David in Japan Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Japan, country where every worker, known as " Salaryman" is a soldier working for the Japanese economic supremacy, is known for its sushi, technology, kimono, ammonite and never resting workers. But his week was quite an event as thanks to 3 national holiday, Japanese "salarymen" (white collar) were able to have some rest during 5 days (from saturday to wednesday). I took the opportunity to go on a fossil hunting trip on the 23rd September. My destination, Amakusa, is a string of island located in the Ariake sea known in Kyushu for its two upper cretaceous formation : * Goshoura formation * Himenoura formation Leaving home at 4 am, I arrived at 6 am just when the first lights hitted the sea. I searched for fossils for about 4 hours at the Himenoura formation near Ryugatake. The formation is made at this place of black shale and contains mainly ammonite (polyptychoceras), inoceramus, shark teeth and flying reptile teeth. The weather was good and I really enjoyed the time spend alone, just with my hammer and my chisel. I found some interesting fossil like a bunch of polyptychoceras, a squished gaudryceras (thanks to fossisle and fossilDAWG for helping me to ID it), an inoceramus and this... thing...don't know what it is, maybe it is not even a fossil. I hope you will enjoy the few picture I put and If you have any question do not hesitate. If yu have any idea concerning the mysterious thing, I am all ears too. Have a nice day, David. 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Seeing these images is a real treat! From where I am, it is among the most exotic locations I can imagine; Thank You! "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...
FossilDAWG Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 That is a beautiful place to collect. Thanks for the photos. I agree with the Polyptchoceras ID by the way. I've collected the same association, Polyptchoceras and Gaudryceras together, on the Trent River on Vancouver Island, BC. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I love a good exotic fossil report. Thanks. Do you carry an American quarter just for scale? Could the mystey fossil be a crab carapace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in Japan Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Yeah, I received this american quarter when I worked in an hotel few years ago. I thought that it would be easier for everyone to understand the size with a quarter than with a 500 yen coin. For the mysterious fossil, I hope it would be a crab. I am dreaming of crab since a saw masterpieces on the forum but I dont think so. It's really looks like a scorpion sting (modern one) It is not really clear on the picture but there is a kind of long curved "sting" which goes out of the main part (rain drop shape). Hope I will be able to ID it sooner or later. Concerning the picture, I will put more picture in my report next time, so everybody can enjoy Japanese Landscape. ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Great pics, thanks for sharing: ) Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khyssa Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Lovely pictures. I lived on Okinawa for about 3 years as a pre-teen/early teen but never made it to mainland Japan. Loved the experience and I have many fond memories of exploring the coastline and the local culture! I still have a collection of coins from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Thanks for the photos and hunting trip report. Like many fossil hunters, I lived vicariously in the descriptions of far away places where I could dream of searching for the ancient past. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterpillar Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Thanks for the report Your mysterious fossil can be a crab. I've found this one when I prepped this ammonite from turonian of Japan http://www.paleotheque.fr/cephalopodes/fiche.php?id=240 http://www.paleotheque.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoWilliam Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 It's about time we saw more fossils from the same/similar stratigraphic level as my area, though so far away geographically! Interesting. I'm not sure there is enough of your mystery item to get a confident ID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in Japan Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Yes, that is really fascinating, maybe if I can find more fossils in this formation we could compare the fossilized species. Concerning the mystery item, I agree, I think it will remain unidentified for a long time. It does not look like a fragment and I think that the fossil main part is still under the matrix but the shell seems too weak and I am afraid that if I try to remove the matrix, I would destroy it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 You can prep almost anything if you have the right equipment and the skill... so don't write it off forever. I'll be interested to see what else you might find and post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in Japan Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Here is an update of my found on this site. The same day I found this Inoceramus Japonicus on the same formation, Himenoura formation, upper cretaceous. Would love to find it in one piece unfortunately I only found a part of it. But I think the rib pattern and the growth ring pattern is absolutely fantastic. 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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