Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Oligocene'.
-
Shell preservation
-
This piece of turtle plastron was identified by Dr. Weems (an in hand look) as the sea turtle Carolinochelys wilsoni. I had been trying to I.D. it for a while before I was able to get it into his hands. It is about 1/4 of the plastron and this turtle is thought to possibly be the extinct ancestor of the modern loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). C. wilsoni is the only species in the genus.
-
- north carolina
- oligocene
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
With original shell substance.
-
Found in a concretion.
-
Hi, I was out collecting from the Bouldnor Formation on Tuesday as usual and came across this piece of bone on the foreshore west of Cranmore. I initially thought it may have been part of a vertebra, but from what I can tell after looking at it further I think it may be part of the occipital bone/nuchal ridge (not sure on the proper name for this region of the skull so please correct me if I'm wrong) from the back of a mammal skull, as I can see an area that may be the beginning of a sagittal crest. The specimen is damaged in some areas and has clearly been broken off from a larger specimen at some point and worn by the elements. I was wondering if anyone would be able to confirm if this is a piece of occipital bone, and if it would be possible to ID it further based on its morphology etc. Thank you, Theo
- 2 replies
-
- bouldnor
- bouldnor formation
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hello Everyone! I can honestly, finally, say that I'm beginning to figure out the fossil-enigma that is Summerville, SC. It is a strange land where fossil deposits start and end within a matter of feet - a few inches of glorious gravel separating the sandy, ghostly-grey Chandler Bridge and the compact brownish marl of the Ashley Formation. If, by some miracle, you can find a ditch with the exact right depth, enough width, a little flowing water within a fossil-bearing strata that hasn't been hit by a million other collectors, you just might be able to put something together. Thanks to some nasty weather and a couple of days off of work, I've managed to finally find some spots that fit the bill. The finds pictured below come from two creeks (of maybe 15 that I checked) over the course of the last two days. The angustidens were the obvious gems, with one shamer nearly four inches long and nearly four inches wide! All-in-all, its been a great couple of days and I couldn't be happier with my success. I'll be planning another trip in the near future! Take care and as always.. Happy hunting, SOSC
- 19 replies
-
- 1
-
- angustidens
- charleston
-
(and 8 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi, I was out this morning doing some collecting at Bouldnor Cliff (thought I'd mix it up from Hamstead for a change) and came across this distal portion of a mammal humerus lying on a mudflat. I'm regular collector along the north coast and know the vertebrate taxa and stratigraphy like the back of my hand but this humerus is unlike anything I've found before mammal-wise. I noticed straight away that it has a supratrochlear foramen, which from my own knowledge and some online research is a feature often found in canids. Material from amphicyonids like Cynodictis and Amphicyon have been found from the Bouldnor Formation (Rupelian aged, and spans 34.0 - 32.5 mya) but I'm unaware of any canid material, so I was looking to perhaps get a second opinion on whether this is canid, and/or whether the supratrochlear foramen is a reliable indicator of canid/carnivoran material. Any help is much appreciated.
-
I'm looking for some help from any expert of the White River Badlands to help with the ID of these two partial fossils skulls I'm working on prepping. I purchased both of these at auction from old collections so sadly I don't know the locations they were collected, but I'm confident that they're White River specimens from the Oligocene. I'm pretty sure that both of these are examples of early rhinos like Subhyracodon and Hyracodon but I'd love some help with ID if possible. The first skull (first 3 photos with the darker teeth) is the largest at roughly 25cm across (although this is partial skull only) and has beautifully preserved teeth (albeit a very fragmented skull). The second skull has lost a few teeth (second 3 photos with more orange colored teeth) but the skull is better preserved - roughly 22cm across - this one as a much shorter snout. Both skulls have a reverse side hidden by matrix which I'm yet to remove. I'm hoping that the preservation is better on the other side. Looking at these closely, I believe these are two different species as the dentition looks different. I'd welcome anyone's thoughts.
-
1/2 cm long mammal tooth found in some material from a creek in East central Mississippi. This creek produces a ton of vertebrate material from sharks, crocs, dugong etc...and some land mammals. Crazy small tooth, any thoughts?
-
Oligocene egg and eggshells from the M&M Ranch in Nebraska
MarcoSr posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
We get a lot of posts on TFF on eggs which mostly turn out to be geologic specimens. So I thought I would post a real Oligocene bird egg and some eggshells from my sons’ Nebraska ranch. The egg and eggshells are from the Scenic Member of the Brule Formation. Here is one of three complete bird eggs that my sons have found on the ranch in 2016 and 2017. This egg, found by my son Mel, is around 2 ½ inches long. I’ve found a large number of eggshell pieces in the anthill matrix that I’ve been taking from the ranch during the last two years. I’ve found eggshells in all 18 areas of the 360 acre ranch where I took anthill matrix. I was really surprised about how common the eggshells are throughout the ranch especially with the fact that I didn’t find bird bones. A good number of eggshell specimens from my September 2016 trip to the ranch have just been given to an eggshell researcher. I’m really looking forward to her opinions on them. I’ve been assuming that they are all bird eggshells. I again found a large number of eggshell specimens from anthill matrix from my May 2017 trip to the ranch. Below are close-up pictures of an individual eggshell specimen which is 5mm by 3 mm by 1mm thick. Outside of eggshell (note a good number of pieces have this pattern but there were a number of other distinctive patterns on the outside): Inside of eggshell (note the inside of all specimens pretty much looked like this): Cross section of eggshell (note the very thin white outer layer): Below are a number of eggshell specimens from my May 2017 trip. For size reference the gem jar cups are 1 ¾ inches in diameter. The specimens in each cup are from a different area of the ranch. Some eggshells have the outside of the eggshell face up and some have the inside of the eggshell face up. A few eggshells are missing that thin outer layer of eggshell. Note that there are several distinct patterns on the outer eggshells. Marco Sr. -
After seeing @digit great post on his fossil adventure at Clarkia, Idaho, it reminded me of a piece that I had put away in a drawer years ago. I thought it might have been from the same location, but the nomenclature on the plate stated that it was from the John Day Formation in Oregon. I am just looking to see if one of the FF members can identify some of the leaves on the plate. I know some are ID'd, but I also see different types. Any help would be appreciated.
