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"Long time listener, first time caller": an amateur's ambitions in Paleontology


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The Rio Puerco Valley was my introduction to fossils. For many years now, I have scoured its Late Cretaceous shales and sandstones in search of ammonites. Somewhere along the way, my fascination with the ornament grew into an investigation of its environment.

 

Last week at the New Mexico Geologic Society's Spring meeting, I made my first venture into the world of paleontological science. With the help of Dr. Spencer Lucas of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, I presented a poster/abstract (Foley & Lucas 2017.pdf) exhibiting my ideas.

 

IMG_2715 (989x1280)~2.jpg20170407_080254~2.jpgFoley & Lucas 2017.jpg

 

I received some criticism for incorporating ammonite ornament and caught some grief for including a labeled map...otherwise, this was an amazing learning experience and I am ready to move forward. Back to the rocks!...I have a paper to write. :) 

 

 

Blue Hill Shale: 

BlueHill@MarquezWash~2.JPGBlueHill@OjoDel EspirituSanto(South)~2.JPGBlueHill@OjoDelEspirituSanto(North)~2.JPG

 

Spathites puercoensis:

SpathitesPuercoensis1~2.JPGSpathitesPuercoensis3~2.JPGSpathitesPuercoensis2~2.JPG

 

Prionocyclys hyatti:

PrionocyclusHyatti5~2.JPGPrionocyclusHyatti4~2.JPGPrionocyclusHyatti3~2.JPG

 

Coilopoceras springeri:

CoilopocerasSpringeri1~2.JPGCoilopocerasSpringeri2~2.JPG

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"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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Congratulations, Mike.     :1-SlapHands_zpsbb015b76:   :fistbump:


Glad to hear it is moving forward. 

Good luck with the paper. 

 

 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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Proud to know you, Mike.  :D  Kudos.

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

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Thank you.

 

21 hours ago, PFOOLEY said:

...Somewhere along the way...

 

I've realized it is surely because of this Forum...this place has had a tremendous influence on me...

 

...very proud to be a member and happy to know you all. :) 

 

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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Fantastic Mike.

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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

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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Good job.. There's something I've never done.

What did you mean by receiving criticism for "including ammonite ornament"?

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1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

What did you mean by receiving criticism for "including ammonite ornament"?

 

Another worker believes that ornament should not be a factor in regard to water depth...therefore, criticized my idea for incorporating it. 

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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I see. Is it a fact that ammonites with lots of ornamentation vs. smooth ones (for example) are found in equal numbers in deep and shallow water? I don't know as much about this topic as I should probably.

I've noticed that, in my area, the baculites are mainly found in coarser material which I assume was deposited nearer to shore. All the others, ammos and nauts, smooth and ornamented, planispiral and heteromorph, are found in the deeper water (finer grained) shale.

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Thank you all...it's been a great experience and I am happy to share it here. Glad you all enjoyed it. :) 

 

 

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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Great work! I like it, though my pets are Triassic ammos:) I'm little envy that you can work together with Spencer Lucas. I only read his triassic papers.

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Well-done Mike! Doing something meaningful here :)

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Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Progress continues. For the last few months, when I can't get into the field, I have tried to immerse myself in documents...perusing literature on subjects from Turonian Scaphite Facies of Japan (Tanabe, 1979) to Paleoecology of Turritelline gastropods ( Allmon, 1992 & Allmon and Knight, 1993) to Rarefaction and Taxonomic diversity (Foote, 1992). 

 

I also took Spencer Lucas out to "my" outcrops...

 

5978d3657cb79_IMG_5096(991x1280)2.thumb.jpg.246820c69b5dc643e8ffbeeab570013b.jpg

 

...for a tutorial on how to wield ye sighting compass and meter stick. :) We spent the day measuring Carlile Shale sections and discussing the Western Interior Seaway. 

 

In the many weeks to come, my fieldwork will be sampling three distinct horizons from three different study areas...

 

5978d37f9bdab_IMG_5190(1280x914)2.thumb.jpg.fca6339615af4533d5107d4dc8e5b302.jpg5978d3816d69d_IMG_5189(1280x916)2.thumb.jpg.1e936e874e9d78a27dd11b4473734c47.jpg

 

...and I am very much looking forward to that!...back to the rocks! :)

 

 

"Any day in the field is a good day."  -Spencer Lucas, NMMNH

                    

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"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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The black-and-white photography somehow makes those ammonites really stand out.  I like it a lot.

 

Don

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35 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

The black-and-white photography somehow makes those ammonites really stand out.  I like it a lot.

 

Don

 

I agree!...a nice change from brown on brown with some brown accents. :)

 

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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I thought that was "sepia-vision".

 

It must have been a treat to spend some time in the company of Spencer Lucas.  That guy is a publishing machine!

 

Don

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13 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

..."sepia-vision"...

 

:)...if it wasn't for the sky or a hammer handle...

"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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  • 8 months later...

Last August, while doing some fieldwork, I stumbled across this specimen...

 

5abbdda2ef098_spathitesaptychus.thumb.jpg.0ec3951368226cdbb5bc66e5a293eb02.jpg

 

5abbdda3c1c3c_spathitesaptychus2.thumb.jpg.91f1cddbfba57d6378f851a2ee992b3d.jpg

 

...and though I had never seen one for this genus, I knew exactly what it was. ;) For the 2018 NMGS Spring meeting my co-authors and I present:

 

5abbdef95ed24_SealeyFoleyLandmanLucas2018.thumb.jpg.86474453baf410cd1c4b52e5bb5c2d32.jpg

 

Hooray for science! :D...

 

...and as always, Happy Hunting!

 

-P.

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"I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"  ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) 

 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins    

 

point.thumb.jpg.e8c20b9cd1882c9813380ade830e1f32.jpg research.jpg.932a4c776c9696d3cf6133084c2d9a84.jpg  RPV.jpg.d17a6f3deca931bfdce34e2a5f29511d.jpg  SJB.jpg.f032e0b315b0e335acf103408a762803.jpg  butterfly.jpg.71c7cc456dfbbae76f15995f00b221ff.jpg  Htoad.jpg.3d40423ae4f226cfcc7e0aba3b331565.jpg  library.jpg.56c23fbd183a19af79384c4b8c431757.jpg  OIP.jpg.163d5efffd320f70f956e9a53f9cd7db.jpg

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