Volunteer Dig With The FLMNH

[digit]

Yup. Heard through the grapevine that you were heading down to the new site later this month. Similar to Thomas Farm in many ways but different as well. Just got back home from the 5 hour drive south. Got the car cleaned out and cleaning up myself now. Will pick through some photos tomorrow.

Cheers.

-Ken

[digit]

So yesterday we finished up our last day volunteering at the dig site. I continued to work down the depth of the matrix around a large femur from a juvenile gomphothere. That bone is lying diagonally through a couple of grid squares and is located under the white plastic bags in the upper right corner of this photo.

The area that I was working in was rather devoid of fossils. It was mostly a few thin layers of tan clay, sometimes mixed with coarse sand and phosphate granules, and in between the clay layers was a fine white silica 'sugar' sand. The sand was quite soft and digging through the square with a screwdriver I was able to make quick but careful progress. It was kind of like dismantling a sand castle at the beach with a screwdriver. Occasionally, I would feel the tip of the screwdriver hit something more solid or hear it scrape against something more immobile than the sand. Most of the time this turned out to be small rocks or brownish phosphate nodules. A few times though it was something more interesting. In addition to random pieces of turtle shell I came across this nice fish vertebra.

In the side of the wall where I was excavating I spotted a hint of dark brown. Many times this was the cross section of a dark clay/mud layer but this looked different. A bit of probing with a dental pick proved it to be more solid. After a little more digging I was able to pull out a nice complete fish spine--the largest I'd seen so far. Dr. Hulbert mentioned that these likely came from a Black Drum (Pogonias cromis). Several others found similar large spines in their squares so we declared ourselves founding members of the Black Drum Club.

[digit]

Dr. Hulbert asked me to extend my excavation a bit closer to the femur that was under the white plastic bags. As I started working closer to the femur I detected something solid among the soft sand. I removed the sand from around the area and left this object for Dr. Hulbert to see. To me it didn't have the features of the other bones and turtle shell we'd been finding and it almost looked like a wide flat rock. Most of the rocks we'd been finding were smaller (mostly marble size) so I wanted his input on this item. When he came over he picked at it for a bit to uncover it a bit more and then got the hose (it's nice to have running water at the dig site) and lightly misted around the object to gently uncover it. Once he got a good look at it he was able to confirm his initial thought that it was a epiphysis--possibly associated with the gomphothere bones just in back of it.

We let the epiphysis dry out a bit and then gave it a coating of the Paraloid B-72 that they use to consolidate and harden brittle or crumbly objects. Usually the plastic B-72 pellets would be dissolved in acetone for the best penetration but because most of the specimens in the field were damp they used ethanol as the solvent as it works better. Once the initial application of B-72 had set, I dug out around the back of the epiphysis to make a bit of a pedestal. This item won't be jacketed but needed to be freed from the wall a bit so that the rear edge and sides could be soaked solidifying it more. Then it will be removed from the pedestal, flipped over, and the matrix material removed till the under surface is revealed. This will also be soaked with some more B-72 so that the entire epiphysis is stabilized. Clearing away the backside was the last thing I did at the site before heading home so Dr. Hulbert will be finishing the work on this item (likely done this morning).

[digit]

Tammy continued to work in here square from yesterday. She found more of the camel leg bone from the previous day.

She also found here share of garfish ganoid scales. I had found two large ones earlier in the week and it was her turn to spot a large and showy one.

The back corner of her square contained several articulated turtle shell bones. A lot of probing and excavating around these showed that the shell didn't extend to more pieces so it was decided that a plaster jacket would not be necessary and so Tammy carefully removed and bagged all the pieces in a smaller bag so that the prep lab would know that they were associated bones and could try to reassemble into a larger whole. That bag of turtle then went into the large bone bag for her square.

[digit]

While waiting for Tammy to excavate the associated turtle shell pieces at the back corner of her grid square I encountered a bit of articulated turtle shell of my own. My screwdriver detected an object more solid than the surrounding soft sand and so I cleared the area enough to see that it was more than a single piece of shell. Then I had to check the extent as a complete (or nearly so) shell would be jacketed rather than being removed piecemeal. Some removal of the material beyond where the shell pieces were was enough to show that it did not extend to more than just a handful of pieces. These pieces were carefully removed and some of the matrix below the cluster was removed before they got a bag of their own.

[digit]

Our last couple days at the dig site didn't have as many interesting finds as the first two--but that it how it goes as you never know what you are going to find (or not find). I just make up for less finds with more photos of the recovery of each.

