Cowboy Paleontologist Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 7 hours ago, caldigger said: The vertebrate hunters better pull out their snow shovels and get going, just a little over a week left in the month! I’m doing the best I can! “...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...
GerryK Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 (edited) Flexicalymene cf. F. senaria Ordovician Galena Formation Prosser Member Fillmore Co., MN Found 6/20/17 Finished prepping 1/10/18 Edited January 27, 2018 by GerryK Forgot the Age Period 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 30 minutes ago, GerryK said: What made it change color like that? Looks like frost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryK Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 19 minutes ago, caldigger said: What made it change color like that? Looks like frost. The trilobite was coated with ammonium chloride to increase the contrast to show the detail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 8 minutes ago, GerryK said: The trilobite was coated with ammonium chloride to increase the contrast to show the detail. OK, I liked it better before IMOO. Cool find though. You must have been excited seeing that center section of thorax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 The ammonium chloride coating is temporary, it rinses off under running water. It is also the gold standard for fossil photography for publication, due to the significant improvement in visibility of detail. Don 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 28 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: The ammonium chloride coating is temporary, it rinses off under running water. It is also the gold standard for fossil photography for publication, due to the significant improvement in visibility of detail. Don Oh good, I thought it might be a permanent coating. Like my fossils au natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 My entry for the Vertebrate FOTM is a mostly intact left mandible of a shrew in the Soricidae Family. Found on January 1st. in the shelly matrix collected by TFF member Sacha from a spoil pile in the Indian River near Merritt Island, Florida. Late Pleistocene Melbourne Bone Bed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Shrew've got to be kidding! Nice little segment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 1 hour ago, caldigger said: Shrew've got to be kidding! Nice little segment. I'm Sori cid ae think that's an unforgivable pun. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 @GerryK Nice find and prep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Some more awesome entries! 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Paleontologist Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 I got pictures of some of the better teeth for your viewing pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 A last minute invertebrate entry: Please note the preparation isn't the best, I would've taken it to a professional but there wasn't enough time haha. So this is my first fossil prep. This is a pretty rare species, and even rarer to find one with genal spines (or cheeks as I like to call them). It did have the other side but sadly broke on the way home. It has a coat of paraloid to bring out the colours. Date found: 26th of January (a true blue trilobite!) Species: Aulacopleura pogsoni Formation: Cotton Formation Found: Cotton Hill Quarry near Forbes, NSW Australia The specimen is aprox. 1cm long and 0.5 mm wide (about half an inch long) Before prep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 After prep: Thats all, thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in Japan Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Here is my humble contribution to the invertebrate fossil of the month. Inoceramus concentricus Petit blanc nez Argile du gault Found on january the 26th 2018. Mother nature cleaned it for me and i just consolidated it. Inoceramus are not rare fossils, it is not an exceptional find by it size too but tge fact that nacre is remaining make it an excellent find to start the year. 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 David, for some reason your photo didn't open up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in Japan Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 25 minutes ago, caldigger said: David, for some reason your photo didn't open up. Thanks Doren! Weird i can see it. I post it once again. If it does not open up, i will send it with my laptop. Now i can only access to my smartphone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~〇~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Warmest greetings from Kumamoto、 Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Okay, my turn to throw in my finds this month. A bit slow with the ice, but still some okay finds! first up, my invert, Maryland’s state Fossil, my first (almost) complete Ecphora (a murex sea snail). Not common this complete especially at Brownies. Measure in CMs January 14th 2018 Ecphora (gardenerae gardenerae?) Calvert Formation, zone 4 or 10, early-mid Miocene Brownies Beach, Calvert County, Maryland, USA 1 “...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...
Miocene_Mason Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Next my vertebrate find of the month, a shark vertebra, most likely Carcharhinus. A little damage on the back side, but otherwise a fine specimen. In CMs again. January 28th 2018 Shark vertebra (Carcharhinus sp.?) Calvert Formation, Zone 4 or 10, Early to Mid Miocene Brownie’s Beach, Calvert County, Maryland, USA 1 “...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...
