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Eocene birds from the UK: one man's extraordinary collection


TqB

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Amazing story, and proof of what amateur/avocational paleontologists/collectors can bring to the table.

 

Thanks for posting this, Tarquin!  @TqB

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Indeed. Sounds like a truly obsessed amateur palaeontologist (using the British spelling here ;)) who was able to amass an impressive collection over his lifetime. Glad to see he was working with the professionals and that he had selected an institution for his collection to be permanently stored. With so much new material available to researchers I suspect he will end up with some honorary species (and possibly genera or even families) named after him.

 

Always heartwarming to see avocational fossil hunters help expand the envelope of scientific knowledge (sometimes by a great stretch).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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Just an amazing example of the contribution that dedicated amateurs can make to the field.  It's an unfortunate reality of paleontology today that professionals have little time to be able to devote to field collection.  There is a big gap that we can help to fill. 

 

Don

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He must have been a happy man!

It's a  pity he has not experienced the final step of his collection. At least, he made the arrangement with the museum "just in time".

Franz Bernhard

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I suspect there will be some honorific taxa named after him. While this honor would be posthumous, I'm sure his family will be proud. Sounds like the kind of guy who wasn't doing it for the glory anyway and instead collecting these bird fossils was a passion which was reward enough for him.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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