What Slips Through Your Sieve (peace River)

[Senlathiel]

I fossil-hunt on the Peace River in south Florida regularly with several friends (Earthdog on this forum is one). Recently, we became curious as to what kinds of fossils are slipping through our sieves, but none of us had searched the small gravel necessary to find out. They typically pursue the larger, well-preserved fossils--I have no idea how they can find such beauties, but I am still learning. Usually, I can only find the smaller fossils. Last weekend I decided that if I was going to excel at finding the smaller fossils I had better see what kind of small fossils there really were. Instead of hunting with the 1/4th-inch mesh sieve we were used to, I also built and placed a smaller mesh to fit under it (made of bug screening). It is just large enough to let sand grains through, while letting me keep the smaller gravel (and hopefully containing some interesting fossils). I filled up two tuperware containers of the small gravel and took it home to slowly pick through over the week.

This thread is the result of that gravel. It was surprisingly a much bigger time sink than the larger gravel--I spent about 8 hours carefully picking through the equivalent of 2 full sieves-worth of small gravel (about 6 spade shovel-fulls). Definitely only due this if you have good eyesight.

Here is a snapshot of everything I found (all of which could probably fit in an 8oz container):

As you might expect, I found alot of small shark teeth. Here are some examples of those:

Beyond the shark teeth, I found quite a few interesting fossils. Many of them I knew because they were just smaller versions of fossils I catch in the 1/4th-inch mesh sieve. However, there were several mammal bones, rodent teeth, and the like. Several I couldn't identify. Unfortunately, they did not scan as well as the shark teeth.

Following the numbers on the above image, here is what I believe they are, but if anyone with more knowledge knows please correct! (asterisks indicate fossils with more pictures below)

1) Baracuda scale

2) Probably a bird bone. It didn't scan well. There are two holes one one side and one on the bottom side. It appears hollow and light.

3) Assorted bird and fish bones.

4) Puffer fish mouth plates. Both were in bad condition.

5) I am not sure what these are.

6) First of three kinds of new teeth I had not seen before. There are better pictures below. They look like incisors, but I have never seen incisors with a nick in the middle as these have.

7) I originally thought this was a tooth, because it looks to have a grinding surface. However, lately I am thinking it may be a kind of fish scale or armor/dental plate. Better images are below.

8) Small mammal incisors.

9) This is an alligator tooth. There is a line on the side that is in the wrong plane to show up in the scan. Since it was rotted out and in poor condition, I didn't try to get a better picture.

10) Fish tooth, perhaps?

11) Some kind of molars. There were two, just above the #11 and the asterisked tooth. Both appear to have enamel, but are flatter on the top.

12) Fish teeth, perhaps?

13) Assorted vertebrae

14) Fish scales and dermal plates--the asterisked fossil has an interesting shape.

15) More fish scales and dermal plates. Compared to those in #14, these are thicker and appear to be more like armor.

16) I have no idea what these are. Ordinarily, if I had just found one, I would have chucked it as just an unusual fossil fragment. Since I found two however, I doubt it is a random breaking of a larger bone.

Some close-up images:

2)

6)

7)

8)

11)

14)

All in all, I think there are interesting fossils slipping through all our sieves. These will make a welcome addition to my collection, although maybe because of their size, they don't elicit the same excitement in me as the larger fossils. I'll still take a bowl of the gravel home with me every now and then--it is nice to feed the fossil-hunting cravings from the comfort of my own home on occasion.

[PaleoRon]

Interesting material. I have tried that a few times and once in a while I get something really cool, like a whale shark tooth.

My method is to put a large piece of window screen flat on the bottom in a place with no current and use my 1/4 inch screen above it. After a few screens I pick the window screen up by the corners, 2 in my left hand and 2 in my right, and roll the material from side to side to get the sand out. The next step is to store it in a 5 gallon bucket and forget all about it until I accidently find it months later.

[Ramo]

#7 I believe is a Rhinobatos sp shark tooth.

[Auspex]

That is a whole hidden world you've found; I can see where picking through it could be highly addictive!

Your scanner, BTW, has fantastic resolution, and seems perfect for this kind of imaging. Would you please send it to me for "further study"?

[Mango]

That is a lot of tiny stuff.

I also started to sift in a fine mesh after my son discovered that his running shoes were full of tiny teeth when we got home. He told me next time we go that he is going to use his shoes to sift, so I made him a sieve using regular window screen. I need a slightly larger mesh as it still holds some sand.

It is a longer sorting process for fine eyes.

Great pictures and finds.

[MikeD]

That's cool. i have a friend that uses a microscope to sort through that same stuff (for hours). He has some really tiny teeth.

Not sure how long that needle is so I could be wrong. I believe #1 is actually a gar scale. #10 looks like the tip of a barracuda tooth. The curved one in #12 looks like a gar tooth.

