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Showing results for tags 'Oligocene'.
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Ronzotherium from the Bouldnor Fm.
TXV24 posted a topic in Partners in Paleontology - Member Contributions to Science
Hi, A few weeks back I posted in the ID section about a fragment of mammal molar I had found whilst collecting at Hamstead. The Hamstead to Bouldnor coast is an Eocene/Oligocene locality and one the best sites in the UK for tertiary vertebrate remains from crocodiles, turtles, fish, and quite frequently mammals too, and was deposited in a paludal environment in the Hampshire Basin. I was aware it was a fragment of a rhinoceros tooth but couldn't be sure if it was from a more modern Pleistocene type like Stephanorhinus or a much more older rhinocerotid like Ronzotherium, an early hornless rhinoceros which is a a very rare part of the post Grande Coupre mammal fauna found in the Bouldnor Fm. Only 6 finds attributed to Ronzotherium have been discovered here since the late-19th century, the last record I can find is from 1999, all have been referred to the species romani. After the suggestions of some users on this forum and further research online I excitingly noticed some similarities to the molars of Ronzotherium. Straight away I contacted Dr Martin Munt, the curator at the Isle Of Wight's paleontological museum 'Dinosaur Isle' to bring the find to his attention in case it was from Ronzotherium. He passed the images on to colleagues at the Natural History Museum in London, who confirmed the molar as being from Ronzotherium. This was really exciting news to hear considering the rarity of material like this in the Bouldnor fm. The museum staff were really excited too and asked if it would be possible for me to bring the specimen in for them to borrow for a period and look at it in further detail. Suffice to say the molar is on it's way to the museum tomorrow afternoon to be dropped off and spend some time the laboratories there, and if needs be I'm more than happy to make a permanent donation to help learn more about the species and the UK's tertiary past. It's a really exciting find that I feel really lucky to have discovered, and definitely makes 6am starts and Saturday mornings scrambling through fallen trees and mudslides worth it! (I've attached a picture of the specimen below along with a reconstruction of the species, the proto and metaloph are present and so is an intact lingual valley, the enamel is also really well preserved)
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Mammal, Squamate, Amphibian and Eggshell Micros from the Oligocene of Nebraska
MarcoSr posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
This is a quick post, with a few group pictures, on the anthill matrix that I recently collected from my sons’ Nebraska ranch this May. The specimens in this post are from anthill matrix that was collected from anthills that are in the flats of the ranch which are Oligocene, Lower Scenic Member, Brule Formation. I’m currently working with 2 amphibian (frog and salamander) researchers, 1 squamate researcher (lizards, legless lizards and snakes), 1 mammal researcher (rodents) and 1 bird researcher. I’ll soon be also working with an eggshell researcher and another mammal researcher (insectivores especially bats). I’ve been asked about trading some of this matrix by TFF members but can not do so until the research is finished and the papers are published. I finished searching one gallon of the seven gallons of anthill matrix that I just collected this May. I continue to be amazed at both the fossil density and quality of specimens that I’m finding in this anthill matrix from the ranch. So far the fossil density of this batch of anthill matrix from the ranch is actually higher than what was in the matrix from my September and May 2016 trips. One reason for that may be the 3 inches of rain that we had at the ranch the four days or so before I started collecting the matrix. To get that much rain is unusual with the rain probably breaking down and washing away a bit of the matrix itself. I’ve attached a number of group pictures of what I picked from this first gallon of anthill matrix. The white paper plates are 9 inches in diameter and the gem jar cups are 1.75 inches in diameter for size reference. There are lots of mammal specimens with rodent specimens by far the most common. There are also a good number of Lagomorph specimens. There are also a decent number of really nice insectivore specimens and other small mammal specimens. There are a large number of squamate specimens, with a good number of these being Glyptosaur especially Glyptosaur osteoderms. I’m not seeing anything that jumps out as being new from what I’ve previously sent to the squamate researcher but there are a lot of nice jaw pieces and vertebrae. I’ve only found at best two amphibian specimens so far. One looks like a frog humerus and the other possibly a damaged salamander vertebra. I’m not seeing bird bones that I recognize so far. However, based upon the squamate researcher finding eggshell pieces in the previous specimens that I sent, I did intentionally look for eggshell specimens. So I think there are also eggshell pieces in this matrix also. I decided to pick everything from this matrix, versus only specimens that I could recognize, like I did with the September 2016 matrix. There are a tremendous number of bone and tooth fragment specimens. Picking everything is taking a long time and I may not be through searching all 7 gallons of this matrix by the end of August as I had originally hoped. I wish I could recognize the diagnostic cranial elements but unfortunately I don’t have that expertise requiring that I pick everything so as to not lose something that might be of scientific importance. All and all I’m extremely happy with what I’m finding so far in the anthill matrix from the ranch. I also did take a quick look at some of the 1 gallon of Eocene anthill matrix from a neighboring ranch that I also collected in May. That result was not encouraging with only a few mammal specimens that were damaged found so far. Marco Sr.
