A Physicist's Collection

[ThePhysicist]

While my prime focus is essentially learning how to accurately describe Nature in the precise language of mathematics, I've always been intrigued by natural history - it's actually what started me on the path to physics. The sort of interrogation that paleontology practices provoked me to think and question even further, down to the fundamental science which makes it all work. 

 

Collecting fossils has brought a large amount of enjoyment to my life, and is often a welcome distraction from what can sometimes be straining work. The knowledge that I accumulate along the way is also part of the fun. Here is my collection, which will always be a work-in-progress. There's still many things I haven't photographed yet, but I feel comfortable saying this is the majority. I don't have many big things, but I'm certainly pleased with the many small things I have so far. 

 

Links to albums:

 

Dinosaurs

 

Sharks

 

North Sulphur River

 

Post Oak Creek

 

Permian

 

Aguja Formation

 

Harding Sandstone

 

Devonian

 

Galveston Fossils

 

Miscellaneous 

 

 

 

Highlights / Personal Favorites:

 

The ones underlined are linked to their respective fossil page in the Fossil Forum Collections, which has more information and photos.

 

Infant Tyrannosaurus rex posterior tooth

 

 

If I could keep only one fossil, it would be this one. It's from my favorite animal that has ever lived, and being from a young'un is just so darn cool. A true crowning jewel in my eyes.

 

Juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex maxillary tooth

 

 

Again, you can't go wrong with T. rex. It doesn't have the best preservation but regardless, there's a lot more to love.

 

Tylosaurus proriger tooth (self-found)

 

 

Undoubtedly my favorite find to-date. Finding fossils yourself adds that extra value to its place in your collection. I'll remember the moment I first saw it for a long time.

 

Triceratops prorsus tooth

 

 

Triceratops is another one of my favorite dinosaurs, I think we all grew up playing with toys of T. rex and Triceratops. Unique circumstances also allow for me to say it's Triceratops and not Torosaurus with some confidence. It's not perfect, but still a significant part of the collection.

 

Avisaurus archibaldi tooth

 

 

A bird tooth? Doesn't get much cooler or more uncommon. 

 

Dimetrodon cf. limbatus tooth

 

 

I've always been drawn to "icons of life," since those are the ones we remember from childhood. Dimetrodon is definitely an icon, and I'm glad to have found one of these uncommon treasures (in micromatrix - it was a very nice surprise).

 

Cretoxyrhina mantelli tooth

 

 

One of my favorite shark species, the "ginsu" had sleek-looking teeth, ate mosasaurs and dinosaurs, and was overall a formidable animal worthy of admiration.

 

Cretodus crassidens tooth (self-found)

 

 

Another one of my favorite sharks. It's not big or complete, but the preservation is so rare for the locality (POC) - the gloss on the enamel is as if it fell out of the shark's mouth yesterday.

 

Saurornitholestes langstoni tooth

 

 

I'm currently working on growing the dinosaur component of my collection, and this is my first Dromaeosaurid. 

 

Dromaeosaur tooth (Hell Creek Fm.)

 

 

My most recent addition (as of Sept. 4, 2021), and it's my best dinosaur tooth for sure. Unfortunately it will be labeled as only a Dromaeosaurid tooth for now, but it still is just a great tooth from a cool family of dinosaurs.

 

Shark Tooth Riker Display

 

 

I've got one riker that I've tried to squeeze as many teeth into as possible. I need to get a couple more, probably; there's a lot of teeth that deserve a riker, but are just lying around.

 

I'll try to update this thread semi-regularly as I make acquisitions in the future. 

 

[Bobby Rico]

Great collection really love the Permian material.  Great Photos and presentation. 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Bobby Rico

[Praefectus]

Great collection and beautiful photography!

[marguy]

Magnificent collection (I haven't looked at all the sections yet), I particularly appreciated the Permian fossils.

thanks for sharing.

[hokietech96]

Absolutely amazing collection!!!

[JamieLynn]

thanks for sharing!!

[fossilhunter21]

Nice collection! Thanks for sharing.

[tombk]

Great collection. I agree that finding a fossil yourself makes it that much more special. I frequently look in Iowa’s Devonian formations. I was surprised to see so many shark’s teeth in your album from that place and time. Then I saw how tiny they were. I am not looking small enough. Maybe I’ll get a sieve and filter out the big stuff to see what I might find in the sub-2mm range. 

[ThePhysicist]

5 hours ago, tombk said:

Then I saw how tiny they were. I am not looking small enough. Maybe I’ll get a sieve and filter out the big stuff to see what I might find in the sub-2mm range. 

Yeah, what I'm looking through has been concentrated a lot. Hope you can find a lot of teeth, they're really neat. Unfortunately they're so hard to find complete.

[ThePhysicist]

Recent acquisitions from last Fall, and some updated photography:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4 by ThePhysicist

[Nanotyrannus35]

Beautiful teeth!