Pliocene Fossils Of California

[DardS8Br]

I’d like to see the Pliocene fossils from California that people have 

 

I’ll start off with some fossils I collected from the Purisima formation at Capitola Beach

 

A vertebra with a shell on the back

 

A heavily eroded whale vertebra with some associated (rib?) bones

 

Some cool clam shells

Edited to add: Here’s a clam shell I dug up from the Pinole Tuff formation when I was 7. It was the first fossil I ever found 

Edited August 22, 2022 by DardS8Br

[JohnJ]

@Boesse

[siteseer]

Here's a fossil great white shark tooth collected back in the 1950's before San Diego was as urbanized as it is now.  It was collected on Reynard Way at the intersection with Curlew Street.  The tooth measures 34mm along the longest dimension.

 

Carcharodon carcharias

Pilocene

San Diego Formation

San Diego, San Diego County, California

[DPS Ammonite]

@DardS8Br  Consider getting a free subscription to JSTOR; you can view many journals including the Journal of Paleontology.

 

Here is an interesting article about Pinole Fm vertebrates:

 

Clark, J. M. (1985). Fossil Plethodontid Salamanders from the Latest Miocene of California. Journal of Herpetology, 19(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/1564418

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1564418

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by DPS Ammonite

[RJB]

I walked all the way from Capitola beach almost to the park and found this in a rock. 

[DardS8Br]

13 hours ago, RJB said:

I walked all the way from Capitola beach almost to the park and found this in a rock. 

Holy snarge. I’ve never come close to finding anything this good at capitola. Wow

Edited August 23, 2022 by DardS8Br

[RJB]

9 hours ago, DardS8Br said:

Holy snarge. I’ve never come close to finding anything this good at capitola. Wow

Please understand that this was inside a rock.  I had to prep off all the rock.  The only things I could see were the ends of the lateral processes the the very tip of the neural spine.  If you can find bone inside of rock it is usually pristine.

 

RB  

[Shellseeker]

2 hours ago, RJB said:

Please understand that this was inside a rock.  I had to prep off all the rock.  The only things I could see were the ends of the lateral processes the the very tip of the neural spine.  If you can find bone inside of rock it is usually pristine.

 

RB  

But the talent required , Ron . You are definitely one of the masters in removing bone, shells, ammonites from rock... So few could take it from rock to bone as well as you.

[RJB]

Here are two complete rib bones I found many years ago. 

 

This one was in a huge rock.  Had to chisel it out.  Went back the next day to try and get out a really nice vert but the entire rock was gone!  It was the size of my truck!

 

This one was dug out of a cliff alongside a creek at Scotia Bluffs, south of Eureka California

[siteseer]

Three specimens of the extinct sand dollar species, Dendraster gibbsi (Pliocene, Etchigoin Formation, Kings County, California).  The two on the right represent the average size range of the species (25-40mm in widest diameter) but you can find smaller ones (less than 10mm).  It's the kind of fossil with which you can assemble a growth series in one trip.  The specimen on the left is the largest one I've ever found.  It measures 60mm.

 

Dendraster gibbsi is quite common at some sites in the Kettleman Hills.  You can find them in a variety of colors and some look even better with a simple wash-off and brush-off in water.  Others benefit from a dip in vinegar or weak HCL solution.

[DardS8Br]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:46 AM, RJB said:

Here are two complete rib bones I found many years ago. 

 

This one was in a huge rock.  Had to chisel it out.  Went back the next day to try and get out a really nice vert but the entire rock was gone!  It was the size of my truck!

 

This one was dug out of a cliff alongside a creek at Scotia Bluffs, south of Eureka California

Where’d you find that first rib?

[RJB]

11 hours ago, DardS8Br said:

Where’d you find that first rib?

Oops. that was found on Capitola beach in a huge huge rock back in the early 1990's

[Boesse]

This is not my specimen, but found by local collector Forrest Sheperd when he was 14, around 12 years ago (he's now applying to medical schools, which makes me feel extremely old!). This is a new species of the genus Valenictus, a 'toothless' walrus known only from California and Baja California. The specimen is now fully cleaned up - I managed to remove the rest of the rock using acetic acid baths, which took about 18 months. At my request Forrest donated it to UC Berkeley, and after three years of serious study our paper on the fossil is nearing completion and will be submitted later this fall!

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

Quote

 

I’ll start off with some fossils I collected from the Purisima formation at Capitola Beach

For anyone looking to collect there, please keep in mind Capitola Beach is on state land, and that it is illegal to collect fossils there without permission (I assume you have acquired it, but I am just adding this for anyone looking into the site that doesn't know the laws.)

Pub. Res. Code §5097.5.

(a)No person shall knowingly and willfully excavate upon, or remove, destroy, injure, or deface, any historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, archaeological or vertebrate paleontological site, including fossilized footprints, inscriptions made by human agency, rock art, or any other archaeological, paleontological or historical feature, situated on public lands, except with the express permission of the public agency having jurisdiction over the lands. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

(b)As used in this section, “public lands” means lands owned by, or under the jurisdiction of, the state, or any city, county, district, authority, or public corporation, or any agency thereof.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Thecosmilia Trichitoma

[siteseer]

Here's a cluster of Dendraster ashleyi from the Pliocene Fernando Formation of Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, CA.  @Nimravis once sent a photo of a similar specimen.

Edited August 27, 2022 by siteseer

[DPS Ammonite]

Did these feed in the long end in the vertical position like the fossil sand dollars found just south of San Francisco and the modern ones found in California?

Edited August 27, 2022 by DPS Ammonite

[siteseer]

32 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Did these feed in the long end in the vertical position like the fossil sand dollars found just south of San Francisco and the modern ones found in California?

 

Let Abba help with some spelling:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8bm6XlxuCY

 

 

Yeah, that was a typo.  I type faster than I think sometimes and don't always catch the typos before I reply. 

[MikeR]

Patinopecten healyi (Arnold, 1906). Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

  

[MikeR]

Lyropecten cerrosensis (Gabb, 1866). Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

 

[MikeR]

Pecten (Plagioctenium) subdolus Hartlein, 1925. Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

 

[MikeR]

Pecten (Plagioctenium) callidus Hartlein, 1925. Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

On 8/25/2022 at 2:58 PM, siteseer said:

Three specimens of the extinct sand dollar species, Dendraster gibbsi (Pliocene, Etchigoin Formation, Kings County, California).  The two on the right represent the average size range of the species (25-40mm in widest diameter) but you can find smaller ones (less than 10mm).  It's the kind of fossil with which you can assemble a growth series in one trip.  The specimen on the left is the largest one I've ever found.  It measures 60mm.

 

Dendraster gibbsi is quite common at some sites in the Kettleman Hills.  You can find them in a variety of colors and some look even better with a simple wash-off and brush-off in water.  Others benefit from a dip in vinegar or weak HCL solution.

I did this venue years ago,must have taken 100 perfect ones including doubles and triples cemented together in just a couple hours.

 

[MikeR]

Argopecten abietus abbotti (Hartlein & Grant, 1972). Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

 

[MikeR]

Leopecten stearnsii (Dall, 1878). Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.

 

  

[MikeR]

Euvola bella (Conrad, 1857). Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California.