Heteromorph Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 My mother and I went out fossil hunting this Friday at newly exposed Austin Chalk dug up to put in a septic at a construction site. I had high hopes for this area because it had proven its self over years to be extremely productive in ammonites, especially rare heteromorphic ammonites. It was also in that area that I had found my first two, and so far only two, Austin Chalk gastropods. For some reason gastropods are very scarce in the Atco. My expectations were not disappointed! When we got there I was was about to jump out of my skin to get to the pile of rocks first. I got there and immediately started searching around the pile. My mother got there just after me. She and I had only been there for less than a minute when she said that she had found something very interesting. She was just a few feet away from me on the other side of the pile. So I got over there and she shows me this little heteromorph ammonite fragment. We both knew that this is something that we had never seen before. I handled it with great care all the way back to the car (50 feet). She and I then searched very throughly in the area where it was found hoping to find more pieces of it but to no avail, though I did find an as of yet unidentified ammonite a few feet away in the pile that is mostly buried in the matrix. It is unlike anything that I have ever seen out of the Austin Chalk before. It is definitely a heteromorph because of the lack of an impressed zone on the dorsum and the general curvature of the specimen. This now makes the third species of heteromorphic ammonite that I have found in the Austin Chalk. The first species that I found was Phlycticrioceras trinodosum, of which I have now found 12 specimens. Then the second species was Tridenticeras peramplum, of which I now have 8 specimens. Now this, the only specimen that I have seen of its species. I know that it is not P. trinodosum because of its very high rib index, there being seven ribs between quadrituberculate ribs as opposed to every rib being trituberculate, and the orientation of the tubercles on the specimen. T. peramplum is cone shaped and has three sets of tubercles so it is out of the question. Since Friday I have been trying to figure out what it could be, but I have yet to be successful. After consulting HGMS' book Texas Cretaceous Ammonites and Nautiloids and Young 1963, the closest species to my specimen that I have seen is Smedaliceras durhami, though I am quite certain that mine is a different species. My specimen has a compressed whorl section like P. trinodosum while S. durhami is almost as wide as it is tall. S. durhami has three sets of tubercles, two lateral and one ventral, while mine has 4 sets of tubercles, two ventral and two lateral. Also, S. durhami is only known from the Lower Campanian Burditt Marl Formation in South Texas. Mine does share some similarities with S. durhami though, such as roughly the same curvature, multiple non-tuberculate ribs between the tuberculate ones, and a very high rib index. Information on and pictures of S. durhami can be seen in Young 1963 here. My specimen has a length of 56mm, a whorl hight of 23mm, and a whorl breadth of 11.5mm measured on the right end of the specimen as shown in P1. It has a rib index of of 11, the highest of any Austin Chalk ammonite that I have found. Every 8 ribs there is one quadrituberculate rib with two ventral tubercles and two lateral tubercles. There is no keel. It appears that the lateral tubercles are smaller than the ventral tubercles, though that could be from damage. Sadly most of the tubercles have been partially or completely knocked off making them harder to detect. Towards the left end of the specimen as shown in P1, shown especially in P13, there appears to be hints of visible sutures, but that could just be small scratches and/or stains on the specimen messing with my eyes. I also noticed a bulge in the middle of the specimen that could be geologic distortion. There is a bit of calcite on the side shown in P10. If anyone knows what this could be I would be happy to know. I will be sending Keith Minor a link to this post to see if he knows what it is. It is completely new to me. Date of discovery: January 26, 2018. Preparation: None. I haven't even washed it in the sink, so it is as it came out of the pile. Scientific or Common name: Unknown Heteromorphic Ammonite Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Late Coniacian stage of the Austin Chalk Formation, Prionocycloceras gabrielense zone of the Acto member. State, Province, or Region found: Ellis County, Texas. Photos: P1. Lateral view showing both ventral tubercles. The lateral tubercles are harder to see on this side. P2. Slightly higher view than P1. P3. 3/16 pictures. 13 pictures left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heteromorph Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 P4 P5. Upside-down view with dorsum. P6. Ventrolateral view. 6/16 pictures. 10 pictures left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heteromorph Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 P7. Ventral. P8. Ventral different angle. P9. Ventral different angle. P10. Side two. Notice where the lateral tubercle on the left was completely broken off. 10/16 pictures. 6 pictures left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heteromorph Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 P11. P12. P13. Possible hints of sutures toward the top of the specimen. 13/16 pictures. 3 pictures left. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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