Malcolmt Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 You know I am very fortunate to be able to collect in a lot of special places and with a lot of great fossil friends. Over the years I have had the good fortune to meet many of you and even prep a few fossils for some of you that are patient enough and brave enough to trust your gem to what is for the first time a stranger. Arkona, Bowmanville , Brechin, Ridgemount are all special places that I collect....... but equally special is New York States very own Penn Dixie Fossil Park. A real gem. Now some of you might think that Penn Dixie is not for the serious collector ......... but you would be dead wrong. Just ask a few of our Forum Members that came away with exquisite and mighty rare Bellcartwrightia from there last season. I was fortunate to be able to prep a few of them . I even found one earlier this season myself but alas as my post on the forum showed it turned out to be a less than stellar partial but none the less the only one in my collection. Well I was at Penn twice in the last week and a half, once to get in Jay's (Devonian Digger) way as he was getting the area ready for the upcoming "Dig With The Experts". Both times I went with Greg from the forum here. He is my designated driver it seems so far this year.......(Dave you may have been replaced).. You see I have this phobia and cannot drive over large bridges. Well anyway back to the story....... Since I spent so much time helping Jay (getting in his way) on the Friday I needed to go back this Sunday to actually look seriously for some fossils. Kane from the forum as you can see from his posts was there later on the Friday afternoon just as we were finishing up with the excavator. For some reason only my cart and saw ended up in any of his pictures. I The Friday was a reasonable day as I came away with about 15 complete eldredgeops and a so so bug that will be either a greenops or a bellacartwrightia once I get around to prepping it. Greg and I had a pretty good day on this past Sunday. I came away with probably 20 to 25 complete trilobites and Greg seemed to have a fair amount in his bucket but only asked me to cut out one large prone Eldredgeops for him. Anyway on to the topic at hand . ... Since greenops and bella's at Penn seem to occur in clusters On Sunday I went to the area I found the greenops on the Friday and I found what looked to be a promising Greenops. Both were in the first inch of the Smoke Creek (no Jay I will not tell you exactly where). For those of you going to "The Dig WIth The Experts" there is plenty of this material that has been piled up for you in an area that is off limits till the 19th of May. Jay and I did take a walk about the piles and we can see that the material for this year'd dig looks to be excellent. We both saw complete trilobites, brachs and cepholapods waiting to be removed from the rock. I must say we were both very good and made sure that no one (especially Kane) collected from the out of bounds area. So here is the promising Greenops that I found on Sunday as collected, prior to any preparation. I did not get a picture in the field but as is typical of how I collect ( I am an excavator) it was in a 200 plus pound slab that I removed from a bench that I was excavating. Don't look like much.... obviously the eye is less than perfect........ but looks can be deceiving.. Here it is again after a couple minutes of prep... After 1/2 hour it is actually starting to look like a fossil albeit a compressed , twisted and somewhat deformed one... but that gives it character Prep is being done on a COMCO MB1000 at about 50 PSI using 40 micron dolomite. using .015, .018, .025 and .030 Comco nozzles . All work is being done under an Olympus zoom scope at 7x to about 20x magnification Scribe work on this bug is with a British Sealy for the rough work an American ARO for general work and a German Pferd MST31 for the fine work. A real mishmash of nationalities.... Progress continues... At this point definitely thinking that it is a greenops (not a bella) and that it has some potential even though I can see it has eye problems But what is this... is that another bug I see coming into view.... could it be a 2nd Greenops... that had been completely hidden We like hidden bugs as they have the greatest potential to be pristine... nice genal spine poking out of the matrix... probably means the whole cephalon is there Definitely looking like there might be two (which I believe is pretty rare for Penn Dixie).... We find lots of pygidiums but rarely multiple complete greenops on the same plate... Anyway fingers crossed at this point... After a bit more prep work...actually a lot more........ OH No !!!!!!!!!! the second one is inverted ... what a shame.. But what is that under the first greenops.... Oh my goodness its an enrolled large Edgredgeops......... Wait a minute ..... What an I thinking.... no reason to be upset,,,,,I can fix that ..... who says an inverted trilobite has to stay inverted.... Lets just do some prep magic and see what happens.... As you can see the second greenops was flipped in the same location on the matrix. Absolutely pristine killer eyes..... So here is the plate as it currently stands. I still need to make a level base for it once I decide exactly what orientation that I want to present it in. I need to do a final clean at high magnification with a .010 nozzle and low 15 PSI to get the last bits off and remove any abrasive that is still there (the white stuff) Total prep time about 6 hours. I also need to decide if I want to repair the broken right genal spine on the attacking bug and its left eye. I am thinking yes for the genal spine as that is an easy repair as either a mold of another bug's spine or a part from a spare cephalon if I can find a size match(always take home cephalons of greenops that have genal spines you never know when you will need one) Let me know what you think I should do in the way of repair/ restoration. I am thinking a restored genal spince will definately enhance the overall look of the piece I absolutely love this plate and it is staying in my personal collection.To me these are natures work of art. I am calling it "Attack of the Killer Greenie's". When you sit staring at a bug under a scope for many hours doing prep you have lots of time to think. In my wild and crazy imagination I can see this pack of Devonian raptors swooping in on the big fat Phacops ... a moment in time , captured forever. Actually this would just be the random way they ended up postmortem......but it sure is neat to speculate.... Again from a slightly different angle.... I would say that if you can find specimens like this at Penn Dixie it is well worth the trip. (Well I think so anyway) As I understand there are still a few spot available for the Sunday of the Dig With The Experts Weekend. I had hoped to be there helping out with my trusty saw and limited advice ......but as you would have know it my wife scheduled my daughters birthday celebration for the Saturday... So not this year...... Here are a few extra angles... Note that there is a partial greenops or Bella pygidium under the Eldredgeops..... Should I have continued looking......... Naw a some point you have to say it is good to go.. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 That is a truly nice find! It is always great when you discover more hidden gems in an already good specimen. Nice work! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 What a neat association, Malcolm! That is for sure a personal collection keeper! Wonderful job on the prep, as usual. Well done, sir. Bravo! Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 A thrilling tale and wonderful results! Just beautiful. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holdinghistory Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Very cool piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Malcolmt said: "Attack of the Killer Greenie's". Malcolm, you must have grown up a fighter. I learned it is better to be a lover. I see "Amorous Devonian Trilobites". Either way, that is one special group of trilobites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Marvelous specimen. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Nice bugs, great prep job “...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...
