Jump to content

January 2015 Finds Of The Month


JohnJ

Recommended Posts

It's a NEW YEAR!...with all kinds of possibilities! What are you going to find this month? Something rare, something exquisite, something large, something really small, or something new to science? Just think about that while you're in the field. :D Take the time to photograph and document your finds, then show us your best. :popcorn:

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

Please pay special attention to 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 January 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.
____________________________________________________________________________________


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!

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!

I think I already found my best tooth this month :).

Hexanchus griseus

Found: Antwerp area, Belgium

date: 4th

Width: 4 cm

age: Neogene

greetings

Aaron

post-12517-0-64391100-1420650609_thumb.jpgpost-12517-0-75703600-1420650631_thumb.jpgpost-12517-0-67819800-1420650665_thumb.jpg

Nullus finis longius si quod facis delectaris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, beautiful tooth Aaron! Congrats!

Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aaron, beautiful tooth. I am truly :drool: and :envy:

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

Happy New Year everyone

Here's a Jurassic Fern.

post-11234-0-95687900-1420829577_thumb.jpg

Zamites gigas

Middle Jurassic

Aalenian (175 - 171 million years ago)

Saltwick Formation

Near to Whitby, United Kingdom

Length of fern is 4 inches

Found 8th Jan 2015

Regards

Nick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plumaster ophiuroides Wright, 1863, an extremely rare starfish, many-armed (about 20).

Lower Jurassic, Staithes Sandstone Formation,Yorkshire Coast, UK.

Found over three years ago, on 1st Nov. 2011. Prepped grain by grain under a microscope and finished (at least for now!) on 3rd Jan. this year.

As found, block 4.5" across:

post-4556-0-37107600-1420995231_thumb.jpgpost-4556-0-93995200-1420995225_thumb.jpg

Prepped starfish 3" across. The ossicles with spine bearing bosses (like echinoids) are diagnostic of the recently erected family Plumasteridae GALE, 2011, which so far contains only this genus .

This is the top surface and most of the arms curl under at the ends.

post-4556-0-84268600-1420995806_thumb.jpgpost-4556-0-45260200-1420995804_thumb.jpgpost-4556-0-17006400-1420995810_thumb.jpg

I started prepping it with a scalpel and pin vice (too fragile for an air abrader which might blow the spicules away). Eventually, I bought a modified dental descaler, used at 20PSI or less. It took about 150 hours.

post-4556-0-54409800-1420996257_thumb.jpgpost-4556-0-55327800-1420996254_thumb.jpgpost-4556-0-85221400-1420996181_thumb.jpg

Tarquin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a beautiful starfish tqb! Congrats!

Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found this very rare Orthoceras on 11/11/14 and it was finished being prepped on 1/11/15. Im not sure of the species name but this is all I could find in my literature that makes sense for the formation and location. I have been digging this formation for many years and this is only the second Orthoceras that has been found. I know that Orthocera or other straight shelled nautiloids can be very common but not here. The fossils from this formation are encased in very hard nodules that preserves them in 3D. The white shell of the animal is calcite and is much softer then the matrix making it diffucult to prep. Some of the orginal aragonite shell is preserved around the living chamber. Prepped by Brian Dasno.

Thanks, Mikey

post-7129-0-26866200-1421366311_thumb.jpg

Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.  
led zeppelin

 

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png IPFOTM.png IPFOTM2.png IPFOTM3.png IPFOTM4.png IPFOTM5.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a swell looking nautiloid Mikey. Very nice preservation and great prep. I've had many otherwise fine straight-shelled cephalopods shatter when I tried to excavate them, so I can appreciate the fortune in collecting a complete one. Thanks for entering it so we can all see. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice one, Mikey!

Congrats on a cool find.

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      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Jeffrey and Tim. It looks a lot better in person and the nodule when cut went right through a layer of Ammonoids. These nodules are very hard to split open and never split where the fossils are. I tried prepping myself but stopped when I tried removing the matrix from the shell. It really needed air abrasion and because its so rare I didn't want to screw it up.

Mikey

Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.  
led zeppelin

 

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png IPFOTM.png IPFOTM2.png IPFOTM3.png IPFOTM4.png IPFOTM5.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found this very rare Orthoceras on 11/11/14 and it was finished being prepped on 1/11/15. Im not sure of the species name but this is all I could find in my literature that makes sense for the formation and location. I have been digging this formation for many years and this is only the second Orthoceras that has been found. I know that Orthocera or other straight shelled nautiloids can be very common but not here. The fossils from this formation are encased in very hard nodules that preserves them in 3D. The white shell of the animal is calcite and is much softer then the matrix making it diffucult to prep. Some of the orginal aragonite shell is preserved around the living chamber. Prepped by Brian Dasno.

Thanks, Mikey

That's so cool! Not only is it rare - but well preserved!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found this insect wing at a new locality :)

Date found: January 17, 2015

Geologic age: lower permian of Oklahoma

Scientific name: Asthenohymen sp., most likely A. latus

post-11650-0-25744600-1422068346_thumb.jpg

Carpenter's work on lower permian insect fossils shows how it looks if it were whole:

post-11650-0-06915200-1422068401_thumb.png

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."
-Romans 14:19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...