Volga in November

[RuMert]

Hi all!

Another report in continuation of the previous ones. This time I had 2 days to visit the site and used them to monitor my preferred 3 km of the shore. It was literally the last days of autumn, so by the end of my stay snow started to slowly cover the place for the 5 upcoming months. The water level was a bit lower than in 2020, but much higher than last year.

 

 

 

 

 

This time 3 boars on the shore: one of them

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by RuMert

[RuMert]

At 1st I was disappointed by scarcity of finds, but the site yields stable results, and I was able to find some bones, ammonites and verts. But not teeth and skulls you imagine when you go there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by RuMert

[RuMert]

 

not sure what it is

 

 

 

 

 

 

neither

 

 

 

 

neither

 

 

 

 

 

 

plesiosaur phalange, a rare find

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by RuMert

[RuMert]

I realized once again I need to concentrate on process - come for at least a week in good weather, relax, calmly visit various spots, enjoy nature. Then finds will also come, and if they aren't so numerous, no problem.

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited November 18, 2022 by RuMert

[historianmichael]

Those ammonites are really pretty! Are they the same as the multi-colored ones? 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Seems you had a pretty decent hunt all the same! I'd have been really happy with a hoard like that! Thanks for sharing!

[Jeffrey P]

Impressive scenery and pics. Those ammonites are exquisite. Thanks for sharing.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Jeffrey P

[Norki]

I'm always eager to read your trip reports. You do a very good job of setting the scene, and the finds are always exquisite. Well done.

[hemipristis]

13 hours ago, RuMert said:

Hi all!

Another report in continuation of the previous ones. This time I had 2 days to visit the site and used them to monitor my preferred 3 km of the shore. It was literally the last days of autumn, so by the end of my stay snow started to slowly cover the place for the 5 upcoming months. The water level was a bit lower than in 2020, but much higher than last year.

 

 

 

 

 

This time 3 boars on the shore: one of them

 

 

Beautiful photos!

[RuMert]

Thank you everybody!

15 hours ago, historianmichael said:

Those ammonites are really pretty! Are they the same as the multi-colored ones? 

Thank you, they are pyritized and similar to those, but lack nacre. True nacreous multi-colored ones like here lack pyrite and shell filling altogether, the shells are empty and fragile

 

7 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

Seems you had a pretty decent hunt all the same! I'd have been really happy with a hoard like that!

Not the worst one, thanks:) But what about those chunks, do you have any thoughts on them, what they could be? More angles above

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by RuMert

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

3 hours ago, RuMert said:

But what about those chunks, do you have any thoughts on them, what they could be?

 

These fragments are so broken up, wheathered and rolled that it's even hard for me to say for sure based on just the photographs whether they are indeed bone. However, if you're certain they are bone, then here are my interpretations of them:

 

20 hours ago, RuMert said:

 

 

To me this looks like the proximal epiphysis of a plesiosaur propodial. See the below images of a specimen from Sandsend, Whitby, for comparison:

 

 

 

Quote

 

For this one not angles make equal sense to me, but looking at the last two photograph, I think this is the distal end of an ichthyosaur propodial (could be plesiosaur, but I think the end of it looks too thick for that). Compare with the below specimens, first Ichthyosaurus cf. communis from Lyme Regis, then Brachypterygius extremis from Abingdon:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

 

For this last element I don't really have an easy explanation, though it may be something along the lines of a (plesiosaur) pelvic element, maybe even something like a plesiosaur ilium. Compare with the images below, as well as the discussions in these threads: 1, 2.

 

 

 

 

For additional comparison, here are figures 2 and 3 from Benson, Zverkov and Arkhangelsky (2015).

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

[RuMert]

On 11/19/2022 at 1:10 PM, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

However, if you're certain they are bone, then here are my interpretations of them:

Thanks a lot

Unfortunately the quality of vertebrate remains from the site leaves much to be desired. Still better than 99% of its ammonites. 

 

The 3rd of those specimens is the least distinguishable IMHO.

The 1st is better, most of it is preserved, though water-worn. Looks like a bone head of some sort, broken where the yellow line goes. Yep, looks like epiphysis, though the creatures there usually grew bigger.

The 2nd one is a narrow dome-like structure, coming up to a certain point.  It can be a strangely worn random chunk, but I guess it's a tip of something, maybe of a jaw or whatever.

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by RuMert