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Hi, I thought I'd share some of my best finds from my trip to Hamstead earlier today. Today was my first collecting trip there in almost a month due to the living hell most British 18 year olds have to endure, commonly called, A level exams. As my exams are starting to wind down and finish next week, along with my entire school career (I'm nearly free!) I thought I'd head up there and do some collecting to get back into the swing of things for the summer. We've had a long period of very hot, calm, and still weather here in southern England, and that coupled with the recent influx of eager tourists during the early June school holidays, has meant that on many parts of the Hamstead - Bouldnor coast decent finds other than turtle carapace and plastron fragments are pretty thin on the ground. Nevertheless I hit the beach at about 8am this morning and over the course of the morning/early afternoon found some fairly nice specimens, although the reduced productivity was quite noticeable. The best find of the day was a large section of Diplocynodon s.p jaw, seemingly from the left mandible, lying out on the Bembridge Marls on the foreshore (although it's most likely from the Lower Hamstead Mbr). Another really interesting and nice find was a fragment of mammal mandible, with a molar still in situ within it's alveolus. Unfortunately the tooth itself has been heavily worn so the crown is missing, although the roots can be seen within the mandible. Based off of the shape of the alveoli and the size it's likely its from an Anthracothere such as Elomeryx or Bothriodon although without the crown it'll be difficult to properly ID it. Other finds included a small section of mammal rib, a worn proximal end of a femur, various fish vertebrae from Amia s.p (Bowfin) and from unidentified teleosts, a worn crocodilian vertebral centrum, and about 50-60 small to medium sized fragments of turtle carapace (from Emys and Trionyx) and crocodilian scutes, including posterior marginal, marginal, and neural plates. I'll attach images below. Thanks, Theo 1. Large section of Diplocynodon s.p mandible. 2. A section of mammalian rib 3. Mammalian mandible fragment with molar roots in situ.
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I got out this morning for a few hours on a local river. The water level was nice, but the visibility was terrible. Nevertheless I got on the snorkel and spent some time face-down over the gravels. It was a modest day in terms of finds, but lovely and quiet and cool under the forest canopy, away from the crowds on a holiday weekend. I ended up with a few of the usual small suspects: Carcharias, Hemipristis, Galeocerdo, Isurus, unknowns. My "good" stuff for this short trip included a tooth I believe to be a small C. megalodon, but uncertain. I also found a decent sawfish rostral spine (Pristis spp?, uncertain). My favorite tooth was a quite complete 4.5 cm Isurus tooth worn to a nice mellow smoothness. I also picked up something that may be a coprolite--it appears to have inclusions and also hatching or scratch marks. Or it could be a worn bit of hash or a lumpy rock, I really know nothing about coprolites. I had some interesting wildlife encounters and ended up spending more time taking photos of the naughty bits of various streamside vegetation. It was a pleasant way to spend a morning. I'd welcome any comments on the "coprolite". G
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Hi, I thought I'd share some of my nicest finds from recent trips up to Hamstead in the past two or so weeks. The tides have changed now in the western solent so I wasn't able to get out for as long as I usually am able to this weekend, (only 10am - 1pm instead of 7am to 4pm) so I didn't manage to find as much as usual. However, we've had a lot of periods of wet and windy conditions followed by warm and dry weather, which has brought down some areas of the cliffs and really churned up the sediments and seabed bringing a fair amount of material (the other week I came back with nearly 1kg of finds!), so conditions are currently pretty good. Turtle remains, most from Emys and occasionally Trionyx are still massively dominant over any other type of material followed by fragments of crocodilian scutes and vertebrae, fish remains, and fragments of bones. Mammal and crocodilian mandibles have been occasionally popping up here and there though along with loose teeth. Below are some pictures of the highlights from the last 2 weeks of collecting (may be in more than one post). 1. A very large (for Hamstead at least), nearly intact crocodilian scute, likely Diplocynodon s.p