Tammy had to leave a number of alligator bones at the edge of her square as they continued onto the adjoining square and it is best to collect the bones together to preserver the association back in the lab. She did find some more camel bone and had fun working the associated cluster of turtle shell bones at the end of the day. She actually thought we should get on the road back home earlier than we did because she was busy with this turtle shell. I used this "bonus" time to uncover a few more finds (mostly turtle).

The area I worked was largely a fossil desert--complete with sand! Though it was soft matrix and easy to work through it didn't provide too many finds. I was able to make some good progress though in reducing the level of the matrix around the gomph femur so I feel I did my part for the overall cause. The weather was glorious, the company grand, and at least several others were finding interesting bits that we got to see at the moment of their unveiling. Our friend Cindy who was working the square next to Tammy got into a cluster of rib bones that just kept turning up one after the other.

For us, the opportunity to dig on a fossil rich site like this and to work with (and learn from) experts like Dr. Hulbert is priceless. Whether we're turning up rare and delicate bird bones or adding to the large amount of turtle material at the site (six species and counting), it is the act of fossil hunting and the potential that something interesting may be just a few inches away that drives the passion and motivates us to make the effort to volunteer. While you don't get to keep any of the finds you do get to take lots of photos. The experience is very rewarding and I encourage anybody with an interest to check into volunteering with the FLMNH on one of their digs.

Cheers.

-Ken

[ynot]

This has been a very nice trip report!! I have enjoyed the dig and the finds that You and Tammy made!

Thank You for taking Us along!!
Tony

[digit]

My pleasure. I don't come close to having the profound fossil knowledge that many on this forum possess and I may not have a knack for creating contests , but I do like making trips to hunt for fossils (and other items) and I enjoy taking photos of my trips. As can be witnessed by the bulk of my postings, I am rarely at a loss for words. I've combined these two "skills" and enjoy crafting trip reports for the forum. My hope is that it will provide a virtual trip experience to those far off who may never get the opportunity to experience these locations for themselves and also as an enticement to those with the means and proximity to add these places to their bucket list and have their own special experience.

When I get a chance in the upcoming days, I'll dig through the rest of my photos and post images of some of the other fossils that were uncovered while we were there (but not by us).

Cheers.

-Ken

[Auspex]

This is a very inspirational topic! I am sure that many readers will be encouraged to volunteer at some site someday.

...The area I worked was largely a fossil desert--complete with sand! Though it was soft matrix and easy to work through it didn't provide too many finds...

And this, too, is data that will help understand the site.

[jcbshark]

Great pics and story Ken I really like the hoof core, that's on my list

[digit]

Great pics and story Ken I really like the hoof core, that's on my list

I found a hoof core a couple years ago when I volunteered at the Thomas Farm site. My recollection was that it was even smaller than this one. Thomas Farm is ~15mya whereas this site is later (~7-4mya) so the horses may have been smaller back then. Because I'd seen one of these before I was pretty sure I knew what I'd found.

Planning on going back to Thomas Farm again this year. You can be sure there will be a long-winded and heavily illustrated trip report from that expedition.

Cheers.

-Ken

[digit]

Here are a few more images of some of the other finds while at the dig. I probably should have spent more time photographing some of the cool things that were turning up in some of the other grid squares but much of the time I was busy digging my square and photo-documenting the items I was finding. Here are a couple of photos of various gomphothere pieces (ribs, bones, and verts) cleaned-up and waiting jacketing. On of the last things we got to see before we left was the backside of a turtle shell--nicely articulated--that was just emerging from the sandy clay.

Cheers.

-Ken

[digit]

Here's a bit of an update on this topic of the volunteer dig at the new Montbrook site.

Tammy and I found ourselves back up in the Ocala area for reasons I'll elaborate on a little later. I'd been wanting to get back to Montbrook before the site closed for the summer (May 13). There are few full weekend dates over the next couple of weeks and so a return trip to digging Montbrook kind of fell together while we were in the Ocala area. The weather looked a bit rainy over the last couple of days and I didn't know if the site had gotten swamped with water and was even available for digging. I shot an email to Dr. Hulbert inquiring about the possibility of us heading over for a weekend of volunteer digging and he said there would be room for us. Today started out quite overcast with some sprinkles en route to the site (and a brief sprinkle in the early afternoon for a few minutes that did little but cool us of in the heat of the day. The clouds continuously cycled from dark foreboding overcast to nearly clear blue skies with just a hint of white puffy clouds. The breeze (more than slight at times) was also welcome making for pretty near ideal conditions. Recent rains had softened up some of the dried out areas of matrix as well and made for splendid digging.

