Malcolmt Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 (edited) I actually had an amazing day hunting in the Verulam formation near Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada on Sunday April 12th with my friend J. Even with his rock saw it took me three trips from the bottom of the pit to lug the rocks out. I figure about 200 pounds of rocks came home with me.The weather was perfect (18 degrees celcius but there is still ice and snow in areas ) I got to the site about 8:00AM and stayed till 5 PM. Two hour drive each way so I was beat by the time I got home. Also was a little worse for wear as I got a finger trapped between two heavy slabs. Throbbed for the whole day. Currently at this location the only way to find anything decent is to split rock. Not a lot of new material has been uncovered since last season. But if you spend the time splitting you will find some pretty decent material. By splitting I literally mean splitting several hundred pound boulders (a shaley limestone). I found 3 ceraurus, 2 syringocrinus and about 20 (yes I said 20) homocystites. Here is one that I prepped this morning using Low PSI with dolomite and a .010 nozzle. Prep time about 2 hours. I also found about 5 crinoids that appear to be complete but it will be hard to tell what they are until they are prepped. I though this was a pretty spectacular association (4 trilo species and a well centered cystite) Considering that all I saw was the homocystites tail outline in the matrix, I think I got very lucky and the prep came out decent. Based on the 20 homocystites found the preservation on this one is typical. I will try to take a group picture once they are all prepped. 1 Homocystites (about 75 mm in length if was not curled) 1 almost complete ceraurus (about 15 mm long) (missing one of pygidium spines) overlapping the homocystites 2 inverted calyptaulax cephaplons 1 achetella cephalon 1 isotelus inverted partial Edited April 15, 2015 by Malcolmt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 So I tried to infer through context...no luck. Maybe a photo would help. I'm betting the file size was too large and failed to upload...it happens. Best regards, Paul ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 Yep Had to reduce the photo size a bit..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Now that's an OH WOW!!! Great find. FOTM?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Excellent find! Big Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Yeah see ...context definitely failed this find. That's amazing....wow! ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Yup, I like that one Malcolm. Prepped out well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 (edited) FOTM!! I'd trade a sore finger for that any day! Nice to see that you're out and about again . By the way, you got the vowels in Verulam mixed up. Edited April 15, 2015 by Ludwigia Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 Never claimed I could spell Roger..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Never claimed I could spell Roger..... ...but you read the rocks exceptionally well. This is one of those finds that dials up the 'fascination meter'. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Wow! I'd say your choice of using the word "interesting" maybe the understatement of the year. Haha! That is superb, Malcolm! Congrats. ~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...
jpc Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Excellent find and prep work, malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Nice finds there Malcolm. Looks like that same Shaley layer that the Isotelus and Sceptaspis I found last fall came from. Congrats on all the rare echinoderms! -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...
Fossildude19 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Awesome find - great association. And fantastic prepping!That doesn't happen to often, ... well, at least for me. I took the liberty of brightening the pic a bit. Absolutely wonderful find. Gonna be a tough vote again this month! 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...
Malcolmt Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thanks Tim, its always a tough vote but I don't really submit things to FOTM, won once ,let others have a turn... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOM BUCKLEY Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Malcolm, Stunning, just stunning!!! I hope to run into you again at Ridgemount. Tom AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGIST STROKE SURVIVOR CANCER SURVIVOR CURMUDGEON "THERE IS A VERY FINE LINE BETWEEN AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGY AND MENTAL ILLNESS" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clfossils Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Wow, that is a very fascinating find. It is interesting to see the various species in close range. It looks like the Ceraurus genal spine is overlapping the Homocystites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Very nice, Malcolm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Wow! The Verulam contains some excellent material, but it obviously takes an artist's hand at the prep to do it justice. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Not bad bro! My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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