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March 2017 Finds Of The Month


Cris

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Alright, the weather should be warming up in many places this month...Get out there and find some fossils to enter in this month's contest!

Remember...carefully read the rules below, make sure you include all the required information, and submit your fossil!  If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me a PM. 

Please pay special attention to Rule #5: Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds. Best of success to all, and good hunting!

Entries will be taken through March 31st. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.
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Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you.

2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per contest category.)

3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or most of the significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.

4. You must include the Date of your Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Discovery date (if not found in the contest month).

5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest.

6. You must include the common or scientific name.

7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found.

8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the Fossil was found.

9. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. So, only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll. Photos of the winning specimens may be posted to TFF's Facebook page.

Within a few days, we will know the two winning Finds of the Month! Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

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31 minutes ago, Cris said:

Entries will be taken through February 28th. Please let us know if you have any questions,

That does not leave much time to make an entry.:D

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.

 

 

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1 minute ago, ynot said:

That does not leave much time to make an entry.:D


That's right, just 38 minutes left! :D

I knew I was going to miss editing the contests somewhere. I'm a little rusty. :headscratch:

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Here is my entry VFOTM. The color on this tooth is stunning! And it is not edited!

 

Petalodus sp. Chondricthyan Tooth

Mississippian Period

Cumberland Plateau, USA

St. Louis Limestone

Found on March 4, 2017

2.8cm across crown

red_petalodus.jpg

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Hi there, i'll try my luck again this month.

 

The specimen was found on same day than the one i presented for last month contest ( feb 15th), or shall i say it was brought home that day....

Let me explain. I brought home a block with just a headless trilo visible. The plan was to crack it to see if the head was there. That was done a few days later

So after a bit of beating a part of the shale left the main block.

I got desapointed as i discovered the head was there but seperated from the body and even worst, flipped down under (the carapace break during the trilo moult)

Then i noticed on the other side of the block a wonderful surprise. Another bug was there, partially poping out of its nodule.

I then realized i had something good in hands. First picture is the pre prep one. i decided that if second trilo kept its promises i would glue the head of first one about where it was but in the correct position... Still a bit away of the body since it s a moult...

On second picture you can the the block during the prep process. At some time the "moult one" carapace started to shatter so i had to consolidated it, but the second one was pristine ; you can't find them better than that on this site. By itself it would have deserved a shot at IFOTM.

Last picture it the finished block, my first double and now my collection best piece.

 

Neseuretus Tristani X 2

Ordovician /  Landeilien (-460 MA)

Found in La Dominelais - Brittany - France on feb 15th 2017

Prep finished on march 10th 2017

Size : block  : 45 cm * 10 cm  / first trilo : 7 cm * 6 cm / second one : 10 cm * 4 cm

 

stage1.JPGstage2.thumb.JPG.a2709e175865e2522c7089cb53241253.JPGstage3.thumb.JPG.599ef636c4cf9e9a29daaaa4c3deaf4e.JPG

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My entry for VFOTM. Mosasaur angular with shark feeding marks & possible shark tooth embedded in bone.

 

 

Found Mar 14, 2017

North Sulphur River Texas

Ozan Formation

Late Cretaceous

17212229_10207258283255858_7466861651133576234_o.jpg

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17264114_10207254311476566_8336984728389183018_n.jpg

17265156_10207254311396564_2907247532079499812_n (1).jpg

 

 

17155203_10207254311676571_4782683657542885182_n.jpg

17308798_10207254310756548_3701243593749840366_n.jpg

 

17308818_10207254310956553_8446607717962379293_n.jpg

17353189_10207254310796549_79409538323760990_n.jpg

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On 13/03/2017 at 11:38 PM, elcoincoin said:

The pristine one :

 

 

detail-second-1.JPG

detail-second-2.JPG

Is that a Phacopidae?

Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy!

 

Q. Where do dinosaurs study?

A. At Khaan Academy!...

 

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i will quote a french trilo site

 

Quote

Classification: 

- ORDRE: PHACOPIDA

- Sous-ordre: Calymenina 

- Super-famille:

- Famille: Calymenidae

- Sous-famille: Reedocalymeninae

- Genre: Neseuretus

- Espèce: "Neseuretus tristani"

 

So yes it is

 

 

Edit : to be precise : it s  belongs to phacopida order but not to phacopidae family. It belongs to Calymenidae  family

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On ‎13‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 11:38 PM, elcoincoin said:

The pristine one :

 

 

detail-second-1.JPG

detail-second-2.JPG

Fine Neseuretus @elcoincoin.

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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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Here's my second entry on two months - 2017's shaping up to be a great year.

A juvenile mastodon tooth (rare for this area). Thank you for your consideration and votes! 

