Member of the Month - November 2019 - Heteromorph

[Kane]

It's time to put away the pumpkins. Cooler temperatures and shorter days greet us on this side of the equator. And, as Florida kicks into high gear along the level-lowering rivers, those in the north are winding down the season as the collecting baton is passed in the great fossil relay. As it is the beginning of a whole new month, it is also time to announce our MotM. 

 

 

By unanimous staff decision, this month's crown goes to: 

 

 Heteromorph

Heteromorph joined us in 2017 after a bit of lurking, and has since distinguished himself as our resident Austin Chalk whisperer. If it is found in North Texas, chances are he'll know what it is. When we think of dedicated collectors who are incredibly persistent, Heteromorph is exemplary. This is someone for whom the days are not quite long enough, and will collect into the night. Now that is dedication! Apart from treating us to several great fossil trip adventures, members can count on his expertise in Texan cephalopods as he provides kind and exceptionally knowledgeable assistance. 

 

 

Congratulations Heteromorph! Wear this Crown with pride, as you have earned it!

On behalf of the staff here on TFF, congratulations!

 

Please tell us your story - how you came to fossils, and how you came to TFF!

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations, Heteromorph!

Well deserved win!

Thanks for sharing your fossiling adventures with us.  

[FossilNerd]

Woohoo! Congratulations!

[Ludwigia]

Congrats! Well deserved. I certainly appreciate your input here.

[digit]

Congrats!

 

From someone who enjoys posting (often lengthy) trip reports here, it is a joy to read trip reports detailing the exploits of other members on their quests for interesting fossils.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Carl]

Congrats, Heteromorph!!

[Pagurus]

 

Thanks for sharing your trips and your knowledge. 

[old bones]

Congratulations ! Looking forward to reading your fossilizing background story.

[jcbshark]

Congrats on MOTM

[Tidgy's Dad]

Congratulations.

Jolly good show. 

[Bobby Rico]

Congratulations have a wonderful month. 

[FossilDAWG]

I've always enjoyed your informative posts.  Congratulations, enjoy your crown!

Don

[Heteromorph]

Wow! This is an unexpectedly pleasant way to start off the month. I am honored to wear the crown that so many great members of TFF have worn, and to be able to contribute to TFF's online presence as an ever growing beacon of paleontological knowledge and civility.

 

My first exposure to fossils came from my Grandfather, when I was but a wee thing. He ran the family business, which involved digging deep holes all over North Texas, in many formations but mainly the Austin Chalk. I would see the occasional treasures that he and his workers would uncover and bring home, and would follow him around to job sites on the weekends, or whenever I wasn’t in pre-k or kindergarten. I would look at, what seemed to me at the time, huge piles of white rocks spangled with the ridged, bulbous steinkerns of what I would eventually learn to be inoceramids. I was too young to now remember what the first fossil I ever found was, but it was probably an inoceramid discovered as I crawled up the piles to stand on top and see the job site from a higher view.

 

Most of what he brought home were large inoceramids and ammonites, which were known to us as the “clams and nautiluses from the white rocks,” long before I started to learn more about their taxonomy or the geology of our area.

 

My grandfather I and did so much together, adventuring everywhere while talking about where he was when Kennedy was shot, or what Y2K was all about or why we have all these stockpiled buckets of dehydrated food in the garage. When I wasn’t with him at the job sites, we spent most of our time either with our cows, donkeys, chickens, and emu, or at the Austin Chalk pile in the abandoned pasture next door. We would go over there to look though the old barns and avoid whatever lived in them, while also trying to avoid whatever lived in the piles of scorched wood from the once beautiful 1880’s farmhouse that was there before it burned down in the 70’s. And the rock pile, while giving up many inoceramids, was also home to pertinacious fire ants which didn’t like me messing with their rocks. Aloe Vera flowed freely in those days.

 

Fast-forward to March 4, 2017, and I hadn’t been seriously hunting in years. But one day as I was walking by the rocks lining the perimeter of our house, these which came from the pile next door, I noticed one was cracked on top right below an inceramid. I picked it up, turned it over, and there was the Phlycticrioceras trinodosum ammonite in my profile picture, perfectly prepared by nature after sitting in the rock for a few winters! This is the first ammonite of any kind, fragment or complete, that I had ever found.

 

Everything from there came fast. I started looking around at sites near the pile next door, and continued to find more rare ammonites. I learned quickly about what they were and contacted the DPS about identifying a few of them. They redirected me to Keith Minor, who became quite interested in all the strange ammonite forms I was finding at these sites. From there I joined the DPS and TFF, and have been learning and growing more from my time with these two organizations than I ever would have alone.

 

I am glad you folks have enjoyed my (yes, very long-winded) posts, and I can assure you that there will be many more to come. 

[PFOOLEY]

[Mark Kmiecik]

Congratulations.

[grandpa]

Congratulations Heteromorph, a well deserved honor.    I too always enjoy reading your posts.

[JohnJ]

You deserve the honor, M.

[Miocene_Mason]

Congrats!

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Congrats

 

Coco

[ynot]

Congratulations Heteromorph, a well deserved honor.

[Sagebrush Steve]

Congratulations, Heteromorph.  You’ve earned it, and I love your story.  It is always interesting  to learn how others were inspired to learn more about fossils.  Look forward to your future contributions.

[rand95]

Congrats 

[Praefectus]

Congratulations!

[Mike from North Queensland]

Congratulations

 

Mike

[Nimravis]

Congratulations-