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Fossildude19

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Hello all.

 

Haven't had much time to hunt, as life has been getting in the way.
I have only been out 5 or 6 times so far this year, and only 3 times to my regular fishing hole. (Early Jurassic, Shuttle Meadow Formation, Connecticut.)

My hole in the ground had caved in/slumped down over the winter, and with the spring rains, I have not had a lot of opportunity to get out to this spot.

Each time I found a few things, while spending the majority of my time removing dirt from the cave-ins.

 

The most notable find from the previous two trips was from the beginning of June.
A Semionotus sp., missing the tail and the lower third of it's skull and body.
post-2806-0-46678600-1404237495_thumb.jp

 

Well, I had a chance to get out for a few hours this past Sunday, to hunt my Shuttle Meadow formation stomping grounds, with Pagurus.

I arrived slightly earlier than Mike did, as he had a long drive, and I am much closer. I arrived around 7:20 am, and commenced to digging some of the rubble from the winter/spring cave-ins. It was a pleasant day, but the digging induced much sweating, as the temperature climbed with the humidity.

 

Within about 15-20 minutes of digging, I uncovered a likely looking piece of shale, that must have been in the slumped material. I split it on the side, but it broke down the middle as I struck the shale with my trusty Estwing rock hammer. I commenced to splitting the 1st half - nothing notable. Then, I split the second half, and was rewarded by the sight of a lovely fish,... another Semionotus sp. this time, nearly complete, and only missing it's tail.
 
post-2806-0-29285600-1404237812_thumb.jp  post-2806-0-75239600-1404237833_thumb.jp
Continued...

 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Continued...

Mike arrived around 8:00 am, and I showed him my find. My day was already made, but we had a few hours of digging ahead of us.

We worked on and off, one shoveling, the other splitting, finding pieces of likely shale. 

 

We made a few finds, nothing spectacular, but bits and pieces. I will post a few as I get them cleaned up.

I found another Semionotus sp. missing it's head, and not as well preserved as my other find of the day.

 

Mike found some nice plants, including a bit of the rare fern, Clathropteris meniscoides, and a partial frond of Otozamites sp.

(I think it was an O. latior. ) and a few fishy parts as well. Mike took a bunch of shale out of an area he found, and worked darned hard to get those pieces out.

He opted to take some home to split at his leisure.

 

We stopped to take breathers when the digging got to be too much. Mike had (thankfully) packed extra water, and was kind enough to share it with me.

My single liter of water I had brought was not enough to keep up with steady flow of sweat, running like a faucet out of me.

 

11:30 am came too quickly, and we packed up our things and made our way back to the cars.

After a quick wash up with more of Mikes water, and a few more drinks as well, we said goodbye, and parted ways to head home.

Hope you enjoyed the quick report.

 

Oh - and one last parting shot of both halves of my fish!

IMG_0022-2.jpg

 

Thanks for looking! ;)

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Nice finds and report Tim,

Have you got any pics of the otozamites?, I have a frond from lyme regis that may be that.

Regards

Neil.

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On 7/1/2014 at 2:25 PM, ntrusc said:

Nice finds and report Tim,

Have you got any pics of the otozamites?, I have a frond from lyme regis that may be that.

Regards

Neil.

Thanks Neil!

I don't have a pic of Mikes, but I have a few in my Gallery

Cycadophyte Otozamites latior Otozamites brevifolis Otozamites brevifolis Otozamites latior 1.jpg Another Otozamites Otozamites, Jurassic

 
I'd like to see a pic of yours if you get the chance, Neil!
 
Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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That is an excellent fish. Nothing like finding a great fossil right off the bat. :) Thanks for the show and tell!

post-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpgpost-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpgpost-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpgpost-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpgpost-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpgpost-11220-0-43085000-1404242867_thumb.jpg

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

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Your hole may be a lot of work, but it sure seems to be reliable (in a grudging way). I'm glad you got out, got dirty, and found fish! :)

"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!

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Beautiful fish Tim! Congrats!

Thanks for sharing the experience.

~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

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Those are great! Wish I could be "slogging" in there with you, as it is most definitely worth those beautiful finds.

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Great report, Tim!

Those bookmatched slabs make for really cool looking displays.

Do you ever try to break down the matrix for micros, or have any interest in doing so?

Steve

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Nice finds!

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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Wow! Nice catch, Tim! :)

Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time.

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That is an excellent fish. Nothing like finding a great fossil right off the bat. :) Thanks for the show and tell!

attachicon.gifwater.jpgattachicon.gifwater.jpgattachicon.gifwater.jpgattachicon.gifwater.jpgattachicon.gifwater.jpgattachicon.gifwater.jpg

Thanks Mike!

Yeah, a quick decent find always takes some pressure off. :)

Oh, and lesson learned about the water. ;)

Regards,

Thanks Tim,

Attached a pic of the possible Otozamites.

Regards

Neil.

Neil,

Thanks for the pic. Do you see any veination on the pinnules?

Sorry, I'm not well versed in the european species of Otozamites, but it does look somewhat similar.

Regards,

Your hole may be a lot of work, but it sure seems to be reliable (in a grudging way). I'm glad you got out, got dirty, and found fish! :)

Thanks Chas. :)

Yes, she is a taskmistress, but she is, as you said, occasionally, grudgingly generous.

Regards,

Beautiful fish Tim! Congrats!

Thanks for sharing the experience.

Thanks Charlie! :)

I have been keeping tabs on your Mazon finds - and your posts there were a motivator for me to get out and get hunting.

