Preservation Attempt on an Urchin in Many Pieces

[AngieM357]

My boyfriend and I went out to the research pit in Waco today and I found a large urchin. The problem is that it's been crushed, more or less. The mud under it is not fossilized, so it's pretty likely that it will fall apart into lots of little pieces if I handle it too much or try to take off excess mud. I guess I have several questions about this.

- Is it worth even trying to save? I was pretty excited to find one this big - it's about 4" in diameter - and after many hours of hunting, never found another one in any condition of any size. I don't expect it to be worth anything monetarily-speaking, but want it just for my own enjoyment.

- I've read about a few plastics (I copied the names from another post but now it's not letting me paste them) that others have used for preservation. Any clue as to whether or not it would work in this case?

- Has anyone had a fossil in this condition and tried to rescue it? How did it turn out?

 

Thanks in advance. I love how helpful and knowledgeable this community is. Y'all are really great!

 

I've attached a photo to show condition.

[Miocene_Mason]

take a look at @Harry Pristis's about me page, it has information about consolidation of fossils, I've been told by many forum goers that butvar 76 and acetone solutions work well.

[Coco]

Hi,

 

May we have more pics please ? On the other side and close up.

 

Coco

[erose]

You are lucky to have that much intact!  You probably noticed hundreds of other loose fragments scattered about.  I would say the best thing is to get a consolidant like Butvar into the matrix tohold that together and then gently clean the exposed plates with a small pick and brush.

 

But, again, not bad for the Waco pit.

[AngieM357]

18 hours ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

May we have more pics please ? On the other side and close up.

 

Coco

Sure. On the top view, the part that's really in focus on the left is the section that is loose already.

18 hours ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

May we have more pics please ? On the other side and close up.

 

Coco

 

[Coco]

Hi,

 

What reminds you that it is a sea urchin ? I don't see a track of ambulacre, of plates interambulacraires or of tuber.

 

Coco

[joshuajbelanger]

Almost looks like a glyptodon scute to me.  

[AngieM357]

The only reason I *assumed* it was an urchin was because I was given a list of the specimens that were documented as being there. You're right, however, Coco. I don't see any of the typical urchin markers. After looking at pics and articles about joshuajbelanger's idea, I have a tendency to agree with him. That was not on the list, however. I'm not saying I made a breakthrough discovery, but it's kind of cool that I found something that wasn't on the list. 

 

I'll try to do some more research and find out what time period(s) that pit includes, and see if I can find out more about glyptodon scutes.

 

Again, I appreciate all y'all have offered up. This is a really amazing forum with such incredibly knowledgeable people and I'm really grateful for your input. I'm still learning with every expedition, and your extra contributions are helping me learn even more. Thank you so much!

[AngieM357]

I guess now I'm more confused. The Waco Pit is Cretaceous, Del Rio formation, while the information I've found on Glyptodon says it's Pleistocene. I don't know. I have no idea if the two could even be found near each other, to be honest. I agree that it still looks like a glyptodon scute, but I just can't be sure. I'm wondering if I can submit the photos to the Baylor geology people and see what they have to say.

[Harry Pristis]

My initial reaction to the images was "glyptodont!"  However, I could find no unambiguous features of such an osteoderm in the images.  On the other hand I don't recognize features of an echinoid, either.  Maybe some diagnostic feature will emerge as the object is cleaned.  It's common for younger fossils to fall onto the surface of older layers in excavations.

[AngieM357]

In case anybody is still curious, I took this up to Baylor and they said it is indeed a sea urchin, but we're, um, "looking at its butt," were her exact words. So, mystery solved. No genus or species - it's really busy around there - but at least I had my initial thoughts confirmed. She said it was a nice, big one for the area! *beams with pride*

[doushantuo]

has a slightly cyclocystoid* vibe to it,funnily enough

*aberrant Paleozoic echinoderms

[erose]

On 9/8/2017 at 9:37 PM, doushantuo said:

has a slightly cyclocystoid* vibe to it,funnily enough

*aberrant Paleozoic echinoderms

 

Not there. All Cretaceous. No Paleozoic for many, many miles. The Glyptodont scute was better possibility but since the pit is basically one great big man made hole, there probably isn't much of the original ice age veneer left.

 

I also assumed it was an echinoid. Yet another possibility is a rotten pyrite nodule or something similar. 

 

[JohnJ]

It looks to be one of the large crushed Coenholectypus species - similar to this one.  The best preserved side has the mouth and the "butt".  The hole covered by matrix in the center is the mouth.