Mammut americanum

Charleston SC 

Reworked Pleistocene sediments

Ashley Marl

found 3-16-17 

DSC_0101.thumb.JPG.75a9e769fadb796cdd537ff29fc8db31.JPG.dcfd1fa43e552fbb4ad85b898ecf35eb.JPG58cac61ff19c3_DSC_01031.thumb.JPG.dbf7d3a9b2d23f7e0cda330db95d9d42.JPG.cbf87a5e5cd4c8946cab9aa39edd57fa.JPG58cac618e5e16_DSC_01021.thumb.JPG.c0e0b6ca52f3d43f5c35ca474a089f6a.JPG.317dd27efb2581a0cccf30f9e766b628.JPG

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I was splitting some local gravel this weekend (3/18/17) and found this little guy! My first whole trilobite :D! It's the negative impression and the positive of a trilobite (not sure what species yet). I believe this is from the Frederick Formation, which makes it anywhere from late Middle Cambrian to Upper Cambrian in age, so about 500 million years old. A pretty nice and rare find for these rocks! It's only taken me nine years to find one! I found it in Maryland, USA.

 

Edit:  Identified by 'piranha' as Tholifrons minutus.

 

First picture is the impression, the next two are the actual fossil at two different angles.

trilobite 1.jpg

trilobite 2.jpg

trilobite 3.jpg

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29 minutes ago, EMP said:

I was splitting some local gravel this weekend (3/18/17) and found this little guy! My first whole trilobite :D! It's the negative impression and the positive of a trilobite (not sure what species yet). I believe this is from the Frederick Formation, which makes it anywhere from late Middle Cambrian to Upper Cambrian in age, so about 500 million years old. A pretty nice and rare find for these rocks! It's only taken me nine years to find one!

 

First picture is the impression, the next two are the actual fossil at two different angles.

trilobite 1.jpg

trilobite 2.jpg

trilobite 3.jpg

 

Please add a general location to meet the entry qualifications.  ;)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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6 hours ago, EMP said:

...I believe this is from the Frederick Formation, which makes it anywhere from late Middle Cambrian to Upper Cambrian in age, so about 500 million years old...

 

 

The Frederick Formation also includes the lower Cambrian Monocacy Member. 

 

IMG.thumb.jpg.f80fd7fc5d5da827b671d82500c34fd6.jpg

 

figures from:

 

Brezinski, D.K., Taylor, J.F., & Repetski, J.E. (2012)

Sequential development of platform to off-platform facies of the great American carbonate bank in the central Appalachians. pp. 383-420

In: Derby, J., Fritz, R, Longacre, S.A., Morgan, W.A., & Sternbach, C.A. (eds.)

The Great American Carbonate Bank: The geology and economic resources of the Cambrian-Ordovician Sauk Megasequence of Laurentia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 98:1-1206

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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On 3/19/2017 at 4:12 PM, piranha said:

The Frederick Formation also includes the lower Cambrian Monocacy Member. 

 

 

 

figures from:

 

Brezinski, D.K., Taylor, J.F., & Repetski, J.E. (2012)

Sequential development of platform to off-platform facies of the great American carbonate bank in the central Appalachians. pp. 383-420

In: Derby, J., Fritz, R, Longacre, S.A., Morgan, W.A., & Sternbach, C.A. (eds.)

The Great American Carbonate Bank: The geology and economic resources of the Cambrian-Ordovician Sauk Megasequence of Laurentia.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 98:1-1206

 

Thanks Piranha, I was under the impression that the Monocacy Member was still under dispute for it's age. Do you have any idea what species my trilobite could be or what member it's from?

 

Nevermind, the species Quebecaspis marylandica looks similar:

 

http://www.roads.maryland.gov/OPR_Research/MD-04-SP107B4N-Sinkhole-Hazard-Mapping-Phase II_Report.pdf

 

 

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24 minutes ago, EMP said:

Thanks Piranha, I was under the impression that the Monocacy Member was still under dispute for it's age. Do you have any idea what species my trilobite could be or what member it's from?

 

 

The trilobite is an indeterminate ptychopariid.  The lower Cambrian Monocacy Member is not in dispute:

 

excerpt from:

 

Brezinski, D.K., Taylor, J.F., Repetski, J.E., & Loch, J.D. (2015)

Cambrian–Ordovician of the central Appalachians: Correlations and event stratigraphy of carbonate platform and adjacent deep-water deposits.

Geological Society of America Field Guide, 40:61-83

 

"The Monocacy Member, the basal 70 m of the Frederick Formation, consists of black, platy shale interbedded with layers of intraclastic and brecciated limestone (Brezinski, 2004).  These shales were deposited in a sediment-starved, basinal environment (Brezinski et al., 2012).  Specimens of the trilobite Olenellus and the enigmatic fossil Salterella, both Lower Cambrian guide fossils, have been recovered from the basal part of the Monocacy Member (Brezinski, 2004)."

 

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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5 hours ago, EMP said:

 

 

Since you have added this comment after I answered the initial question, now I will address this comment as well.

