanks to the Fabulous Fossil Forum Folk who identified this little gem and, even more helpfully, provided vocabulary for me to better understand this fossil and to open the door on a new facet of my obsession. Y’all are great!

 

Edrioasteroids are an extinct group of echinoderms - related to starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers.  First appearing about 515 MYA (Cambrian), their abundance and diversity peaked about 450 MYA, during the Late Ordovician.  Flash forwards 175 million years (Permian, 275 MYA) and edrioasteroids are extinct. They are an important group of animals because their skeleton falls apart very quickly following death. When many are found together, it indicates rapid burial of the sea floor and thus, a snapshot of the paleoenvironment. These snapshots can be exhaustively evaluated to help understand the relationships between the various organisms living together.


Edrioasteroids are uncommon, aesthetically pleasing fossils, prized by collectors. This particular Carneyella pilea fossil is very well preserved though there is nothing scientifically unique about it. C. pilea has been reported from this location and stratigraphic unit and is the second most common of the edrioasteroids found in the Ordovician exposures in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.  So I can keep it in my collection :Smiling:

 
Its most remarkable attribute has been its influence on my appreciation for invertebrate fossils!  Before spying this beauty under a vivid blue Kentucky sky, I had always KNOWN that my personal list of 10 BEST FOSSILS FOUND would only include vertebrates.  I have never been so glad to be so wrong and now hope to kick another A-list vertebrate fossil from its pedestal!:fingerscrossed:


Thanks for reading.
 

 

 

Date of Discovery: 9/12/2021
Scientific name: Carneyella pilea (Hall, 1866), Extinct edrioasteroid1
Geologic Name or Formation: Late Ordovician, Bellevue Formation (452.0 - 449.5 MYA)
State, Province or Region Found: Mason County, Kentucky, USA

1186099697_ordoviciancarneyellapileawscalecube.jpg

 

2127008013_ordoviciancarneyellapilea1.jpg

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ll shoot my shot. Might as well since I won’t be collecting for over 2 months. I decided to put my otodus that I recently found at this new site that I went to over the DC border. It’s funny because this tooth was found in somebody’s reject pile. 
 

1AEF635B-2139-4260-877E-7EEE2366FFAF.thumb.jpeg.b482a12cffbb521936a9908e68c768e7.jpeg
Date found: Sept 11

Scientific name: Otodus Obliquus

geologic formation: Aquia formation (59-55.5 mya)

State found: Prince Georges County, MD, USA.

 

I did some prep work on it as well but left the rock on the top potion of the root for fear of breaking the fossil. I’m not sure if this is going to win exactly but I’m going to try anyways!

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  Nice tooth!

 

13 hours ago, Fossil_teenager said:

I’m not sure if this is going to win exactly but I’m going to try anyways!

We hope folks submit fossils each month that they were really happy to find. Don't worry too much about winning a little digital award--submit some great fossils (like this) and make us all drool on our keyboards. :drool: ;)

 

Tammy and I had the opportunity to hunt the Aquia Formation just once a few years back on a cold cold morning with @MarcoSr and his fossil hunting partner Mike. Great memories, even without a trip-maker tooth like this. :)

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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@Jared C your withdrawal for this month is noted.  

 

If you decide to enter it after prep, pay particular attention to Rules 3 and 5.  You may need Kris to take some photos during and after prep.  ;)

 

 

@digit fyi

 

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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I’ll throw my hat in the ring. I was out and about and found this absolute stunner. A huge and near perfect Protohadros byrdi tooth! I’ll toot my own horn here, I was incredibly fortunate to view the collection at SMU a month or so ago and very few teeth were anywhere near this perfect. Which really drove home how amazing of a find this is. A once in a lifetime kind of find that I still can’t believe actually happened. 
 

Protohadros byrdi dentary tooth

Woodbine Formation

Denton County, Texas 

Found 9/5/2021

35E934E3-32DD-4D0B-ADE9-B59EC35D71D1.png

2CD902C6-FAC6-4BFE-86EA-EFADEB2D0695.png

Edited by Captcrunch227
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Presented for your consideration is a well preserved and exquisitely colored nurse shark tooth collected (with permission) from the gravel bed of a creek in the Gainesville, Florida area.  You will note this was discovered just two days before my other entry for this month.  It was so exciting I contacted the landowner and promised to show it off it in FOTM - it is the kind of small, beautiful fossil I always enjoy finding and displaying,  More than science - it is nature's art! 

