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M&M Ranch in Nebraska


MarcoSr

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My younger son Mel just led his first fossil trip of the year on our Eocene/Oligocene M&M Ranch in Nebraska last week.

 

My sons, Mel and Marco Jr., are starting to get back from their prepper some of the fossils that they found on our ranch in 2018.  Not all fossils go to the prepper.  Mel preps some of the specimens himself.  Below is a picture of the specimens Mel found in 2018 that he will prep.

 

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Here are a few pictures of 2018 specimens just back from the prepper.

 

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Mel found another saber cat in 2018 that is in prep.  Below are a saber cat skull found by Mel and saber cat skeleton found by Marco Jr. in previous years on the ranch.  They have found seven or eight so far on the ranch.

 

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I'll probably be going out to the ranch a couple of times this year.  However, I spend most of my time at the ranch taking matrix that contains micro squamate, bird, amphibian, and mammal specimens.  I'm currently working with seven researchers on this micro material.

 

 

Marco Sr.

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

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Wonderful images. The Nebraska Oligocene terrestrial material is so different from the Plio/Pleistocene stuff here in Florida. Nebraska is still high on my fossil bucket list. :)

 

I'm glad your sons are finding some great specimens on the ranch. Anxiously awaiting the results of the papers that will come of your micro-faunal fossils from the ant hills. Should be a really interesting read.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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@MarcoSr it was a blast. Good food, good friends and great adventure.

 

It's all fun and games till you get 6 inches of snow along with 28° F temps with 20 mph NW winds on 2 of your days while trying to surface hunt the badlands.

 

The group was Mid-Atlantic Fossil and Nature Adventures (MAFANA) run by Cathy Young, who Mrs.SA2 and I volunteer with regularly. MAFANA has another trip at the M&M Ranch scheduled for September. TFF's @Jniederkorn was a willing particpant.

 

Here is a photo of some of the group doing a "snowy exploration." It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. Mrs.SA2 is on the right & Mel is in the red hoodie. We had to stick to flat ground and stream beds for the 2 days of snow cause it was unbelievably slippery. Cleats or crampons were a must.

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Here is a close up of Mel "chill-axin".

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Mrs.SA2 "chilling."

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And, here is 1 of Mrs.SA2 and me along the vehicle path.

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I will post more photos and info on our trip later.

 

Cheers,

SA2

 

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Killer finds. Isn't that the ranch that Frank Garcia owns?

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Some beautifully prepped finds. :)

Very interested to see the results from the micro-matrix. 

 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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22 minutes ago, JarrodB said:

Killer finds. Isn't that the ranch that Frank Garcia owns?

 

Frank never owned it, he had the fossil lease for many years. Marco Jr & Mel were able to buy it when Mr. Arner passed away.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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12 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Some beautifully prepped finds. :)

Very interested to see the results from the micro-matrix. 

 

We did find 3 or 4 "new" ant mounds that arent on Marco Sr's original sampling list. 1 was in the Eocene strata.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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37 minutes ago, SailingAlongToo said:

 

Frank never owned it, he had the fossil lease for many years. Marco Jr & Mel were able to buy it when Mr. Arner passed away.

Oh cool. I would love to visit sometime. 

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Sweet!!!

"Life is too complex for me to wrap my mind around, that's why I have fossils and not pets!":tff:

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22 minutes ago, JarrodB said:

Oh cool. I would love to visit sometime. 

 

You can contact Mel through his M&M Ranch website, www.m-mfossildigs.com or their other site, phatfossils.com. He definitely has availability during the 2019 fossil season.

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Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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5 hours ago, digit said:

Wonderful images. The Nebraska Oligocene terrestrial material is so different from the Plio/Pleistocene stuff here in Florida. Nebraska is still high on my fossil bucket list. :)

 

I'm glad your sons are finding some great specimens on the ranch. Anxiously awaiting the results of the papers that will come of your micro-faunal fossils from the ant hills. Should be a really interesting read.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Ken

 

I have hundreds of pictures of specimens from the ranch that my sons have found over the years.  I only posted some of their recent finds.

 

Unfortunately waiting for papers is like watching grass grow.

 

Marco Sr.

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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4 hours ago, SailingAlongToo said:

@MarcoSr it was a blast. Good food, good friends and great adventure.

 

It's all fun and games till you get 6 inches of snow along with 28° F temps with 20 mph NW winds on 2 of your days while trying to surface hunt the badlands.

 

Jack

 

April can bring some late season snow storms to the ranch.  Mel said that some nice specimens were found on the good days.

 

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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4 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Some beautifully prepped finds. :)

Very interested to see the results from the micro-matrix. 

 

 

I made a few posts on the micro material awhile back.  Here is a link to one so you can see the types of fossils found in the matrix.

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/66138-oligocene-micros-from-the-mm-ranch-in-nebraska/&tab=comments#comment-692680

 

 

Marco Sr.

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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13 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

I have hundreds of pictures of specimens from the ranch that my sons have found over the years.  I only posted some of their recent finds.

 

Unfortunately waiting for papers is like watching grass grow.

I'm sure some wonderful specimens have come out of that ranch over the years. Hope to see some first hand when we have the time to visit there in person. :)

 

It took me over 3 years to get a paper on a new fish species I discovered published--so I know science works at its own pace. I'd rather pick micro-fossils than watch grass grow (though bamboo does grow nearly fast enough to see). :P

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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4 hours ago, JarrodB said:

Killer finds. Isn't that the ranch that Frank Garcia owns?

 

4 hours ago, SailingAlongToo said:

 

Frank never owned it, he had the fossil lease for many years. Marco Jr & Mel were able to buy it when Mr. Arner passed away.

 

Frank Garcia is a longtime family friend.  My sons went on his fossil trips on the Arner Ranch for many years before they purchased the fossil badlands portion of the Arner Ranch using an option to buy that Frank had in his fossil lease on the ranch.

 

Marco Sr.

  • I found this Informative 1

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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5 hours ago, sharkdoctor said:

Amazing specimens! Thanks for sharing!

 

3 hours ago, Mioplosus_Lover24 said:

Sweet!!!

 

Thank you.  The ranch is a unique place for high density, high quality, Oligocene macro and micro fossils.

 

Marco Sr.

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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18 minutes ago, digit said:

It took me over 3 years to get a paper on a new fish species I discovered published--so I know science works at its own pace.

 

Ken

 

I have a number of papers in the works that are going on 3 years.  One on Eocene marine coprolites should be out soon.

 

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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6 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

Below is a picture of the specimens Mel found in 2018 that he will prep.

 

Marvelous! Thank you for upload those pictures. It was a privilege seeing them.

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Awesome finds! M&M is certainly on my bucket list. Love that oligocene material.

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Those are some really great finds! I can only imagine what it must be like to own property that contains great specimens like these!

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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