Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 So I was paddling along a stretch of the North Sulphur River recently where I have little experience. Most of the time, my eyes are on the Ozan formation down low, but for whatever reason, I glanced higher at the overlying Pleistocene Sulphur River Formation, and spotted a curious white ring from about 40 feet away. Hmmm...worth investigating. It was indeed ivory as I had suspected, and the dirt plug in the center suggested that I was staring at the pulp cavity on the proximal end. Let's have a peek. 2 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 A quick test dig gave me a bad feeling. After exposing 12-18 inches, I could see that the tusk was complete without voids full circumference, but it was fragile and fractured pretty badly, at least near the face of the bank where leaching might be worst. It reminded me of a rotten, soggy log. Considering 350 mile distance from home, excessive overburden, tight schedule, inevitable "walkers" eventually coming through, and most of all, blown-in-place condition, I decided to back away from excavating this specimen. With personal aspirations off the table, I asked a few buddies if they'd care to take their chances with this specimen, despite its challenges. 1 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Anthony was gung ho to take over the project, with my promise to let him keep the specimen if it was salvageable, as sweat equity investment would be substantial. Barry and Sean also lent a hand, as obligations kept me pinned in San Antonio for the duration. 1 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 This thing was proving to be large and complete, but to Anthony, it became quite clear that structural weaknesses were substantial, perhaps insurmountable. Still, he moved forward, hoping for the best. Time for a jacket. 1 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 These are the last pics I have of the tusk, majestic looking in its jacket. But despite valiant efforts to stabilize it, this tusk was lunch meat, and gravity took its toll. Check back in a year or 2 and perhaps there will be a painstakingly restored tusk to show. 8 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 That thing is HUGE!!! I wish them all the luck in its removal. I hope they have a derrick and a swimming pool for the consolidation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Nice find! Thanks for sharing the adventure. Bummer that it is so fragile. 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...
Heteromorph Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 It looks great in the last pictures! Hopfully it can be restored to its former glory. It’s odd to think that these things where walking and dying all over Texas not terribly long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 If I had to cart around a pair of those in front of me, I might welcome death! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Okay Dan...that's fairly impressive but now I find myself wondering what a SPINY mammoth tusk would look like!? Please let us know when you find one! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 6 hours ago, Fruitbat said: Okay Dan...that's fairly impressive but now I find myself wondering what a SPINY mammoth tusk would look like!? Please let us know when you find one! -Joe Ha! This was my first ever “invertebrate” mammoth tusk, basically a balloon full of wet sawdust. Hard to believe such a mushy mess came from such a formidable beast. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Wow! Waht a shame its not very well preserved. Really neat pictures though. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Yeah...unfortunately I've found all too many tusks and horn cores like that in the Trinity River sediments. They're so soft that you can actually poke your finger through them. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AnThOnY- Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 50 minutes ago, Fruitbat said: Yeah...unfortunately I've found all too many tusks and horn cores like that in the Trinity River sediments. They're so soft that you can actually poke your finger through them. -Joe When first uncovered it was like a giant water balloon, if you poked the top top of it the sides would bulge and jiggle. After about 2 gallons of Butvar and couple days away to let it dry some it felt pretty solid and seemed promising. All until the first couple inches of movement and it all went south. Immortalized with photographs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 45 minutes ago, -AnThOnY- said: When first uncovered it was like a giant water balloon, if you poked the top top of it the sides would bulge and jiggle. After about 2 gallons of Butvar and couple days away to let it dry some it felt pretty solid and seemed promising. All until the first couple inches of movement and it all went south. Immortalized with photographs. This is all fodder for a country song. “Broke Busted Mammoth Tusk Blues”, by Anthony and Dan. 1 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 That's an amazing find and had to be heartbreaking. I wondered about consolidating with Butvar....so that didn't work? I don't what else you could have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPlainPetrified Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 13 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: These are the last pics I have of the tusk, majestic looking in its jacket. But despite valiant efforts to stabilize it, this tusk was lunch meat, and gravity took its toll. Check back in a year or 2 and perhaps there will be a painstakingly restored tusk to show. Looks to me like you did everything you could to preserve that tusk. Any other bone material around from the rest of the skull/skeleton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 23 minutes ago, JustPlainPetrified said: Looks to me like you did everything you could to preserve that tusk. Any other bone material around from the rest of the skull/skeleton? Lots of eyes there from our little cadre of enthusiasts...a collective “Nope!” Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 47 minutes ago, Xiphactinus said: That's an amazing find and had to be heartbreaking. I wondered about consolidating with Butvar....so that didn't work? I don't what else you could have done. Given infinite time, no competition, and budget for a 55 gallon drum of Paleo Bond, I’d say expose the whole length on a narrow pedestal, squeege the exposed surface immaculate, let it thoroughly dry full cross section, turn off the rain from the heavens, then carefully saturate the entire thing with Paleo Bond, taking care not to foul the surface. Jacket. Bond lumber superstructure to jacket to lock out any and all axial, flexural, and torsional degrees of freedom and resulting deflections in response to shifting quasistatic and shock loads inherent to handling. Simple, right? Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 butvar and vinac are great in dry sediments. For this wet tusk, some sort of acrylic might have worked better, but then you also need time to let it dry. It is a water based preservative. Mammoth tusks are terrible. They should be outlawed. Is that a U of C tee shirt I see you wearing? I am a 1983 grad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 43 minutes ago, jpc said: butvar and vinac are great in dry sediments. For this wet tusk, some sort of acrylic might have worked better, but then you also need time to let it dry. It is a water based preservative. Mammoth tusks are terrible. They should be outlawed. Is that a U of C tee shirt I see you wearing? I am a 1983 grad. I was just the drive-by finder, serving as armchair advisor/purveyor of bad humor during this undertaking. Maybe Anthony will indulge you on back story of his attire. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AnThOnY- Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 48 minutes ago, jpc said: butvar and vinac are great in dry sediments. For this wet tusk, some sort of acrylic might have worked better, but then you also need time to let it dry. It is a water based preservative. Mammoth tusks are terrible. They should be outlawed. Is that a U of C tee shirt I see you wearing? I am a 1983 grad. It had been exposed for most of a week to dry some when most of the butvar was applied. I agree though, when even slightly damp, the butvar tends to precipitate out on the surface and not quite penetrate. U of C? Mississippi State Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Excellent find! " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phevo Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 What an ungrateful fossil With the amount of care and love you gave it, it should have jumped in the kayak and paddled it's way to the truck on it's own Thanks for the walkthrough 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Very cool find. Too bad you didn’t have electricity and couldn’t put a couple fans and heaters on the thing. Good summer Texas sun and heat would have done it wonders, but then you couldn’t wait that long. I keep my eyes down in the bed most of the time, or on the red layer. Guess I need to look up some too. I have never seen anything in the upper layer when I have looked though. Hum, Pleistocene, that may be the answer to a fossil ID post I just made about something I found yesterday in the NSR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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