Some new finds from Holzmaden

[belemniten]

 

I wasnt very active recently so sorry for that. But the last weeks I was several times hunting for fossils in the quarry Kromer in Holzmaden (Germany) and in this thread I want to show you some things I found there. As some of you know may know I am mainly interested in marine reptile fossils so most of the finds are marine reptile bones and teeth ...

 

So firstly some teeth. I actually found a lot of them but these are the best ones I found this year:

 

A 2 cm long Steneosaurus tooth (crocodile):

 

 

Another Steneosaur tooth with a length of 1,8 cm:

 

 

And the last 1.2 Steneosaur tooth:

 

 

I also found some Ichthyosaur teeth. Here is one of the nicest from this year:

 

 

Besides of several teeth I also found some bones. Ichthyosaur bones are the most common type of bones there so I found mainly Ichthyosaur material. Especially I found many ribs but they are mostly not prepped yet. Here is just one little example:
 

 

 

Its about 10 cm long.

 

I didnt found many vertebrae this year but here is a pretty neat one with a length of about 3.5 cm:
 

 

 

A bit rarer is this little Steneosaur (crocodile) vert:

 

 

I am really happy that I can say that I found some pterosaur material this year. As these are marine deposits you may can imagine that pterosaur bones and teeth are very very rare.

 

Here is a little 6 cm long and very worn pterosaur bone:

 

 

Another pterosaur bone: 

 

 

This one is about 11 cm long. I didnt saw that one in the quarry Kromer but I took the stone with me because of a tooth on the other side of the stone so I was very pleased as I turned the stone around at home

 

The next one is probably my favourite find of the year until now:

 

 

These are also pterosaur bones (the big one might be a humerus?) 

Some more pictures of the same piece:
 

 

 

 

And last but not least this find:
 

 

I am actually not sure what it is. Might be pterosaur bone too ( maybe a Scapula?) or another possibility would be a bone from the skull but its kinda difficult to determine isolated bones ...

 

Still many bones and teeth to prep and the year is still young so lets see what I can find/reveal!
 

I hope you like some of my finds and thanks for watching

 

[ynot]

WOW!!!

 

You have been doing quite good over there!

Congratulations on the  pterosaur bones.

[Heteromorph]

The site must be exhilarating to hunt! That kind of material would make me I have always wanted to find anything pterosaur.

 

Also, great prep work! I’m sure your skillful preparation will uncover more long-unseen fossilized gems.

[Fossildude19]

Excellent finds and prep, Sebastian!

Thanks for showing us.  

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good finds, Sebastian, a great start to the year's hunting.

Love the teeth but that pterosaur humerus and associated bone plate is extraordinary! 

[Vieira]

Amazing finds and fantastic preparation.

 

Congratulations

[TqB]

Wonderful collection and prepping, Sebastian. The pterosaur pieces are amazing!

[Ludwigia]

Very nice finds, Sebastian. And your preparation is getting better all the time!

[belemniten]

Wow thanks so much for all the compliments and nice words 

Actually I don't think that I am very good at prepping. These were just the bones which lay in a kinda soft layer. So they were mostly very easy to prep. The real challenges are the bones, which are in a very hard layer, called "Schlacke". It's very frustrating to prep these bones and I often damage them or even destroy them more or less completely so I still have a lot to learn! 

[jpc]

excellent finds.  Yes, the big bone in your pterosaur block is a humerus.  How big is the last mystery bone?  I am almost seeing a crocodile cervical vertebra.  

[Natalie81]

Whaaaa  Such great finds, Sebastian! 

And really nice preparation 

I like all of them, but man, those pterosaur bones... 

[belemniten]

39 minutes ago, jpc said:

excellent finds.  Yes, the big bone in your pterosaur block is a humerus.  How big is the last mystery bone?  I am almost seeing a crocodile cervical vertebra.  

Thanks! Also for the confirmation on the ID! Sorry I forgot to mention the size... Its about 5.2 cm long. 

 

29 minutes ago, Natalie81 said:

Whaaaa  Such great finds, Sebastian! 

And really nice preparation 

I like all of them, but man, those pterosaur bones... 

Thanks  And yeah the Pterosaur bones are also my favourites... 

