Playing in the mud

[Shellseeker]

When the Peace River is too deep, I sometimes try land hunting and fortunately I have very good fossil friends who make me smile when I see them AND who have the skills. My son and I got together on New Years day and had a great time sloshing in the mud and making a memory. The mud turns to concrete when it dries on equipment and boots and it took more than a few hours to get cleaned up.

A couple of nice finds , one to try and ID. The 1st is a nice little Meg that I sent on to my grandson in Texas. Liked the Olive drab color in the sunshine. 

 

 

The 2nd is a small dolphin periotic. This is gorgeous, looking at the unworn tiny lines still visible 3-4 mya later.

 

They say that identification of cetaceans from periotics is a "black art"  and I am not the magician.  I get it wrong more often than not.  But I have seen earbones before even from this locality. 

How about an ocean delphinid, maybe a Bottlenose dolphin , Tursiops .sp like this one , somewhat smaller,  4 years ago.  There are always differences but there are a bunch of similarities also.

 

About a year ago , @Boesse stunned me by Identifying this one as possibly Beluga Whale (HERE in Florida  ).  Could not have been more pleased. Note that it is about the same size as my new find.....

 

Life is good,  and we each have a whole new year to make great memories.    Jack

[Boesse]

Nice find @Shellseeker! Your newest periotic is from a beaked whale, Ziphiidae, and I'm willing to bet it's from Mesoplodon, one of the most speciose ziphiids and common in Pliocene deposits worldwide.

[Shellseeker]

9 minutes ago, Boesse said:

Nice find @Shellseeker! Your newest periotic is from a beaked whale, Ziphiidae, and I'm willing to bet it's from Mesoplodon, one of the most speciose ziphiids and common in Pliocene deposits worldwide.

Thank you .. Many ask what I like most,  and these little periotics have moved into contention with my favorite finds

[RJB]

Cool find Jack!

 

RB

[Plantguy]

Awesome periotic Jack! congrats!

 

Regards, Chris 

[hemipristis]

So do you find those ear bones frequently, or just periodically?  

[Shellseeker]

6 hours ago, hemipristis said:

So do you find those ear bones frequently, or just periodically?  

I have accumulated a couple of hundred over the last 10-15 years. Initially the Peace River, with a heavy Pleistocene flavor dominated my attention. I would find them occasionally,  maybe once a month and heavily worn. Starting about 6 years ago,  I actively sought diverse search locations earlier than Pleistocene and those areas produce more and better quality cetacean ear bones. For large whales , more Bulla than periotic,  and the reverse for smaller examples.

Here is one from 2017 when I started to develop an interest.

 

@Boesse has mentioned a number of times that some areas experienced a marine mammal explosion in the Pliocene, and I am hopeful that his new effort on defining these specific fossils will add insights on approximate age of the Cetacean fossils I find in Florida.

 

I noted that many of fossil acquaintances were Meg_driven and unimpressed with these small odd looking rocks. I have encouraged them to direct any such finds to me, sometimes adding a bounty depending on quality or rarity.

[Meganeura]

4 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

I have accumulated a couple of hundred over the last 10-15 years. Initially the Peace River, with a heavy Pleistocene flavor dominated my attention. I would find them occasionally,  maybe once a month and heavily worn. Starting about 6 years ago,  I actively sought diverse search locations earlier than Pleistocene and those areas produce more and better quality cetacean ear bones. For large whales , more Bulla than periotic,  and the reverse for smaller examples.

Here is one from 2017 when I started to develop an interest.

 

@Boesse has mentioned a number of times that some areas experienced a marine mammal explosion in the Pliocene, and I am hopeful that his new effort on defining these specific fossils will add insights on approximate age of the Cetacean fossils I find in Florida.

 

I noted that many of fossil acquaintances were Meg_driven and unimpressed with these small odd looking rocks. I have encouraged them to direct any such finds to me, sometimes adding a bounty depending on quality or rarity.

Ooh you make a bounty for periotics? I mean I've got a whole bunch already... what's the exchange rate these days?

[Shellseeker]

25 minutes ago, Meganeura said:

Ooh you make a bounty for periotics? I mean I've got a whole bunch already... what's the exchange rate these days?

Well,

Daniel , it 's variable.  Maybe 5 years ago,  I started offering $xx a tooth for complete pre_equus horse.  In the 1st year , one hunting companion came up with about 100 of them,  which greatly exceeding my financial resources and ability/desire to acquire more.  I quickly dropped the bounty to $x and raised the quality requirements..

I attempt to acquire horse teeth or periotics at deep discounts  from people who do not value them, It puts me in the supply/ demand market even when I do not purchase them.

Having said that, I was more then happy to add a more significant bounty for this Beluga fossil...   You know.. Top Quality,  extremely rare...

 

[Meganeura]

26 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Well,

Daniel , it 's variable.  Maybe 5 years ago,  I started offering $xx a tooth for complete pre_equus horse.  In the 1st year , one hunting companion came up with about 100 of them,  which greatly exceeding my financial resources and ability/desire to acquire more.  I quickly dropped the bounty to $x and raised the quality requirements..

I attempt to acquire horse teeth or periotics at deep discounts  from people who do not value them, It puts me in the supply/ demand market even when I do not purchase them.

Having said that, I was more then happy to add a more significant bounty for this Beluga fossil...   You know.. Top Quality,  extremely rare...

 

See here I was thinking a fossil-for-fossil trade - I can't value my own fossils, they're worth more to me than money, though I'd certainly be happy to trade for other fossils!

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, Meganeura said:

See here I was thinking a fossil-for-fossil trade - I can't value my own fossils, they're worth more to me than money, though I'd certainly be happy to trade for other fossils!

#1 I always OVER_value high quality fossils that I find. The extra value is mostly encompassed in the memory associated with finding it.

#2 I have a cut line on 20% fossils I keep and fossils I do not keep. I donate,or make into presents for relatives and friends. I do not sell or trade them ,  just give them away.  I keep way too many (see #1 above)

In 15 years, I have traded 1 fossil I valued highly  , and somewhat regretted it ... I could no longer pick up the fossil, and recall the finding as clearly...

 

Different strokes for different folks....

 

 

[Meganeura]

11 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

#1 I always OVER_value high quality fossils that I find. The extra value is mostly encompassed in the memory associated with finding it.

#2 I have a cut line on 20% fossils I keep and fossils I do not keep. I donate,or make into presents for relatives and friends. I do not sell or trade them ,  just give them away.  I keep way too many (see #1 above)

In 15 years, I have traded 1 fossil I valued highly  , and somewhat regretted it ... I could no longer pick up the fossil, and recall the finding as clearly...

 

Different strokes for different folks....

 

 

That's completely fair - I haven't traded fossils yet either, but given how many I keep, there's plenty I'm willing to give away. Though I've lately stopped collecting things that aren't higher quality. Too little space!