fossilcrazy Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 After 6 hours of splitting cannel coal and emptying one of my 8 barrels; I found a fish to make it all worthwhile. I couldn't have asked for a better looking specimen except for wanting a tail on it. Oh, for just an inch and a half more coal. This Rhabdoderma elegans comes from Pennsylvanian age coal formed by plant spores. Dug from Eastern Ohio, it comes from a defunct Pre-Civil War coal mine dump. As usual, the Linton fossil is hard to photograph; but in the bright sun light it just glistens with exquisite detail right down to patterns on the scale surfaces. The positive side shows distinctive scales on the Coelacanth, the negative side shows loose scales as light blotches. The diagnostic tail is sadly missing, about this much. This is how much coal I split to date. Seven 55 gal barrels left to do. Splitting coal can be so boring right up to the point of jumping for joy on a nice discovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 That's beautiful. Great detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Wow! That gives a whole new meaning to "fish in a barrel". Am I correct in assuming from your earlier post that the site is no longer accessible, and your 8 barrels were a salvage effort? Glad it's paying off. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 Wow! That gives a whole new meaning to "fish in a barrel". Am I correct in assuming from your earlier post that the site is no longer accessible, and your 8 barrels were a salvage effort? Glad it's paying off. Don FossilDAWG, You made me laugh and blow drink on my keyboard. "fish in a barrel" be that Splitting (Shooting)! You are right, the barrels were a salvage effort of 2 years ago. I am really hoping for a rare Reptile. Fish and Amphibians are fairly common in Linton coal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Beautiful find! Good luck with the rest of your raw material, with seven barrels ( ) you sure have a good chance. "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...
Auspex Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 OK, I've caught my breath.... You have what I would consider two 'finds of a lifetime' in as many months...please be careful crossing the street! "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...
fossilselachian Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 (edited) It's been many years since I visited the Linton site. At that time anyone could easily access the site.More than a decade ago, Ohio History published an article on the Linton site. It's actually a somewhat famous site with fossils from the area in museums in the US as well as Europe. The paleontologist Robert Hook studied and published on tetrapods from Linton. It was Bob who first put me onto the location which is about 50 miles from here. The last I heard (reasonably reliable) the site had been purchased by a company who proposed building a coal to gasoline plant on this site. To date, no construction has taken place. Reportedly, the company prohibits access to the property. If anyone has more up to date or contrary info, I would appreciate any such info. BTW: beautiful fish h Edited August 10, 2013 by fossilselachian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Another beauty indeed! Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonodog12 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Wow, Nice find! Kellon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Gorgeous! Absolutely stunning! Congratulations on another amazing coelacanth! Thanks for posting this. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 wow that is an amazing fish! very jealous! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakoMeCrazy Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Wow! Really nice finds. Very lucky. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Fossilcrazy That's a beautiful fish. Well done and thanks for showing. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) What a terrific location and just jaw-dropping finds from both posts! Great photos too! You already had me thinking with your last post. Now the barrels make even more sense! I was entrigued enough to look at Hook and Baird's Ohio Journal of science's article from 1988 which mentions "plethoric" numbers of coelacanths from the site. Plethora and coelacanths just don’t seem like two words that go together but you are certainly helping to reinforce that statement. It went on to say at least 40 different vertebrate and 10 invertebrate taxa overall. "Spirorbid worms, crustaceans (primarily syncarids and conchostracans), and fishes (coelacanths, haplolepid palaeoniscoids, and xenacanth sharks) are the most abundant fossils in the deposit; small aquatic amphibians (including nectridean, temnospondyl, and aistopod species) are also common. Other arthropod and tetrapod taxa are exceedingly rare and possess obvious adaptations for terrestrial existence." The cannel coal (a type of bituminous coal) there was deposited in a meandering river/oxbow that was cutoff at some point. 15 meters of it--a freshwater deposit....no brackish infill/species. According to the article post mortem transport was apparently down not lateral! Thanks for showing us this incredible stuff! Regards, Chris Edited August 10, 2013 by Plantguy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Congrats on an amazing find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t-tree Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Great find ...the most i've found splitting coal shale is a small cluster of fish scales but i'm hoping one day! John Be happy while you're living for you're a long time dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) I wanted to include one photo that can capture the fingerprint pattern on the scales. On all black coal, only reflective surfaces show detail. Click on photo once then after it loads, click on it again. A lot of detail. Enjoy. Edited August 10, 2013 by fossilcrazy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Wow, fish maybe more common in that material but that is one heck of a coelacanth Awestome find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I can see the pattern, especially the areas toward the left in the picture when so enlarged: great image, and thanks for calling attention to the subtleties! "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...
fossilcrazy Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) Still on the hunt for my Linton Tetrapod. What I found today on a very small block was the tail of an Amphibian; probably Ptyonius. The vertebrae have the appearance of brushes on the ends. Some skin detail is present in the Cloaca area. The tail disconnected from behind the rear legs and is most of the tail. The last third is missing to the very tip. Close but no Terrestrial; not today anyway. Here is what the Amphibian is thought to look like. Edited August 10, 2013 by fossilcrazy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Still on the hunt for my Linton Tetrapod. What I found today on a very small block was the tail of an Amphibian; probably Ptyonius. The vertebrae have the appearance of brushes on the ends. Some skin detail is present in the Cloaca area. The tail disconnected from behind the rear legs and is most of the tail. The last third is missing to the very tip. Close but no Terrestrial; not today anyway. IMG_1195.JPG IMG_1196.JPG So instead just some "extra-terrestrial" material so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 So instead just some "extra-terrestrial" material so far Yes Russ, it's EXTRA Terrestial. The coal represents a cut off river with fresh water swimmers present. Land dwellers would be the odd man out. There are "Jesus" lizards now that run across water. Maybe there were some lizards that mistakenly thought they could walk on water. I'm looking for some of those that might have fossilized in the coal forming stream bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Still on the hunt for my Linton Tetrapod. What I found today on a very small block was the tail of an Amphibian; probably Ptyonius. The vertebrae have the appearance of brushes on the ends. Some skin detail is present in the Cloaca area. The tail disconnected from behind the rear legs and is most of the tail. The last third is missing to the very tip. Close but no Terrestrial; not today anyway. IMG_1195.JPG IMG_1196.JPG Here is what the Amphibian is thought to look like. Ptyonius.png Super Wow! Between the coelacanth scale detail, and the amphibian tail I don't know which one you should put in for FoTM. Maybe both! Thanks for posting your finds - I am really enjoying learing about the Linton site. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Come on! That amphibian tail is gorgeous and incredibly detailed! Hmmm ... Linton isn't far from here ... how much coal do you think I could split before morning. "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...
fossilcrazy Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Yesterday good luck struck again with yet another Linton fish. This one is a common species, but I found a big well preserved one. My newest fish appears to be a Haplolepis ovoidea. He is now one of my biggest and well preserved whole Haplolepis I've got. Measures 65mm on an arc 19mm wide. Very nice shiny scale detail head to tail. If any one wants to read more about these little fish use this link. find View/Open The PDF download is a big file 37.95 Mb http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/388 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now