MarcoSr Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 We get a lot of posts on TFF on eggs which mostly turn out to be geologic specimens. So I thought I would post a real Oligocene bird egg and some eggshells from my sons’ Nebraska ranch. The egg and eggshells are from the Scenic Member of the Brule Formation. Here is one of three complete bird eggs that my sons have found on the ranch in 2016 and 2017. This egg, found by my son Mel, is around 2 ½ inches long. I’ve found a large number of eggshell pieces in the anthill matrix that I’ve been taking from the ranch during the last two years. I’ve found eggshells in all 18 areas of the 360 acre ranch where I took anthill matrix. I was really surprised about how common the eggshells are throughout the ranch especially with the fact that I didn’t find bird bones. A good number of eggshell specimens from my September 2016 trip to the ranch have just been given to an eggshell researcher. I’m really looking forward to her opinions on them. I’ve been assuming that they are all bird eggshells. I again found a large number of eggshell specimens from anthill matrix from my May 2017 trip to the ranch. Below are close-up pictures of an individual eggshell specimen which is 5mm by 3 mm by 1mm thick. Outside of eggshell (note a good number of pieces have this pattern but there were a number of other distinctive patterns on the outside): Inside of eggshell (note the inside of all specimens pretty much looked like this): Cross section of eggshell (note the very thin white outer layer): Below are a number of eggshell specimens from my May 2017 trip. For size reference the gem jar cups are 1 ¾ inches in diameter. The specimens in each cup are from a different area of the ranch. Some eggshells have the outside of the eggshell face up and some have the inside of the eggshell face up. A few eggshells are missing that thin outer layer of eggshell. Note that there are several distinct patterns on the outer eggshells. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Good find!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 That egg is fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 FOTM candidate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Great egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 15 minutes ago, doushantuo said: FOTM candidate? The egg was found in May 2016 so it couldn't be a FOTM candidate. I just showed it to help give context to the eggshells and show a real egg for a change in a TFF post. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Just now, MarcoSr said: show a real egg for a change in a TFF post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 36 minutes ago, doushantuo said: Good find!! 25 minutes ago, Foozil said: That egg is fantastic! 8 minutes ago, Nimravis said: Great egg. An egg that my older son found is actually nicer but I don't have pictures of it. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 This is eggsiteing news!! Thanks for sharing. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 6 hours ago, ynot said: This is eggsiteing news!! Thanks for sharing. Tony Bird eggs are fairly rare from the White River Group. Eggs and eggshells are more common from the M&M Ranch. So there must have been something unusual at the ranch to allow that to happen. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavialboy Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 that is a unique find. thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Nice to see a real egg for a change. Very nice. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Beautiful specimen, the pinable topic we have needed for a long time. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele 1937 Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 really niceVery interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 13 hours ago, gavialboy said: that is a unique find. thanks for sharing. 12 hours ago, RJB said: Nice to see a real egg for a change. Very nice. RB 12 hours ago, WhodamanHD said: Beautiful specimen, the pinable topic we have needed for a long time. 10 hours ago, michele 1937 said: really niceVery interesting Thank you. Bird eggs are one of my favorite fossils from the ranch. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 7 hours ago, doushantuo said: Thank you for posting. An eggshell researcher already has a good number of eggshells from the ranch. Hopefully they are of scientific interest and a paper will get published. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 I think it's just a concretion and you should throw that thing away (I'm happy to offer up my trash can). Very cool. It would be awesome to find some eggshell/eggs to go along with my bird bones! You are a very lucky man to have such access to the area. I hope my boys are as good to me when they grow up! Thanks for posting. Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 23 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said: I think it's just a concretion and you should throw that thing away (I'm happy to offer up my trash can). Very cool. It would be awesome to find some eggshell/eggs to go along with my bird bones! You are a very lucky man to have such access to the area. I hope my boys are as good to me when they grow up! Thanks for posting. I am very lucky that my sons share my passion for fossil collecting. I wish I was finding bird bones. Thousands of mammal, lizard, snake, legless lizard bones, even frog and salamander bones, from the anthill matrix from the ranch but no bird bones. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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