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Hello everybody! Its been a while since I've had the opportunity to post anything here, though I have been enjoying seeing everyone else's finds. My job has become steadily busier as the weather and water become warmer, so the last couple days of rain have afforded me some time off. I've been hunting substantially less often then I would like to, but have still managed some nicer finds in the last month or so. I'd say the finds below probably represent something around 5-6 hunts at the same couple sites that I've been visiting for the last year or so. Ive also added some "in situ" photos from a beach hunt I did with my work a few days ago. Take care, SOSC First off, a group shot - Today's very nice Angustidens tooth - A really exceptional (and beautifully-colored) mako, Isurus desori - A nice Alopias grandis - A colorful great white- And a crazy lil posterior(?) or symphyseal(?) angustidens - ...And a very, very large shark vertebral plate -
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Hello everyone, I went out this weekend in the Oligocene of southern France to look for fishes. I have found some, but I have many questions since they are my first fish fossils and I am having several problems for preparation, and stabilisation. First here are some examples of fossils found: Some of the layer are extremely thin (as paper) and the fossil start to ondulate as long as it gets dry and I was wondering how could I overcome this problem? Some of them are more thicker, but still ondulating. My second question is how do I prepare them in order to keep the bones? I have tried to prepare small chunks, but as long as I separate the two layers its very hard to keep all the bones intact. I have tried with some HCl, but it doesn't gets through the most blacky parts, which are the richest in OM. Maybe a small schisel ? Before starting to do anything I wanted to have some advices from you guys. Thanks for your help !
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April Fools Day I took my wife, our buddy and his son @Daleksec and 2 local Paleontologists on the boat along the Pamunkey River for a little fossil hunting and stratigraphy lesson. Unfortunately, we had heavy rains the day before which drove up the water level a few feet and kept us from exploring the site where Daleksec found his February VFOM . Here are 2 photos of Daleksec's and his dad's finds, all collected in about an hour. This was a new spot for me that I had never collected before but the Paleontologist who is the stratigraphy expert put us right on the spot. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!! The first 3 teeth found were pre-megs in less than 5 mins. This area we collected is Lower Calvert Formation (Miocene) sitting on Old Church Formation from the upper Oligocene. We also hit another spot that has a nice Piney Point exposure from the middle Eocene with Old Church and Calvert above. @Daleksec collected some of the oysters from the Piney Point and found this in the matrix when he cleaned everything up. Pretty impressive. He also found a sand dollar but destroyed (and I do mean DESTROYED) trying to remove it from the matrix. Remember @Daleksec, patience my young apprentice, patience. :-) Perhaps @sixgill pete or someone else can help identify it. All in all, not a bad day on the water. If I'm honest, any day I get to spend fossil hunting with my wife is a great day. I'm very fortunate that she has the same passion, though i do remember a time when I had a 10 handicap in golf. Obviously, we will be exploring the new spot some more in the near future. Don't worry @MarcoSr, I will definitely show you the new spot, after I blindfold you of course. :-) If @sixgill pete ever makes it up this way I would show him too, with the blindfold of course. Cheers, SA2
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Hi, I thought I'd share some of my best finds from yesterday's trip to Hamstead. It was definitely one of the best trips I've had in terms of the sheer number and variety of fossils I picked up. Tide was going out slowly so had to spend a lot of time climbing over and through the fallen trees that litter the beach from the landslides, but it was definitely worth it. As usual fragments of Emys carapace were by far the most common find along with loads of worn pieces of crocodile scute and fish vertebrae. I also found quite a few of the nicer pieces that come out of the Bouldnor formation including a diplocynodon tooth, mammal teeth and bones (which seem to be quite common at the moment), 3 diplocynodon vertebrae, a large section of diplocynodon mandible, and the largest fragment of Trionychid carapace/plastron I've ever found! The coast is always very productive but the strong winds and rain we had here for much of last week seem to have exposed/brought in lots of new material. I'll attach images of the highlights from the trip below (will have to do it in multiple posts because of size limits). (Below) The best Emys fragments of the day, a large plastron piece, a neural plate, and a peripheral piece.