[mommabetts]

Those are great finds, even if they are tiny!!!!!!!!

[Harry Pristis]

Your #1 fossil appears to be a ganoid scale from a garfish.

I found these in my Converse high-tops after a Peace River foray.

[tracer]

excellent and interesting posts and pictures.

[Roz]

You have some very nice material in there. I don't think

there is anything more fun than finding teeth etc., that

aren't noticeable at first glance. Good idea to take material for

later too. Some of my best teeth are really tiny.....

[megateeth]

Very cool and like others have said, those are great images.

[Frank Menser]

I agree with #1 being a gar scale. Collected a lot of those in Fla.

Hunting the remains of others siftings has always been profitable for me. It is amazing what gets left behind-and not always tiny stuff. I have some really nice (up to 1 1/2") shark teeth that got tossed with the larger waste.

[Fat Boy]

Very interesting and cool stuff! This is an area of collecting that I plan to do to expand my collection as well. I'm also impressed with the scanner and resolution. May I ask what type you have?

Could #16 be fragments of ratfish dental plates perhaps? Do you have a higher resolution pic of those?

Thanks for sharing!

Collecting in the field is so much fun for me, but I've found when I bring material home to search for micros that it's almost as fun!

Great post!

[Senlathiel]

Thank you all for the help in identifying. You know, I knew that was a gar scale... I have no idea why I wrote baracuda. Mad props should go to Bowkill, #7 is indeed a Rhinobatos sp shark tooth. I've already started to find more fossils I can't identify in other gravel, and I hope to post them later when I collect enough.

The scanner everyone keeps asking about is a HP C3140 All-in-one. It was purchased a few years ago, and it doens't seem to be for sale any longer. However, reviewing the Walmart website, it looks like the HP C4440 All-in-one is a decendent printer. It sells for $99. It looks exactly like the one I have. I'm not sure if it is the scanner though; the extra resolution in the images is there because I changed the default scanning resolution from 200 dpi to 900. (Try it before going to out buy a new scanner ) I hope that helps.

Happy digging.

[fossilover]

Hi Senlathiel,

I juste recently started going through a 5 gal. bucket I brought back from some dirt collected at Lee Creek. My original plan was to find larger shark teeth. But, I found myself going through all the dirt with tweezers and am now finding similar stuff to what you have posted. It amazes me that here we are, looking for the big stuff, and all the dirt we are pushing out of the way contains probably dozens of tiny fossils that are just as interesting if not more so than the big stuff. Great stuff you have!

Angela

[fossilover]

Here's a couple pics of a few things I've found. I think this stuff was all just from the first bowl of material. The last pic I think are all tiny fish verts.

[NSRaddict_1]

Wow , that is amazing .

[fossilselachian]

Your finger prints are now on FILE!!

Some close-up images:

2)

6)

7)

8)

11)

14)

All in all, I think there are interesting fossils slipping through all our sieves. These will make a welcome addition to my collection, although maybe because of their size, they don't elicit the same excitement in me as the larger fossils. I'll still take a bowl of the gravel home with me every now and then--it is nice to feed the fossil-hunting cravings from the comfort of my own home on occasion.

[worthy 55]

Man! I think I'll have to try that next time I go that is really cool stuff.

[Pitviper]

I just signed up for a Meg trip to the peace river with megalodonexpeditions.com, It's a hundred bucks a person which seem like a good enough deal. If I have time on my own, are there any spots you'd recommend I check out?

Bryan

[Guest jeepbrew]

I just signed up for a Meg trip to the peace river with megalodonexpeditions.com, It's a hundred bucks a person which seem like a good enough deal. If I have time on my own, are there any spots you'd recommend I check out?

Bryan

I was thinking this time of the year was no good for fossiling the Peace. Thought the river was too high, and therefore too Tanic. Is that not the case?

[Dave Bowen]

Ahhh, the joys of graveling in your own home. My whole family is addicted to this activity now.

Very nice finds!

[earthdog]

I just signed up for a Meg trip to the peace river with megalodonexpeditions.com, It's a hundred bucks a person which seem like a good enough deal. If I have time on my own, are there any spots you'd recommend I check out?

Bryan

You're in for a treat ! Mark Renz is the best guide. Good Luck on your hunt.

[CreekCrawler]

Very cool! It's amazing what can be left behind.

[Pitviper]

You're in for a treat ! Mark Renz is the best guide. Good Luck on your hunt.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Earthdog! I'll actually be staying in your neck of the woods, at the Naples KOA. I'm looking forward to a few days of photography, snake hunting, and fossil sifting. Probably spend a good amount of time in Big cypress. Is it any wonder my wife and I take seperate vacations??!!