New Mazon Creek Collection

[bigred97]

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[GeschWhat]

Beautiful preservation!

[Mark Kmiecik]

Very nice!

[deutscheben]

Really bold colors on those ones! You have had some very nice finds this season.

[bigred97]

Thanks, @GeschWhat @Mark Kmiecik and @deutscheben! Yes I had a very slow start with little opening and nothing all that interesting, but in the past few weeks I've had a bunch of very exciting finds!

[Ruger9a]

That is a "gem" specimen!!!!

[bigred97]

Thanks, @Ruger9a!

[bigred97]

I've had 2 horseshoe crab specimens open so far this summer. These are from the Creek itself but not from the site where the I&M trip was last weekend. I think they are both Euproops danae. Last summer I found a very worn horseshoe crab in the Creek and @RCFossils identified it as Euproops and said that although there is another type found in the Braidwood biota, it is very rare. I'm pretty sure this is Euproops, but open to hearing any other opinions.

They are both partial specimens, although I think it might be possible to prep out the one that has some plant material also present.

 

[bigred97]

Here is specimen #2:

[flipper559]

Nice finds Chris !! I found an open horseshoe crab in the creek this past saturday !! They are so cool !! Mine was also the more common type. See you on the 19th !!!

 

Phil

 

[bigred97]

Thanks, Phil - I agree they are so cool! I was opening fern after fern which, don't get me wrong, is still awesome, but when the first of these guys popped open I sure was surprised and excited!

 

See you on the 19th - can't wait! Chris

[connorp]

Lovely finds Chris. Hopefully you have a complete one lurking in one of your buckets.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Love those Euproops. 

[bigred97]

Thanks, @connorp! That is the fun of it right there - who knows what might be lurking in my buckets? Every time one opens, I have that little thrill before I see what it is. Then usually it's a blank haha.

 

Thanks, @Tidgy's Dad! I do, too - I was really just thrilled by each one of these.

[deutscheben]

Really nice crabs! That second one has such great detail and it does seem like it might really be complete underneath that fern. Congrats on your finds.  

[bigred97]

Thanks, @deutscheben! I plan to take a little closer look at the second one under magnification and decide whether to try to expose some more of it or not. If I go ahead and it is better for my efforts, I'll post an update. Chris

[bigred97]

I had a concretion open last night from Pit 11. Right away I figured it was various plant pieces or something like that because I couldn't identify it at first glance. Then when I looked more closely I thought I had something very strange. I can't find anything exactly like it in my books. I would still probably think it was various pieces of bark etc except for the line-up of v-shaped "wishbones". That section has me wondering if this could be some type of skeleton, from a fish or amphibian. Any ideas?

 

[bigred97]