A great, but painful day, collecting Pennsylvanian Brachiopods near Oglesby, Illinois

[Nimravis]

38 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

Have the people listed as contacts welcomed or solicited comments? Just want to make sure before I add another "piece of clutter" to their inboxes

I don’t think that they would care. On a side note, I wish the state of Illinois would take a bulldozer to Pit 11 once a year and turn over Tipple Hill, there are tons of great concretions there that we cannot get too. That would go far for promoting the area as a fossil rich resource.

[dalmayshun]

I can't believe you carried all that with a bad back...though my doctor does say, hard exercise is sometimes good, especially if the pains are caused by arthritis...hope you are feeling better. Those fossils themselves would have made me feel good....warm them up nicely in a heating pad, and use them as Oriental Stone Massage...

[FossilDAWG]

Wow, nice brachiopod-fest!  Too bad Illinois is so far from me.

 

Hope you heal up quickly.

 

Don

[Ludwigia]

Great finds! But bad back! Take it easy, eh?

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, dalmayshun said:

can't believe you carried all that with a bad back

I used a small backpack Thai filled up 3 times- once I got it on it was easier to move. I first tried carrying it down, but it would sway back and forth and that movement shot right through me. There also is a very tiny Creek, about 2 feet wide that was flowing pretty good and I had to watch it on slick rocks. Under normal circumstances I could have moved around like a mountain goat on that terrain, but I felt more like Humpty Dumpty. 

[Herb]

Really nice finds

[-AnThOnY-]

@Nimravis

 

I have a couple goniatites (one about 2" in diameter) from the pit on the North side of the river. Wish I could have spent a longer time period in there, gotta be some cool stuff. Was always hoping for some trilos but no such luck (not sure if its even possible)

[Nimravis]

2 hours ago, Herb said:

Really nice finds

Thanks Herb.

[Nimravis]

2 hours ago, -AnThOnY- said:

@Nimravis

 

I have a couple goniatites (one about 2" in diameter) from the pit on the North side of the river. Wish I could have spent a longer time period in there, gotta be some cool stuff. Was always hoping for some trilos but no such luck (not sure if its even possible)

I have never found one or even seen a piece of one.

[Darktooth]

Someone has been a very busy beaver!

[deutscheben]

1 hour ago, Nimravis said:

I have never found one or even seen a piece of one.

I have found 2 fragmentary trilobites at this site collecting over the last 3 years- a mostly complete pygidium from an Ameura and what I believe is the detached glabella from Ditomopyge. Illustrations of both genera can be found in many ISGS field guides for areas exploring Pennsylvanian strata. 

 

 

[ynot]

I got to read the field trip section more often.

Been missing some sweet stuff.

Looks like a fun place to hunt. (You sure did good.)

[Nimravis]

42 minutes ago, ynot said:

I got to read the field trip section more often.

Been missing some sweet stuff.

Looks like a fun place to hunt. (You sure did good.)

It is a great place Tony.

[Peat Burns]

Thanks to the kind generosity of @Nimravis, I acquired some of the brachiopods he collected.  I've started prepping some of them.  Here are some pics (scale in mm):

[Peat Burns]

I thought this one was going to be complete.  Both valves are present.  But most of the left side of one of the valves is either missing or crushed below the level of the rest of the shell (I didn't want to go probing for it with the scribe for fear of ruining it).  The shell appears crushed near the break margin, and there appears to be a possible predation puncture on the other side of the shell.  Here's a "before" photo:

 

Here's an "after" photo:

 

Here's some other views, one showing the possible "bite mark"

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

I thought this one was going to be complete.  Both valves are present.  But most of the left side of one of the valves is either missing or crushed below the level of the rest of the shell (I didn't want to go probing for it with the scribe for fear of ruining it).  The shell appears crushed near the break margin, and there appears to be a possible predation puncture on the other side of the shell.  

 

Nice prepping! 

Very nice colour on those specimens. 

Lovely.

[Nimravis]

53 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice prepping! 

Very nice colour on those specimens. 

Lovely.

You are correct Adam, some of these pieces have great colors.

[Nimravis]

@Peat Burns Looks nice Tony.

[Peat Burns]

1 hour ago, Nimravis said:

@Peat Burns Looks nice Tony.

Thanks Ralph. Love the specimens! 

[smt126]

@Peat Burns what do you use for prepping these? These limestone fossils seem like they aren't much different than the limestone matrix?

[Peat Burns]

2 hours ago, smt126 said:

@Peat Burns what do you use for prepping these? These limestone fossils seem like they aren't much different than the limestone matrix?

I use an air-scribe.  Luckily the matrix is not too "sticky".  Any fine work close to or on the fossil is done with a pin vice.