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Green River WY Prep

PaleoWilliam

By PaleoWilliam
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jpc Regular Member

jpc

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show us a photo. Usually if you hold it up at a low angle to the light, you can see the raised spinal cord in the rock. Low angle light... that is the key. The you will need something sharp and sharpenable to pick away at it slowly. An old dental pick is good... ask a dentist for some throw-aways. Start with the spine. Good luck. Feelfree to ask more questions if this isn't enough.

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Fossildude19 Regular Member

Fossildude19

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Didn't work....

What didn't work?

You need to be a bit more specific.

Can you take a picture of the piece?

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PaleoWilliam Regular Member

PaleoWilliam

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I cant take a pic now and I will around December 1st right now I don't have a camera ready. The thing that didn't work was jpc's post.

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snolly50 Regular Member

snolly50

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I cant take a pic now and I will around December 1st right now I don't have a camera ready. The thing that didn't work was jpc's post.

What jpc told you was the gospel - Green river fish are spotted (and often IDed by experienced folk) by the raised areas of matrix - best viewed in side-light. If nothing is visible, I can't imagine how the DPS folks knew a fish was present!?!

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PaleoWilliam Regular Member

PaleoWilliam

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When I looked at the box I read the word "Bad" written in pen. If its bad I am wondering why the sold it to us for 25 bucks

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

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When I looked at the box I read the word "Bad" written in pen. If its bad I am wondering why the sold it to us for 25 bucks

Not saying there is no fish in Your rock, but "cavet emptor" (buyer beware). Not all who sell fossils (or other things) are honest. It is a shame that some people will do whatever they can to make a buck.

I hope that You find a good fish in the rock!

Tony

PS Did You try the low angle light from all sides on the front and back?

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jpc Regular Member

jpc

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If that didn't work..I am afraid you might have gotten a Bad rock. If you feel like doing something different, take it to the hospital and see if the Xray folks can take an xray of it. These things do show up on xray...but you really gotta bombard the rock. Xray techs often really like to shoot stuff like this. For free...

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Auspex Regular Member

Auspex

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Sounds like something from the 18" layer, rather than the Split Fish layer...

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PaleoWilliam Regular Member

PaleoWilliam

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Sounds like something from the 18" layer, rather than the Split Fish layer...

It is very thick. So I am assuming you are right.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Blastoid Regular Member

Blastoid

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Surely there is a row of little bumps on one side or the other, no? Looks a bit like a zipper?

Gently scratch away at one of them, and you'll hit a tiny black/brown vertebra. Good light and magnification help immensely. Sharpen your tool like a chisel, with one angled face, and scrape with the edges; sharpen frequently. Don't pick, poke, or pry, just scrape. Protect your eyes and lungs!

The vertebra stick up; from them come the ribs and between the ribs is very, very thin material that you have to be careful with. Maybe start with the tail, since it's more obvious where it goes to and from, and scrape with, not across, the length of the bones.

This is a very slow process, if you're doing it right. You will not have a perfect fish prepared overnight.

Keep us posted on your progress.

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RJB Regular Member

RJB

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Hey William, the best light in the world to try and see what you've got is early morning sunlight. Just as that sun is over the horizon start checking it out. If all you see is a very slight shadow that can look more like an anomaly, that is probably your fish. make sure you mark that line with a pencil. Also, if you have a chainsaw store nearby, they almost always have used files they throw away. If you can sharpen that to a very fine point it will work wonders for a prep tool, just make sure you have a stone nearby and keep that point sharp. Good luck

RB

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