Large Arthropleura Tracks in Nova Scotia

[FossilsNS]

Hey everybody, here are some photos of large Diplichnites trails I found in Nova Scotia. These would have been made my a giant millipede like creature known as Arthropluera. The Nova

Scotia Museum has been notified of this discovery, as with all the other fossils found at this site (see my previous post of the tetrapod tracks) as the collection of fossils is illegal in

the province. These are absolutely outstanding to view in person and to actually walk next to the tracks on the surface they were once imprinted on is outstanding. Expect to see more from this site in upcoming posts, and I hope you find these fossils as fascinating as I do!

 

ps. There are approximately 27 trails on this surface (many are quite faded by the tidal action)

                      

            

 

 

- FossilsNS

[deutscheben]

Incredible! It's hard to believe how enormous those beasts were- it almost looks like a vehicle. What a wonderful find. 

[Monica]

Amazing find!!!  Congrats!!! 

 

PS - Can you imagine walking beside one of those things while they were alive?  Yikes! 

[FossilsNS]

Thank you both

[connorp]

Absolutely spectacular. I'm loving your finds.

[FossilsNS]

Thanks! Be on the look out for more soon.

[Nimravis]

Great tracks- Congrats.

[Fossildude19]

Very cool  

That's an ichnofossil you don't see every day here! 

Thanks for showing us.  

 

[FossilsNS]

Thanks!

[RCFossils]

Amazing discovery!

thanks for sharing.

[FossilDAWG]

 

Those are amazing!  I can't believe how huge those Arthroplurea must have been.

 

Don

[Wrangellian]

8 hours ago, Monica said:

Amazing find!!!  Congrats!!! 

 

PS - Can you imagine walking beside one of those things while they were alive?  Yikes! 

Not my idea of a picnic... but amazing fossils!

 

Again, some of the best/most interesting fossils occur in a place where it's illegal to collect them. I hope the NS museum can manage to collect some samples, at least. It looks like they're already partly worn down by the weather/ocean.

[Wrangellian]

8 hours ago, FossilsNS said:

Hey everybody, here are some photos of large Diplichnites trails I found in Nova Scotia. These would have been made my a giant millipede like creature known as Arthropluera. The Nova

Scotia Museum has been notified of this discovery, as with all the other fossils found at this site (see my previous post of the tetrapod tracks) as the collection of fossils is illegal in

the province. These are absolutely outstanding to view in person and to actually walk next to the tracks on the surface they were once imprinted on is outstanding. Expect to see more from this site in upcoming posts, and I hope you find these fossils as fascinating as I do!

 

ps. There are approximately 27 trails on this surface (many are quite faded by the tidal action)

                      

            

 

 

- FossilsNS

Can you post larger versions of these pics? They're only about 8cm wide on my monitor.

I'm seeing an increasing number of dinky photos on the forum - is it cellphone users that are doing this?

[Yoda]

43 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Again, some of the best/most interesting fossils occur in a place where it's illegal to collect them. I hope the NS museum can manage to collect some samples, at least. It looks like they're already partly worn down by the weather/ocean.

Amazing find

 

Am sure this has been debated many times before. 

But I find it really sad that no one else may collect this, if the museum itself has no interest. 

[Andy B]

Wow. I had to look that up. I couldn't have imagined a bug that large. No squishing that one!!

 

Thanks for the photos.

[t-tree]

Those tracks are brilliant i can imagine it in motion.

 

This is tergite of Arthropleura from the British Coal Measures that i found just to put some texture on the beast!

 

 

 

Thank-you for showing the tracks 

 

Cheers John

[Tidgy's Dad]

Wow! 

[FossilsNS]

11 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Not my idea of a picnic... but amazing fossils!

 

Again, some of the best/most interesting fossils occur in a place where it's illegal to collect them. I hope the NS museum can manage to collect some samples, at least. It looks like they're already partly worn down by the weather/ocean.

 

10 hours ago, Yoda said:

Amazing find

 

Am sure this has been debated many times before. 

But I find it really sad that no one else may collect this, if the museum itself has no interest. 

Thank you both for the kind words.

 

These fossils are simply embedded in a surface that is much to large to collect. As mentioned, I notified the museum and local geologist and they seemed quite

interested in documenting the site via photography (much better than I did ).

Though it is illegal to collect here, you are still able to look for fossils. If you happen to come across something important, by contacting the museum you have the

have the chance to have your find put in a permanent collection where it could be scientifically studied.

As a "citizen scientist" I think of it my duty to be an extra pair of eyes for the professionals, and to help them by letting them know if I find something cool.

 

- FossilsNS 

[FossilsNS]

2 hours ago, t-tree said:

Those tracks are brilliant i can imagine it in motion.

 

This is tergite of Arthropleura from the British Coal Measures that i found just to put some texture on the beast!

 

 

 

Thank-you for showing the tracks 

 

Cheers John

John,

 

Im so glad you uploaded your Arthropluera pictures to the feed. By combining ichnofossils (locomotion/ behaviour) with body fossils (appearance/ anatomy) we can really start to get a sense

of these incredible creatures while they were living 300 million years ago (give or take a day). That's one of the wonders of paleontology.

 

PS. Very nice specimen  

[Wrangellian]

7 hours ago, FossilsNS said:

 

Thank you both for the kind words.

 

These fossils are simply embedded in a surface that is much to large to collect. As mentioned, I notified the museum and local geologist and they seemed quite

interested in documenting the site via photography (much better than I did ).

Though it is illegal to collect here, you are still able to look for fossils. If you happen to come across something important, by contacting the museum you have the

have the chance to have your find put in a permanent collection where it could be scientifically studied.

As a "citizen scientist" I think of it my duty to be an extra pair of eyes for the professionals, and to help them by letting them know if I find something cool.

 

- FossilsNS 

Well it doesn't look like it's outside of possibility to collect it unless the rock does not separate into layers - too much for one person but maybe a team could do it. Think of how much effort they put into excavating and prepping a dinosaur!

Anyway, hopefully there are other examples of this that will be collected, but the extent of this one makes it more special than a smaller/shorter segment of track that would be easier to pick up.

[FossilsNS]

12 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Well it doesn't look like it's outside of possibility to collect it unless the rock does not separate into layers - too much for one person but maybe a team could do it. Think of how much effort they put into excavating and prepping a dinosaur!

Anyway, hopefully there are other examples of this that will be collected, but the extent of this one makes it more special than a smaller/shorter segment of track that would be easier to pick up.

I agree that these are quite special trails. I too wish they could be collected...and maybe it is possible. I do think the fact the tides completely submerge this surface

twice a day would hinder excavation. I came back to this locality a week after the pictures were taken and the water had covered the entire surface with sand! Ill keep

you guys updated on the site and what will happen to the fossils.

 

-FossilsNS

[Wrangellian]

Good! I'm watching this topic.