Fruitbat Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Here are a few more recent pictures of some of my fossils: Fossilized Egg (Oligocene of Nebraska) - possibly a duck egg Cranial Endocasts (Oligocene of Nebraska) - casts of the brain of a mammal (probably an oreodont) Glossotherium harlani (Pleistocene of Dallas Co., Texas) - 2nd lower right tooth of a ground sloth -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rain1950 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Neat! Really like the cranial casts; very different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Cool finds! Didn't even realize there was the possibility of finding dire wolf remains in the Dallas area... Sorry, saw your dire wolf was on another post.. I would have never guessed that was an egg. What I am wondering is the guidelines you use to identify any fossil as an egg.. I haven't seen many and they have all been online... Afraid if I ever found one, I wouldn't realize what it was. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Very cool brain casts, I also like the egg. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 While they are relatively rare finds in the Oligocene sediments, there have been enough of these eggs found that all doubt about their actually being eggs has been removed. One of the things that gives them away is the porous nature of the shell material (you can make it out in the picture). As for actually being a duck egg, that is only conjecture and there are some scientists who believe, based on size and shape, that the eggs are actually from a 'limpkin', a crane-like bird. Both ducks and limpkins would logically have been found in the marshy/swampy environment that was likely characteristic of much of the Oligocene of Nebraska. A number of these fossilized eggs have been X-rayed but unfortunately no remains of embryos have ever been found. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Cool! Now all we need is some fossil human brains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Anson.....unfortunately it seems all too common for modern people to be running around with no brains (fossilized or not). Actually, the Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus) from about 2.5mya does have a virtually intact cranial endocast. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Anson.....unfortunately it seems all too common for modern people to be running around with no brains (fossilized or not). Hahahhaha that is so true. Cris and I the other day were just saying how you should have at least a 100 Iq to do anything drive, hunt, fish, operate heavy machinery, exchange money, reproduce you name it. There are just to many people that don't have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hey Fruitbat. You certainly have some really cool stuff,, and that most certainly is an egg!! But what about all those things they find that are called turtle eggs. Seems to be quite a bit of debate weather they are turtle eggs or not? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 RJB... There is some debate about whether the 'turtle eggs' from the Oligocene are actually what they're purported to be. I'm not aware of any current research being done on those eggs but Karl Hirsch did publish an interesting study (Copeia, 1983) in which he demonstrates that chelonian (turtle) eggs can generally be distinguished from the eggs of other non-chelonians by microscopic examination under polarized light. Turtle eggs are composed of aragonite, unlike those of non-chelonians. When the aragonite is replaced(or partially replaced) by calcite during the fossilization process it leaves behind specific structures that are distinctive to turtle eggs. Whether or not any new studies have been done to support this view is one of the many things that I don't know. I haven't personally seen any of the 'turtle eggs' so I really can't offer any insight into their authenticity. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Joe I'm impressed with the impeccable preservation of your Texas Pleistocene material. Your sloth tooth approaches the excellence of preservation found in FL. Most of the Pleistocene specimens in my collection are river finds from all over the state and tend be bet pretty beaten up, often to the point of no longer being diagnostic. As for sloth material, I've only found one tooth, Megalonyx jeffersonii I believe. I also got a mandible of the the same species missing the rami; unfortunately all the tooth sockets were empty, and I got a section of G. harlani jaw with the teeth sheared off at the jaw line. I think I have a nice proximal humerus and proximal femur from M. jeffersonii, plus one claw each from I believe M. jeffersonii, G. harlani, and Nothrotheriops texanus. I find mostly indeterminate material, followed by turtle, tortoise, bison and horse material in frequency. Mammoth bone, tooth, and tusk frags are fairly common but big diagnostic pieces are not in my experience. I've taken some oddball stuff like a double horn core from an antilocaprid, possibly Tetrameryx or Capromeryx among other things. However I'm still chasing decent examples of a Texas mammoth tooth, tapir tooth, dire wolf tooth, javelina tooth of either Myliohyus or Platagonus, Glyptodont tooth, Mastodon tooth, Gomphothere tooth, etc. As you can see I still have quite a bit of work cut out for me. I could have bought much of this stuff by now but for me nothing parallels the thrill and lifelong sentimental value of self made finds. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 Dan... The vast majority of my Pleistocene stuff from the Dallas area is from the gravel and sand layers of the Trinity River terraces. The fossils from the sand (indicating slow river flow) are usually in great shape and show little water wear. I'll post a few more pictures later but here's one 'teaser' for you: Platygonus compressus deciduous molar teeth -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 you have got some amazing fossils Joe, keep posting....the skulls are beutiful.....and those other things are really interesting, that brain cast is sweet! that last jaw segmant is SICK!!! man its a killer specimin "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Joe If you have time to sit at the computer and want to see some of my collection, feel free to visit the Brazosport Museum website BMNS.org and click "Meanderings of a Texas Fossil Hunter". You'll have to wade through "superfluous" crabs, ammonites, echinoids and the like to get to the Pleistocene stuff, but I think you'll agree that the majority of what I've found is pretty trashed by the various rivers. Perhaps in my surveys of the Upper Trinity of Tarrant and Dallas Co. I was too low in the Holocene terrace at channel level while the layers you mention are up higher. I got a cool Bison bison skull cap, but the other bones I saw sticking out of the bank were dark brown when wet with no mineralization. The looked mainly like Bison to me or even modern cow for all I know. Unless something is suspected of being old, I chuck it in the field to lighten the load. My best preserved finds tend to come from the banks, but quantity comes from the bars. I've been able to talk my way into numerous Cretaceous quarries along the Balcones fault and beyond in recent years, as a matter of fact I discussed upcoming quarrying operations at an Upper K pit with one of the owners and secured my permission for collecting last night, but for some reason the gravel pits aren't quite as inviting for a layman like me. Post everything you care to as I'm keenly interested in Texas Pleistocene material specifically. Don't feel pressured however to divulge explicit site information on my behalf. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 Daniel... Strangely enough...I stumbled onto the BMNS site with your "Meanderings" a while back and thoroughly enjoyed reading through a good portion of it. You do manage to find quite a lot of material along the banks and bars! Unfortunately, by the time a lot of that material makes it to the sand/gravel bars it has already tumbled out of the bank and been rolled along by the river water until it comes to rest out where you can see it. Some of the gravel pit material is damaged by draglines or broken when it is dumped into the trucks. After going through the large sorters that the pit operators use, most of the larger pieces have become collections of smaller pieces. However, if you can manage to establish a good relationship with the pit operators you can often gain access to areas where the draglines are not currently operating and then you can find some incredible material in situ. I've got a gorgeous Bison bison skull cap from one pit and a magnificent Bison sp.cf. chaneyi horn core from another. The B. chaneyi horn core was attached to a badly freeze-damaged upper skull which could not be saved. Both of those specimens and a number of Mammuthus pieces (including a 40% complete skeleton that I helped to excavate) were found relatively undisturbed in the pits. The old 'dry sort' piles at many of the gravel pits can also be VERY productive, especially for smaller things. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be 100% confident of the actual stratum that those fossils came from, though you can usually make a reasonably accurate deduction. If you're ever going to be up this way, let me know ahead of time and I'll see if I can arrange for us to hit a few of the local gravel pits. Who knows...maybe you'll find your elusive Mammuthus molar! PS...American Mastodon (Mammut) specimens are very uncommon in the D/FW gravel pits. I guess the climate up here wasn't to their liking as much as it was for the mammoth. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I am glad to see the cranial endocasts. Back when we had the "petrified Human Brain" postings, I told a couple of members about the brain cast I have from an oreondont. Found it just NE of Lusk, Wyoming. Picked up a crumbling skull and this piece fell out. Glad I looked at it and noticed what it was. Mine is different than yours and I will post pics soon. Also, Mine is split into the two hemispheres and shows a little bit of the stem area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Great dead stuff!!!! It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitlinAnn Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Fruitbat, I have finally posted a picture of my Fossil Brain in a gallery. See it under N.AL. Hunter's Misc. Fossils. It is from an Oreondont, I believe. Part of the skull fragments are still on it, but if you look closely you can actually see the detail of the underside of the cranial cavity that was filled with blood vessel channels, as least that is the way it looks. I found it at the same locality as the "complete" oreondont skull also pictured. Near Lusk, Wyoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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