 

Date of Discovery: 9/10/2021
Scientific name: Ginglymostoma sp. (possibly delfortriei)

Geologic Name or Formation:  Late Miocene (Hemphillian 1) 8-9MYA

State, Province or Region Found: Gainesville creek (with permission), Alachua County, FL

 

According to the landowner who kindly gave permission to collect the gravel, nurse shark teeth from Alachua County are not yet in the FLMNH collection so there is some scientific value to the find. My favorite thing about the shark’s teeth that can be found in the Gainesville Creeks is the often exquisite pale-pink, blue, and brown hues the teeth can take on,  This tooth is no exception and what makes it a favorite of mine for the month of September.  

 

Apologies for the quality of the photo with the scale bar (mm) ... hard to get both in.  

 

There are some beauties in this months offerings - thanks to everyone who posts their monthly faves  and Thanks for reading

 

1028366672_nursewoscale.jpg

668033630_nursewithscale.jpg

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Here is my first ever entry for fossil of the month:

A claw belonging to a burrowing shrimp found during yesterdays excursion with the Belgian Association For Paleontology to the quarry in Eben Emael

 

Date of Discovery: september 26, 2021 

Scientific name: Mesostylus faujasi

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Nekum Chalk, Maastricht Formation, Cretaceous, Maastrichtian, 68 mya

Region Found: Romontbos Quarry, Eben-Emael, Belgium

 

During Prep

DSC04246.thumb.JPG.8bbd1946af72dc964f765dd8d430bbd3.JPG

IMG-20210927-WA0002.thumb.jpeg.e9d72b213e93a23cac2b310c90a3413f.jpeg

 

 

End Result

IMG-20210927-WA0006.thumb.jpeg.0de60afae5c61bdfa9c2c07d00d5040d.jpeg

Edited by ziggycardon
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Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science!
Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel.  

View my collection topic here:

The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon
My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic

Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm

Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

My latest fossil hunt

 

Next project will be a dedicated prepping space.

 

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister

 

5d68d9f3c550a_153657011360380104(21).jpg.bda3d3b7ae7b8321dd0620a0c61cc459.jpg5d68da1b497f5_153657011360380104(20).jpg.8610ffc65ccaa5d057e7b52b65989cd0.jpg5d68da353dd03_153657011360380104(24).jpg.ae73afaefa6ab34e7af5f6131aed96ff.jpgsolnhofen.jpg.76dd03ba7eb39946850662021b7d8dd4.jpg166802558255587143.jpg.c38d91e9e45f17addf29c40166b797a2.jpg5d68da49ad887_153657011360380104(25).jpg.dfff987039b3c99f41e44da51f71ae91.jpg

 

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37 minutes ago, ziggycardon said:

Here is my first ever entry for fossil of the month:

A claw belonging to a burrowing shrimp found during yesterdays excursion with the Belgian Association For Paleontology to the quarry in Eben Emael

 

Pretty sweet specimen! The wet look, is that Paraloid to stabilise the marl and the fossil, or did you use a diluted white glue solution?

 

Pity I missed the excursion, though. I really want to visit that quarry! But may be next year then. This year would've been way too busy anyway... Any reptile remains found yesterday?

'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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1 hour ago, tombk said:

@ziggycardonNice end result! What sort of prep did you do?

I just used a simple prepping needle to remove the soft matrix from the fossil. After I cleared enough of the the fossil to my liking I stabilized the claw with paraloid. After that is just used a saw to cut the excess stone into a nice displayable block :) 

1 hour ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

 

Pretty sweet specimen! The wet look, is that Paraloid to stabilise the marl and the fossil, or did you use a diluted white glue solution?

 

Pity I missed the excursion, though. I really want to visit that quarry! But may be next year then. This year would've been way too busy anyway... Any reptile remains found yesterday?

Thank you and yes I just poured some paraloid on it before taking the picture, hence the wet look :) 

Unfortunately I myself did not find any reptile material, but someone did find some Turtle material yesterday. 

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Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science!
Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel.  

View my collection topic here:

The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon
My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic

Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm

Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

My latest fossil hunt

 

Next project will be a dedicated prepping space.

 

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister

 

5d68d9f3c550a_153657011360380104(21).jpg.bda3d3b7ae7b8321dd0620a0c61cc459.jpg5d68da1b497f5_153657011360380104(20).jpg.8610ffc65ccaa5d057e7b52b65989cd0.jpg5d68da353dd03_153657011360380104(24).jpg.ae73afaefa6ab34e7af5f6131aed96ff.jpgsolnhofen.jpg.76dd03ba7eb39946850662021b7d8dd4.jpg166802558255587143.jpg.c38d91e9e45f17addf29c40166b797a2.jpg5d68da49ad887_153657011360380104(25).jpg.dfff987039b3c99f41e44da51f71ae91.jpg

 

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Seeming the partial mosasaur is being prepped, here's the next best find of the month:

(very little prep was done, but before and afters are still included)

 

Description: 5'' slab with Ptychodus tooth and basal Mosasaur species tooth in matrix together (among other small teeth)

Date of Discovery: September 12, 2021 

Scientific name: Ptychodus sp. & Mosasauridae teeth

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Eagle Ford formation (Turonian)

Region Found: Travis County (Central Texas)

 

Full slab:

 

IMG-2134.thumb.jpg.58f6dcc7e3316e7ff24baa44c6b85032.jpg

 

Post Prep look at the teeth included in the slab:

IMG-2144.thumb.jpg.d9151ad4d6d7fdc038a3e05db154cb2f.jpgIMG-2140.thumb.jpg.18232fdc3f16319e1d384d49db797783.jpg

(this was my first time prepping - attempts to expose the tooth a little shifted it's base out. I suppose I should try and remove some of the visible glue stains with alcohol at some point)

 

Same teeth pre-prep:

617034923_IMG-1654(1).thumb.jpg.4bbf9c307fef40aa05f70af2d0d563af.jpg999047181_IMG-1649(1).thumb.jpg.43c5ffe60829d4f04766fbfce098855d.jpg

Edited by Jared C
had way too many images. I know there's an extra still, those are just pre-prep proof
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“Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg 

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Childhood dream fulfilled and my first personal "prep"- the details on this are really cool and sooooooo excited with this intact find!!!!!! The fish is only 1 1/2" long and, as my first "prep" it took about 5 hours of intermittant "picking"!!! :( ......next ones should be faster-and.....I think it is this species :)  the rock is sooooo cool!!!!

 

Date of Discovery September 13, 2021

Date of Completed Preparation September 28th 2021 

Scientific Name (Knightia eocaena)

Geologic Age (Eocene, Green River Formation)

Region Found Kemmerer, Wyoming

 

885361972_Knightiainitialpreparation.jpeg.d4e2160de9577f6923b3b8321b0a8608.jpeg

551137067_Knightiapartialprep.thumb.jpeg.201649d8489be026266ce8eef044ccd5.jpeg587475649_Knightiahead.jpeg.5d664d6dda1e2980f9a3065b91660cf1.jpeg1924127392_Knightiaeocaenafinalprep.thumb.jpeg.0b58066cf41ca7a1c862108cd02a5203.jpeg
There's a fissure that split and moved the tail just a tad, but for my first "Green river" fishy, I'm pretty proud how it turned out!!!!!.... Sooooooooo excited!!!! (oh, said that already) :) :)I'll write up a travel trip for the forum!!! 

Bone

 

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I'll add another invert for consideration. It's not the absolute best crab I've ever prepped, but it's uncommon for me to find and prep a fossil start to finish all in the same month.

 

 

 

Date of Discovery: September 3, 2021

Prep Started: September 11, 2021

Prep completed: September 20, 2021

Scientific Name: Pulalius vulgaris 

Geologic Age or Formation: Lincoln Creek Formation 

Region Found: Southwest Washington State 

 

20210911_095821.jpg

 

20210920_102417.thumb.jpg.a05e685e1dbef47e97116c7c98b3fc88.jpg

 

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16329715120731457314519066019270.thumb.jpg.f12336e131b5f38b665740a5d9cc3dba.jpg

 

 

 

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Here I present you my first ever entry for the FOTM. Between August and September I participated in paleontologia fieldwork organize by the Jurassica Museum in the Late Jurassic of the Ajoie region (Canton Jura). Excavation had two specific targets in the Kimmeridgian Reuchenette Formation: dinosaur track bearing laminite levels and a layer of marls  rich in marine vertebrates. 

The museum curator was kind enough to gift to me the positive impression of the best footprint I found. Sadly the second digit is broken but you can even see impression of the claw on the fourth digit. 

 

 

Date of Discovery: September 2, 2021

Scientific Name: Grallatoridae

Geologic Age or Formation: Reuchenette Formation

Region Found: Chevenez, Canton Jura, NW Switzerland

 

IMG_20210930_105045.jpg

Screenshot_20210930_104733.jpg

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2 hours ago, Kiros said:

The museum curator was kind enough to gift to me the positive impression of the best footprint I found.

 

Which one is the negative in the field photo?  Does the positive show more than one track?

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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44 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

 

Which one is the negative in the field photo?  Does the positive show more than one track?

Here is the negative of my footprint. Unfortunately my fossil is just one of a 4 step track way. It was impossible to get the positive of all the surface ast the layer wer really fragile and often broke while flipping them. I also added the photo of the footprint highlighted

Screenshot_20210930_141930.jpg

IMG_20210930_141957.jpg

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