Sinopaleus Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hello Everyone It has been quite a while since I last made a post here on TFF; it's great to be back and seeing everyone is doing just fine I am happy to report that I am currently in Yunnan Province of China ready to head out today for a full day of fishing with my friend. These fish are called Galeaspids, and complete head shields are rare to find, but findable. The outcrop contains hard sandstone, mudstone and soft mudstone, in which all layers are presumably fruitful for the ostracoderms, but fossils from the soft layer often tend to crumble if not acted upon immediately by strong preservatives. Species of these fish include Polybranchiaspis, Laxaspis, Eugaleaspis, Nanpanaspis etc, and all of these ostracoderms have a bizarre dorsal opening that resembles a gasping mouth. I will most likely post pictures on here at the end of the day, so stay tuned and wish me luck! Yours Truly, SP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Well there you are! I envy you your amazing field trips; good luck! "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...
Sinopaleus Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Well there you are! I envy you your amazing field trips; good luck! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Best of Luck, Henry! Hope you have fun. Be safe and let us know how your trip was when you return. Nice to have you back with us. 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...
Sinopaleus Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Best of Luck, Henry! Hope you have fun. Be safe and let us know how your trip was when you return. Nice to have you back with us. Regards, Tim, my friend!! It's been a while, how are you? Any good finds from Connecticut? I will, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Good Luck Henry!!! Happy hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Good Luck Henry!!! Happy hunting! Ah Peter, nice to see you again! thanks, I will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 There's nothing better than a day of fishing. I'm looking forward to seeing your report! I'm glad you're back. Mike Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 You've caught my attention! Id love to see what you find! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMNH Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Nice to hear from you again Henry! Good luck with the hunt, can't wait to see what you find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) So I'd say that everyone's wishes payed off, as I think today was a pretty successful and fruitful day We went to three fossil sites, the first is called Liaojiaoshan. The northern outcrops of the formation yields fish, but is pretty hard to find. We went to the site for a good 45 minutes, and unfortunately we didn't find too much, although I did find a partial galeaspid shell and a small Diabolepis shield. We then headed out to a farther place from town, called Miandian reservoir. My buddy says he has found a good ~30 complete galeaspids from that site, but I wasn't able to find a single one! (he found three right off the bat, internal molds of Polybranchiaspis) In the end I was going to leave when I found a black slab with fish parts on it, and noticed a faint imprint of a complete shelled Polybranchiaspis. I also stumbled over a possible Eugaleaspis section, where the shell is visible but faint and poor. I'll know fully when I prep the piece out. After that, We headed to Xitun, a site that yielded the holotype for Psarolepis, the basal sarcopterygian that gave rise to both lobe-finned and ray-finned fish. My buddy showed me a find of his that was a sarcopterygian lower jaw with lots of tiny teeth on it, so he said that was probably Psarolepis', but a find of mine by the end of the prospect would prove otherwise. Imagine two guys crouched on their hands and knees on the weathered-mudstone outcrop, crawling around I found a tooth that was big and thick compared to his jaw's teeth, and had groves in the teeth like Hyneria's teeth, and then I found another one, and another one. In the end we ended up with a good 6 or 7 teeth that we now presume as Psarolepis'. Placoderm armer pieces were lying on the ground everywhere, some of them pretty thick and lumpy. But anyways, rewind to when we first arrived at the site. We were scouring the fallen blocks of mudstone that had cross sections of fish parts in them, and as we just started I spotted a weathered but 3-D galeaspid baking in the sun, most likely a Polybranchiaspis, but we can't be sure because the eyes and the dorsal opening was missing. More confident now, I cracked away at more of the mudstone blocks, and the blocks were literally dotted with Yunnanolepis armor shards. But then, I found a tooth sticking out of the mudstone block which at first looked like a spine, but my friend corrected me and said it was the biggest one he'd seen yet of these species. We presume the tooth that I found and the teeth from his jaw specimen belong to Youngolepis. After countless more blocks of Yunnanolepis and Phymolepis shards and a few small but good Diabolepis head shields, I came across a block with a pretty, white and nice-quality armor shard on it. At first we thought it was a placoderm's, but as I carefully worked on it with my chisel it became clear that the shell ornamentation belonged to a Galeaspid's. Based on the curve of the exposed part, my friend said that this was most likely a Eugaleaspis (my goal catch of the trip!). In fact, the outer curve had a distinct border on it that told us that it was a complete edge of the fish. My friend, based on his experience with these fishes, said that this might very well be a complete Eugaleaspis, or possibly another rarer galeaspid fish. He also stated that he has never found or personally seen a complete Eugaleaspis during his entire fossil career, and said that I would be a very very lucky man if it is in fact what we think it is. So after that little excitement, he found a decent fish jaw that had teeth on it, and deemed it as a Youngolepis'. I then found a big placoderm plate that might well extend into the block, but isn't totally guaranteed. We then gathered our finds and left the site for dinner, which concludes my fossil hunting trip! I started out without any good hooks and my friend was hauling in his fishing nets, but by the end I think I just caught the catch of the day.. I do have pictures of my finds, but it's in my phone and I'll need to take some time to convert them into my computer. In the meantime, here is a brief looker on Xitun formation: http://www.geocities.ws/ozraptor4/xitun.html Anyways, I'll update soon. Thanks for taking the time to read! SP Edited March 18, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Congratulations on a very successful hunt, Henry! Can't wait to see some pictures! Looking forward to more - thanks for posting an exciting field excursion. 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...
piranha Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Henry, Congrats on another great adventure! I'm still looking forward to the big trilobite trip, and hoping you find an extra one for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I am very excited for you! Your trips are among the most ambitious and most interesting presented on the Forum "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...
TMNH Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Henry, that sounds like an incredible day of collecting!!! I am most interested to see the photos you have of your finds and expedition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) Congratulations on a very successful hunt, Henry! Can't wait to see some pictures! Looking forward to more - thanks for posting an exciting field excursion. Regards, Hi Henry, Congrats on another great adventure! I'm still looking forward to the big trilobite trip, and hoping you find an extra one for me! I am very excited for you! Your trips are among the most ambitious and most interesting presented on the Forum Henry, that sounds like an incredible day of collecting!!! I am most interested to see the photos you have of your finds and expedition. Thank you all for the compliments! Scott, there will definitely be a trip, don't worry! I'll save a good one for you Half way through the pictures, almost there.. Edited March 18, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 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...
fossilized6s Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 ^^^this Congrats on the finds! I can't wait to see them! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Sounds like a GREAT fishing trip. Wish I could have been there. Can't wait to see the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Alright, so I have a few pictures here that I took on my phone, and there are more on the camera, but here they are! This is our first site, Liaojiaoshan North Slope: Here is the galeaspid shell fragment that I found there: I believe all the photos of the Miandian reservoir are on my camera.. I'll get to that soon Here is the weathered galeaspid from Xitun: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) And here is the big Youngolepis tooth circled in red: Here is a Diabolepis head shield circled in red, note all the Yunnanolepis shards!: Here is a big block of Yunnanolepis shards that I didn't bother to take: Here is the Xitun galeaspid that I hope is Eugaleaspis..: Edited March 18, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) Here is the big placoderm armor: Here are a few of the Psarolepis teeth.. Sorry for the bad photo quality!: There are more pictures coming! Edited March 18, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMNH Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Wow there are some really impressive finds there! The "Eugaleaspis" looks like it will be quite the piece once prepared. The sites you visited look interesting as well, I would love a chance collecting there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahuijsmans Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 whoah! I'm gonna closely follow this thread! superb fishies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Very cool finds, congrats! -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ 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