Xiphactinus start to finish

[Ramo]

I find it interesting seeing how others collect and prep, so I thought others might like seeing how I do in the chalk of western Kansas.   

First though, let me say I dont claim to be an expert at all.  I make lots of mistakes, and am still learning.  I found this fish last summer, and I contacted fellow member "Xiphanctius" for advice.  This was the biggest jacket I've ever done, and I am thankful for his advice.

Now to the pictures!  This first one is showing after removing some chalk over the skull.  There was a little wash area that had exposed the front of the skull.  One piece of the top jaw ( with no teeth) was found eroded out along with some pectoral fin pieces.

 

[Ramo]

Finding the front of the skull with a string of vertebrae got me pretty excited.  While digging overburden down to the bone bed, I was trying to calculate how long this fish was going to be.  I was guessing 8-10 feet.  Just a little guy for an x fish, but it would be my biggest jacket ever.  This photo shows our excavation after a few hours.

The second photo shows where the washout had eroded the jaws (in blue)

Black shows skull and verts.

The red is a fault in the chalk.  We stopped digging here for the day.  We had a little over 3' exposed.  Some appears wet from putting glue on the bones.  I knew it would take a lot more time and plaster than I had, so I covered it all with a piece of tarp and piled loose chalk over it.  I wouldn't be able to get back for a few days.

[Ramo]

Days later I returned with my son, and we started digging down to the bone bed past the fault line where had stopped.  We expected to find the back 2/3 of a fish, but instead found nothing.  We realized that the back was broken, and circled around back towards the head.  I used a chai saw to cut a trench around the exposed bones to make a jacket.  "Xiphactinus" told me that a 3' jacket would be about all we could handle, and advised to cut the fish in half.  That was when I thought it was whole.  This jacket would be about 5'X4'.  I figured my son and I could handle it.  I was wrong.  We used 4 bags of plaster, a lot of burlap, and so mnk e wood strips for strength.   It was a little crumbly, which made me nervous.

[Ramo]

Actually all the chalk falling out was a blessing.  This way the jacket only weighed in the hundreds of pounds instead of the thousands of pounds!  We had to carry it about 100 yards to the truck.

Tje next two photos are of the slab after getting it back to the shop and cutting g the edge of the jacket off.  I drew in the missing jaws to give you an idea of what your looking at. 

[Ramo]

Over the winter I used picks, toothbrushes, and water to remove virtually all of the chalk, leaving just the bones and plaster.  This fish was in a dark bluish chalk, similar to the bone color, so I mixed up some lighter colored chalk from the same pasture with some plaster and used a sponge to "paint" over the exposed plaster.  I then coated it all with a thin layer of paleobond glue to protect it.  Finally I drilled some holes in it and screwed it to the wall.  It's a lot bigger than it looks in the photo.  It took a ton of time and work to get where it is now.  I cant imagine tackling a bigger one.  ( but I will if I find one!)

[Ramo]

Oops forgot the finished product picture.

[Andyl]

That’s fantastic!

 

i love seeing the process of extracting it from the ground 

 

congrats on on a great job

[RJB]

That,, is truly a fantastic fossil hunting and prepping thread!!!  Really nice job and I can only imagine how much fun and excitement that must have been!  Now, lets find that 18 footer? 

 

RB

[Macrophyseter]

Now you really make me want to move to Kansas 

[JarrodB]

Looks great. Thanks for sharing. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very interesting thread and a great end product! 

[steelhead9]

Nice! You boys must eat your wheaties out there to carry that thing 100 yards.

[Ptychodus04]

Very nicely done!

[Jeffrey P]

Congratulations on a great specimen and prep. Thanks for sharing it with us. I can appreciate how much work that must have been. I would say it looks like it was well worth it. 

[CSimpson176]

So much time and effort went a long way in prepping a gorgeous piece! 

[Captcrunch227]

Wow. Why an absolute beauty. Thanks for taking the time to post about your process. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this

[fossilsonwheels]

Fantastic stuff. Great find, great work !

[Bobby Rico]

Great thread and incredible fossil. Nice prep work too.  

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for sharing this. You can really see that you put an enormous effort into this project.

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations on fantastic report and find.  

Thanks for posting this awesome addition in your collection to the Forum, Ramo! 

[jpc]

Nice specimen.  Thanks for the tour.  Looks like you got wicked lucky rolling the jacket over.  I see the bones inside the jacket AND the impression of the same bones in situ.  You might want to do more undercutting on any future (esp bigger) jackets.  

[Troodon]

Wow, the process is super, great prep job.   Excellent specimen.  Thanks for posting.

[Bullsnake]

Great job, Ramo!

I know it's a longshot, but was wondering if you could spot any signs of possible predation on those bones?

[Ramo]

2 hours ago, Bullsnake said:

Great job, Ramo!

I know it's a longshot, but was wondering if you could spot any signs of possible predation on those bones?

Surprisingly no.   I expected to find some shark teeth among the bones, or scrape marks,  but I did not.  The last vert is cut cleanly in half, but without a tooth, it's kind of hard to call that predation.