Oreodont prep!

[fossilhunter21]

I recieved this skull yesterday and have been working on it whenever I have time. The skull is not super complete, but I still like it.

 

Here are the images from the seller:

[fossilhunter21]

And here are the images I took after some prep:

 

 

Ps. Sorry about the quality of the images.

Edited October 12, 2021 by fossilhunter21

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice.

Good luck with the rest of the prepping. 

[Ludwigia]

Looks like fun. Wish I had one of those to work on.

[Fossildude19]

[Randyw]

I Cant wait to see how it turns out! Keep us posted.

[Haravex]

Jealous, them Oreodont have a cool name (after a cookie obviously) and are super fun to prep. It also looks like your doing dang good job so far keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing the final result.

[fossilhunter21]

Thanks everyone!

 

Here is how it's looking: 

 

[fossilhunter21]

Here it is after some more work: 

[fossilhunter21]

Also I was just wondering what the pieces of the skull I circled below are?

 

Thanks!

[Randyw]

Its hard to tell from this picture but i believe the higher piece connects to the piece its almost touching and is part of the eye socket. The lower piece looks like the stub of the zygomatic arch. Im thinking the zygomatic arch has been displaced and/or missing. Further prep should tell us more. Id still like to see a picture of the top looking down. Wide view and close-up of that area

Edited October 15, 2021 by Randyw

[fossilhunter21]

@Randyw, thanks for your answer! It looks you are probably correct , but here is a picture:

[fossilhunter21]

Here is how it's looking:

[fossilhunter21]

Well the rock broke and the skull broke with it.  luckily I was able to put it back together without it looking to bad. I may work on it some in the future, but for now I am done.  

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by fossilhunter21

[Ludwigia]

Well, at least it's smiling at you

[fossilhunter21]

33 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Well, at least it's smiling at you 

Yep! 

Edited October 19, 2021 by fossilhunter21

[jpc]

no need to be sad about the rock breaking and breaking the fossil with it.  This happens all the time.  This is why god or some chemist invented glue.  It also allows the preparator to see some things that may not be visible otherwise.  A split fossil is fine, as long as you can glue it back together.  NIce work.  Looks like a little Leptauchenia. 

[fossilhunter21]

6 minutes ago, jpc said:

Nice work.

Thanks!

7 minutes ago, jpc said:

Looks like a little Leptauchenia.

Yep, it is very small.

10 minutes ago, jpc said:

no need to be sad about the rock breaking and breaking the fossil with it.  This happens all the time.  This is why god or some chemist invented glue.  It also allows the preparator to see some things that may not be visible otherwise.  A split fossil is fine, as long as you can glue it back together. 

Thanks for your reply!

[Randyw]

Welcome to the world of prepping! Breaks and chips happen quite often. I have several bottles of glue of various viscosities for just such an occasion. If i spy a crack or if it looks like ones changing i’ll dribble a little very thin glue into it to strengthen it.

still looking forward to seeing how it comes out!

[fossilhunter21]

4 minutes ago, Randyw said:

still looking forward to seeing how it comes out!

If/when I prep it more I will be sure to post some more pics. 

Edited October 19, 2021 by fossilhunter21

[Randyw]

Just now, fossilhunter21 said:

If/when I prep it more I

Oh no! You can’t give up on it! Take a break if you need to but you got to come back to it one day! I was given this one when someone broke it into 5 pieces! And it ended up alright when i finished it. These pictures are before i started on it.

leptauchenias are among my favorites!

[fossilhunter21]

14 minutes ago, Randyw said:

no! You can’t give up on it! Take a break if you need to but you got to come back to it one day! I was given this one when someone broke it into 5 pieces! And it ended up alright when i finished it. These pictures are before i started on it.

leptauchenias are among my favorites!

Thanks for your resonse! I will probably prep the skull some more, but I am not going to prep the area where it broke.

[fossilhunter21]

So the other day I decided that I would prep out the skull some more. And I am very glad that I did! 

 

BTW I actually kind of like how the skull is only partly prepped.

 

Here is how it looks: