White River Oligocene Prep - Leptictis

[ParkerPaleo]

It was a long week away from my desk and microscope but sometimes we have to work to support our hobbies.  This afternoon I filled the crack across the cranium and filled the sagittal crests. 

 

I'm starting to get cold feet reconstructing the zygomatic.  I'm worried it won't have any texture/shape beyond a cylinder.  Wish there was a decent cast of Leptictis on the market.  Perhaps I'll have to cast it after I'm done reconstructing.

[RJB]

  Not sure how I missed this thread?   Your doing some nice work on a very cool fossil! 

 

RB

[ParkerPaleo]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

  Not sure how I missed this thread?   Your doing some nice work on a very cool fossil! 

 

RB

Thanks RB, it's been exciting to share.  I've been away from prep for a while and was hoping blogging/posting my work would keep me going.  I have so many 'cool' fossils to prepare, I'm looking forward to sharing the next project.

 

On a side note, your crab thread is awesome!  I have a pile of crabs that I can't recall where they are from or what they are. I'm quite tempted to prepare a few. 

[ParkerPaleo]

Today's work.

 

I lightly sanded the previous putty work to get it into the precise shape and texture I wanted.  I felt the fill in the lower jaw was the wrong shape afterwards and added a bit more putty this morning.  There was also a missing flake of bone in front of the orbit which I filled.  I'm choosing to forego the zygomatic reconstruction at the moment.  I went through my collection and all 4 of my options only had right zygomatics.  I'll put a request in to my collector friends to find me a left one to cast.  Just don't think I can do it justice with hand sculpting.  If all goes well with this drying, the plan is to put a little paint (lipstick?) on the putty tomorrow.  Planning to use acryllic paint and blend my own colors.  Closing in on the finish line!

 

 

[RJB]

3 hours ago, ParkerPaleo said:

On a side note, your crab thread is awesome!  I have a pile of crabs that I can't recall where they are from or what they are. I'm quite tempted to prepare a few. 

Thanks man.   I can't tell where this crab is from?

 

RB

[jpc]

On 11/6/2019 at 1:13 PM, ParkerPaleo said:

Here's an excerpt regarding Leptictis from a short paper authored by Gil Parker, TJ Meehan, and myself (Tim Parker).  

 

 

Leptictids are an ancient group of insectivores from the time of dinosaurs.
They hunted the leaf-litter of forest floors for insects, plant matter,
and small vertebrates.  Their teeth are like other insectivores, such as
shrews, so a paleontologist can infer a similar diet of insects, small
vertebrates, and plant matter.  Sometimes, though, the fossil record gives
us direct evidence.  Leptictids from the famous Eocene Messel Quarry in
Germany have stomach remains of insect cuticle, bones, and plant matter.
Leptictids were very much like modern day elephant shrews in having long
snouts to rummage through the leaf litter, a similar body size range (large
species weighed over a pound), and bodies built for saltation (hopping).
Elephant shrews make zigzagging hops on all four feet to escape predators,
but it appears that Leptictis and most other leptictids had such short
forelimbs that they hopped using only their hindlimbs like kangaroo rats.

This is nice, Tim, but I respectfully disagree with a lot of it.  This description fits Leptictidium, from Messel, which had inordinatley long back legs.  Lepticitis's legs are not nearly as strangely proportioned.  Its front half is strongly developed for digging.  Also there is no proof of a long snout on Lepticitis, like there is on Lepticitidium.  I have a complete skeleton here and it is very different from Lepticitidium.

 

[ParkerPaleo]

12 hours ago, jpc said:

This is nice, Tim, but I respectfully disagree with a lot of it.  This description fits Leptictidium, from Messel, which had inordinatley long back legs.  Lepticitis's legs are not nearly as strangely proportioned.  Its front half is strongly developed for digging.  Also there is no proof of a long snout on Lepticitis, like there is on Lepticitidium.  I have a complete skeleton here and it is very different from Lepticitidium.

 

I believe it was written before Tate '97.  Probably should be updated.

 

Long term, I'd like to redo alot of the common Oligocene descriptions.

[jpc]

2 hours ago, ParkerPaleo said:

I believe it was written before Tate '97.  Probably should be updated.

 

Long term, I'd like to redo alot of the common Oligocene descriptions.

Me too... another retirement project.  

(Tim mentions Tate '97 because I wrote a paper on Lepticitis for this conference... well before I got this job at the Tate). 

 

[ParkerPaleo]

I added paint today.  In natural light it looks really good, under photo light it's a bit more obvious.  Personally, I like knowing what is real and what is putty, not upset with the result.  Stopping here on this specimen until I get a left zygomatic to cast.  I hope you have all enjoyed the process.

 

 

[Ruger9a]

Very nice!

[steelhead9]

On 11/18/2019 at 3:20 PM, ParkerPaleo said:

It was a long week away from my desk and microscope but sometimes we have to work to support our hobbies.  This afternoon I filled the crack across the cranium and filled the sagittal crests. 

 

I'm starting to get cold feet reconstructing the zygomatic.  I'm worried it won't have any texture/shape beyond a cylinder.  Wish there was a decent cast of Leptictis on the market.  Perhaps I'll have to cast it after I'm done reconstructing.

Find someone with a 3D printer. Scan the right zygo, reverse the image, and print a perfect left zygo. This is going to revolutionize fossil prepping.

[ParkerPaleo]

1 hour ago, steelhead9 said:

Find someone with a 3D printer. Scan the right zygo, reverse the image, and print a perfect left zygo. This is going to revolutionize fossil prepping.

I hadn't thought about that.  I'll have to give it a shot.

[Xiphactinus]

looks really nice!

[jpc]

7 hours ago, steelhead9 said:

Find someone with a 3D printer. Scan the right zygo, reverse the image, and print a perfect left zygo. This is going to revolutionize fossil prepping.

Not so much revolutionize prepping, but revolutionize restoration.  Very different in my book.  

 

But your point is well taken.  CT scanning, on the other hand is revolutionizing prepping.