minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 After a day on the beach collecting small sharks teeth (Florida part 1), I was up to a more exhilarating experience. To help with this, I employed a guide and old friend from the Fossil Forum. His name is not to be mentioned. But if classified United States government leaks are OK, I should be fine mentioning his forum name begins with J and ends with ark. You can figure the rest out. There was to be four of us on this outing, Unfortunately one member of the group which I had the pleasure of hunting with before, needed to visit his ailing mother. Chris, my thoughts are with you and mom, and I hope she is doing well. Also, congratulations on the antler/ skull you found in our secret hole!! Weather was perfect and water levels low making what I thought would be a great day hunting in an interior river of Southern Florida. When we parked our vehicle after a 40 minute drive, Jeff informed us we had quite a hike into where we would be sifting. Unfortunately, it is for this reason, I have no in situ pictures of our excursion. I kept the camera in the car. Initially, Jeff placed me in a spot that he had previously found some nice material at. I think so I could resift what he had done before!!!! However, he missed one nice tooth. Hah! Kidding aside, I did abandon this site in short order as sand would cover the gravel as quickly as I had it exposed. Much labor for little love! My mind convinced me to sneak down below some deadfalls and sift closer to where Jeff was. Jackpot with regards to turtle shell. Many large pieces at 1 inch thick were collected. My hopes were that the pieces came from the same shell and I could maybe reconstruct it at home. No such luck!!! They must have been large turtles/ tortoises! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Also small pieces of mammoth tooth littered this collecting area. Jeff eventually pulled up this chunk of tooth and donated it to the needy (me). Jeff must have felt bad about the quality of this tooth, so back at his house, he donated to the needy again!! Thank you!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Nice finds! : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 After exploring this spot thoroughly, we slipped downstream to a narrowing and deepening of the river. There was fallen trees in the river here which scoured a deeper spot. This ended up being our honey hole for the day. We spent the rest of the day, in an area 10 feet by 5 feet, pulling up a wonderful variety of fossils as you can see: I think this is petrified wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBOB Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Always love reading the Florida fossil finding posts! I'm heading down to Florida for this weekend for a week and getting excited. Going to camp/canoe along the Peace River for a few days taking in the tranquility and hopefully finding some good stuff. Always like seeing the mammoth finds. Good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Mixture of bones/joints. If any are identifiable, don't hesitate to chime in. Should have taken time away from searching so my guide could have identified everything for me! I have seen this before on TFF but can't remember what it is. Alligator tooth. Had a MUCH larger one. It maybe tucked in the seam of my suitcase!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 More bones, this time midshaft long bones of something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 This one is probable JUNK, but thought it looked enough like a horn or claw to post and see what a fool I am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Another horn, I assume deer. Parrot fish mouth piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Whale ear bone? Fish skull? Another donation to the needy by Jeff!! What are the holes on the edge of the vertebrae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Turtle soft shell? Gator? I have a hard time telling soft shell turtle from gator from croc skin This location provided me with a mix of wonderful fossils. In many people's minds, they envision teeth of sharks all over. Not so here. We sifted with large bore screen that allowed the smaller and more numerous teeth to fall out. This way the MICRO MIX people have something to find after Jeff cleans up. For me, at my age, I enjoy the larger items (because I can see them!!). But here are some teeth that we found: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 In closing Florida part 2's content, I must again thank J....ark for being such a gracious host. (By the way, how is that hound of yours doing on the meds?) Jeff was kind enough to offer his bartending expertise to me after a long day of slinging sand and gravel. I needed it! But what I needed more was a couple aspirin for the aching back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Nice report and great finds! Love the sharkteeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 hours ago, minnbuckeye said: In closing Florida part 2's content, I must again thank J....ark for being such a gracious host. (By the way, how is that hound of yours doing on the meds?) Jeff was kind enough to offer his bartending expertise to me after a long day of slinging sand and gravel. I needed it! But what I needed more was a couple aspirin for the aching back! My favorite way to end a trip! Great finds Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Great pics Mike and it was certainly a pleasure getting to do some hunting with you again your one unknown looks to be a lower hemi tooth. I'm glad the weather cooperated this time around.The hound seems to be getting around better and I appreciate you taking a look at him while you were here reach out anytime you're down here and I'd be happy to get out again 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...
Bev Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Great FINDS Mike! I am just glowing green with envy! What A TRIP! On my bucket list is finding a real mammoth tooth! The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vieira Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Great finds. Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 0:12 PM, minnbuckeye said: Jackpot with regards to turtle shell. Many large pieces at 1 inch thick were collected. My hopes were that the pieces came from the same shell and I could maybe reconstruct it at home. No such luck!!! They must have been large turtles/ tortoises! That large is probably even bigger than the big alligator snapping turtle and would likely be from the giant tortoise (think Galapagos tortoises)--Hesperotestudo. On 2/19/2017 at 0:36 PM, minnbuckeye said: I think this is petrified wood? Could be--looks like it. Petrified wood is actually not very common on the Peace. On 2/19/2017 at 0:44 PM, minnbuckeye said: I have seen this before on TFF but can't remember what it is. Yup. Lower Hemipristis as mentioned above. On 2/19/2017 at 0:44 PM, minnbuckeye said: Alligator tooth. Had a MUCH larger one. It maybe tucked in the seam of my suitcase!! They always look bigger when you first find them--they shrink later (I swear). Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 0:52 PM, minnbuckeye said: This one is probable JUNK, but thought it looked enough like a horn or claw to post and see what a fool I am! Might possibly be a chunk of mammoth tooth. That might be an enamel circle. Would have to see it in hand or maybe additional photos to commit. On 2/19/2017 at 1:08 PM, minnbuckeye said: Another horn, I assume deer. Yup. Looks like deer antler to me. On 2/19/2017 at 1:08 PM, minnbuckeye said: Parrot fish mouth piece Pufferfish (not parrotfish). You can google Diodontidae (or Diodon) tooth plate for more images. On 2/19/2017 at 1:13 PM, minnbuckeye said: Another donation to the needy by Jeff!! What are the holes on the edge of the vertebrae? Not quite sure of the function of the slots in the sides of these verts but that's the way shark verts look. Nice specimen. On 2/19/2017 at 1:22 PM, minnbuckeye said: Turtle soft shell? Uh--yup. On 2/19/2017 at 1:22 PM, minnbuckeye said: ator? I have a hard time telling soft shell turtle from gator from croc skin Two on the left with the deeper pits look gator--the others with shallower texturing are likely soft-shell turtle. On 2/19/2017 at 1:33 PM, minnbuckeye said: I needed it! But what I needed more was a couple aspirin for the aching back! A healthy dose of ibuprofen or other NSAID works better for me than aspirin (which works better for headaches). Sometimes when I know I'll be straining I pre-load in the morning and take another serving immediately after I get off the river and cleaned-up. That way I can move again as soon as the following day. Looks like it was a great trip. J.....k really knows how to show others the greatness that is Florida fossil hunting. Glad you had a good time. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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