PRK Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) While in Tucson back in the '70s, I happened by a dealer wrapping a collection of split mazon nodules he had sold for a goodly sum. I didn't/dont collect mazon fossils, so all I could make of them were "blobs". I couldnt believe it. I had never seen "blobs" sell for so much! Just goes to show ya, one mans BLOB is another mans treasure. A couple years later, while i was perusing in another building, an older gentleman was unwrapping mazon material he had collected all his life. The nice fellow had fallen on hard times and needed to liquidate. having heard the tucson reputation, he packed up his fossils and drove out west this one and only time. I decided to stop, visit and watch, to see just what it was he had. His material needed no explanations. Having seen "blobs" being sold for such a hefty price, I figgered if I could SEE an identifiable fossil, it must be worthy of mazon. I collect/prepare my own material and never purchase fossils, but he was a really nice guy so I purchased all the nodules I could afford, not many compared to what he had, as he was unwrapping to set up. BY NO MEANS could i afford all he had, I am sure the other fine pieces he had were quickly snapped up by other collectors here are a some I got. TULLY. KELLIBROOKSIA. FERN/DIDONTOGASTER Edited August 17, 2014 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Great story and nice specimens! The shrimp is a real beauty. The species is Kallidecthes richardsoni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Right time, right place! These are high-grade 'legacy' fossils; from the heyday of Mazon Creek. These you don't really own, you are the current caretaker... Congratulations! "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...
Kosmoceras Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Really nice fossils! Your collection is amazing, love you way we can see some more in the background of some in drawers, nice to see. Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Exactly my feelings auspex. Mostly the classic "pit 11". And there are more---anybody? Edited December 19, 2012 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 The fern is Alethopteris serli (most likely from Pit 1) The millipede appears to be a Pleurojulus sp (very nice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Feel free to send me pictures. I would be happy to help out with the identification. Most of the animals from Pit 11 were not described until the 1970s so a lot of the older collectors had little to base their identification on. I believe the millipede is also from Pit One. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hi PRK, those are wonderful! I really enjoyed seeing them. The Mazon Creek flora/fauna continues to amaze! Thanks for the post. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 WOW nice! -CQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I got in on some of the similar Knob Noster, Missouri material while it was available. I thought I might have paid too much at the time, but I'm not so sure now. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Hi PRK, Great fossils! Thanks for posting them, especially the millipede. I love those guys! Those fish nodules are pretty special too. "They ... savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things." -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jose miguel lorente Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Congratulations for your amazing fossils from Illinois,I like a lot your tully,Congratulations for all of them be awsome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 (edited) Missouian, KNOB NOSTER? And darn, I let a few of the beauties get away the other millipede was gorgeous. Ill never see IT again. This one is very plain in comparison. DARN!! i didn't know this material then Edited December 25, 2012 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLB Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 A Tully, Fish , shrimp all I've only dreamed of haveing in this quality I'm shur we all have a round of applause for u. PS u ever come on hard times and need to get rid of some all be interrested I'm just sayin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 The first fish appears to be an aconthodian, the second is a Esconichthys apopyris. The latest shrimp appears to be a Belotelson magister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 wow.. you scored some fantastic Mazon stuff there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 (edited) Not a big deal, I'm 30years past. That was before I was over the hill--- When I look back. I can't even see it from here now. But I remember it like yesterday! Edited December 25, 2012 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I'll be 2nd in line after DLB! I'm a Vancouver Islander, far from Illinois, but I find the Mazon (and any Lagerstatten) fascinating. All beauties for sure. I can understand your thinking back then but they way I look at it, for a soft-bodied creature, even a blob is a remarkable fossil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrguy54 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Beautiful specimens. Very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 My thinking? Wow, that's EXPENSIVE, just for a blob. He was kind to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Well I don't know what you paid, Maybe the jellyfish are the most non-descript blobs and a little more common than the other 'oddities', but I've seen blobs that have been ID'd as something other than the usual Essexella and they are rarer and command higher prices of course. I have a small drawer of Mazon material but no Octomedusas, for example, or 'H' or 'Y' organisms. Still looking.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 (edited) As I said, if i could recognize it I tried to acquire it, and I could tell those indiscript jellies were SOMETHING. The blobs on the other hand were just that-------BLOBS!! Expensive blobs!! As for what I paid, I was a newly married young student. Edited December 26, 2012 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) I hurried away with the pieces he unwrapped first cause I didn't even want to see what all he had that I had to leave with him, im sure someone else got some goodies too. Edited August 17, 2014 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Really fantastic purchase... congratulations http://www.mbfossilcrabs.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 When I resize I loose alot of detail. So ill post a couple ata time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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