Fossil penguin or bird?

[Leon Meads]

I was cracking open concreations and found this inside it. It's looks like some sort of bone to me. It is super fragile and the bone that split is hollow. Found in Taranaki from miocene era.

 

 

[Paleoworld-101]

Yes, this looks avian. Careful air scribe preparation from here on out is the way to go, to prevent further damage. If you're not able to do this yourself, i suggest you get in touch with someone who can.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Paleoworld-101

[Leon Meads]

4 minutes ago, Paleoworld-101 said:

Yes, this looks avian. Careful air scribe preparation from here on out is the way to go, to prevent further damage. If you're not able to do this yourself, i suggest you get in touch with someone who can.

I have also contacted tepapa for identification but the specialist Alan is away until March. I have air scribes but I do not want to start yet because it could be of scientific importance.

[Mahnmut]

Hello Leon Meads,

that bird has waited a long time, it can wait till march.

This may be long weeks for you, but your thought to have an expert look at it before further working on it is a wise one.

So often people come to this forum convinced they have found velociraptor triplets from the pleistocene, and the first thing they do is throwing them in acid or prepping them with a dremel, its lucky that most of these are not real fossils.

You definitely have a fine fossil there and patience will show if its even an important one.

I would also avoid putting the two halves apart and together to often, as this could blunt the break that can be put together neatly for prepartion when its fresh, just keep them apart, then you can look at them easily.

Curious to see where this goes. Could be a canddatefor vertebrate fossil of the month if you care?

Best Regards,

J

[Doctor Mud]

I’d definitely say bird on this one. Knowing the preservation from this area.
 

Thin walled hollow bones point to a flying bird and not a penguin. Penguin bones are denser with thicker walls for diving.

 

Nice find! Most bird fossils I find in my area are penguins. 

 

It’s hard to say which bones you have there. Some long bones, but are they from the leg or wing? Or both? Often hard to tell before prep and without the specimen in hand.
 

with some imagination I thought a couple maybe a femur and tibiotarsus, but I’m not sure. 

 

Only prep will tell. 
 

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Doctor Mud

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

I'll go ahead and tag @mamlambo for some preparation advise. He's recently done amazing work on a penguin - using a combination of air scribe and acid work - so he may have some insights to share with you. In any case, I expect the concretion to be much harder than the bones themselves, so this could be a tricky prep.

 

I too would refrain from putting the two halves together and breaking them apart too frequently, however would rather carefully put them back together and wrap them up in some plastic foil, maybe some duct tape, something like that, to ensure that the pieces can't shift, nor will crumble from exposure to the outside world (i.e., someone accidentally touching the bones, dust collecting on them and needing to be swept off to the detriment of the bone, etc.). If you go this way, take clear and detailed (as well as overview) photographs first, so that the find can be studied without opening up the nodule again.

 

Astounding find in any case!

Edited February 5, 2023 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

[rocket]

great find, Bird. Hard to prep, did one from a concretion (other place) many years ago. Good when a professionel preparator will do it.

I am curious about the result. Do you have all the pieces of the concretion? Looks like ther is more inside than "only" long bones

[Leon Meads]

Alan from Tepapa got back to me today and said that it is a bird but he is unable to identify the species. I inquired him about getting it professionally prepped at the museum as I don't want to wreck it. He said that birds from the area I collect it are very rare so I'll let the pros do it.

[mamlambo]

3 hours ago, Leon Meads said:

Alan from Tepapa got back to me today and said that it is a bird but he is unable to identify the species. I inquired him about getting it professionally prepped at the museum as I don't want to wreck it. He said that birds from the area I collect it are very rare so I'll let the pros do it.

Such a great find @Leon Meads! It sure looks birdy and probably quite a challenging prep, awesome to hear that you have been in touch with the museum already.

Can't wait to see what it ends up being!

[Doctor Mud]

On 2/6/2023 at 11:30 AM, Leon Meads said:

Alan from Tepapa got back to me today and said that it is a bird but he is unable to identify the species. I inquired him about getting it professionally prepped at the museum as I don't want to wreck it. He said that birds from the area I collect it are very rare so I'll let the pros do it.

Great outcome! I’d be scared of prepping that one too! I think it would challenge even seasoned fossil preppers. Such thin walled bones. Not sure if they have done acid prep on the Taranaki material but no reason for it not to work if the rock is carbonate rich.

 

 

[Dave pom Allen]

the reason that the fossil is broken and the way it is. is that you dont have the knowledge of the way to collect and preserve important fossils, using a claw hammer is definatly not the way and looking at what you have ,it will be very difficult to prep and do anything with 

alan doesnt have any idea when it comes to prepering fossils hes not a preperer . good luck

[Gareth_]

What an awesome find! Congratulations