Regards,

Those are great! Wish I could be "slogging" in there with you, as it is most definitely worth those beautiful finds.

Thank you. :)

It is definitely worth it, in the end.

Regards,

Great report, Tim!

Those bookmatched slabs make for really cool looking displays.

Do you ever try to break down the matrix for micros, or have any interest in doing so?

Steve- thanks. I haven't tried to break down the matrix, but it is on my to-do list, at some point. :)

Regards,

Nice finds!

Thanks, Herb. I am happy with them.

Regards,

I like those fish! I thought I'd check up and see how they compare in our parts and stumbled on this, which shows how complicated the taxonomy on these ones can be:

Thanks, Roger! :D

And thank you for the link!

The taxonomy here in the states is tricky enough,... something like close to 14 different species of Semionotids.

Regards,

Wow Tim! They're fabulous!!! Congrats!!!! :D

Thank you, Lissa! I appreciate the comments. :)

Regards,

Wow! Nice catch, Tim! :)

Thank you, Rob - not quite as nice as your Mazon bug, though. :)

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Congrats Tim. Really nice specimen and sounds like a great fishing trip. Well worth the effort and suffering. Way to go!

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Congrats Tim. Really nice specimen and sounds like a great fishing trip. Well worth the effort and suffering. Way to go!

Thanks Jeff!

See ya soon! :)

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Good stringer.

Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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Good stringer.

Thank you, Dan!

Sometimes you catch your limit, sometimes you don't. ;)

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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I guess I should have set my alarm a little earlier, Tim. It was a pleasure hunting with you, as always. I should let everyone know that I really could have found a complete fish but Tim threatened me with bodily harm if I found anything better than his terrific find of the day. Most of you know Tim as an extremely generous guy, eager to share his interest and knowledge and even his finds, but he showed me his true colors this weekend. I was afraid to find anything spectacular. He even threw a shovelful of dirt on my nice clean jeans. I had to supply him with water to keep him under control.

That really is a great looking fish, Tim, and I thank you for sharing your spot with me, along with many of your hard-earned finds. I've been lucky enough to have made a couple of awfully good finds there myself, but you might have noticed that I uncovered most of those finds at home......where it's safer.

Thanks for reporting on the trip.

Mike

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Nice finds Tim . Good to see you are out there and finding things that aren't already posted. What is it that makes the fish at that site shiny black?

Regards

Ed

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I guess I should have set my alarm a little earlier, Tim. It was a pleasure hunting with you, as always. I should let everyone know that I really could have found a complete fish but Tim threatened me with bodily harm if I found anything better than his terrific find of the day. Most of you know Tim as an extremely generous guy, eager to share his interest and knowledge and even his finds, but he showed me his true colors this weekend. I was afraid to find anything spectacular. He even threw a shovelful of dirt on my nice clean jeans. I had to supply him with water to keep him under control.

That really is a great looking fish, Tim, and I thank you for sharing your spot with me, along with many of your hard-earned finds. I've been lucky enough to have made a couple of awfully good finds there myself, but you might have noticed that I uncovered most of those finds at home......where it's safer.

Thanks for reporting on the trip.

Mike

Well Mike, I can still find out where you live. ;)

Just kidding - glad to have you along.

You have worked hard for your finds, and I don't begrudge you the great examples you have found.

You should post up some pics of your finds when you have the chance.

Regards,

Nice finds Tim . Good to see you are out there and finding things that aren't already posted. What is it that makes the fish at that site shiny black?
Regards
Ed

Thanks Ed! I was happy to finally get out for a bit as well.

As to your question, fortuitously, this is something I am just starting to learn about.

It is a complicated answer - the taphonomy is quite variable within the Hartford basin, with lots of different factors involved. Preservation of the fossil fish that I find has allot to do with how deep in the ancient lake the specimens were when they died, and with the chemical make up of the waters due to depth, and various other factors. The amounts and types of iron in the water column at the time of deposition, along with the other chemicals (carbonate,pyrite,apatite, etc) that formed when the fossilization process occured.

Preservation of the fish ranges widely, from well preserved, with black shiny scales and high relief, to very poor, with faint mineral films and no relief. In the paper I am currently studying, it is inferred that there is a clear relationship to better preserved specimens having been in deeper waters, and the more poorly preserved specimens having been in shallow waters, based on the geographical location within the Hartford Basin.

The short answer is the compostion of the fossils, (if I am reading this paper I am studying correctly) is comprised mostly of Carbonate Hydroxy Apatite, Iron Phosphate Hydrate, and Carbonate Fluoroapatite, with some IronPyrite thrown in for good measure. The shale smells sulfury, and kind of swampy when it is broken.

I fear that it is all rather beyond my meager chemistry background. But you asked, so... ;)

Thanks again for the comment, Ed.

Regards,

PS: I thought I would add that these are compression fossils,and the shiny black scales are usually a thin layer of material, that rarely splits and stays on just one side - usually end up with half on one side, and half on the other - you can see the imprints from the black material where there is none on each side of the fossil.

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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That elusive complete fish is only one lucky shale-split away. Maybe this is the year? Congrats on the new finds! :fistbump:

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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That elusive complete fish is only one lucky shale-split away. Maybe this is the year? Congrats on the new finds! :fistbump:

Thank you, Scott. :)

I am sure it is just a matter of time!

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Sweet fish Tim. You have quite the nice fishing hole there. I imagine this is what you and Pagurus looked like.

post-1408-0-03988300-1404332259_thumb.jpg

-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 McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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