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This tooth was found in the basal sands of the Belgrade Quarry. An extremely nice example of this rather rare species for this formation.
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Hi, I've been on the forum for about a month now but haven't actually got round to introducing myself yet, so I thought it was about time to. I'm Theo, and I'm a biology and geology student from the Isle Of Wight in the UK. I've always been interested in dinosaurs and prehistory since I was very young, and have recently got back into fossil hunting about two months ago after a break for a few years. I focus my collecting on the Late Eocene - Early Oligocene Bouldnor Formation on the island's north west coast, where I collect almost every weekend. The Bouldnor formation is fantastic for fossils and was laid down in estuaries, flood plains, and tropical wetlands. There's an abundance of freshwater turtle, crocodile, and fish remains, with mammal teeth and bones, (mainly from Anthracotheres such as Bothriodon) being quite common too! Apart from fossil hunting I'm also a keen landscape and wildlife photographer, and a qualified marine mammal surveyor (I'm off to study Marine Biology at uni in the summer), taking part in cetacean conservation surveys and events with the conservation charity ORCA. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to being part of the fossil hunting community!
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Two Trips to Two Sites For Shark Teeth Ashley Fm. Charleston SC
Sharks of SC posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hello Everyone, Made it out to two shark tooth sites yesterday and today. Both locations are reworked Ashley Formation (late Oligocene) around Charleston SC. What really strikes me about the finds collectively is the variation in the colors between the two sites. The inland site (aprox. 5 miles NW) produced the lighter color teeth and bones. This was my first time scouting a site like this successfully. Most of the material was relatively poorly preserved when compared with the second site much closer to home. My thinking is that this is likely the result of exposure to leaching groundwater, whereas the darker teeth come from dredge spoil in which the teeth have spent the majority of their life encased is dense clay and saltwater. In any case, I made some good finds between the two spots - a couple of nice Carcharocles angustidens teeth, a pair of Isurus desori, a dolphin tooth, a whale tooth, a beautiful three-tipped pathological tooth (tiger shark?), and a nice stingray crushing plate. As a killer bonus, I found a MASSIVE deer skull with antlers. Big ol' ten pointer with a 171" rack (according to a formula for size rating I found online). Thanks for taking a look!, SOSC Family photo - Angustidens - Desori makos - Whale + dolphin teeth - Killer three-tipper Stingray crusher plate - Very, very big deer skull -
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Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be able to help in identifying a few mammal teeth I've picked up at Hamstead during my last two trips there. There's four teeth in total (all found separately not in association with each other), the 3 larger teeth appeared to me to be 2 possible canines and an incisor. My initial ideas for ID of the larger teeth were Bothriodon as it is the most common mammal species from the Bouldnor Fm. and the incisor shows signs of being worn on the incisal edge suggesting it could be a herbivore? but I'm not sure. As for the smaller tooth I'm completely at a loss. It's considerably smaller than the other 3 and looks like a premolar but as for potential ID I'm stumped aha! I'll attach pictures below. I'd be really grateful for any help.
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Warm Feb. Weather in VA & Low Low Tide = SCORE!!
