Upcoming Prep Project - The Green River Bird

[FossilDAWG]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I know this is a science forum but I have to credit Divine intervention on this one.

That and the fact that you're prepping the Aflac duck.

 

I'm glad things were not any worse, and I hope you heal up quickly.

 

Don

[JohnJ]

Had a similar thing happen on a bicycle waiting at a red light...parts of the experience are surreal. 

 

I'm really glad your injuries are minor, Kris.

 

[jpc]

Glad you are OK.  Did the perp get busted?  

[Ptychodus04]

Thanks All,

 

Got checked out by the paramedics on the scene and I don't have any pains that are unexpected or worsening. Generally speaking, I'm well on the mend. I guess it pays to live right and not abuse my body too badly. 

 

Back to the prep this afternoon!!!

[Ptychodus04]

1 minute ago, jpc said:

Glad you are OK.  Did the perp get busted?  

 

He stopped and rendered aid. He hung around until the paramedics had checked me out and made sure I was ok. He didn't leave until he was told he could. Nice guy and he felt really bad for hitting me.

[jpc]

52 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

He stopped and rendered aid. He hung around until the paramedics had checked me out and made sure I was ok. He didn't leave until he was told he could. Nice guy and he felt really bad for hitting me.

I got doored on my bike once... the guy was also very sorry and even took me to the hospital, a block away.  

 

[digit]

Ouch! It sounds dangerous out there--I'm going to seal myself into my house and play with my fossils.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Randyw]

Glad you came out of it without major owies! Talk about an early Christmas present!

[Maniraptora]

Oh, wow. That’s rough.  Glad you’re okay; and I have to agree that it sounds like Someone wants you here on Earth for a while yet! That’s serious dedication that you’re already back to prepping.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Maniraptora

[Coco]

Oh Kris ! Your bones are stronger than the fish you prepare and that’s a good thing ! Watch the bruises coming on your body and get well.

 

Coco

[fossilhunter21]

Sorry to hear this, Kris.  I am glad that you did not get too hurt, but still, I am sure it is not very fun. 

 

I would say God may have intervened. He intervenes more than we will ever know. 

 

Shalom, 

 

-Micah

[Ptychodus04]

I made a lot of progress on this prep this week. It’s looking like a Coliiform now. There are some morphological differences between this bird and the 2 known Coliiform genera known from the GRF (1 specimen for each). I hope to get access to their descriptions today for comparison. It’s going to come down to measurements to know if this is a holotype or paratype of the known taxa.

 

It turns out that the bird was more cooperative in death than expected. The skull is in fact laterally positioned with the beak nicely positioned. I did have to scribe through some nice feather material to expose the distal end of the beak but not much. The right orbital is exposed and I’m slowly working on the back of the skull. This is complicated by having to glue the skull back together. The this cyanoacrylate I had to use to stabilize the bone soaked all the way through and bonded the matrix to the bone! I’m going to have to do a bunch of needle work to get that off!

 

[hadrosauridae]

Dont forget you can use some micro-targeted acetone to temporarily soften the CA to make it easier to pick off.

[Ptychodus04]

3 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

Dont forget you can use some micro-targeted acetone to temporarily soften the CA to make it easier to pick off.

I did that on the beak. 

[Ptychodus04]

Discovered that my heater is going out when the temp in my lab never got above 20 degrees yesterday! This was not an enjoyable prep session.

 

[digit]

Yikes! Emergency space heater time till that gets fixed more properly. Gotta be hard on the hands when it is that cold. I even have difficulty picking micro-matrix with arthritic hands when it gets nowhere near that chilly. Time to bundle-up and boogie to a big box.

 

Northern Florida expecting the coldest Christmas since 1958--a real test for the tropicals that usually find it tolerable this far north. Gonna be a lot of frost/hard freeze damage.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

[hadrosauridae]

I feel your pain!  I put in a thermo-switched plug connected to heating lamps to keep my prep shop from freezing up.  I also have a small space heater to make it comfortable to work in on cold days.

[Ptychodus04]

Yeah. Cold isn’t usually the problem for me, it’s heat! I have 2 ac units that I run in the summer. Heat is just a space heater. Headed to get a new one this morning. No way I’m doing another minute of prep in that icebox!

[digit]

Yeah. That bird probably originated sometime during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and isn't appreciating the Ice Age weather in your prep area either.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[RJB]

Glad your ok Kris.  Life definitely throws curve balls.  

 

RB

[rocket]

On 12/19/2022 at 3:55 PM, Ptychodus04 said:

 

The moral of the story is never cross the street when you have permission to cross from the signal.  I’m not a small guy but apparently, I’m invisible to people taking a very hot right hand turn.

 

I must say, it really is odd how time dilates and everything seems to happen in slow motion, and then speeds back up when you’re lying on the pavement after flying onto the hood of a car. 

 

 

, hope you can forget this... many years ago I had luck, stopped at a green lamp (do not know, why, was allowed to walk but did not do) and a car passed with 50 km/h or more. 2 seconds later I would not have been able to take part at TFF... Since this day I always look to the left and the right before crossing a street. I am always a bit more afraid and careful since this day...

about the prep: wow, not a Bat, a bird. cool!

Edited December 24, 2022 by rocket

[rocket]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:12 PM, Ptychodus04 said:

Discovered that my heater is going out when the temp in my lab never got above 20 degrees yesterday! This was not an enjoyable prep session.

 

 

what´s about the acutal temperature? Heard on the radio that the US is freezing right now...., snow and 50° C below zero..... Hope everyone is fine, the heater works and everbody has enough to eat and to drink at home. And some fossils for prep 

Edited December 24, 2022 by rocket

[Ptychodus04]

21 minutes ago, rocket said:

 

what´s about the acutal temperature? Heard in the radio that the US is freezing right now...., snow and 50° C below zero..... Hope everyone is fine, heater works and has enough to eat and to drink at home. And some fossils for prep 

It is definitely cold here. It’s starting to warm back up a little. Thursday night was the coldest. 
 

The new heater in the lab works well so, yesterday’s prepping was much more comfortable!

[FossilNerd]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:37 AM, Ptychodus04 said:

Yeah. Cold isn’t usually the problem for me, it’s heat! I have 2 ac units that I run in the summer. Heat is just a space heater. Headed to get a new one this morning. No way I’m doing another minute of prep in that icebox!

Cold is my kryptonite as well. I don’t mind sweating a bit, but I hate to shiver!

 

Glad you found a better heater.

 

Interesting prep. Can’t wait to see the final results.  

[Ptychodus04]

The further along in the prep I get, and the more papers I look at. the more I'm leaning towards Coliiform. It compares very favorably to Anneavis anneae, Long toes, largish talons, short tarsometatarsus, and a distinctly bowed Metacarpal 1 in the carpometacarpus. A. anneae is known from one specimen and the head is missing but this bird's head looks a lot like the only other Coliiform bird from the GRF, Celericolius acriala.

 

If it is A. anneae, that's pretty exciting (not as much as a holotype) as it would be the first paratype for the species.