 

The partial trilobite you found is certainly not Quebecaspis marylandica.  Actually, it is not similar at all.  To better illustrate the differences, I have attached 5 additional cranidia of Quebecaspis marylandica from Rasetti 1961.  When compared side by side, it is quite obvious that Quebecaspis marylandica has a wide and large glabella.  Also, the glabella of Quebecaspis marylandica extends to the anterior margin of the cephalon.  The mystery trilobite has a narrow glabella that does not extend to the anterior margin of the cephalon.

 

Ironically, Reinhardt 1974 mentions "ptychopariid, gen. and sp. undet." from the Adamstown Member of the Frederick Formation.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to ID a trilobite beyond a best educated guess, in this case an indeterminate ptychopariid.

 

Reinhardt, J. (1974)
Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and Cambro-Ordovician paleogeography of the Frederick Valley, Maryland.
Maryland Geological Survey, Report of Investigations, 23:1-73

 

IMG.jpg.73d70f7d3c5e948133ff84a303329108.jpg

 

figures from:

 

Rasetti, Franco (1961)
Dresbachian and Franconian Trilobites of the Conococheague and Frederick Limestones of the Central Appalachians.  

Journal of Paleontology, 35(1):104-124 

 

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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On 3/19/2017 at 11:47 AM, EMP said:

I was splitting some local gravel this weekend (3/18/17) and found this little guy! My first whole trilobite :D! It's the negative impression and the positive of a trilobite (not sure what species yet). I believe this is from the Frederick Formation, which makes it anywhere from late Middle Cambrian to Upper Cambrian in age, so about 500 million years old. A pretty nice and rare find for these rocks! It's only taken me nine years to find one! I found it in Maryland, USA.

 

 

 

First picture is the impression, the next two are the actual fossil at two different angles.

 

 

On 3/20/2017 at 0:22 AM, piranha said:

 

 

Since you have added this comment after I answered the initial question, now I will address this comment as well.

 

The partial trilobite you found is certainly not Quebecaspis marylandica.  Actually, it is not similar at all.  To better illustrate the differences, I have attached 5 additional cranidia of Quebecaspis marylandica from Rasetti 1961.  When compared side by side, it is quite obvious that Quebecaspis marylandica has a wide and large glabella.  Also, the glabella of Quebecaspis marylandica extends to the anterior margin of the cephalon.  The mystery trilobite has a narrow glabella that does not extend to the anterior margin of the cephalon.

 

Ironically, Reinhardt 1974 mentions "ptychopariid, gen. and sp. undet." from the Adamstown Member of the Frederick Formation.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to ID a trilobite beyond a best educated guess, in this case an indeterminate ptychopariid.

 

Reinhardt, J. (1974)
Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and Cambro-Ordovician paleogeography of the Frederick Valley, Maryland.
Maryland Geological Survey, Report of Investigations, 23:1-73

 

figures from:

 

Rasetti, Franco (1961)
Dresbachian and Franconian Trilobites of the Conococheague and Frederick Limestones of the Central Appalachians.  

Journal of Paleontology, 35(1):104-124 

 

 

 

i agree with @piranha, felicitations for your find.:D

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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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Rasetti 1961 also has some figures of indeterminate trilobites.  

This one with a parallel-sided glabella looks like a good match.

 

IMG.jpg.c5ee1bfaf5808e19e654819daddbe0fb.jpg

 

Undetermined cranidium no. 4 PI. 24, fig. 27
Known from one fairly complete example and several fragments.  Cranidium of low convexity.  Glabella parallel-sided, not greatly elevated, rounded in front, unfurrowed; occipital furrow impressed, occipital ring simple.  Frontal area convex, with a poorly defined, very narrow border.  Ocular ridges faint; palpebral lobes small, at level  of glabellar midpoint; palpebral area 2/3 of glabellar width.  Anterior facial sutures almost parallel; posterior section defining fairly slender, furrowed posterior area.  Size very small.  Occurrence: Quarry in Frederick (?) limestone, locality ccm/4.  Disposition of material: Figured specimen: USNM 143102.

 

Undetermined Trilobites
Several forms of the Dunderbergia zone from the Frederick (?) limestone are figured and described on account of the stratigraphic importance of the faunule, even though they are not represented by sufficiently abundant or well-preserved material to be worth naming.  Four cranidia in this category cannot be assigned to described genera.  A number of associated pygidia were recovered.  As there is a variety of cranidia, most of which are poorly known or unknown elsewhere, there is little ground on which to base tentative references of cranidia and pygidia to the same species.  To avoid confusing mistakes, the pygidia are separately described without assignment.  Trilobite fragments from the Dunderbergia zone, especially the beds at locality ccm/4, indicate the presence of other species in addition to those described herein, too poorly represented to warrant illustration.

 

Rasetti, Franco (1961)
Dresbachian and Franconian Trilobites of the Conococheague and Frederick Limestones of the Central Appalachians.  
Journal of Paleontology, 35(1):104-124 

 

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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2 hours ago, piranha said:

Rasetti 1961 also has some figures of indeterminate trilobites.  

This one with a parallel-sided glabella looks like a good match.

Just curious, but after all of the above, how would You label it?

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.

 

 

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