[Nimravis]

Great finds and nice pictures. Do you have any pictures of the actual collecting area? Those  would be nice to see.

[jpc]

5 hours ago, jpc said:

excellent finds.  Yes, the big bone in your pterosaur block is a humerus.  How big is the last mystery bone?  I am almost seeing a crocodile cervical vertebra.  

oops... cervical rib, not vertebra...  Doh!

I think 5.2 cm would be a reasonable size for a cerv rib.  

 

[caterpillar]

I agree for the cervical rib

[Manticocerasman]

great finds and prepwork sebastian

 

[RuMert]

Very nice! And excellent ID skills too: I couldnt tell the difference between those Steneosaurus and Ichthyosaur teeth.

[belemniten]

18 hours ago, Nimravis said:

Great finds and nice pictures. Do you have any pictures of the actual collecting area? Those  would be nice to see.

Thanks  I took a picture on Sunday but it's not the best... 

 

 

15 hours ago, jpc said:

oops... cervical rib, not vertebra...  Doh!

I think 5.2 cm would be a reasonable size for a cerv rib.  

 

 

11 hours ago, caterpillar said:

I agree for the cervical rib

Ok thanks for the ID guys. I will label it as crocodile cervical rib.

 

8 hours ago, Manticocerasman said:

great finds and prepwork sebastian

 

Thanks Kevin 

 

8 hours ago, RuMert said:

Very nice! And excellent ID skills too: I couldnt tell the difference between those Steneosaurus and Ichthyosaur teeth.

Thanks! They seem to look quite similar but that's also because of the pictures. Crocodile teeth are in general much thinner and longer. And the root is also very different. The root of crocodile teeth is smooth.

[Nimravis]

Thanks for posting that, it looks like a great place to collect and you could spend a couple weeks looking through matrix.

[belemniten]

1 hour ago, Nimravis said:

Thanks for posting that, it looks like a great place to collect and you could spend a couple weeks looking through matrix.

Yeah it's indeed a great place and I am really thankful that I live near that place. 

Although the matrix, which is laying there at the moment is laying there already quite a long time so it's getting more difficult to find something good. Hopefully there will be new material soon! 

 

Here is another find from the last weekend. 

Some bones, mainly ribs from a small Ichthyosaur:

 

 

The prep is very difficult because the stone is hard and the bones are fragile. I already prepped some hours and there is still a lot of work to do! 

Detailed pictures:

 

 

 

 

[Pemphix]

Some good and very rare finds (pterosaur) ! Others are also quite impressive - always interesting what you can find in an highly frequented pay-for-dig-quarry...

Congrats !

[Andy B]

WOW. Very nice finds!!

[gdsfossil]

I am visiting Germany staying near Augsburg in later this mornth and have some free time.  Is this a site open to public?  What are the rules for fossil hunting and collecting?  Are their any clubs or people who might be willing to show a U.S. amateur, teacher a few spots?

[Pemphix]

Open to public quarrys in Holzmaden area are:

http://www.schieferbruch-kromer.de/

http://www.urweltsteinbruch.de/index2.html

Compact info around area "Holzmaden" (maybe in parts outdated):

https://www.steinkern.de/fundorte/baden-wuerttemberg/150-holzmaden-einige-infos-fuer-nicht-einheimische.html

ATTENTION: in the whole area "Holzmaden" (several citys and areas around) fossil hunting is strictly forbidden by law (reason: to protect the fossils) !

The only exemption of this law (means: you are allowed to dig for fossils under some restrictions, see below) are the both quarrys mentioned above !

Always have the local laws in focus - they may vary from county to county and even from country to country....!

As always the best is to liase with local collectors (since this is not my collecting-area unfortunately i cannot help here...).

 

Good luck !

 

P.S.: Augsburg is around 120 Kilometers from Holzmaden.

P.P.S.: Depending of what you are finding in the quarrys mentioned above, you need to hand it over to the government/museum. You need to show your findings to a warden in the quarry who will decide what you can keep and what is of scientific interest.   

 

[belemniten]

Thanks @Pemphix and @Andy B 

 

@gdsfossil

Pemphix already mentioned the most important things. The best quarry there is the quarry Kromer. There will be a warden who can show you where you can find something. It's pretty easy to find some ammonites and Belemnites!

 

Good luck!