We were joined by a group of students from the University of Florida as part of their class on paleo fieldwork. They were working at the other end (the deeper part of the pit) on some larger gomphothere bones. We also had the pleasure of meeting another Florida TFF member--Brown Bear who came out to dig this weekend.

The site looked quite different from when we last saw it over a month ago. The large wall of sand at the deep end of the pit had been pulled back with heavy equipment so the cave-in risk had been eliminated allowing work on the many proboscidean fossils located there. In the first picture below you can see the large space behind the student in the white shirt that has had the overburden cleared (and stacked on either side at ground level). The volunteers continued to work the upper portion of the dig site.

Tammy decided to work the square to the left of the yellow matrix buckets (formerly sources of similar looking kitty litter). I chose to work the square under the bucket where you can see the depression left from a jacket that was removed just yesterday. Someone had found a mandible of a late Miocene hyena-like dog (I'm assuming Epicyon). There was also a vertebra found nearby while trenching this jaw for jacketing that looked like it might be associated. That vertebra was going into Tammy's square so these squares hold the promise of some interesting finds. I felt a momentary micro-glimmer of pride that Dr. Hulbert said he wanted people with Thomas Farm experience to be working these squares as they could turn up some important finds.

So here I am again for the third time in a little over a month on a volunteer dig with the FLMNH. I don't usually smile for the camera--in fact I usually try to stay behind the lens when I can. But you can clearly see I'm glad to be back in my element (sand and clay?)

[digit]

My job was to dig down the remainder of my square to the level of the base of where the hyena-dog jacket was removed. There were several thin clay layers and some gritty brown phosphatic gravel layers to go through but much of this square was a soft powdery sand that with recent moisture fairly fell apart at times. The digging was pretty effortless and before long turtle carapace pieces started turning up. At Thomas Farm the two 3-toed horse species seem to dominate the finds but here it is turtle (six different species and counting). Here is a tiny little neural from in back of the nuchal, a couple of costal plates still in situ, and possibly a suprapygal from the back end of the turtle or as I like to call it the southern end a northward-facing turtle.

Montbrook is also rife with garfish ganoid scales. These are one of my wife's favorites when we are sifting on the Peace River. She beat me to the punch with the first one but then I found a few small ones (and a cluster of a few similar size scales that were likely associated). Before the day was out I managed to find some of the large alligator gar scales as I had done my last time out here. The odd looking piece that does not have the same shape as the other scales is a bony plate from the skull of a garfish.

[digit]

Speaking of turtles--Dr. Hulbert worked on preparing for jacketing a turtle specimen that looked to be a reasonably complete carapace AND plastron.

[digit]

Over at the deep end of the pit the students were working on prepping a large gomphothere humerus to get ready for jacketing and removal. We took a break from our work to have a look at it before the top surface was covered up again with a thin layer of moist sand to protect if from the plaster. We also got to see a nice gomphothere caudal (tail) vertebra found nearby.

Once they got the specimen jacketed and the plaster had set in the heat of the afternoon, they grabbed the cargo net (fossil hammock) and, with all the care of a group of pallbearers, walked the 300 pound jacket out of the lower part of the pit and up the incline to ground level where it was deposited in the back of the university's van.

[digit]

I continued to find a few interesting bits in my square as I cleared out the soft sand. I found one very large alligator osteoderm that was, unfortunately, quite brittle and came out in half a dozen pieces. This smaller one with the nice faint bluish-purple tones was in much better shape.

I continued to find turtle bits--not only shell but some other bones like this scapula and pelvic piece. I found a similar pelvic bone on my last time here with the one end showing an interesting tri-cusped shape where it articulated with other bones in the pelvis. It was easy to recognize once I saw this one.

Unfortunately, no additional signs of hyena-like dog turned up today in my square and I nearly have it down to the level for which I'm aiming. I plan on leveling this off and then working on Tammy's square which is now significantly higher than mine and needs to be dropped some. Fingers will be crossed that while working down this square tomorrow some interesting pieces (beyond turtle and gator emerge). The signs are good since Tammy had already started finding several pieces of juvenile gomphothere rib bones.

Here's a parting shot for tonight of the back of the university's van where you can see a couple of turtle shell jackets and the large gomphothere humerus still wrapped in the cargo net.

We'll be heading back south for the 5-hour trek home immediately after leaving the site tomorrow so my next post with (hopefully) spectacular images of (hopefully) incredible finds (hopefully) will likely be sometime Monday.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Ludwigia]

So here I am again for the third time in a little over a month on a volunteer dig with the FLMNH. I don't usually smile for the camera--in fact I usually try to stay behind the lens when I can. But you can clearly see I'm glad to be back in my element (sand and clay?)

