December 2014 Finds Of The Month

[JohnJ]

You know the feeling...when hunting conditions range close to ideal, the sunlight is just right, the gravel still gives way under your feet, you can see refreshing changes on the exposure before you, your level of anticipation has you a little giddy inside...yeah, you know the feeling.

I hope you top it off this month with a find that generates auditory warnings for anyone nearby, and/or sends you racing into 'the books' to learn more about your discovery.

Carefully read the rules below, make sure you include all the required information, and submit your fossil!

Please remember that we recently introduced another qualification to the current rules. Make a note of Rule #5: Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds. Best of luck to all and good hunting!

Entries will be taken through December 31st. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.
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Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you.

2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry.

3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.

4. You must include the Date of your Discovery or the Date of Preparation Completion.

5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest.

6. You must include the common or scientific name.

7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found.

8. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. So, only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll.

Within a few days, we will know the two winning Finds of the Month! Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

[rejd]

basiparasphenoid (basically the base of a fish skull) of a Saurichtys fish

Early Jurassic (Toarcian in age) 182.7 ± 1.5 – 174.1 ± 2 Mya and is part of the Fernie Formation

This shale was collected in October but i only split this piece on December 2. I collected a bunch of shale before the snow came so I would have material to go through over the winter. Please let me know if this is ok to enter. I have a pic of the piece before it was split as well.

There is some discussion here on this specimen. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/51024-canyon-creek-alberta-micro-fossils/

This specimen has been donated to the Royal Tyrrell Museum as it is a significant find for the area.

Edited December 5, 2014 by rejd

[PFOOLEY]

Invertebrate

Prionocyclus Hyatti (Stanton, 1893)

Late Cretaceous (Turonian) Carlile Member of the Mancos shale

Discovered: December 6th, 2014

New Mexico, USA

[rejd]

Wow, that's a beauty! You going to prep it out or leave it in the concretion?

[PFOOLEY]

Wow, that's a beauty! You going to prep it out or leave it in the concretion?

Thank you sir...as far as prep goes, getting this lucky with a crack of hammer makes me want to leave it as is. I don't have another specimen that comes close.

[TheAshBee]

Large, mammalian bone fragment; possibly mammoth or mastodon

Dimensions: 19.5 x 17.5 cm

Late Pleistocene, offshore deposit; Charleston County, SC

Collected December 7, 2014

So, let me start off by saying this find has placed me on Cloud 9! This is my largest find to-date, and this beauty came off of a beach! I was out beachcombing last weekend and the conditions were perfect – exactly what every fossil hunter wants: rough surf, lots of material, and not a soul on the beach! I made a beeline to my favorite spot, performing my usual zig-zagging pattern down the beach, mainly looking out for large specimens. Now, I have usually just found large bone fragments weathered or broken beyond recognition, but when I spotted this fragment, I knew I could identify it. (That's proving to be an ongoing challenge...)

I looked off in the distance and noted a large black object just below the high tide line. I tried to keep my mind on the ground in front of me, but the tantalizing shape had me absolutely intrigued. Not able to resist, I headed straight toward the unidentified shape and knew right away I should film the reveal. So, I have a picture holding it above where it was in situ, but not the actual shot. Wooo-weeee I did the happy dance the rest of the hunt! I didn’t care if I got anything else, I was absolutely thrilled with this beauty! The brown patina of the bone is not justified in the pictures…

When I got home I sent shots off to my contact at the local museum, but together, we weren't able to come up with anything other than large land mammal, possibly a cranial element.

Edited December 16, 2014 by TheAshBee

[JohnJ]

It is a nice find of something large. Additional images would be useful. At first glance, I'm not inclined to agree with it being a humerus fragment. The porosity of the bone is more like that found inside a skull.

Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) humerus fragment – proximal end

Dimensions: 19.5 x 17.5 cm

Late Pleistocene, offshore deposit; Charleston County, SC

Collected December 7, 2014

So, let me start off by saying this find has placed me on Cloud 9! This is my largest find to-date, and this beauty came off of a beach! I was out beachcombing last weekend and the conditions were perfect – exactly what every fossil hunter wants: rough surf, lots of material, and not a soul on the beach! I made a beeline to my favorite spot, performing my usual zig-zagging pattern down the beach, mainly looking out for large specimens. Now, I have usually just found large bone fragments weathered or broken beyond recognition, but when I spotted this fragment, I knew I could identify it.

