Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 It was a pretty good week fossil collecting I managed to make it to Penn Dixie Tuesday and Friday. A few of us Canadians had the place to ourselves both days Tuesday was an interesting day, three of us went Mike, Greg and myself and we all ended up with heat stroke. The temperature topped out at 39 Celsius and then you add in the humidity factor and it was low 40's. Stupid weather for collecting but we all found some very good stuff. Greg found a huge plate that I cut down in the field for him to about 12 inches by 12 inches. It would appear to have 4 complete prone E. rana on it . It currently sits in my basement waiting to be prepped. I do not have a picture as of yet but if I get his permission I will post one. Mike as usual is the greenops whisperer and he found 2 or 3 relatively complete and large greenops at the top of the blocks in the main Penn trilobite layer. I was having a reasonable day I probably had 20 to 30 enrolled or partially enrolled trilobites in the bucket along with a very nice Pleurodictyum americanum (a tabulate coral) . I only find a few of these each year at Penn and always take them home because they prep up quite nicely. I was getting a bit frustrated that both Mike and Greg were finding prone rana's including Greg's spectacular plate, when my fortunes changed with one split of the rock. For those of you that have been collecting with me you know that my style is to spend the morning breaking out huge blocks from the main trilobite layer with big prybars, wedges and chisels and then I split for the whole afternoon. We were working a large bench and had gotten to the state where all the blocks were locked in because of convoluted dome structures and the lack of natural cracks. The blocks that day were coming out about 200 to 300 pounds and about 12 to 18 inches thick. Eventually I would resort to the diamond gas saw and create some weak areas that we could exploit, but back to this story. In frustration with the heat and three guys not being able to get the next block out I just took a chisel and a 5 pound mini sledge and took my frustration out on the rock. Well to my pleasant surprise off popped a piece of matrix that clearly had 2 nice bugs in it. Wow one strike of the sledge and the fortunes of the day are totally changed. I always tell people who are collecting with me to keep at it, your are only one strike of the hammer away from having an amazing day. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures in the field my phone would not let me it said the battery was over heated. Here is ta picture of the shard about 1/2 hour into prepping. What you cant notice in this picture is that there is a 3rd bug buried to the left, I was just able to see the edge of a pygidium from the side. For once I got lucky and it was not just an isolated pygidium. Here it is probably an hour into the prep Prep was pretty standard using a COMCO air abrasion unit at about 30 PSI with 40 micron previously used dolomite, utilizing .025. .015 and .010 tips. Very little scribing was used on the piece because was quite thin and looked to have weak spots that were stabilized with cyanoacrylate and dilute vinac in acetone .Anyway for your viewing pleasure here is a series of pictures of the completed bugs. The plate has no repairs or restoration and the bugs are lying in their original positions. Going into my collection besides the "Perfect Bug" I found earlier this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 If you look closely at the above picture you will actually see that there is a forth prone bug under the middle bug. Hmm. looks a little like a greenops...decided against destroying the upper bug to reveal it. And a close up of the nose end of one of the bugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 wow. Beautiful! Everything is generated through your own will power ~ Ray Bradbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 What a terrific piece of good fortune, but I'm sure much deserved! A beautiful multi-trilo block! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 What a great way to turn around a day. I guess "poke it with a stick" and "whack it with a hammer" are useful fossil hunting skills to be learned. Of course, you have to know how to do it right. Lovely multi-specimen block. That is top shelf display case worthy. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Here are the Crazy Canucks at our dig excavation with all our tools (Quarryman Dave, Jim and Backhoe Kane were unavailable for this event as some poor fellows gotta work for a living). We managed to rig a bucket and some rocks to act as a stand so that we could all get in the picture. From left to right Mike, Malcolm, Greg..This triple E. rana fossil shard was split from the top corner of the block immediately to the left of Mike's foot. Notice the size of the blocks in the foreground which are typical of how we remove them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Oh my gosh, Malcolm. Those are beautiful! All the shiny details... wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 A wonderfull specimen out of frustration - Congratulations! But...- You did not tell us what was in the rest of this block... Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealWiwaxia Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Beautiful specimens, the detail in them is amazing. "A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others." - Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 That's a very photogenic cluster. Wonder what they were "discussing" the moment before they were buried. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Lovely piggy pile. The middle large one seems to be stacked on top of a buried Greenops (I think I see the genal poking out). ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 7 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: That's a very photogenic cluster. Wonder what they were "discussing" the moment before they were buried. Don whether or not burial insurance is a sensible investment? Everything is generated through your own will power ~ Ray Bradbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Just now, Walt said: whether or not burial insurance is a sensible investment? Somehow, given the nature of the depositional environment in that strata, the premiums would be sky-high! ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Great find, Malcolm. Looking forward to seeing that block as well. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Yep its a complete greenops from what I can see but I would have to destroy the covering bug to expose it. Looked at doing a undercut and transposition but not really any room between the greenops and the rana so would likely damage one or both bugs doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Roger, unfortunately the rest of that block pretty much only contained rollers . Pretty much every one of the blocks we take out has 4 or 5 complete rollers of varying sizes in them. Hate to admit to this we are pretty focused on finding the prone and 2/3 enrolled ones that look a bit like a comma when prepped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Awesome piece! Congrats, sir. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Spectacular find! 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...
Pagurus Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Outstanding! Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy B Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Beautiful!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Great report and beautiful trilobites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paciphacops Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 . Nice bugs! "Don't force it, just use a bigger hammer" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavySwan Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 What amazing finds! They sure are photogenic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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