SailingAlongToo posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
This past weekend in Central VA it was low 70s on Saturday and low 80s on Sunday with an extremely low tide both days, mid-morning. My wife and I, our buddy and 17 y/o son (TFF member Daleksec) and another friend of ours took the boat out on the Pamunkey River Saturday morning for a little fossil hunting / collecting. Since the tide was so low, we decided to start out with some surface hunting at a little beach with a nice Calvert Formation exposure. We immediately hit the jack pot and found some nice sharks teeth and random bone pieces. After finding everything on the surface we all started screening. (This is what my wife and I found Saturday.) The 3 buddies had this much or more in their bags for the day. If anyone knows what this 1" piece of bone that looks like a jaw is, please chime in. After a few hours of collecting and the tide coming in fast, Daleksec noticed an exposed vertebrae on the beach about 6 inches from where I had just picked up a tooth. After some quick exploration this is what we saw. My hand for quick scale. (Yes, I realize everyone's hands are different sized.) We were racing the incoming tide at this point. We didn't know how much of the skeleton was there since we didn't get to explore in either direction. I was pretty sure I saw a humerus and counted 12 vertebrae exposed before we covered it. The tide came in and covered it all about 5 mins after we finished burying the exposed bones in matrix to protect. The bones are literally sitting in the base of the Calvert Formation and right on top of the Old Church Formation. This Old Church exposure is the ONLY Oligocene exposure in VA. Obviously, our fossil plans for Sunday just changed and then we spent the rest of Saturday teasing Daleksec about the raccoons, opossums and deer coming to get "his" skeleton or at least running off with "his" skull. :-) Everyone but he enjoyed the witty banter about "his" disappearing skeleton. With the rising tide we decided to head farther up river to an Eocene / Oligocene contact exposure I know. Checked out the first small area and only 1 small tooth was found. My buddy wanted me to move him around a bunch of overhanging trees and snags. As I dropped him off on the bank (beach all covered by tide at this point), he walks over and picks up THIS!! He gets my attention and said, "I found something. I don't know what it is, but I'm not throwing it away." This is the very 1st Squalodon tooth I've seen found at this Oligocene exposure in 7 years of collecting here. To say I was jealous was an understatement, but I'm glad if someone had to find it and it couldn't be my wife or me, it was him. This pretty much finished up our day and WOW, what a day it was. Sunday in the next post.
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Hi, I'm Theo I'm new to the forum (I'll properly introduce myself on the introductions pages) and I've been collecting from the Oligocene beds on the north east coast of the Isle Of Wight for some years now. Yesterday afternoon whist collecting on the coast at Hamstead I came across this bone on the foreshore. I can tell it's a calcaneus bone and my initial thought was a mammal but I'm not sure. (I also stumbled upon some quite nice Bothriodon? incisors). Any help in identifying the calcaneus would be much appreciated. Thanks, Theo
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Hi This is scale fish ? Age:Oligocene ( Krośnieński sandstone ). Location: Carpathian mountain , Beskidy , Southern Poland. In this sandstone fragments outside the plant have not heard about fish. And this piece interested me.
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Hello everyone, I haven't posted in a whiile, but I have been hunting a bit. I got out today for a couple hours along the river here in Charleson, SC. These finds come from a pretty well-known dredge site, the finds are usually poorly preserved but abundant. Once in a while this beach produces well-preserved finds. Today I managed to find some good stuff - a nice big stingray dermal denticle, and stout fish jaw, two teeth from the uncommon giant thresher shark Alopias grandis, several nice snaggletooth shark teeth Hemipristis serra, a pretty but mangled Carcharocles angustidens, and an absolutely beautiful (as of yet) unidentified whale tooth. Thanks for taking a look! SOSC "In situ" -
