April 2014 Finds Of The Month

[JohnJ]

This could be your month! Break out geo maps and gear up. With a little effort you may find something new to science, or make the find of your life (which could be the same )!

Carefully read the rules below, make sure you include all the required information, and submit your fantastic fossils!

Please remember that we recently introduced another qualification to the current rules. Make a note of Rule #5: Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds. Best of luck to all and good hunting!

Entries will be taken through April 30th. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.
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Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you.

2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry.

3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.

4. You must include the Date of your Discovery or the Date of Preparation Completion.

5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest.

6. You must include the common or scientific name.

7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found.

8. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. So, only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll.

Within a few days, we will know the two winning Finds of the Month! Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

[Ludwigia]

Well, I'll venture out here as the first candidate this month with something I found last month and which I just finished preparing today. I started working on it a few days ago and estimate having invested approximately 10 hours. The result is a composite block measuring 23x16x9cm. with 4 variations of the ammonite Staufenia opalinoides(Mayer) from the upper Aalenian in the Wutach Valley, Germany. They are paired up nicely, with what I believe to be the male and female counterparts. The first picture shows the block(s) before preparation, the second the completed specimen and the last ones are detail photos.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Ludwigia

[elcoincoin]

awesome block and awesome work as usual

[Ludwigia]

Merci

[Tennessees Pride]

Ludwigia, you do superior work sir. And your finds are spectacular!

[Ludwigia]

Many thanks!

[Koss1959]

Okay, my second go at this. Tried the March contest with, looking back on it, a pretty average Plesiosaur vertebrae. However, I am back with a vengeance! I know this is a very unique and very rare find. Two fossil guides who also work at the Lyme Regis museum have about 80 years of experience between them and both have never found one of these...

It's a Plesiosaur Atlas bone. The first bone that attaches the skull to the neck. Very nicely preserved.

Found today (13/04/2014) in Lyme Regis on a rocky outcrop at low tide in front of the Church Cliffs. No prep needed. Approximately 195 million years old.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Koss1959

[Opisthotriton]

Are you sure that's the atlas and not the back of the skull (basioccipital with occipital condyle)?

Figure from:

Cranial Anatomy of a New Plesiosaur Genus from the Lowermost Lias (Rhaetian/Hettangian) of Street, Somerset, England. Glenn W. Storrs and Michael A. Taylor. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 16, No. 3, (Sep. 19, 1996), pp. 403-420.

Makes it worth a few more votes!

[JohnJ]

Are you sure that's the atlas and not the back of the skull (basioccipital with occipital condyle)?

Screen shot 2014-04-17 at 12.48.50 PM.png

Figure from:

Cranial Anatomy of a New Plesiosaur Genus from the Lowermost Lias (Rhaetian/Hettangian) of Street, Somerset, England. Glenn W. Storrs and Michael A. Taylor. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 16, No. 3, (Sep. 19, 1996), pp. 403-420.

Makes it worth a few more votes!

Excellent observation...and definitely worth a second look.

[jpc]

Are you sure that's the atlas and not the back of the skull (basioccipital with occipital condyle)?

Screen shot 2014-04-17 at 12.48.50 PM.png

Figure from:

Cranial Anatomy of a New Plesiosaur Genus from the Lowermost Lias (Rhaetian/Hettangian) of Street, Somerset, England. Glenn W. Storrs and Michael A. Taylor. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 16, No. 3, (Sep. 19, 1996), pp. 403-420.

Makes it worth a few more votes!

My thoughts exactly.... plesiosaur verts do not have the rounded end... at least the non-atlas ones don't.

Edited April 17, 2014 by jpc

[Koss1959]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not too clued up about Plesiosaur anatomy just yet. I've only been fossiling seriously since mid January.

[wally]

First fossilhunt in the ENCI quarry/Nederland This year on 12/04/2014.

The first block that I turned!

Lichtenberghorizont/Valkenburgmember/Maastrichtian

Squalicorax pristodonts(Agassiz,1843)

Edited April 19, 2014 by wally

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to submit a Middle Pennsylvanian Paleoniscoid Fish, Microhaplolepis serrata for April 2014 FOTM. This fossil fish was found on April 17th, 2014 and is a complete specimen from the Allegheny Group, Cannel coal below the Upper Freeport #7 coal in Linton, Jefferson Co. Ohio. The fish is 2 inches long and has a 4mm Shark tooth next to it. Pictures are of the same fish in different lighting conditions. Enjoy!

