BobWill Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 22 hours ago, jpc said: Farmer's field!! Is H Ross Perot a very wealthy man? Why does the Perot need to do fund-raising for a mere 50K? Ross was active in the planning for the museum but the actual funds were raised from other donations that amounted to $185 million after his adult children donated $50 million in his and his wife's names to begin the project. He died in July of this year. Roger may have said we are on track to acquire the funds for the shark but we're still a long way from that total so if you know anyone who might help it would be great to make it available for public viewing and research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingSepron Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, BobWill said: Ross was active in the planning for the museum but the actual funds were raised from other donations that amounted to $185 million after his adult children donated $50 million in his and his wife's names to begin the project. He died in July of this year. Roger may have said we are on track to acquire the funds for the shark but we're still a long way from that total so if you know anyone who might help it would be great to make it available for public viewing and research. Could you post the fundraising link in this thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 So the thief sold just one of the fossils for $50,000.00 and it didn't give them a clue as to the worth of the trailers contents?! Not a very bright thief! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 1/11/2020 at 4:24 PM, Heteromorph said: I don’t know if this has already been brought up elsewhere on TFF, but according to Roger Farish at Wednesday night’s DPS meeting, over a week ago the trailer was spotted sitting in the middle of a farmer’s field. When police investigated they found that it was being used to store the thief’s miscellaneous stuff, with all of the intact fossils pushed to the side. I suppose he thought that it would be a great storage trailer, and didn’t pay much mind to the thousands of dollars worth of fossils inside. Roger said that the DPS and Perot museum are now back on track to get the $50,000 raised to buy the Ptychodus marginalis specimen from the dealer and get it into the Perot’s permanent collection for study and display. It is the only known nearly complete Ptychodus. Roger thinks it is from the Eagle Ford, but on geological maps the quarry the specimen came from is shown in the Buda formation. P. marginalis has been documented as having a chronologic range of about mid-Cenomanian to mid-Turonian. The Buda is older than that (early Cenomanian). It may be nit-picking but what are the odds that the most complete specimen known is also the earliest-known? Is the exact locality known? Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 7 hours ago, KingSepron said: Could you post the fundraising link in this thread? All I have is this contact he can direct someone how to contribute: Roger Farish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 31 minutes ago, siteseer said: P. marginalis has been documented as having a chronologic range of about mid-Cenomanian to mid-Turonian. The Buda is older than that (early Cenomanian). It may be nit-picking but what are the odds that the most complete specimen known is also the earliest-known? Is the exact locality known? Jess As Heteromorph said above Roger thinks it's from the Eagle Ford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 7 hours ago, KingSepron said: Could you post the fundraising link in this thread? It is not a common practice for the Forum to allow links to fundraisers. @BobWill I have removed the phone number posted. Those interested can send you a PM. 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I was asked to put 5K toward this shark but since I’m staring down the barrel of my kid’s college tuition....umm....yeah... Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heteromorph Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 9 hours ago, siteseer said: P. marginalis has been documented as having a chronologic range of about mid-Cenomanian to mid-Turonian. The Buda is older than that (early Cenomanian). It may be nit-picking but what are the odds that the most complete specimen known is also the earliest-known? Is the exact locality known? Jess I do know the exact quarry the specimen came from (or at least I do from Roger). I am not sure if it would be wise to post such things publicly. Even though this quarry is quite extensive, the USGS Texas geological maps show it only exposing the Buda formation, the Del Rio formation (early Cenomanian), and the Salmon Peak formation (upper Albian). I want to make it clear that I have never seen the specimen in person, but I did email Roger last May and get closer, clear pictures of the specimen. The only reason why I said Buda originally, and still consider the Buda a possibility now, is because of the quarry. But, as Bob and Roger say, it is probably Eagle Ford limestone of Turonian age. I just am trying to figure out if my quarry information is wrong or if it really is from the Buda. And in the off chance that it is Buda, perhaps (maybe possibly?) it would be something like P. deccurens instead? The tooth set, while very complete, was prepared from the root side, so that only a few flipped teeth show the occlusal view. And even those are hard to make out since some weren't completely cleaned or are not facing you directly. I guess I will know when the paper comes out! By the way, just above the specimen is a circular object. That is the preserved eye orbit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 5 hours ago, Heteromorph said: I do know the exact quarry the specimen came from (or at least I do from Roger). I am not sure if it would be wise to post such things publicly. Even though this quarry is quite extensive, the USGS Texas geological maps show it only exposing the Buda formation, the Del Rio formation (early Cenomanian), and the Salmon Peak formation (upper Albian). I want to make it clear that I have never seen the specimen in person, but I did email Roger last May and get closer, clear pictures of the specimen. The only reason why I said Buda originally, and still consider the Buda a possibility now, is because of the quarry. But, as Bob and Roger say, it is probably Eagle Ford limestone of Turonian age. I just am trying to figure out if my quarry information is wrong or if it really is from the Buda. And in the off chance that it is Buda, perhaps (maybe possibly?) it would be something like P. deccurens instead? The tooth set, while very complete, was prepared from the root side, so that only a few flipped teeth show the occlusal view. And even those are hard to make out since some weren't completely cleaned or are not facing you directly. I guess I will know when the paper comes out! By the way, just above the specimen is a circular object. That is the preserved eye orbit! I wouldn't expect the exact quarry (and spot in the quarry) to be publicized. I'm just happy that someone knows for sure where it was found. The geology will be figured out in the research and someone will put a name on it. Modern imaging technology might allow a view of the crowns, but yeah, some fine cleaning might be needed in any case. I look forward to hearing about the release of the paper. Jess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 9 hours ago, siteseer said: I look forward to hearing about the release of the paper. Jess If someone offers the original asking price and it ends up in private hands do we know a paper will even be published? I heard the seller was asking double what he would sell it for to an institution and already had offers from private individuals. We only have 15K of the 50K so far and an offer to match any 10K offer but we're not there yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 @HamptonsDoc @Troodon Here is an article from the Dallas Paleontological Society that tells more about the stolen and recovered Ptychodus shark: 4 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 An update from Dallas Paleontological Society member, Roger Farish. The shark has ended up in the Texas Through Time museum in Hillsboro, Texas located south of Dallas. There is free admission. https://texasthroughtime.org/ Ptychodus expert Shawn Hamm will be able to study and hopefully publish a paper on the WORLD’S most complete Ptychodus shark fossil. A big thanks to Roger who found this for sale at the Tucson show in 2019. Now it can be properly described. 6 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCHNELLE Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 DPS Ammonite: Shawn told me recently that the deal is not yet final. How is your funding effort coming along? Or, can you talk about it? I imagine that some people here in Austin would be willing to contribute. Also, if Shawn is correct and the specimen is a Ptychodus martini, then it cannot have come from the Eagle Ford - as rumored. It must be from an Austin Chalk source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 1 hour ago, LSCHNELLE said: DPS Ammonite: Shawn told me recently that the deal is not yet final. How is your funding effort coming along? Or, can you talk about it? I imagine that some people here in Austin would be willing to contribute. Also, if Shawn is correct and the specimen is a Ptychodus martini, then it cannot have come from the Eagle Ford - as rumored. It must be from an Austin Chalk source. This info is all from Roger Farish as published in the Dallas Paleo Society’s most recent news letter. Contact Roger about funding issues. I believe that his contact info is on the DPS website. https://www.dallaspaleo.org/ 2 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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