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Hey all, yesterday my wife (CCNHM collections manager Sarah Boessenecker) and I wrote about some of our recent finds from Folly Beach, SC. Collecting fossils there is quite easy, and if you're there for non-shark teeth, there's essentially no competition since that's all anyone ever looks for there. The fossils of Folly Beach have never been written up, and I'm getting more and more curious about them - particularly fossil marine mammals. If anyone finds marine mammal earbones out there, I'm dying to take a look! We've already gotten a nice donation from Ashby Gale, Edisto SP ranger, of a pygmy sperm whale periotic. Here's the blog post with some images of our recent finds - including my first giant armadillo scute (Holmesina), an Alligator osteoderm, various shark and mammal teeth, and a snake vertebra. I've made a plan to go out to Folly once a week this entire semester, since it's only a 15-20 minute drive from College of Charleston (a very nice escape from campus and teaching) http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/2017/02/03/friday-fossil-feature-it-would-be-folly-to-pass-this-site-up/
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Reference: A. Jerzmanska (1967): Crabs of the genus Portunus Weber from the Menilite Series of the Carpathians. ANNALES DE LA SOClETE GEOLOGIQUE DE POLOGNE. Vol. 37, 1967, pp. 539-545
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From the album: Invertebrates
Portunus oligocenicus Pauca, 1929 Oligocene Menilite Formation Jamna Dolna Poland -
From the album: Fossildude's Purchased/Gift Fossils
Close up of Capros rhenanus , Oligocene, Carpathian Mountains, Poland. One of the fish on a multi-fish plate. 16mm long.© © 2015 Tim Jones
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- capros rhenanus
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References: ZBYNĚK ROČEK (2016): “Lost” and rediscovered: Holotype of Palaeobatrachus diluvianus (GOLDFUSS, 1831). – Fossil Imprint, 72(1-2): 45–52, Praha. ISSN 2533-4050 (print), ISSN 2533-4069 (on-line). ZLATKO KVAČEK & HARALD WALTHER (2004): OLIGOCENE FLORA OF BECHLEJOVICE AT DĚČÍN FROM THE NEOVOLCANIC AREAOF THE ČESKÉ STŘEDOHOŘÍ MOUNTAINS, CZECH REPUBLIC. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B, Natural History, 60 (1–2): 9–60. Špinar, Z. V. (1962): Zpráva o výzkumu fosilní fauny na lokalitě Bechlejovice u Děčína v roce 1961. – Zpr. geol. Výzk. v R. 1961: 168. Špinar, Z. V. (1963): Der vorläufige Bericht über einige Ergebnisse des Studiums von Fröschen der Familie Palaeobatrachidae. Cope, 1889. – Věst. Ústř. Úst. geol., 38: 201–204. Špinar, Z. V. (1966): Some further results of the study of Tertiary frogs in Czechoslovakia. – Čas. Miner. Geol., 11: 431–440. Špinar, Z. V. (1967a): Neue Kenntnisse über den stratigraphischen Bereich der Familie Palaeobatrachidae Cope, 1865. – Věst. Ústř. Úst. geol., 42: 217–218. Špinar, Z. V. (1972b): Tertiary frogs from Central Europe. – Academia, Praha, 286 pp.
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Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org. Line drawing from Świdnicki 1986, p. 121: Identified by oilshale using Świdnicki 1986. References: Jacek Świdnicki (1986) Oligocene Zeiformes (Teleostei) from the Polish Carpathians. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 31 (1-2), 1986: 111-135 Baciu, D.-So., Bannikov, A. and Tyler, J. C. (2005): Revision of the fossil fishes of the family Zeidae (Zeiformes). Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona Geologia Paleontologia Preistoria, 29: 95-128. F .SANTINI, J.C. TYLER, A.F. BANNIKOV & Dorin-Sorin BACIU (2007): A phylogeny of extant and fossil buckler dory fishes, family Zeidae (Zeiformes, Acanthomorpha). International Journal of Ichthyology 30(2):99-107
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Holocentroides moldavicus PAUCA, 1931 = Africentrum moldavicum (PAUCA, 1931) References: KOTLARCZYK, J.; JERZMAÑSKA, A.; OEWIDNICKA, E.; WISZNIOWSKA, T.(2006): A FRAMEWORK OF ICHTHYOFAUNAL ECOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE OLIGOCENE–EARLY MIOCENE STRATA OF THE POLISH OUTER CARPATHIAN BASIN. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae (2006), vol. 76: 1–111.
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References: Sand pit "Trift" Hovestadt, D.C. & Hovestadt-Euler, M. (2012) A partial skeleton of Cetorhinus parvus Leriche, 1910 (Chondrichthyes, Cetorhinidae) from the Oligocene of Germany. Paläontol Z 86: 71. doi:10.1007/s12542-011-0118-9