[FossilDAWG]

I would like to submit a Middle Pennsylvanian Paleoniscoid Fish, Microhaplolepis serrata for April 2014 FOTM. This fossil fish was found on April 17th, 2014 and is a complete specimen from the Allegheny Group, Cannel coal below the Upper Freeport #7 coal in Linton, Jefferson Co. Ohio. The fish is 2 inches long and has a 4mm Shark tooth next to it. Pictures are of the same fish in different lighting conditions. Enjoy!

2 incher in oblique light.jpg 2 incher in reflective light.jpg

I think I need to put a drool shield on my computer.

Don

[caldigger]

NICE!!!!

[Hit The Deck]

I found this Cornulina Armigera at Whisky Bridge Saturday 4/12/14. Eocene in age, Stone City outcrop, no prep to speak of other then a quick bath. It's at least a rare find for so I figured I'd give it a shot.

[squalicorax]

Very nice Hit the deck!

[Hit The Deck]

Another Invertebrate: posterior prong - Belosaepia Veatchi again Eocene in age, Stone City outcrop found 4/12/14 and another first for me.

[elcoincoin]

Grade A gasteropod

[obsessed1]

I would like to submit my entry for Vertebrate FOTM. It was found on April 12^th at Bayfront Park. After an initial ID of bird quadrate bone and a referral to Dr. Storrs Olson of the Smithsonian for identification the email chain was as follows:

To: 'kevin may'

I have checked it against a gannet and your specimen definitely does not belong to the family Sulidae. It is definitely not a loon either. It is very difficult to work with quadrates. We do not have a synoptic collection for quadrates. They usually stay articulated with the skull, which makes it even harder to do comparisons. I will try sending the photos to a Polish colleague who works with quadrates and see if he has any ideas.

Storrs L. Olson

Dear Andrjez,

I received the following inquiry from a local fossil collector. The quadrate shown in the pictures is about 12 mm in size. It is probably from the mid-Miocene Calvert formation judging from color and wear (it was found on the beach) although there can be Pleistocene fossils here to. I checked it against Sulidae, which are the commonest fossils in the Calvert, and it does not seem to be sulid. Nor does it belong to the Gaviidae. Any other ideas? It is not worth much of anyone's time but since you have looked at quadrates much more than I have I thought you might have a better idea. Storrs

Storrs L. Olson

Dear Storrs,

This is a tropic-bird, Phaethon sp. A small one if its total length (height) is about 12mm. In my specimen (of Ph. ?aethereus) it come to about 17 mm.

Shall we describe it?

Thank you for this exciting inquiry,
Andrzej

Andrzej,

Excellent! What a surprise! It would have taken me forever to figure that out. I think that there can be little doubt that this would belong to the tropicbird that I called Heliadornis ashbyi from the Calvert Formation and that turned up also in contemporaneous deposits in Europe (see attached pdfs). A very unexpected discovery considering how rare the species is in the Calvert (only one specimen, the type). And this is the first cranial material for the genus. It is certainly worth describing in detail and will need comparison with Phaethon and Prophaethon if Kevin would be willing to donate it to a museum where it can be registered and available for others to study in the future (Smithsonian or Calvert Marine Museum would be the most convenient).

You are the quadrate expert so you can lead the way on the manuscript. Doubtless you will at least need better photographs with scale and with comparable views of Phaethon. I don't know how good the published photographs are for Prophaethon. I can probably get Julian Hume and Lorna Steel to provide us with better ones. Everything else about the species is in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, so that would be the logical place to publish. What an exciting turn of events. Nothing like having the right expert to turn to. Storrs

Storrs L. Olson

As it turns out this is a very rare and scientifically important fossil. At this time there is only two other reported specimens known. The type specimen was found in another section of Calvert Cliffs and the second one was found in Belgium. The bone I found is the first cranial element that has been reported. I drove to the Smithsonian and gave Dr. Olson this fossil. It can now be described and studied by scientists from around the world.

†Heliadornis Olson 1985 (tropicbird)

Aves - Phaethontes - Phaethontidae

Full reference: S. L. Olson. 1985. A new genus of tropicbird (Pelecaniformes; Phaethontidae) from the middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Maryland. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 98(4):851-855

Parent taxon: Phaethontidae according to S. L. Olson 1985

Sister taxa: Phaethon, Phaethusavis

Subtaxa: Heliadornis ashbyi

Type: Heliadornis ashbyi

Ecology: ground dwelling carnivore

Age range: 15.97 to 13.65 Ma

This is a photo of a modern skull showing the location within the skull.

