July 16th and 17th - Peace River Tributary Trip

[Meganeura]

So finally getting around to doing this trip report now that I’ve got some ID’s in. Combining yesterday as well, since yesterday was kinda-sorta a dud, but not wholly. Went out to one of Peace River’s tributaries not expecting much beyond some orange teeth, and walked away with a ridiculous amount of cool finds.

 

So to start off! My first ever River Meg! I say first ever as it’s my first that’s more than 75% complete - enough to be considered a tooth over a fragment. It’s most likely a posterior tooth, given the cusp and size!

Next up is my first ever Tapir tooth - I believe it’s half the crown.

 

Then my first and second ever Rhino teeth:

 

Followed by what I believe is a fossilized bobcat premolar:

 

Then my first and second ever thresher shark teeth:

 

Then a symphyseal (Or pathological?) Lemon Shark tooth:

 

And a symphyseal Hemipristis Serra:

 

A partial horse tooth I’m pretty sure I broke into 3:

 

A shark vert:

 

A cetacean vert (Just the centrum):

 

And this large burrfish/parrot fish mouth plate:

 

Plus a whole bunch of other teeth I found.

 

I will leave you all with this beautiful picture of the creek I took!

[Nimravis]

Wow- you have a whole selection of great finds. Have you been collecting any more micro matrix? Can’t wait to see what you find next.

[Meganeura]

6 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

Wow- you have a whole selection of great finds. Have you been collecting any more micro matrix? Can’t wait to see what you find next.

I have actually! I found a lot of tiny teeth this trip - i'll take pics when i sort through the teeth!

[digit]

Nice! Looks like you are getting into the good stuff.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Meganeura]

38 minutes ago, digit said:

Nice! Looks like you are getting into the good stuff.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Finally, yeah! Though considering how much of my spot I dug up, I'm probably going to have to find a new one next time I go... lol.

[Agatized Deinonychus]

Love the details and color on that Meg. And the tapir and rhino are super cool (and related).

 

I can't wait until I can get to Central/South Florida without having to take kids to Disneyworld. I would love to hunt in some of those creeks! Every time we go to Disney, I try to sneak away to do some scouting of creeks or drive down to the Treasure Coast, but it never happens.  I'm miserably stuck in long lines for hours in 90+ degree heat.

 

I do wish the Peace didn't produce so many pitch black pieces, but it looks like from your posts you've found some good spots with really nice colors.

 

I love Florida fossils. Until I get out there, I'll just have to keep reading all of our Florida posters and watch PaleoCris tear it up.

 

Good day, Meganeura!

 

(Peace is still amazing! Incredible diversity of fossils in large numbers. I've heard you can lighten up some of the really dark fossils from the Peace)

[Meganeura]

5 hours ago, Agatized Deinonychus said:

Love the details and color on that Meg. And the tapir and rhino are super cool (and related).

 

I can't wait until I can get to Central/South Florida without having to take kids to Disneyworld. I would love to hunt in some of those creeks! Every time we go to Disney, I try to sneak away to do some scouting of creeks or drive down to the Treasure Coast, but it never happens.  I'm miserably stuck in long lines for hours in 90+ degree heat.

 

I do wish the Peace didn't produce so many pitch black pieces, but it looks like from your posts you've found some good spots with really nice colors.

 

I love Florida fossils. Until I get out there, I'll just have to keep reading all of our Florida posters and watch PaleoCris tear it up.

 

Good day, Meganeura!

 

(Peace is still amazing! Incredible diversity of fossils in large numbers. I've heard you can lighten up some of the really dark fossils from the Peace)

It really made for a great first Meg!

 

I got really lucky with this spot, honestly. I dug so many pits in it though, I’m gonna have to wait till it’s filled back over so there’s new stuff!

 

If you ever need a hunting buddy when you do make it up here, let me know!

 

Ive never heard about being able to lighten peace River fossils though, that’s neat, what’s the process? I’ve definitely found some lighter teeth in the peace as well, but most of it is definitely black.

[digit]

6 hours ago, Agatized Deinonychus said:

I've heard you can lighten up some of the really dark fossils from the Peace

News to me. Some will lighten a shade from their wet coloration when they dry out but I've never heard about any way to "bleach" them lighter as the coloration is due to absorption of phosphate.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Agatized Deinonychus]

18 hours ago, Meganeura said:

It really made for a great first Meg!

 

I got really lucky with this spot, honestly. I dug so many pits in it though, I’m gonna have to wait till it’s filled back over so there’s new stuff!

 

If you ever need a hunting buddy when you do make it up here, let me know!

 

Ive never heard about being able to lighten peace River fossils though, that’s neat, what’s the process? I’ve definitely found some lighter teeth in the peace as well, but most of it is definitely black.

Hard work pays off! I'm glad you're having success. If you ever buy display cases or holding containers, let us see them. I would love to see more posters show us their display/protector setup so I can get some ideas.

 

I definitely will let you know. That would be a fun trip.