P4160107.jpg

And I'd say that you're really back in your sediment. Thanks for the update and good luck for the morrow.

[digit]

Thanks Roger. I played in the dirt as a kid which seems to have been perfect training for later in life. I've got a good feeling about the section we're going to work today and hope it pans out--makes it easier to write these trip reports.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Scylla]

What a dig! 🐘

[calhounensis]

Today was my first time on a dig with the VP side of FLMNH. It was quite rewarding. I didn't take many pictures today so I'll let Ken handle that when he returns home. I recommend making it out if you can before this season closes.

[digit]

So finally caught up on things after a weekend of fossil hunting. I've been able to sort through the photos from our last day at Montbrook and put together a conclusion to this trip report (at least from my perspective). I say that because Tammy and I met up with TFF member John-Michael (Brown Bear) who came out to dig at Montbrook for the weekend. On Sunday we were also joined by Daniel (calhounensis) who was down in Florida for a multi-day trip to Florida to attend the Florida Paleontological Society meeting. You can see some of Daniel's eye-popping finds in the topic Jack (Shellseeker) started: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/64350-smr-april-15th/

Here's some photos of Daniel, John-Michael, and yours truly out in the field at Montbrook:

[digit]

My plan for the day was to finish leveling my square to the depth of the hyena-like dog jacket that was removed on Friday before we got there. I only had a bit more to go (a few inches of depth) from around the edges of the square (as the dog mandible jacket was nearly in the middle of the grid square). The matrix was mostly very soft sand that came out as easily as deconstructing a sandcastle at the beach with a flat-blade screwdriver--time consuming but pretty easy and straightforward. Turtles are one of the most common finds at the Montbrook site (especially the area of the site we were digging). In addition to many shell fragments (and larger articulated shell assemblages) we often find other bones like vertebrae, toes and scapulae or pieces of the pelvic girdle. I had found pelvic turtle pieces before and so was able to identify these myself without bothering Dr. Hulbert for an identification. I think I showed Daniel and John-Michael the first one I found on Sunday so they might recognize one if a similar specimen turned up in their squares. Soon, I had found a second and then a third and fourth. After around half a dozen of these pelvic bones John-Michael dubbed me "Pelvis Presley" a moniker I hope doesn't follow me outside of Montbrook.

I continued to clear material so that I could finish my square off with a nice level surface--pleasing to my OCD tendencies. I came across a few other (non-pelvic) bones like a good size fish vert that was clearly apparent as soon as I uncovered the first glimpse of its distinctive contours in situ.

I was making good progress bagging the few finds in the sandy soil and moving a lot of material out of my square. The sound of my screwdriver hitting an object while I dug through the soft sand indicated that I'd either found another phosphate rock or possibly a more substantial fossil--in this case the latter. When it came out it was only a broken half of a long bone but solid and in good shape. Dr. Hulbert was sitting just a square or so away and when I asked him if it was gator he replied that it was likely a gator tibia and then asked if the rest of it was there. From where I had dug out this piece there didn't seem to be any additional pieces so I told him that this seemed to be all of it (partial bones are, as expected, of less interest than complete bones--even if they are broken in pieces). After a few more minutes of digging I located the remainder of this bone several inches away and perpendicular to the orientation of the first half--something for the prep-lab to reassemble.

[Auspex]

The FLMNH really has their act together; if anyone knows of similar opportunities under other auspices, please post about it in the Partners in Paleontology forum.

[digit]

I was nearly done dropping my square to a nice even level when I came upon a posterior peripheral bone from the carapace of a Trachemys (slider turtle) shell. I probed around to see if there were more bones or if this was an isolated bone. A minute later after probing and excavating with the dental pick, I had uncovered a few more peripheral pieces still articulated in life position. This meant there may be an entire shell hiding below and so I had to shift my working plan.

I how had to go down another inch or two and try to determine the extend of the specimen. Working along the outline giving myself a few inches of extra room and then working back to where I thought shell pieces might lay I slowly encircled the perimeter of the specimen--the size of a dinner plate. It was rather tricky at times because it seems that at this layer were several other clusters of semi-articulated turtle shell. It seemed that no matter where I carefully probed I soon ran into more turtle bits. I had to think about how to proceed so as not to mess up anything and at times it seemed there was more turtle than non-turtle in my square. Then I needed to dig down several inches and clear a trench around the pedestal for this specimen.

We (Daniel, John-Michael, and myself) kept Dr. Hulbert reasonably busy toward the end of the day making plaster jackets for all of the articulated turtle shells we'd been uncovering.