And the fossil:

continued:

Edited April 26, 2014 by obsessed1

[obsessed1]

Here are two PDFs on the two previous finds of this fossil.

171. Heliadornis Phaethontidae.pdf

283. Belgian Heliadornis.pdf

Edited April 26, 2014 by obsessed1

[Jeffrey P]

I would like to submit my entry for Vertebrate FOTM. It was found on April 12^th at Bayfront Park. After an initial ID of bird quadrate bone and a referral to Dr. Storrs Olson of the Smithsonian for identification the email chain was as follows:

To: 'kevin may'

I have checked it against a gannet and your specimen definitely does not belong to the family Sulidae. It is definitely not a loon either. It is very difficult to work with quadrates. We do not have a synoptic collection for quadrates. They usually stay articulated with the skull, which makes it even harder to do comparisons. I will try sending the photos to a Polish colleague who works with quadrates and see if he has any ideas.

Storrs L. Olson

Dear Andrjez,

I received the following inquiry from a local fossil collector. The quadrate shown in the pictures is about 12 mm in size. It is probably from the mid-Miocene Calvert formation judging from color and wear (it was found on the beach) although there can be Pleistocene fossils here to. I checked it against Sulidae, which are the commonest fossils in the Calvert, and it does not seem to be sulid. Nor does it belong to the Gaviidae. Any other ideas? It is not worth much of anyone's time but since you have looked at quadrates much more than I have I thought you might have a better idea. Storrs

Storrs L. Olson

Dear Storrs,

This is a tropic-bird, Phaethon sp. A small one if its total length (height) is about 12mm. In my specimen (of Ph. ?aethereus) it come to about 17 mm.

Shall we describe it?

Thank you for this exciting inquiry,

Andrzej

Andrzej,

Excellent! What a surprise! It would have taken me forever to figure that out. I think that there can be little doubt that this would belong to the tropicbird that I called Heliadornis ashbyi from the Calvert Formation and that turned up also in contemporaneous deposits in Europe (see attached pdfs). A very unexpected discovery considering how rare the species is in the Calvert (only one specimen, the type). And this is the first cranial material for the genus. It is certainly worth describing in detail and will need comparison with Phaethon and Prophaethon if Kevin would be willing to donate it to a museum where it can be registered and available for others to study in the future (Smithsonian or Calvert Marine Museum would be the most convenient).

You are the quadrate expert so you can lead the way on the manuscript. Doubtless you will at least need better photographs with scale and with comparable views of Phaethon. I don't know how good the published photographs are for Prophaethon. I can probably get Julian Hume and Lorna Steel to provide us with better ones. Everything else about the species is in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, so that would be the logical place to publish. What an exciting turn of events. Nothing like having the right expert to turn to. Storrs

Storrs L. Olson

As it turns out this is a very rare and scientifically important fossil. At this time there is only two other reported specimens known. The type specimen was found in another section of Calvert Cliffs and the second one was found in Belgium. The bone I found is the first cranial element that has been reported. I drove to the Smithsonian and gave Dr. Olson this fossil. It can now be described and studied by scientists from around the world.

†Heliadornis Olson 1985 (tropicbird)

Aves - Phaethontes - Phaethontidae

Full reference: S. L. Olson. 1985. A new genus of tropicbird (Pelecaniformes; Phaethontidae) from the middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Maryland. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 98(4):851-855

Parent taxon: Phaethontidae according to S. L. Olson 1985

Sister taxa: Phaethon, Phaethusavis

Subtaxa: Heliadornis ashbyi

Type: Heliadornis ashbyi

Ecology: ground dwelling carnivore

Age range: 15.97 to 13.65 Ma

This is a photo of a modern skull showing the location within the skull.

quadrate reference photo.jpg

And the fossil:

Tropicbird Quadrate 1.jpgTropicbird Quadrate 2.jpg

Tropicbird Quadrate 3.jpg

continued:

Congratulations Kevin on this amazing and truly rare find. Good luck!!!

[trilobite nut]

Found: April 25, 2014
Prep Complete: April 26, 2014
Species: Eurypterus lacustris
Geological Age: Devonian Silurian
Formation: Williamsville "A" of the Bertie Limestone
Location: Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada

Specimen Measurements:
Head to tail - 9.75"
Paddle tip to Paddle tip - 6.25"
Head width - 17/8"

Pretty sure that's all correct, so here's what I got:

[Ludwigia]

Great find! That's the ventral you've got there! Tummy side up!

Edited April 27, 2014 by Ludwigia

[caldigger]

Nice to see one of those with some dimension to it. Great find!!!