Large Pill Container for Smaller Fossils

[Nimravis]

Today I stopped at Goodwill to see if I could find any plastic Plano fishing containers to store some fossils and instead found this extremely large pill container that I will use to store small / micro fossils. It is a very secure case and should work out nice and limited clutter from other cases, and at a price of $3.99, not a bad deal.

 

[Bob Saunders]

Thrift stores can be a good source as are garage sales. Lot's of pill minders. I assume that you're micro fossils are in sealed containers to prevent loss through any gaps. As a watch maker I have very small glass vials with cork stoppers from assortment kits that were empty. Work good for micros and you can view them thru the glass and number them either tiny label on the side or number on the cork. I like Tupperware or similar plastic containers that sometimes comes with lunch meat. Also the "really useful box" from the office supply stores. Made in England. 

[digit]

Slightly different style of a pill case but a similar re-use for fossils:

 

 

I have access to Cookiecutter Creek here in Florida and I've picked many a 5-gallon bucket (~25 kg) of micro-matrix from this remarkable site. In addition to the Isistius triangulus teeth which are (so far) not found anywhere else in Florida (?!?!?!?) there are several novel species that are presently not recorded in the Florida fossil record. I'm working on a background project to see that these get written-up in the literature. While picking CC Creek micro-matrix I come across Cookiecutter Shark teeth with reasonable frequency. I've already donated several hundred to the FLMNH collection and they really do not need any more. One of my long term projects is to gather enough reasonably decent condition teeth from this species to make an artificial tooth set. Most of the tooth positions are relatively indeterminate (other than being able to identify them as from the left or right side of the lower jaw). The central (symphyseal) tooth is very distinctive and the very last posterior (commissural) tooth on either side of the jaw is also distinctive as it has a bit of a flange that extends out from the rear side of the tooth. The posterior teeth look much like the anteriors but the crown is set at an angle to the root.

 

I picked up a 7-day pill reminder which worked extremely well for organizing my Isistius triangulus teeth (see above). One day when I have the time I will sort through these accumulated teeth to see if I have enough of the same size and preservation to be able to assemble an artificial tooth set. The modern (extant) Cookiecutter Shark, Isistius brasiliensis, have between 25-31 teeth in the lower jaw and the Largetooth Cookiecutter Shark, Isistius plutodus, has 19. I'll probably model the dentition on these counts and select an appropriate number of teeth for the dentition.

 

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/isistius-brasiliensis/

 

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/largetooth-cookiecutter-shark-isistius-plutodus/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Bob Saunders]

Thrift stores can be a good source as are garage sales. Lot's of pill minders. I assume that you're micro fossils are in sealed containers to prevent loss through any gaps. As a watch maker I have very small glass vials with cork stoppers from assortment kits that were empty. Work good for micros and you can view them thru the glass and number them either tiny label on the side or number on the cork. I like Tupperware or similar plastic containers that sometimes comes with lunch meat. Also the "really useful box" from the office supply stores. Made in England. 

 

Unknown brand of container. 2 1/2 inch  6 cm Plus tiny watch part vials for my micros. 

[Bobby Rico]

I use these plastic test tube. They not expensive and easy to see and label what’s in them. The pill container will hold more and easier to store or stack  away.

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Bobby Rico

[Megalodoodle]

Honestly, I store the majority of my shark teeth in Walmart prescription pill bottles.