I looked off in the distance and noted a large black object just below the high tide line. I tried to keep my mind on the ground in front of me, but the tantalizing shape had me absolutely intrigued. Not able to resist, I headed straight toward the unidentified shape and knew right away I should film the reveal. So, I have a picture holding it above where it was in situ, but not the actual shot. Wooo-weeee I did the happy dance the rest of the hunt! I didn’t care if I got anything else, I was absolutely thrilled with this beauty! The brown patina of the bone is not justified in the pictures…

When I got home I sent shots off to my contact at the local museum, but together, we were only able to come up with humerus fragment from a large land mammal, possibly sloth. Undeterred, I opened the bowels of the internet, and lo and behold, a past TFF FOTM winner helped me with the identification! Our very own JohnJ’s thread from August 2009 matched up with my find better than any of the ground sloths, and mastodon wasn't cutting it. I added an altered image from that original thread to illustrate where my fragment fits in.

This just goes to prove how wonderful this forum is as a resource and a database of old discussions and specimens! I can only dream of providing a similar find and discussion to act a resource for others in the future. Happy hunting, everybody!

[JohnJ]

Ashbee, here are some images that show significantly different morphology from your find.

[Auspex]

I think it is a chunk of hose-nose skull:

LINK

[JohnJ]

I would look into comparing this find to the occipital condyle of something big.

[TheAshBee]

Thanks for the information, guys. John - those were the angles I was trying to find online of a mammoth humerus, but couldn't pull any up.

I'll modify my post, or you all can remove it.

[JohnJ]

Thanks for the information, guys. John - those were the angles I was trying to find online of a mammoth humerus, but couldn't pull any up.

I'll modify my post, or you all can remove it.

Your edited entry will be fine. Congrats on your find.

[Evgeny Kotelevsky]

Category: Invertebrate

Discovery date: 2.12.2014 (Dec. 2)

Preparation completed: 16.12.2014 (Dec. 16)

Name: Coeloptychium tenuialtus

Class: Hexactinellida

Age: K₂st (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian)

Location: Saratov, Russian Federation

Note: Complete skeleton, 3D-image

[FossilDAWG]

Not only do you make sponges cool, but your presentation makes them works of art.

Don

[Evgeny Kotelevsky]

Not only do you make sponges cool, but your presentation makes them works of art.

Don

Thanks )))

[ssuntok]

Thanks )))

Evgeny,

Beautiful fossil and, like Don says, great presentation.

How did you make the presentation (ie: photo equipment, and software)? It's a great way to display something imo

Steve

[Evgeny Kotelevsky]

Evgeny,

Beautiful fossil and, like Don says, great presentation.

How did you make the presentation (ie: photo equipment, and software)? It's a great way to display something imo

Steve

Steve,

I described the process here - http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/15748-show-us-your-sponges/?p=548715

Please, take a look! )))

[Triceratops]

I like that ammonite PFOOLEY!

[digit]

Category: Invertebrate

Discovery Date: 7-Jun-2014

Preparation Date: 7-Dec-2014

Species Name: Euphoberia sp. (spiny millipede)

Taxonomy: Phylum Arthropoda • Class Diplopoda • Order Euphoberiida

Location: Mazon Creek fossil bed (lagerstätte)

Geologic Formation: Francis Creek Shale

Geologic Age: Upper Carboniferous (mid-Pennsylvanian epoch) - approximately 307 mya

Last June I was fortunate enough to be able to travel from South Florida to my old home state of Illinois to visit with family and gorge myself on great food. The main purpose of the trip though was a hunt organized by TFF member Rob Russell who I had contacted to guide me and my wife on a dig for Mazon Creek nodules. We'd attempted hunting for nodules a couple of times over the past few years with extremely limited success (only a few Essexella jellyfish 'blobs'). I'd seen images online of the great Pennsylvanian age 'ferns' that could be found there but had failed in my attempts to find any.

Rob put the word out and soon we had a small cadre of collectors who along with my wife helped me celebrate my birthday in grand style. Rob was so organized that he even had buckets and shovels waiting for me in his truck. After a hike through the brush we arrived at our hunting grounds and a location was selected which I proceeded to excavate with great vigor--digging myself a nice pit and filling a bucket with nodules. This was the experience I'd been hoping for for years and it was a great birthday present.

