kauffy Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Hey Auspex, considering you are this forums local bird man i was wondering if you have any ideas about this bird beak of mine.... found in fissure material in marion co FL. Late Pleistocene.... Im hoping you have some idea! http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?au...si&img=1941 Regards Chris "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Hi Kauffy, Don't think for a minute that I haven't been all over your gallery image, trying to figure it out! Do you have any other views of it? Good close-ups of the underside, side, and Prox. end might help me get a sense of the size & shape of the full thing. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 haha just keeping you on your toes! i will get some other angles for you...im really interested in this little thing! thanks "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Hey Kauffy. You sure do mess with some small stuff. Id have problems seeing that with my eyes without my glasses! Nice find though. You certainly dont see too many fossil bird beaks lying around. Maybe I should start looking for smaller stuff, this big stuff is killing my back! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 Hey RJB, parents were away and i was busy with school work... but im back now! I havent forgotten about this post either Auspex... My camera isnt working but as soon as it is I will post some pics of the underside. "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I havent forgotten about this post either Auspex... My camera isnt working but as soon as it is I will post some pics of the underside. Who needs a camera? Just mail it to me.... BTW, what do you know about Dromornis stirtoni fossils? Are bones from this critter rare, incredibly rare, or fugedaboutit? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 I see you have been doing some research into the Aussie MegaFauna! Dromornis stirtoni or "Thunder Bird" as its been named is actually quite common in the pliestocene deposits around Mount Isa...Riversleigh....I know there bones can be seen in a lot of the formations....but mostly fragments showing the 'honeycomb' structure. I have been doing lots of research on these sites trying to figure out if I can go collect, so far no conclusive evidence on the matter....and at the moment the location is way to far for me to go... perhaps when i get my lisence next year and have saved 10000000000$$ for petrol money i may take the 1000km drive into the middle of nowhere to find some fossils! As for the rarity...in terms of the deposits i would say common (But then again the deposits are quite small and most are protected now), in terms of getting someone who has one for sale would be nearly impossible and then theres the added effort of getting the bones approved by the museum for export (which isnt hard but time consuming) Theres a lot of Info on the internet (Im sure youve already searched this all tho Interesting you brought this up...i was just reading a book on Riversleigh (Great book) if you want i can give you the author name ect...if your interested its got some amazing stuff and im sure you could find a copy on the internet somewhere. "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Tell you what; one of these years I'll find my way to your continent, and we'll go dig our own Thunder Birds! As for the book, I'd love to have the title & author so I can try to track it down. Thanks Mate! BTW: I found a seller who has an incomplete D. stirtoni toe bone for sale for 120 Euros. I'm actually thinking about it. He also has a partial humerus from a giant penguin that he says is Pachydyptes sp.; the problem with that is that Pachydyptes is a mono-specific genus from the late Eocene of New Zealand, and this bone supposidly came from the Pliocene (Maretimo Clay) in Victoria, Australia. For 140 Euros, i want better provenance than that! Also, did you know that SAPE (Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution) is having their quadrennial meeting in Sydney this August? Wish I coulda'! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 Tell you what; one of these years I'll find my way to your continent, and we'll go dig our own Thunder Birds!As for the book, I'd love to have the title & author so I can try to track it down. Thanks Mate! BTW: I found a seller who has an incomplete D. stirtoni toe bone for sale for 120 Euros. I'm actually thinking about it. He also has a partial humerus from a giant penguin that he says is Pachydyptes sp.; the problem with that is that Pachydyptes is a mono-specific genus from the late Eocene of New Zealand, and this bone supposidly came from the Pliocene (Maretimo Clay) in Victoria, Australia. For 140 Euros, i want better provenance than that! Also, did you know that SAPE (Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution) is having their quadrennial meeting in Sydney this August? Wish I coulda'! No i didnt know that the SAPE was being held! do you have any more information on where? is it public? i would love to go and see whats happenin'! That D. Stirtoni toe would make a nice addition to any collection! although it is a bit pricey i would question the penquin fossil too...although that would be a wicked fossil to have! I tried to get a pic of the underside...but the camera isnt that great at taking pics at small things...heres my best effort, there is a definative groove in the middle and at the "head side" of the beak there is two perfect nostral holes...bugger i cant get that in a pic for you, i will give it a go with my hand lens and the camera and see what i can do! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-EJ Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Sorry... looks like a chicken beak to me... but what do I know. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 That pic helps...some; I'm getting a better 3-D image in my mind's eye. So far, by extrapolating size & shape from what I think I see, it's a passerine (and not a tiny one). Here comes the big stretch: maybe a good sized flycatcher. There's just something about how quickly it seems to broaden, relative to it's depth (top-bottom). The SAPE will be held at the Australian Museum, Sydney, on 18-22 August 2008. Here's a link to their site: http://www2.nrm.se/ve/birds/sape/sape001.html.en "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 whoops i just looked at the picture in my gallery compared to the actual fossil...it is not quite that large! its about 6-7mm not 1cm! does this help a little in making it a bit clearer in your head!? sorry about that. Thanks for the suggestions on the type tho, it sure is interesting! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 oh i will do some research on any pleistocene birds that come under the names you have described...maybe even email the museum of Florida and see what they have to say?> "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 ...its about 6-7mm not 1cm Even better for Flycatcher (but that's still a fairly wild guess). I would expect the subocine passerines to be well represented in the FL late Pleistocene. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 Even better for Flycatcher (but that's still a fairly wild guess). I would expect the subocine passerines to be well represented in the FL late Pleistocene. hmm i have been ding a lot of research on the web for any Pleistocene bird fauna and more specifically passerines and flycatchers....there isnt much! although i have been reviewing some of the different american flycatchers in my book and i think you may be right about it being some sort of fly catcher... its a far of stretch but its a start! thanks for your help! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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