Kane Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Bravo, Malcolm! And it sounds like you and Greg made out well. I'm hoping that spot I spoke about was productive, too. And no one need worry that I would have been the vulture on those Dig w/ the Experts piles... I prefer to chop out my own. That's one nice trilo-jumble! I think the resto would be worth it on this one, but it looks a bit tricky on the left side of the damaged Greenie. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 That first one could get a part-time job as a contortionist for your local circus Very unique, that piece. I understand very well why that's staying in your collection. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 9, 2018 Author Share Posted May 9, 2018 4 hours ago, Kane said: Bravo, Malcolm! And it sounds like you and Greg made out well. I'm hoping that spot I spoke about was productive, too. We took out three big blocks where you had been . the two you left and another huge one. We also cleared a fair bit of the overburden. The layer right above the good stuff was totally useless and just crumbled away in fairly thin sheets. It was not productive, perhaps we might have got a roller or two each but we both moved on to other areas. The area around where we all were at the end of the day on the Friday was probably the most productive. About fifty feet south and to the west 20 feet from your spot. Also the area that Jay and I both identified as being promising on the Friday was very good and not as wet as it had been on the Friday. I found this greenops plate essentially in another block that I excavated that was within feet of where I found the greenops on the Friday. This block which was likely 200 plus pounds also produced a couple of complete enrolled and a potentially complete prone. Literally every split in the block had partials. It was a nice find coming fairly late in the day. Funny thing was I had pulled out the block probably 1/2 hour previously and I was pretty much beat for the day so I had contemplated not splitting it. If my first attempt at a split had not been successful I would likely have left the block for the next guy. We did leave a few blocks that just did not want to split... all the more for the dig with the experts day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 FOTM!!!! Magnificent find and prep. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it, Malcolm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonianDigger Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 I wonder if there's going to be anything left for me to find once school lets out. Between you, @Kane, and DwtE, I can't imagine there are going to be any fossils left! Nice find, @Malcolmt! Jay A. Wollin Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve Hamburg, New York, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 9, 2018 Author Share Posted May 9, 2018 By the way Jay, I think I might have figured out a way to get there without having to drive over any high bridges. The 5 was closed on the way home on Sunday so we had to do this big detour.but there were no big bridges.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Excellent story and a very nice prep job fella!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phevo Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Nice assemblage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonianDigger Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 27 minutes ago, Malcolmt said: By the way Jay, I think I might have figured out a way to get there without having to drive over any high bridges. The 5 was closed on the way home on Sunday so we had to do this big detour.but there were no big bridges.......... Yes, the Skyway, (Rt. 5) is closed until November except for certain times going in certain directions. Jay A. Wollin Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve Hamburg, New York, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 On 5/9/2018 at 10:10 AM, DevonianDigger said: I wonder if there's going to be anything left for me to find once school lets out. Between you, @Kane, and DwtE, I can't imagine there are going to be any fossils left! Nice find, @Malcolmt! Are you implying that I hoover up bugs? I am dainty in my approach. But, yes, the Skyway is under construction. A shirpa may be required to decipher Buffalo's confusing, and often contradictory, signage for detours. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 Heck you take home things that arn't even fossils!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 19 minutes ago, Malcolmt said: Heck you take home things that arn't even fossils!!!!!!!!! * Malcolm does not consider brachs fossils, or so the rumour goes. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 22 minutes ago, Kane said: * Malcolm does not consider brachs fossils, or so the rumour goes. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 One has to draw a line in the sand somewhere......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Must be nice to be at the level where you can turn down brachiopods... I still can't. Send them to me! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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