- 3 replies
-
- john day formation
- oligocene
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
This wonderful echinoid was found in a truckload of sediment from the MM Quarry at Clarkes, New Bern North Carolina.
- 3 comments
-
- north carilina
- oligocene
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Silica pseudomorph.
-
Looking for a place to collect - White River, Nebraska
Xiphactinus posted a topic in Questions & Answers
OK...the wife and I are starting to plan an epic fossil hunting trip for next year (our 30th anniversary). We've wanted to hunt the White River near Chadron, Nebraska forever. Now's the time. I have no connections to property, so I'm looking to the collective knowledge of the Forum. I know property is pretty sealed up vs. how it was in the 90's. We're willing to pay (within reason) for access. Anyone have suggestions? -
From the album: TEETH & JAWS
(This image is best viewed by clicking on the button on the upper right of this page => "other sizes" => "large".)© Harry Pristis 2013 (image)
-
- 1
-
- echo locating
- oligocene
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hello found this in northern Puerto Rico in middle to late oligocene limestone. Measures about 1 cm any ideas on what it is? Thank you!
-
From the album: WhodamanHD's Fossil collection.
Bought online, label reads "OREODONT JAW SECTION oligicene period 30 million years old Lusk,Wyoming....20 miles northeast of lusk....White river formation...Chardonnay deposites" -
Hello, found this in my usual fossil / mineral hunting spot in a river in north puerto rico. The fossil I find are in Limestone from the middle to late oligocene. Any Idea or information on what this might be? Thank you!
-
Hi, Sorry I haven't been that active on here recently for the last few weeks, I've been incredibly busy. I've made a few trips to Hamstead over the past few weeks (I'll post some of the highlights later) and have just got back from a very wet and windy trip today, which as usual did not disappoint. The most interesting find of the day, along with a snake vertebra and an anthracothere premolar, was this fairly intact vertebra. My initial thoughts were perhaps crocodilian or mammalian but it looks very different from any Diplocynodon vertebra I've ever found, and I can't find a match to any mammals. The spinous process is nearly intact and it has a very narrow neural canal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Theo
-
This is a cobbled together report of a couple of short excursions in July. Early in the month I took the kids to visit my mother at the old home in northern Pennsylvania. It was a nice escape from the heat and fun to introduce the kids to some of the areas I explored when I was their age. We spent a lot of time playing in the creek. Fresh, living biology was our main interest, but my daughter picked up a couple of nice fossils on the side. She secured a lovely plate, naturally oval shaped, less than 1 cm thick, full of cross-sectional crinoid segment impressions. She also found a nice plate of brachiopod casts. This area is Mississippian or Devonian. These are common fossils for the area, but it's pleasing to consider that these animals were fossilized for millions of years before the fauna we "normally" hunt evolved. Last weekend I got away for a few hours to hunt a local South Carolina waterway for Oligocene and newer material. The water level was ideal and the water was fairly clear, but the overcast conditions made for a bit less than ideal visibility. With the 90+ F air temperatures, being in the 80+ F water with mask and snorkel felt marvelous. I turned up a fair number of teeth of the typical broken-tipped and fragmented variety, mostly C. angustidens (I think) with a single very worn C. megalodon. There were a small handful of fairly nice smaller teeth mixed in. I picked up a couple of nice turtle plastron fragments with good surface detail. I also found an alligator osteoderm which I think is actually a modern piece. Sorry about the dark fossil photos--I never seem to have time to get good photos in daylight, but I'm going to work on it. G
-
Anyone able to help with ID on an interesting lepidopteran in Mexican amber from Chiapas (ca. 18-25 Ma)? Any/all thoughts much appreciated. It looked like a nymphalid (perhaps Eurema?) from merchant photos. However after getting the amber and holding it, I'm totally thrown off! There's no record of butterflies from continental Neotropical amber---and preservation is exceptional. Associated with the lep are the flowers, foliage, pollen and seeds of Hymenaea and at least 2 other legumes. Perhaps there's even an orchid hidden in there. (The max file limit's too small to include these hi-res photos...) Amber matrix: ca. 7 x 4 x 2 cm (oblong) Wingspan ca. 3.5 cm Length of wing at longest point ca. 2 cm (crude estimate) 'Unfortunately' (for ID) the amber heavily fluoresces a lovely blue/green: the foliage, pollen, flowers obscure the specimen's body on the (presumably) dorsal side. It's further complicated by refraction on what would be the ventral side. What looks like a dark antenna in the pics is actually just the a side-view of one of the flowering legume's pinnae. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a geometer moth, but what a remarkable fossil if it proves to be a skipper or true butterfly (nymphalid? lycaenid/riodinid?). Thanks all.
- 13 replies
-
Hello, found this in a river in northern Puerto Rico in the Lares Formation - middle to upper Oligocene
-
Seeking ID on a vertebra likely from the White River formation in SD
varial posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi there. More fossils from the estate sale, this time a vertebra. I don't know an exact location, but the rest of the lot contains many examples from the Oligocene era, and some have been found to be from the White River formation in the Badlands. I don't have much information other than that. I've done an image search on Google, but there are so many that I am having trouble spotting one that looks similar. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!- 8 replies
-
- oligocene
- south dakota
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with: