Peace River.. running out of days

[Shellseeker 964]

Hunting between thunderstorms and deeper water.  During the rest of the season, I note those places where I am finding fossils but have low water conditions...because of lower back issues, I generally refuse to hunt where I must bend over the screen. However, I do remember where such spots exist for days like today.

An excellent day, some unusual, finds, a couple of megs, and then these:  A odd bone, I have not previously found, but believe to be an Equus Splint bone:

Another interesting fossil which I think most likely a large Sloth dermal scute.

Finally, my best find of the day, a piece of jaw with a Hemiauchenia m3 molar in nice cream - brown colors..

These are really nice finds... but I was cherishing the end days of the 2017-2018 season with a friend on a day with sunshine in the morning and rain clouds later in the day.  Does not get better than this...  Jack

[Tidgy's Dad 7,087]

Excellent finds! 

Love the Hemiauchenia in particular, marvelous. 

So pleased you had such a good day. 

[jcbshark 438]

Nice finds Jack, glad you could get out rainy season is starting off with a bang 

[WhodamanHD 2,426]

Glad your milking those last days! One never knows exactly when natures gonna cut the season short. Cool finds by the way!

[caldigger 4,552]

Not being familiar, where on the sloth would a dermal scute be found?

[Ludwigia 3,095]

I must say, I never cease to be impressed with how you tooth guys can determine exactly where it's position was. Nice finds!

[Shellseeker 964]

5 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

I must say, I never cease to be impressed with how you tooth guys can determine exactly where it's position was. Nice finds!

Once you learn the secret, I can sound much more intelligent on Florida fossils. The University of Florida Museum of Natural History  at Gainesville has a most impressive website, including detailed descriptions and photos of those fossil species endemic to Florida.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-vertebrate-fossils/species/hemiauchenia-macrocephala/

Here is one of the Hemiauchenia photos: All I had to do was rotate my find, until it matched a position in the photo. It helps that the M3 and m3 are the only teeth for this llama with 3 columns. My find is a lower left m3.

Thanks for the question, allowed me to give kudos to a well deserving organization.   Jack

[Shellseeker 964]

6 hours ago, caldigger said:

Not being familiar, where on the sloth would a dermal scute be found?

Rats , caught !!

Dermal ossicles seem identified with Paramylodon sloths. Here is a good description of what they are and what they look like. https://valleyofthemastodon.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/fossil-friday-sloth-dermal-bones/

I have previously found Sloth ossicles in the Peace River: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/44302-a-gorgeous-day-on-the-river/

 

The problem is the size. The fossil from yesterday is double the size of any I have previously found. It has a resemblance to a pathological turtle foot pad, but the fossil is pristine and I have not seen a footpad with this complex pattern. SO , it is a stretch to think this is sloth ossicle, but until I get a better choice...

[Jazfossilator 49]

Nice finds! Thank you for sharing.

[Peat Burns 1,869]

17 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

 

 

That was my first thought, an Equus medial or lateral metapodial. Nice find

[Shellseeker 964]

11 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

That was my first thought, an Equus medial or lateral metapodial. Nice find

Once again .. odd.  I can not recall finding one of these. Maybe they were so worn or broken to be unrecognizable.  Certainly , Equus finds dominate the vertebrate fossils from the Peace River.

If you increase magnification, you can detect the high quality of this bone.

[Peace river rat 84]

Glad you are hitting it hard while you can, love that tooth/jaw bone. Has anyone ever told you, you look very cold in your avatar? LOL 

You have the fossil bug, hardcore! Kindred souls! I expect by the time you read this, you will be returning from another hunt!

[garyc 123]

Great finds!

[Shellseeker 964]

14 hours ago, Peace river rat said:

I expect by the time you read this, you will be returning from another hunt!

You ARE insightful. However, washed out at 1:30pm by Thunderstorm with lightening.  Even I draw the line at lightning while holding a metal handled shovel in the middle of a river.  Just goes to show, I am not completely CRAZY

Good finds but not special.. A couple of broke Megs, 2 upper hemis, a nice Mastodon tooth root, lots of turtle footpads and spurs, and numerous small teeth.  Time to grab a shower.. going out for dinner!!

