Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 So I've been hovering over a 30LB box of Aurora matrix on Ebay for a few weeks and I decided that ... well hell ... it's cheaper than driving, it's hotter than Hades at the moment, and my son would love to help me sift the matrix right ?? Water-balloons were on deck for the day of the reveal. Ok ... so moving on ... That box is HAVEY ya'll !! .... I'm from the south so it's ok. My Tools Ooooooo ... Instructions, I like this guy. So I decided after a suggestion from Ken a.k.a. "digit" I would pull out a window screen and sift down to the micro-fossil size to really stretch this down to the last nibble. And it sounded cool. Overall it was a great experience, and I realized quickly that 30Lbs of material takes a little time to sift in the heat. The teeth were varied, small but abundant. Extinct Tiger sharks, Sand Tiger sharks, Requiem sharks, lemon shark (?) and possibly a thresher shark ..... (I'm still learning my way around the ID's) broken teeth of larger sharks etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Some of the finds minus the coral and larger brachiopods ... etc. Not every tooth is in there, just a sampling. The micro-fossils though are the best. I don't have any fancy setup (yet) just my eyes, fingers, a crazy bright light, and patience. Down at the micro level there were at least a dozen or more small teeth per hand-full and then there are fish bones, a jaw or two, various sorts of fish teeth, internal molds, gastropods, brachiopods, fish verts. You name it and that stuff has got it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 So tiny .... If anyone wants a small bag of this stuff and you are in the US I don't think I will make it through all of the matrix if you wanna give it a go. Just PM me and I'll send some along of the extra ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Thanks for sharing with us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smt126 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Wow lots of little fossils in there. Hope the little guy had fun helping dad sift through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Not to bad for (at least I would think) recent matrix from Lee Creek. I have seen current matrix on E Bay for $9 for 8 ounces which is ridiculous. The current matrixes (the last 6 or 8 years) have not always been very good, some downright poor. The matrix from this years fossil festival is actually pretty good. Make sure you clean it very very good to find all of the really good small stuff. There are catshark teeth in there that can be less than 1mm. I usually wash the matrix from Lee Creek I have ( over 10 years old) at least 5 or 6 times to make sure it is fully searchable. When washing it I use a .75 mm sift to make sure I do mot lose any of the goodies. Some of the rarest and hardest to find teeth from Lee Creek are micro teeth. 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) Hi Pete this was 30lbs for 40 bucks so the math doesn't work out so bad. But of course it is unsifted and it took awhile to get all of the mud and clay off of the matrix. It's all cleaned and dry now after sending it down through an old window screen that I have from the house. It took a day or two. The size of which I need to reconsider given the new information but I am seeing small ~1mm drum (sp.?) and several Lagodon teeth now in the mix. The small buckets that I have now seem quite clean, but the next time around I will be more careful with the sifter size. I'll see if I can't sort in the next few days a few hand-fulls and post the images. The matrix is truly chock full of everything I have seen online and on the forum, it hasn't disappointed so far. I'd love to find a few types of denticles and of course a few more interesting teeth (ie. various shark species). The best shot I have of actually 'seeing' them closely is with my flatbed scanner set to a high resolution. I don't yet have any real professional tools to view/sort/catalog the finds. Though a flatbed scanner and Photoshop aren't too bad actually given my limitations. These are not the smallest of my finds, but this is where the naked eye starts to break down. Fish verts, a few of the Lagodon, a Dasyatis, and one Drum tooth. The other drum tooth was half the size and apparently when I dropped it and picked it up in the low light to scan it .... looks like I grabbed a suggestive piece of dirt instead. haha ... Darn. Thanks again for the info. Not to bad for (at least I would think) recent matrix from Lee Creek. I have seen current matrix on E Bay for $9 for 8 ounces which is ridiculous. The current matrixes (the last 6 or 8 years) have not always been very good, some downright poor. The matrix from this years fossil festival is actually pretty good. Make sure you clean it very very good to find all of the really good small stuff. There are catshark teeth in there that can be less than 1mm. I usually wash the matrix from Lee Creek I have ( over 10 years old) at least 5 or 6 times to make sure it is fully searchable. When washing it I use a .75 mm sift to make sure I do mot lose any of the goodies. Some of the rarest and hardest to find teeth from Lee Creek are micro teeth. Edited August 26, 2016 by Brett Breakin' Rocks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Here are some of my really small Lee Creek micros 2 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchiornis Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Amazing! I'd better go to the Museum one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Here are some of my really small Lee Creek micros Micro's on a Dime (6).JPG Micro's on a Dime (5).JPG Micro's on a Dime (4).JPG Micro's on a Dime (3).JPG Micro's on a Dime (2).JPG Hi Pete, Ha, I think I've seen a few of your micro collections. I've been hunting them down on the forum for visual reference. Using Elasmo.com as a resource as well has been invaluable. I've been doing a little digging but have come up empty .... does anyone know the identification of the little 'fangs', which some folks are saying is a type of fish tooth. Would this be from a barracuda-esque type of fish ? Cheers Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I've been doing a little digging but have come up empty .... does anyone know the identification of the little 'fangs', which some folks are saying is a type of fish tooth. Would this be from a barracuda-esque type of fish ? Cheers Thanks Those particular teeth have never been ID'd, at least to my knowledge. There are quite a few fish with very similar type fangs. Some types of porgies, speckled trout, gray trout just to name a few. 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 A smattering of the latest finds. Unsorted as of yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barerootbonsai Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Hi Bret, looking great, I am currently doing the same in Bristol, following my trip to Aust. It is so much fun. I have to dissolve the rock with vinegar first though. i need to buy a decent camara and magnifying glass too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 9 hours ago, Barerootbonsai said: Hi Bret, looking great, I am currently doing the same in Bristol, following my trip to Aust. It is so much fun. I have to dissolve the rock with vinegar first though. i need to buy a decent camara and magnifying glass too. Hi Bareroot, I have a decent camera ... just not one soo small. Haha ... to be honest though Elasmo.com does give some good tips for using a flatbed scanner which is what I'm using. You can get some very detailed high resolution images, but the lighting is the trick. The scanners blast the specimens with light and destroy some of the nice contrast that helps to mold the surface in 3 dimensions. Scanning teeth using a flatbed scanner. Cheers, Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barerootbonsai Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Wow never thought of that. Thanks will look it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 A select few of the new finds that I thought were interesting. Well, it's all interesting really ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Nice finds and pictures! Thanks for sharing. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 16 minutes ago, ynot said: Nice finds and pictures! Thanks for sharing. Tony Thanks Tony .. it has been a real eye-opener so to speak. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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