I got a wide variety of nodules and saved more than probably should have but with little experience I wasn't tossing any nodules away till I got a better feeling for which ones were likely to contain a prize. Some of the elongated finger-shaped nodules were obvious and fairly screamed fern pinnule but nodules of all shapes and sizes went into the bucket. I returned the following weekend (as did a few others who were there for my birthday) and I added many more nodules to my growing cache. Split up over 4 suitcases (padded with a little clothes and much crumpled newspaper) I returned to Florida with 102 pounds of nodules. I was able to look back at photos of the nodules that I took while up in the Chicago area and managed to spot an unassuming but fateful nodule among the gallery of hopefuls.

Once back in Florida I began soaking the nodules in 5-gallon buckets in my garage. Every few days I'd place a load of them in a plastic shoebox and toss them onto a shelf in my freezer. After many freeze/thaw cycles and long bucket soaks in my garage the nodules began to shed their outer layers of softer shale like onion skins. Once down to the siderite concretions within I continued the freeze/thaw cycles and, aided by some gentle taps with a hammer, the nodules began to pop, occasionally revealing hidden treasures. I succeeded in my quest to build a modest collection of fern pinnules and a few other botanical fragments.

After popping a few nodules one day I set the resulting matched pairs of split nodule halves on the counter in my kitchen so that I could show them to my wife. I hadn't updated the topic on this forum detailing the hunt and the resulting finds from this trip in a while so I selected some of the more photogenic finds for some photos. I would often find fragments of slender grass-like leaves called Cyperites which are interesting but not as visually captivating as fern pinnules (unless they are longer, more complete specimens). I looked at several of the Cyperites and found one that was photo worthy. However, one of the other ones that I inspected under magnification held a surprise in that it contained some very un-Cyperites-like features: legs! Another Rob (RCFossils) was kind (and wise) enough to help me with the identification on this as a rare (partial) millipede. I submit this fossil here as an interesting example of the variety of fossils that can be found in Mazon Creek nodules (and why there are so popular with fossil hunters and collectors).

Here are some photos showing the siderite concretion after having shed its outer layers of shale and the split nodule revealing the millipede inside:

Cheers.

-Ken

[digit]

Here is a more detailed view of one of the halves showing a bit more clearly the legs of this millipede:

-Ken

[jcbshark]

Wow Ken, awesome piece and nice preservation!

[digit]

Yup. Christmas came early for me this year--or perhaps extremely late (this present was 'wrapped' on the order of 307 million years ago).

Just a little over a week to go in 2014. Lets see what other great fossil finds you all have out there to close out this year--we'd love to see them.

Cheers.

-Ken

[izak_]

Here is a more detailed view of one of the halves showing a bit more clearly the legs of this millipede:

PC170024.jpg

-Ken

Ok, this is one of the best Amazon Creek finds I have ever seen! I could only dream of that specimen! Congratulations!

[digit]

Ok, this is one of the best Amazon Creek finds I have ever seen! I could only dream of that specimen! Congratulations!

Thanks. The copy editor in me forces me to mention that it is Mazon Creek (named for a a tributary of the Illinois River in the area where this abundance of mid-Pennsylvanian fossils can be found).

I was pretty darn amused when I realized this was a millipede and not a strappy Cyperites leaf segment. Seeing the little legs under magnification was a wonderful surprise. They say little things can make your day--this is certainly a little thing by any measure. Several of the other TFF members who were with me on the day I dug these nodules--especially Charlie (Fossilized6s)--have had me green with envy viewing all of the rare and wonderfully preserved specimens they've posted to the forum. It was high time I gave them a taste of their own medicine

Thanks again for the positive comments on my leggy little nodule. After some 307 million years this little millepede brought a little joy to me and I wanted to share it with others on this forum as an example of what can be found in Mazon Creek.

Cheers.

-Ken

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

Here's my entry for the month: Whiteavesia pholadiformis, late Ordovician clam, Georgian Bay formation, from Mimico creek, Toronto, Canada. Just wanna share what I found from hiking in the cold. Found on December 6. Haven't gone hiking much nowadays cuz of the weather, so I haven't found much lately.

Edited December 22, 2014 by JUAN EMMANUEL