One day only, but it paid off

[dalmayshun]

Last week I went to a doctor appointment in Naples, and on my way home I happened to pass a newly excavated pile which contained oysters large enough to be seen from the road I was driving on. The site had just started, ( in fact two days later the pile was gone) so I parked nearby and walked along the outside edge. I am glad I did. I found 5 kinds of pectens or chlamys.  The two I have laid out are Nodipecten Collierensis, and Euvola Hemicyclia....three complete bi valves of each. Now I just have to figure out how to lay them out in a ryker box. Fossil hunters, take advantage of those new piles...glad south Florida is in another building boom. But I also feel terrible about all the cool things that are being destroyed, covered over by concrete...and it is unusual for a construction site to allow collecting...At this site, the boss happened to be there, and allowed me to walk it in the rain..."my guys can't work in the rain, so you may as well check it out, just this once" he said. Was I fortunate or what? 

[Darktooth]

Wow! Congratulations for being at the right place at the right time!

[Kane]

What luck! Quite the haul you have here!  

[aerogrower]

Score!!

[Raggedy Man]

Nice scallop haul!! 

[beachbum]

Nice haul

[JohnBrewer]

A great collection of really beautiful bivalves  

[Calvin Jenkins]

I've been hitting several construction site piles when I can and heartily agree that one shouldn't be a burden to the workers or liability to the owners but it is a shame that we are covering over our history.  The rain storms are helping expose some gems but it is really amazing how fast construction moves and how quickly we go from sand pile to sod under irrigation.

[Nimravis]

Great finds- congrats

[Plantguy]

Nice pile of scallops. There are quite a few of those dang things down here-arent there. Congrats!. My experience with those guys is that when you are finding them usually you are not seeing a ton of gastropods. Anything else notable even if you didnt bring em home? 

 

I was admiring the boss's property the other day and the shell fill in the road after our recent rains this past week. I hadnt paid much attention to it but over the years he's been picking out some things that have intrigued him (mostly gastropods) and they've been piled at the base of some of the large trees to get them off the beaten path. Typical Tamiami Fm stuff. I didnt take a photo as it was raining but he's got a monster Triplofusus giganteus up against a live oak trunk that is way cool. I'll have to inspect closer when it aint pouring. I've got a couple of those with partial spires... 

 

Continued hunting success!

Regards, Chris 

[dalmayshun]

Chris, all that was left of gastropods were a few endocasts...few and far inbetween, though I could tell where the machine dug through the Tamiami stuff overlaying the area was interested in. Lots of small ordinary shell...I could have looked through it, but I know lots of places to check that layer out, but very few places to see the material from the Pinecrest or Ochopee layers...I am not sure which I was in...could have been Ochopee from the fossils I found, but I know the Pinecrest layer is from the same time period...don't know my geology of South Florida well enough, though I have been told the Ochoppe layer does extend into south Lee county somewhat along the coast which is where I was. I did find some wonderful oyster examples also, and kept a few great specimens of those as well. Rod

[Plantguy]

Hey Rod, thanks for the info. I'm curious if this is the oyster you are seeing associated with the Pectens as its the one I see quite a bit in several different locations. They seem to be inhabiting the same niche.  I think they are Ostrea of some type...maybe one or all are Ostrea compressirostra but I defer to experts on the Id's as I understand they are tough ones with the variability. These 3 specimens are all Sarasota County examples and are each from a different site. 

Regards, Chris 

[dalmayshun]

Chris, all that was left of gastropods were a few endocasts...few and far inbetween, though I could tell where the machine dug through the Tamiami stuff overlaying the area was interested in. Lots of small ordinary shell...I could have looked through it, but I know lots of places to check that layer out, but very few places to see the material from the Pinecrest or Ochopee layers...I am not sure which I was in...could have been Ochopee from the fossils I found, but I know the Pinecrest layer is from the same time period...don't know my geology of South Florida well enough, though I have been told the Ochoppe layer does extend into south Lee county somewhat along the coast which is where I was. I did find some wonderful oyster examples also, and kept a few great specimens of those as well. Rod

 

I am including some images of a few of the oysters I kept...the middle one is hyotissa meridionalis, (I think) the right is a Sculpturata, ( I think - its rib ridges are over 1 " high, it is beautiful) and the left one may be a compressirostra

edges of the hyotissa ( could be a haitensis or the meridionalis) and the scupturata. 

[Plantguy]

Rod, yep those are the ones I thought you might have. Appreciate you taking photos of them. Interesting to see how wide spread those guys were in this area of Florida. I had to bring a bunch of them home.....LOL

 

 

 

Regards, Chris 

 

 

[Fossil-Hound]

Right time. Right place.

[PaleoPat]

These are nice!

[Max-fossils]

 

After seeing this, I can't imagine that I'm still happy whenever I find a complete scallop (Mimachlamys varia) at the Zandmotor (Netherlands).

 

Seriously, those scallops are amazing, and I couldn't be more jealous! If you're willing to let one or two go, please let me know!

 

Congrats,

 

Max

 

[dalmayshun]

Max, if you would give me an email address, I'll send you a couple of images of shells I wouldn't mind sending to you...they are a bit easier to upload to emails, otherwise I would post them here. There are certainly enough for me to share...Rod. 

[gavialboy]

Nice. Great finds.

[Ropterus]

Wow! Nice haul, congrats!

[Max-fossils]

On 6/28/2017 at 9:48 PM, dalmayshun said:

Max, if you would give me an email address, I'll send you a couple of images of shells I wouldn't mind sending to you...they are a bit easier to upload to emails, otherwise I would post them here. There are certainly enough for me to share...Rod. 

Oops, just saw your message now 

 

Btw, there's a tagging method, so that people can see when they are concerned in another topic. Like this: @dalmayshun . Quoting them also works well 

 

Anyways, PM sent.

[dalmayshun]

sorry, but you are speaking to a 72 year old, being told something CAN be done without explaining how to do it, is like talking to a fossil. 

[ynot]

1 hour ago, dalmayshun said:

sorry, but you are speaking to a 72 year old, being told something CAN be done without explaining how to do it, is like talking to a fossil. 

Type @ and the user name. You will get a drop down, select the correct user name from the list and it will send a tag to that member.

@dalmayshun

[dalmayshun]

Ok Max, I took the time to transfer files so you can let me know if you would like this scallop. It is a med size, uncleaned Nodipecten Collierensis from the Ochopee formation in an area of Lee county Floridia that was once a channel running between the Gulf and the Atlantic ocean. It is late Miocene, early Pliocene. It is not rare, except in the opportunities to collect it. Since most of the shell pits where it can be found are now closed to the public, as are construction sites, whether marked No Trespassing or not. However I lucked into it, by being given permission from the construction boss to collect. If you are interested in this particular shell, please send me your address and I will get it off to  you. By the way, I am adding a photo of an Arbacia Waccamaw ( sea urchin) that I also found there. top, magnified top - only one I saw in the entire site, but perfect.  @ynot

thanks for the info. 

Edited July 3, 2017 by dalmayshun
a forward

[ynot]

10 minutes ago, dalmayshun said:

thanks for the info. 

No problem.