 

I could be misremembering the details on the lightening process. I thought I read something on here or somewhere else but it's been probably close to 10  years ago. I may have it mixed up with something else because I can't find it now.

[Meganeura]

5 hours ago, Agatized Deinonychus said:

Hard work pays off! I'm glad you're having success. If you ever buy display cases or holding containers, let us see them. I would love to see more posters show us their display/protector setup so I can get some ideas.

 

I definitely will let you know. That would be a fun trip.

 

I could be misremembering the details on the lightening process. I thought I read something on here or somewhere else but it's been probably close to 10  years ago. I may have it mixed up with something else because I can't find it now.

Oh I currently do have 2 small display boxes.- one is in the background photo on my profile, though that l’s also not updated. I’ve also got a small shelf with my bigger fossils on it. But I do plan on buying an actual display case to store and display things in!

[Shellseeker]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:27 AM, digit said:

News to me. Some will lighten a shade from their wet coloration when they dry out but I've never heard about any way to "bleach" them lighter as the coloration is due to absorption of phosphate.

Cheers.

-Ken

 

I have heard of various lightening techniques..

I have been amazed by transformation in color,  merely by leaving Megs and other fossils out in the sunshine. It is inconsistent and I am unsure why. 

I know that light bleach solution (25 %) will change the color of shark teeth taken from Bone Valley.

 

@Meganeura

 

Daniel, Do you EVER find broken teeth, bones, fragments , etc etc... Me ?  I find them all the time, They make up 60-70 % of what I pick out of the sieve.  How about you?

EXPERIMENT !!!!  What can you lose... fossils you should and will throw away eventually.

Dump broken teeth, bones, fragments in bright sunshine.  tell us what happens after a week or two..

Dip broken teeth, bones, fragments in corrosive solution. Gradually increase the amount of time and strength of solution.   tell us what happens after a week or two..

 

You look like you may be in this for the long haul. In the situations where it is easy to get an answer, why not learn by doing?

 

[Meganeura]

1 minute ago, Shellseeker said:

 

I have heard of various lightening techniques..

I have been amazed by transformation in color,  merely by leaving Megs and other fossils out in the sunshine. It is inconsistent and I am unsure why. 

I know that light bleach solution (25 %) will change the color of shark teeth taken from Bone Valley.

 

@Meganeura

 

Daniel, Do you EVER find broken teeth, bones, fragments , etc etc... Me ?  I find them all the time, They make up 60-70 % of what I pick out of the sieve.  How about you?

EXPERIMENT !!!!  What can you lose... fossils you should and will throw away eventually.

Dump broken teeth, bones, fragments in bright sunshine.  tell us what happens after a week or two..

Dip broken teeth, bones, fragments in corrosive solution. Gradually increase the amount of time and strength of solution.   tell us what happens after a week or two..

 

You look like you may be in this for the long haul. In the situations where it is easy to get an answer, why not learn by doing?

 

Oh so you do still pick up broken bits! That's good to know. I absolutely do, though lately I've resorted to only picking out nicer things due to running out of room! But this gives me a great reason to keep picking up things. Probably see if I can turn my broken teeth and what not into gravel for a vase or something. 

But you make a great point, I'll get on doing something like that. It would make a pretty great post as well I'm sure!

[digit]

36 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

I have heard of various lightening techniques..

I have been amazed by transformation in color,  merely by leaving Megs and other fossils out in the sunshine. It is inconsistent and I am unsure why. 

I've seen teeth lighten as they dry out but I've never left mine in the sun to see if the UV would bleach them lighter. Would be an interesting experiment to pair up some teeth of the same colors at the start and expose one half of the batch to strong sunlight in the summer. An even more illustrative experiment might be to take a larger fossil and wrap one half of it in several layers of some opaque tape (like some ever useful duct tape) and after a few weeks remove the tape to see if there is a notable difference between the two sides. Never considered doing this before bit it might be an educational experiment.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Meganeura]

1 minute ago, digit said:

I've seen teeth lighten as they dry out but I've never left mine in the sun to see if the UV would bleach them lighter. Would be an interesting experiment to pair up some teeth of the same colors at the start and expose one half of the batch to strong sunlight in the summer. An even more illustrative experiment might be to take a larger fossil and wrap one half of it in several layers of some opaque tape (like some ever useful duct tape) and after a few weeks remove the tape to see if there is a notable difference between the two sides. Never considered doing this before bit it might be an educational experiment.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Duct Tape was definitely going to be what I was thinking! Testing out roots versus enamel for teeth for example.

[JohnJ]

39 minutes ago, Meganeura said:

Duct Tape was definitely going to be what I was thinking! Testing out roots versus enamel for teeth for example.

Duct tape over aluminum foil. 

[digit]

7 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Duct tape over aluminum foil. 

That should definitely do the trick.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[JohnJ]

Just now, digit said:

That should definitely do the trick.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Keeps the tape adhesive from making a mess and chemically reacting with the bone.