[Peace river rat 84]

7 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

You ARE insightful. However, washed out at 1:30pm by Thunderstorm with lightening.  Even I draw the line at lightning while holding a metal handled shovel in the middle of a river.  Just goes to show, I am not completely CRAZY

Good finds but not special.. A couple of broke Megs, 2 upper hemis, a nice Mastodon tooth root, lots of turtle footpads and spurs, and numerous small teeth.  Time to grab a shower.. going out for dinner!!

LOL, I too, know the feeling. I once considered digging at night with bright lights, but my darn logical side screamed "bad idea" !

This rainy season is starting strong, we were digging arcadia well into June, last year.

[RJB 1,524]

Hey Jack, cool stuff.  I certainly dont study the sloths, but I too never even thought about dermal scutes in a sloth?  Purty dang neato.

 

RB

[Plantguy 534]

On 5/24/2018 at 8:28 AM, Shellseeker said:

Rats , caught !!

Dermal ossicles seem identified with Paramylodon sloths. Here is a good description of what they are and what they look like. https://valleyofthemastodon.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/fossil-friday-sloth-dermal-bones/

I have previously found Sloth ossicles in the Peace River: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/44302-a-gorgeous-day-on-the-river/

  

The problem is the size. The fossil from yesterday is double the size of any I have previously found. It has a resemblance to a pathological turtle foot pad, but the fossil is pristine and I have not seen a footpad with this complex pattern. SO , it is a stretch to think this is sloth ossicle, but until I get a better choice...

Hey Jacks, neat finds...glad you made it out again. This one looks like an unknown I found awhile back and never resolved. Thanks for the thread. 

Regards, Chris 

[tatehntr 13]

No pictures of the megs?  Cool finds!

[digit 2,300]

Glad you made the most of (possibly) your last time out this season. Rains from Alberto are heading in from the south and I think this saturating rain will likely flood out even the shallow spots in the river and creeks. Love the color on the camelid tooth--a definite trip-maker!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Shellseeker 964]

23 hours ago, tatehntr said:

No pictures of the megs?  Cool finds!

As I said mostly broken,  these were the 2 best:

I kept hoping that the next one would be whole, but it never came.. maybe it is still sitting down there just waiting

[KimTexan 1,663]

On 5/24/2018 at 12:45 AM, caldigger said:

Not being familiar, where on the sloth would a dermal scute be found?

I was thinking the same thing. When I think of sloth I think of fur, but maybe elbows, knees or ankle wherever body made ground contact. That would seem more callous than scute though.

 

@Shellseeker

Still some decent finds. I’m sure better than I could do if I tried hunting Peace River. 

The upside of rainy season is it stirs the fossil pot up and brings a whole new batch of fossils to be accessible.

[Shellseeker 964]

3 hours ago, KimTexan said:

 

@Shellseeker

Still some decent finds. I’m sure better than I could do if I tried hunting Peace River. 

The upside of rainy season is it stirs the fossil pot up and brings a whole new batch of fossils to be accessible.

Kim,

This is my 11th season of hunting the Peace River;  When I started I was persistent, long days 3-4 times a week. I also knew close to nothing on how to dig productively. That changed.  I started hunting with an expert (2011-2013) and then another (2015- current). Combined, they made me a very productive hunter. I stand on the shoulders of giants.

The rainy season generally lasts 4 months. We also had hurricane Irma last year. It does stir the fossil pot up. It collapses some banks, moves gravel and fossils from land to river.  Now , one of those gems of insight. The rainy season moves more sand than gravel.  Sand may be a 6-10 foot blanket over the gravel I want to dig. The rainy season moves the sand leaving the gravel.  If I find lots of sand where it did not previously exist, I prospect just upstream. 

I think if you had the time to invest and the knowledge I have been given from experts, you would likely do as well or better.

[Peace river rat 84]

Well, what did porky pig like to say? "That's all folks" I think with all the rain, this digging season is officially over, unless you are into SCUBA diving! Fossils moving around season is underway. I sure hope I don't get the pleasure of a repeat of Irma. My house ALMOST started to flood. The ground was already saturated, then Irma. The plus side was the super high, near record, peace river.

[caldigger 4,552]

2 hours ago, Peace river rat said:

Well, what did porky pig like to say? "That's all folks" I think with all the rain, this digging season is officially over, unless you are into SCUBA diving! 

Former SCUBA instructor..he, he,he.

[Peace river rat 84]

2 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Former SCUBA instructor..he, he,he.

I'll pass. Black water swift currents, possible bull sharks, alligators and giant turtles aside.