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Brazos river find. Crab claw fossil?


DeeMoji

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Hi again! I found this today in Bryan Texas on the Brazos River in the area of the whiskey bridge. Is it the fossil of a crab claw? I wonder if more of it is inside?

*this is the only picture I have at the moment, we’re driving home now and it’s in the back of our truck.*

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I think it is a crustacean piece and I think it may prep out, Nice find:dinothumb:

“...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

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4 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

I think it is a crustacean piece and I think it may prep out, Nice find:dinothumb:

Do you mean try to get it out? I’m afraid I would break it. How would I do that carefully? 

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3 minutes ago, DeeMoji said:

Do you mean try to get it out? I’m afraid I would break it. How would I do that carefully? 

Not completely, just clean it up a bit. Look at the posts by @RJB. Though yours probably isn’t the whole crab, I bet it’s the claw. See if you can find a dental pick and very slowly remove matrix. I don’t know how hard it is, but it will take time and patience. Maybe some preppers will see this and give tips.

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“...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

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This is pretty cool. There is a complete crab inside. I've collected a dozen of these nodules during a project with another museum. The prep can be difficult but the specimens are spectacular. You should be able to tell which way he is facing, and coat the bottom half of the nodule so it doensnt fall apart while prepping away the top half.

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5 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Not completely, just clean it up a bit. Look at the posts by @RJB. Though yours probably isn’t the whole crab, I bet it’s the claw. See if you can find a dental pick and very slowly remove matrix. I don’t know how hard it is, but it will take time and patience. Maybe some preppers will see this and give tips.

Thank you WhodamanHD :) 

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The material should be pretty soft on the outside. The layer underneath the outer layer will be harder and breaks along fractures but separates cleanly from the crab. 

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Just now, dinodigger said:

This is pretty cool. There is a complete crab inside. I've collected a dozen of these nodules during a project with another museum. The prep can be difficult but the specimens are spectacular. You should be able to tell which way he is facing, and coat the bottom half of the nodule so it doensnt fall apart while prepping away the top half.

Thank you Dinodigger, I’ll have to do some research since I really am not sure what you mean! I’m so new. Lol 

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2 minutes ago, dinodigger said:

The material should be pretty soft on the outside. The layer underneath the outer layer will be harder and breaks along fractures but separates cleanly from the crab. 

Thank you!! :) 

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27 minutes ago, dinodigger said:

This is pretty cool. There is a complete crab inside. I've collected a dozen of these nodules during a project with another museum. The prep can be difficult but the specimens are spectacular. You should be able to tell which way he is facing, and coat the bottom half of the nodule so it doensnt fall apart while prepping away the top half.

Dinodigger, could you tell me please what I coat the bottom with? 

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2 hours ago, DeeMoji said:

Dinodigger, could you tell me please what I coat the bottom with? 

There are several polymers that are used.

This thread may help You...

 

This thread shows a crab concretion prep...

 

 

Nice find.

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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.

 

 

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Nice.  Based on age, could very well be genus Zanthopsis, maybe Harpactocarcinus.  I'd suggest looking up images of both so you can anticipate the morphology and work with that in mind.  Helps to visualize surface topography before digging in.

 

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Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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15 hours ago, ynot said:

There are several polymers that are used.

This thread may help You...

 

This thread shows a crab concretion prep...

 

 

Nice find.

Thank you Ynot, this was very helpful. 

I’m very new but love it so much! I’ve planed a date on the picnic table with my husband to try and free our crab from his rock! (I know that’s not how I’m supposed to say that, but I still don’t know any of the proper terms. I’m sure I’ll learn a ton from y’all though.) 

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1 minute ago, DeeMoji said:

free our crab from his rock! (I know that’s not how I’m supposed to say that

That is what most of Us call it.

If You love something - set it free (from the rock).:thumbsu:

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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.

 

 

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13 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Nice.  Based on age, could very well be genus Zanthopsis, maybe Harpactocarcinus.  I'd suggest looking up images of both so you can anticipate the morphology and work with that in mind.  Helps to visualize surface topography before digging in.

 

Uncle siphuncle, (don’t laugh please) how did you assume it’s age? I’d love to be better educated on thes things and don’t really know where to start. 

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Mr. Crab has cracks, can someone tell me what I glue him with so he can keep his $&@! Together when we free him? 

8F5A88E7-5C97-417B-903E-9935F0A89EAB.jpeg

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3 hours ago, DeeMoji said:

Uncle siphuncle, (don’t laugh please) how did you assume it’s age? I’d love to be better educated on thes things and don’t really know where to start. 

Whiskey Bridge is well documented to be Eocene age Stone City and Cook Mountain formations, and I blurted out the 2 most common crab genera of that age, hedging that this would be one of the two.  I may be off base, but this should get us in the ballpark.  If Alex Osso jumps on here, he'll probably offer ID with higher confidence than I can, based on what is now visible.

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Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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Reported in multiple Brazos County localities: Harpactocarcinus americanus

 

figure from:

 

Stenzel, H.B. 1934

Decapod crustaceans from the Middle Eocene of Texas.

Journal of Paleontology,  8(1):38-56

image.png.17769c515eddade29e8a5722289e3aeb.png

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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Here are the original figures of Harpactocarcinus americanus from:

 

Rathbun, M.J. 1928

Two new crabs from the Eocene of Texas. 

Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 73:1-6  LINK

 

image.thumb.png.ac777abb81a05d6122debb946a81aa27.png

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image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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Hard to tell from the pictures, but Im purty sure there is more crab in that rock.  also, it looks like you need to do some consolidating before you go any farther.  That right claw looks like its ready to fall apart?  That immovable finger part coming off the chela can be repaired also.  Good luck.  would love to see after your done.

 

RB

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@RJB his claw is quite dammaged, I’ve only squirted it with water so far and he definitely needs something to seal him together. I don’t know how (yet) so am going to send it @Ptychodus04 to prep him out. I’ll post pictures ASAP and maybe once he has time to get to it, and if he is not busy he can send progress pictures, idk. 

I’m DYING to see if he has anymore body parts though :)  Fingers crossed!!

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