Auspex Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 We've got a growing collection of Atlantic coastal plain Paleogene & Neogene marine vertebrates here at College of Charleston, and a high likelihood of the fossils being studied AND going on display. I like the idea of giving them to a "hungry" young researcher, where they will get the attention they deserve. "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...
jpc Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 I like the idea of giving them to a "hungry" young researcher, where they will get the attention they deserve. I do too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Marco Sr., Well, that is weird. No one wanted to take a look at some Early Eocene bird bones? You could try contacting Dr. David W. Steadman at the University of Florida. Jess We've got a growing collection of Atlantic coastal plain Paleogene & Neogene marine vertebrates here at College of Charleston, and a high likelihood of the fossils being studied AND going on display. I like the idea of giving them to a "hungry" young researcher, where they will get the attention they deserve. I do too. Thank you all for your suggestions. It looks like I have some good options to explore. Marco sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 If You are wanting to donate them anyway, I suggest You go with the college of Charleston. It sounds like they would at least make a study of them. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 If You are wanting to donate them anyway, I suggest You go with the college of Charleston. It sounds like they would at least make a study of them. Tony Tony I believe that rare fossils should be in a museum close to where they were found, so local collectors have the opportunity to see local rare fossils from local faunas in their local museums. So my very strong preference has been to donate these bird bones to a museum in the DC/MD/VA area which is close to where they were found in Virginia. I had a strong preference for the Smithsonian because they already have a small collection of bird bones from the site. Keeping the bird bones together makes them more easily accessible to a researcher who wants to study the site fauna or a particular narrow time period without having to go up and down the east coast to many museums to look at them. I will retry two local museums again to see if there is any new interest because I hadn't checked in the two years that the bones were at the Smithsonian. If not, then I will donate them to a museum where I think they have a better chance of being studied. I have donated other rare items to different museums with the thought that a particular researcher had a lot of interest in them and would at least examine them. I was wrong every time except twice. But I'm getting to an age that I want the rarer items in my collection preserved for the future. If my sons were interested in studying them, I would leave the research and writing to them. However, most of what I have is not in their main areas of interest. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Marco, you may consider working out an arrangement to donate them to the Smithsonian, but facilitate their loan to an active researcher. The Smithsonian accession numbers and bones would then be available to the researcher to proceed with any descriptions or article. Once the project is complete, the bones would go back where you want them to be. I've been involved in a few projects with this arrangement. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Very surprising since Olson conclusion in his paper of Eocene birds from this site states "would be well worth working for additional fossils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Marco, you may consider working out an arrangement to donate them to the Smithsonian, but facilitate their loan to an active researcher. The Smithsonian accession numbers and bones would then be available to the researcher to proceed with any descriptions or article. Once the project is complete, the bones would go back where you want them to be. I've been involved in a few projects with this arrangement. At a smaller university-based museum, the specimens might be more accessible to the public. 2 "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...
MarcoSr Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Marco, you may consider working out an arrangement to donate them to the Smithsonian, but facilitate their loan to an active researcher. The Smithsonian accession numbers and bones would then be available to the researcher to proceed with any descriptions or article. Once the project is complete, the bones would go back where you want them to be. I've been involved in a few projects with this arrangement. When I contact the researchers, I'll ask if they would be OK with that type of an arrangement. That would definitely work best for me. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Very surprising since Olson conclusion in his paper of Eocene birds from this site states "would be well worth working for additional fossils." Storrs Olson was really excited about the bird bones. I sent them to the Smithsonian in the first place because I thought he would look at them. He had wanted to look at them and relook at the others in the Smithsonian collection from the site. I won't go into all the reasons why that didn't happen. Storrs then had a few specific researchers in mind who he was comfortable with doing the research. He contacted one who agreed to do the research but then was unable to. That happened also with a second researcher. Both of these researchers were from outside the US. I originally sent the bones on loan. I told Storrs I would gladly donate anything of scientific interest. I was never sent papers for donation which I would have signed. After two years with no one else committed or even interested in looking at the bones, I asked that they be returned to me which the Smithsonian did. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 At a smaller university-based museum, the specimens might be more accessible to the public. Chas That is a good point. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Well my bird bones finally have a good home. They are now at the Senkenburg Museum in Frankfurt Germany with Dr. Gerald Mayr, the world expert on birds of this age. This was his first observation: "....... This is a very interesting collection, and I could already identify a small owl, a swift-like bird, and a basal parrot-like bird. A number of other bones are amphibian/reptilian. " So a few bones in this post may not have been bird. Dr. Mayr later stated: "We have a specialist for early Eocene reptilians here and I will try to show him the bones I consider to being non-avian." So I am very happy now. I had wanted to keep the bones close to where they were found. However, I decided it was probably much better scientifically to send the bird bones to a very active bird researcher, who is the world expert of bird bones of this age, than keeping them in the US. Dr. Mayr showed a lot of interest in the bones which was also important to me and will even get the non avian bones looked at. I want to thank Dr. Paul Scofield, Senior Curator Natural History, of the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand for suggesting Dr. Mayr to me. Marco Sr. 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Marco, I have several bird bones that are very similar to some of yours which I found at the site you and I have discussed in the past. Dave Bohaska and one of his technicians identified them as being gannet species and said that gannets were quite prolific in the Pleistocene / Pliocene. You may want to talk to him about your collection. At the least he might know someone in particular to refer you to or point you in a general direction. Just my two cents, which of course is free. :-) SA2 Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 congratulations, Marco. This is good news for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Marco, I have several bird bones that are very similar to some of yours which I found at the site you and I have discussed in the past. Dave Bohaska and one of his technicians identified them as being gannet species and said that gannets were quite prolific in the Pleistocene / Pliocene. You may want to talk to him about your collection. At the least he might know someone in particular to refer you to or point you in a general direction. Just my two cents, which of course is free. :-) SA2 I had sent the bones on loan to the Smithsonian in DC per the request of Dr. Storrs Olson so he or someone that he chose could evaluate them. Because Dr. Olson was already an emeritus at the time, Dave actually received and unpacked the bones at the Smithsonian after they arrived. I was willing to donate them if they were of scientific value and the Smithsonian was well aware of that. The bird bones were at the Smithsonian for over two years without anyone really looking at them. I finally requested that the bird bones be returned to me. They were returned and are now with Dr. Mayr in Germany. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Yeah. I saw your other post. I think we were typing our posts at the same time. I'm glad your collection will finally get studied and be of scientific value. Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 congratulations, Marco. This is good news for all. Jean-Pierre Thank you. It was a long time finding a good place for them, but I'm really satisfied how things turned out in the end. I could have easily donated them to any museum but found it very difficult to find a museum/researcher that would evaluate them. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Hey Marco, Glad to hear that You found a good home for the bones, and more so that You are happy with the end results! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Hey Marco, Glad to hear that You found a good home for the bones, and more so that You are happy with the end results! Tony Tony Thank you. I'm very happy that some of my donations to museums have turned out very well in my opinion. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Congratulations glad you are happy with their new home. It's definitely a loss for the Smithsonian but now they have someone who can properly study them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Congratulations glad you are happy with their new home. It's definitely a loss for the Smithsonian but now they have someone who can properly study them. The Smithsonian was my first choice. It is a great museum with an incredible collection. However, I just don't see the research and description occurring there like at a lot of other museums. Last year I donated at least 15,000 Eocene marine coprolites to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. The Smithsonian has probably the largest and probably the most comprehensive collection of coprolites in the world. I decided not to donate to the Smithsonian because it seemed to me that little research was being done with their coprolite collection. The researchers at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science are very active with lots of papers being written on their coprolite collection. I've been told that my coprolites are by far the largest number of very well preserved diverse Eocene marine specimens currently from any site in the world. Multiple papers will be written on them. If I had donated them to the Smithsonian, not much would have happened with them either. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 "...small owl, a swift-like bird, and a basal parrot-like bird..." That pegs my my Fascination Meter! Post this in the Partners' Gallery, when you are ready "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...
MarcoSr Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 "...small owl, a swift-like bird, and a basal parrot-like bird..." That pegs my my Fascination Meter! Post this in the Partners' Gallery, when you are ready Chas I'm also very interested in Dr. Mayr's insight into what birds the bones might be from. I'll post some of the bird bones in the fall in the Partner's Gallery after Dr. Mayr has been able to study and describe some of them. I have a bunch of other specimens that I could post in the Partner's Gallery, but for now I'll only post my Peradectes gulottai specimen. I'll post other specimens that I have already donated after they are studied and described, as most are new species. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Very exciting stuff, Marco Sr.. It must be satisfying to have your finds being properly studied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Very exciting stuff, Marco Sr.. It must be satisfying to have your finds being properly studied. Julianna It did take a while, but I'm finally happy with the outcome. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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