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  • MikeR

    The Problem with Siphocypraea

    By MikeR

    For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f
    • 3 comments
    • 4,432 views
  • andreas

    The Columbianus Zone/alaunium 2/ Norium/upper Triassic, In The So Called “Hallstatt Limestone” Of The Northern Calcareous Alps In Austria

    By andreas

    The columbianus Zone/Alaunium 2/ Norium/Upper Triassic in the so called "Hallstatt Limestone" of the Northern Calcareous Alps in Austria Dear Fossil Forum members! This pictured report about the ammonite bearing Triassic Hallstatt limestone will be the first one of a continuous series of reports. Since the beginning of the geological research in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria in the 19th century, about 500 species of Triassic ammonites have been described from the Hallstatt limestone
    • 14 comments
    • 13,271 views
  • MikeR

    The End Of My Pliocene Project

    By MikeR

    When I began this blog late in 2010, my intention was to report on recent field trips however, with the exception of one excursion each into the Upper Miocene, Lower Pliocene and the Calabrian Pleistocene, all of my posts have concentrated on the Upper Pliocene of the US Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. I already had an extensive collection of Florida Upper Pliocene invertebrates that I had collected while a resident of the state in the late 80s and early 90s. The fossils from these beds are
    • 9 comments
    • 9,669 views
  • JohnJ

    Ancient Hunters

    By JohnJ

    June 5, 2010 Barry held his camera barely two feet away from the back of an Agkistrodon piscivorus. Although a small snake, it was still very dangerous and he positioned his camera based on years of experience with these reptiles. Known more commonly as a Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin, the twelve inch juvenile snake had coloration similar to the closely related Copperhead. However, its patterns were muted by late afternoon shadows in a remote location that was not favorable to an easy medic
    • 26 comments
    • 9,409 views

A weekend of adventures in my neck of the woods (1/16/2022)

I have been experiencing the most unusual predicament for over a month now - I've been finding more artifacts than I have my target fossils. I happen to live in one of the most prolific areas in the U.S. for impressive paleoindian and other native artifacts, and while I certainly have an appreciation for these, it's like "giving pearls to swine" - since my first interest right now is firmly cretaceous vertebrates.   However, I am still regularly blown away by some of these artifacts, e

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

cold front creek stomping

Recently I've been researching a late cretaceous texas shark that I've never even heard of until two nights ago. I'm already a bit of a night owl (as you might see by the timestamp, I'm writing this well past midnight already ), but these last two nights spent researching and investigating potential spots have been LATE ones, around 3 AM - I guess I've really been bitten by the bug here.   The shark in question is Pseudomegachasma, specifically Pseudomegachasma comanchensis (for my are

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

a hunt with friends

I recently took two of my friends out fossil hunting, both for the first time. We've actually found a cool fossil together before, a large partial from the ammonite Oxytropidoceras (by complete chance, we were just creek stomping for fun that evening), but this is the first time they've ever been fossil hunting with intent.   It took about 30 minutes to get warmed up and start finding things - Annika was the first to see something, a point in this instance. My knowledge of points is si

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

Texas Creek (Early October, 2021)

I went on this hunt about two weeks ago, but only am getting around to posting it now. It was a great day at a new spot close to my usual stomping grounds.   I was hunting under a bridge the week before when someone walking the path next to it asked if I had any luck - his name was Leo, and we actually recognized each other as both of us have posted about some of our finds on reddit before.   (PS - pardon the picture quality, most of these are screenshots from video)  

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

Eagle Ford mosasaur

Last weekend was one I'll never forget... I've barely processed it, but now that I can be more coherent, here is the story of the mosasaur we found                                                                                                                                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------   On September 11 & 12, I researched and found new fossil hunting area (to me), that exposed the Eagle Ford formation. I de

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

local Ozan, 8/28/21 - a new look at an old spot

Today was a memorable outing, and our net results were the best I've ever had for a single day without driving 2 hours.   This morning started quickly. My step brother, Christian, was already knocking on my door at 9:30 - yes, that may be late in the morning for everyone else, but it's a full hour before I'm usually fully awake. I guess that's the trade off for late nights!   Yesterday we made plans to spend our day today hunting a spot that I was used to scouring but had not

Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

Montana fossil locations

This file is from URL http://fossilspot.com/STATES/MT.HTM It comes with the following license statement at the bottom of the page: "Permission is granted to use any materials on these pages under the V2.5 Creative Commons License"     Montana fossil locations.pdf

Walt

Walt

First Ever Vert

this is hardly worth posting in comparison to what other put up here but i was so happy to find this little one yesterday!               I went on a little adventure on sheer impulse yesterday afternoon down to the Essex coast and found myself landing in Walton-On-The-Naze.  Apart for the vert if found a fair amount of what i think is wood and crab fragments, not a 100% on the crab bits but i haven't got around to rummaging through my books to f

Limpetforce

Limpetforce

The Problem with Siphocypraea

For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f

MikeR

MikeR

Cardabiodon size, HELP!

