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huge placoderm


Manticocerasman

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I often visit the southern part of Belgium for Devonian fossils, the whole area is known for its reef systems. So most of the fossils are brachiopods and corals, but between the reefs sometimes rarer fossils can be found like cephalopods or in extremely rare cases even fish.

In more than 25 years of fossil collecting I’ve only found 2 fragments of Devonian fish until last October.

 

During a field trip I searched a few debris next to a quarry and found a strange piece of rock. At first I almost discarded it thinking that it was a strange nodule, surely a piece of this size couldn’t be bone.

But I took time to clean of the dirt… I had in my hands a rock with a bone plate, the thing was huge, more than 20 cm on 25 cm, and it was only a fragment. I had never seen something like that from the late Devonian in our area. I started franticly to search the rest of the area, finding more and more fragments. Some parts were even larger and the plates were often more than 1 cm thick, on some places even more than 4 cm.

This fish was a monster, I knew this was my find of a lifetime.

The rest of the day I spend on the same 2 m² checking every rock. I finally found 14 fragments of the fish.

 

At home I cleaned up all the fragments, I even had a few parts that fitted together, but I couldn’t make anything out of it except that it were large bone fragments. It was also clear that I only got a tiny part of it.

In the week to follow I contacted a specialist in placoderms from the Institute in Brussels.

Exited by the news he came to check out the fossils at my apartment on a evening. He confirmed that this was indeed a placoderm, and a huge one, even he had never seen one of this size from the late Devonian in Belgium. One of the parts turned out to be a fragment of the median dorsal plate, the typical keel from that part of the fish was clearly visible.

One of the drawbacks of the fossil was the complete absence of any ornamentation or tubercles on the bones, this would make the identification difficult. But the size of the specimen limited the options in 3 groups:

Either a new extremely large coccosteidea. ( in my opinion the least possible match)

Or either a Dynichthydea or a Tytanichthydea.

Either way, any of those possibilities are extremely spectacular J

Of course on the weekend to follow I had to go back to check out if there was anything I overlooked. Armed with adequate equipment to dig, I started to dig out the spot with my girlfriend. The result was an extra 10 fragments, again with a few of them being very large. And on top of it lots of the new fragments fitted in the ones I found the week before.

 

Since then I’ve been cleaning and prepping a little on the bones and kept contact with the placoderm specialist. Having contemplated what to do with it, I will donate the fossil to the institute next week so that professional work and a proper description of the placoderm can be made.  Of course I will post an update of this in the “paleopartners section”

 

I really hope this is a new species, but either way I had fun with this discovery, and there is still much to find out about my “little” fish :D

 

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growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

 

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Fantastic, Kevin!   :blink::fistbump: :drool:

Congratulations on the super rare find.  :faint:

And I'm happy to hear it will be donated to a museum. :D  :popcorn:

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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

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Very cool find, but hard to tell what it is from the pictures. I can see why you were initially confused because they sure look like something I would pass on at first as well. Good job persevering and getting as many pieces as you could. And it's very cool that you are donating this special find to a museum too!

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Excited to see and hear/read of its progress! Congrats!

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."
-Romans 14:19

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3 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Congratulations, Kevin! You did the right thing getting in touch with the specialist. Maybe you'll still find some more pieces?

I dont think there is anything left. the fragments were found ex situ. but next time I'm there I wil certainly continue to check out that spot.

 

What we could make out from the part is that we got the median dorsal plate and the 2 lateral dorsal plates. but no trace of the front of the fish.

 

this is what remains of the median dorsal plate. it is broken in the middle right in the lenght of the keel.

IMG_20171029_185127.thumb.jpg.5770ae5a414924c2a19175286a196348.jpg

growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

 

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thx for al the replies.

 

As for now I certainly got the median dorsal plate and parts of the 2 lateral dorsal plates. of the front of the fish no parts were found.

 

( this is not necceserly this kind of fish, but the picture is indicative for the fragments that I got )

Inkeddunk_LI.jpg.36b14d7bc1a07638c3b518c8d94b4f85.jpg

growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

 

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Wow! That's an incredible rare find. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us. Hope you make more rare discoveries. 

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An exhilarating find!!! :yay-smiley-1:

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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