fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 A few months back a Rhacolepis buccalis from the Santana formation in Brazil was mislabeled on eBay. A fellow member posted the topic here. The seller thought it was a shrimp. Haha! I thought it was a perfect buy, not only to practice my prep skills, but to have a beautiful 3D fish in my collection. This is how I received it. Ventral side up. After a bit of prep. (This was the hardest matrix I have ever prepped. It did not come off easy. But, because of it being so hard, the preservation was amazing! I highly recommend anyone to get one of these fish for their collection.) Then I ran into this. I thought "oh sweet! My fish had been bit in half". That's one heck of a predation mark! Then I removed bulk matrix using a bench grinder. Then I made a line that would be pleasing to the eye to transform this fish fossil into an art piece. But when I started to prep out more, boom out pops the dorsal side of the fish. What the.....?! So now I don't know where this fish is going to go. The prep was even slower now. Haha, yay.... Continued........ ~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...
fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) A couple months and dozens of hours later, she's done. The details in these fish are just amazing!!! It looks like a smoked fish that could be eaten today. Crazy!!! This prep was amazingly hard! These fish love to explode if you hit them with your prep tool. And adding the fact of how hard the matrix is AND the weird preservation it really was daunting. If someone asked me to do another one, I would probably say no. Haha Here's a dollar for a size reference. I like it. I hand sanded the base and waxed it. BUT, here's why I've asked for TFF's opinions and theories. What caused my fish to fold? Compression during fossilization? Pre fossilization crushing? Predation mark? Has anyone seen something like this? I would love to hear some theories! Edited October 29, 2015 by fossilized6s 1 ~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...
David in Japan Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hi, I am sorry, I do not have any theory I can't stop thinking this fish is a real beauty. Would have its place in the monthly contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Your guess is as good as mine, but from here, it looks like something slit it through the middle of the back (before or after death?) and the piece got shoved downwards. Then immediate burial. Caught in a landslide? It would probably help to research the sedimentary history of the site. Nice work, anyway! Looks great! Edited October 29, 2015 by Ludwigia Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 What a fantastic piece. You should definitely enter the competition with this. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Awesome prepjob fossilized6s. I wish I had those skills. I hope you can unfold the mystery growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Once again Charlie, I'm amazed and dumbfounded by your prep skills. Only a true artist would have thought about taking the time to smooth and polish the exterior. Stunning! -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 "Shrimp" indeed! You've transformed this into a museum piece "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...
Troodon Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Great prep job, sometimes taking a little risk pays off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Haha, thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words. I'm not sure I can enter this guy, because I didn't personally find it. Not clear how that works. ~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...
RJB Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hey Charlie. You've got yourself some serious prep skills there. Nice work! and great specimen! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Charlie, Obviously, you have the prep skills! A compliment from RJB should be enough to make that clear. As far as the folding, the only other idea I have, is that the matrix got shifted somehow, before the concretion totally formed, and broke the fish. A complete 3-d prep or x-ray might show if this is correct. Would be interesting to find out. Awesome job on prepping this piece Charlie! You took a poor looking piece, and turned it into a masterpiece. Congratulations. 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...
FossilDAWG Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Excellent job on the prep, and also on recognizing a "diamond in the rough". I suspect some of these fish may have gone through a period where they were washed up on shore or a river bank, where they dried out and effectively mummified before being washed back into the water and buried. There are insects and other terrestrial fauna also preserved in the nodules, indicating that the shore was not far away. So your fish may have dried out and collapsed before being fossilized, which could account for the folding and break in the body wall. Don 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Thanks, RB and Tim! I would love to prep out the other side, but I just see time, time, time when I look at it. Haha! ~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...
digit Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 It's a fossil with a story (or mystery, if you like) regarding the details of its taphonomy. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Excellent job on the prep, and also on recognizing a "diamond in the rough". I suspect some of these fish may have gone through a period where they were washed up on shore or a river bank, where they dried out and effectively mummified before being washed back into the water and buried. There are insects and other terrestrial fauna also preserved in the nodules, indicating that the shore was not far away. So your fish may have dried out and collapsed before being fossilized, which could account for the folding and break in the body wall. Don Thanks, Don. That was also my theory. It does look like it dried out. ~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...
Xiphactinus Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Wow! You are an artist! Beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Stunning, Charlie! I think Don's idea explains a very common modern occurrence similar to your fossil. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Very nice! Cool fossil, and excellent job on the prep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Thank you, guys! I appreciate it. It was mostly done with my $7 glass etcher. So if you have enough time and patience, anyone can do this! I agree with it being dried. The skin has folds and even curls under like a modern dried fish would if it were hollow and the moisture was being sucked out. It just seemed so hard to believe something like that could mineralize, and so well! ~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...
jcbshark Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Great job Charlie, it looks amazing! 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...
jpc Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Nice work, man. seven dollar glass etcher? What does that look like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 (edited) Thank you, gents. The engraver works nice. The only downside is that the tip is short and fat, so I can't get into tight areas too easily or at all. Haha Here's another piece I did just using the engraver. (It's not done) Before After And this little guy was prepped using it. Like I said, anyone can do it with some time and patience. You don't need to break the bank for professional tools when you're just starting out. $7, folks. Edited October 30, 2015 by fossilized6s ~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...
Rob Russell Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Beautiful job, Charlie! Thanks for sharing your handy work with us! Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 Beautiful job, Charlie! Thanks for sharing your handy work with us! Thank you, sir. Good luck today. Watch out for those buck shots! ~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...
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