I am attempting to reconstruct the food chain of the Eromanga Sea and am having a bit of trouble finding size estimations on Cardabiodon so I was wondering if anyone here could help me with this

Prognathodon saturator 101

Prognathodon saturator 101

"Point 25" - Summing up

Here are the numbers I promised : From 07/16/2017 to 09/13/2018, about 140 hippuridit rudist specimens were found in the scree slope of "Point 25", the sweetest of all spots in St. Bartholomä. The species distribution is (approximate numbers, with examples): Hippurites colliciatus: 80 (with 140 individuals – many pseudocolonies!) - F, G, H, J Hippurites nabresinensis: 10 - I and possibly K Vaccinites vesiculosus: 25 - A, B Vaccinites alpinus: 10 - C Vaccinites cf. s

FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

"Point 25" - Surprise at home!

Fine, a very nice rudist - a Hippurites nabresinensis -, one of the longest I have found so far in St. Bartholomä (18 cm). But it came even better! At home, I recognized that I have already seen a quite similar traverse fracture before. Indeed, here it is, with the cleaned traverse fracture of the newly found rudist below. Maximum diameter is about 7.5 cm.   The two parts fit together (considering that there are at least 100 years of weathering between them), resulting in t

FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

"Point 25" - What´s behind the red x??

Now the sandstone slab behind the red x (last photo of the previous entry) has been removed. Can you spot it, just above the pocket knife? Photo taken 09/13/2018.   Closer…   Closest! There was a large rudist just behind the sandstone slab, lying in a depth of about 40 cm below the surface of the scree slope. Still in situ, only some roots and small stones removed for the photo. Pocket knife is 9 cm long, some tapering of the rudist is clearly visible. Such a nice

FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

Introduction to "Point 25"

For some general information, including some maps, about the Campanian St. Bartholomä-formation in Styria, Austria see: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/86433-rudist-hunting-in-st-bartholomä-styria-austria-13072018/ The rudist-bearing St. Bartholomä-formation covers an area of about 3km2. Within this area, there are a few sweet spots, where rudist can be found with some confidence: one of the creeks west of Kalchberg; a pile of rocks west of Kalchberg, collected during ce

FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

First Prep Work

Sooo, this tiny little thing was was picked up two years ago on Lyme Regis beach, the nodule it was in was pretty big and i had high hopes that it contained more than one. Alas, sadly only this poor little soul was retrieved and with a broken shell too.    Still, I'm pretty pleased with it considering its my first go at prep work and with no sandblaster. i just cant believe it has taken a little over a month to get the little bugger out. i'm in two mind if i should try and re

Limpetforce

Limpetforce

Holocene Planktonic Foraminifera from the Dry Tortugas, Part 2

Since the upload of Part 1 succeeded, I'll now offer up Part 2, a look at two interesting taxa from the family Globigerinidae.  This family contains most of the taxa that we associate with the idea of "planktonic forams", perhaps due to our familiarity with the "globigerina oozes" that form a significant part of the floor of the modern world oceans.   Globigerinoides ruber (d’Orbigny, 1839) is one of the two “red” species of globigerinids, as the specific epithet indicates.  It is well

Rumi

Rumi

Holocene Planktonic Foraminifera from the Dry Tortugas, Part 1

Planktonic Foraminifera are particularly important in biostratigraphic studies and correlation, as they are ubiquitous in marine deposits, and evolve rapidly.  They first appeared in Middle Jurassic time, and thus have a long geological history.  There are many phylogenetic and correlational studies available, and their rapid evolution makes them exceptionally useful as temporal markers, or guide fossils.   I am currently looking at planktonic Foraminifera from a deep-water sample that

Rumi

Rumi

Four Ostracodes from the Pleistocene Lomita Marl

The Lomita Marl Member of the San Pedro Formation is a well-known source for Middle Pleistocene marine fossils, and its beautifully preserved molluscan fauna has been treasured by fossil fanatics for decades.  There are outcrops in the city of San Pedro, California, although many of the "classic" localities have been destroyed by urban development.  It is well-exposed in the Lomita Quarry, located in the Palos Verdes Hills northwest of the city.  It has been dated at 400,000 to 570,000 years ago

Rumi

Rumi

Another Method for Studying Microfossils

One of the problems I experience in studying microfossils is that of orienting a specimen so that crucial characters are visible.  An example: for identification it is often necessary to check the shape of the tooth in the aperture of taxa in the family Hauerinidae.  The tooth can be long or short, plain or bifid, present or missing, etc.  The aperture is on the end of the test, so it isn't possible to look into it when the test is lying flat -- which it always does when the test is lying in a t

Rumi

Rumi

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