FossilDudeCO Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 5 hours ago, Ludwigia said: Wow! What's the wing breadth on that thing? I have a picture with a scale, but I was having trouble loading it for some reason. (On my end, not the forums) The wings are just over 3 inches! This was a large dragonfly! 5 hours ago, digit said: Still having trouble seeing it clearly on my monitor--I'll PM you with my postal address and you can send it over so I can have a closer look. Bet that one made your day when it split. The 18th Layer has such a distinctive color/texture to it. Cheers. -Ken definitely find of the YEAR for me. any other month this would be a shoe in. This month though, I am nervous! Thanks for the kind words everyone @MeargleSchmeargl and @Paleoworld-101 We will see what happens, i am nervous and excited!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 On 7/23/2017 at 10:34 PM, FossilDudeCO said: OK, I will throw my hat in the ring with an invert this month... Name: Dragonfly / Damselfly Found: July 22, 2017 Formation: Green River Formation Age: Eocene 51.2MYO Location: Lincoln County, Wyoming ...this dragonfly / damselfly will be one of the best for a very long time! ... There is a slot in the Insects category of the Collections with your name on it!...incredible fossil, Blake...good luck. 2 "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Breathtaking dragonfly!! I would have had a heart attack if the rock split and I saw that! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeargleSchmeargl Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 @dmbozeman That is quite an amazing stingray, but you haven't shown evidence that you found it or prepped it (your great grandfather found it, according to you...). Doesn't make the cut for entry Don't despair, though. You still have roughly a week to go out there and get something amazing. Good luck! Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmbozeman Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 My apologies for the mistake. Hey, I learned something new today. LOL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 On 7/23/2017 at 10:34 PM, FossilDudeCO said: Name: Dragonfly / Damselfly Found: July 22, 2017 Formation: Green River Formation Age: Eocene 51.2MYO Location: Lincoln County, Wyoming Great Googly Moogly! Green River fossils were my first love, and this one is the stuff that dreams are made of! I can only imagine the electric moment when your brain registered what you held... 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 3 hours ago, Auspex said: Great Googly Moogly! Green River fossils were my first love, and this one is the stuff that dreams are made of! I can only imagine the electric moment when your brain registered what you held... Haha! I always joke about that thrill. When I found my paddle fish I didn't know what it was so instead of that moment where you heart races and your palms sweat, I got this moment of "Huh, that looks weird, what the hell is it?" I had to ask and was told "Oh!, It's a paddlefish!" This perfect little dragonfly was an amazing find, I knew what it was right away! Things like this are the reason you leave the family behind every weekend to go dig This was as split in the quarry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Chris Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 That dragonfly is fantastic. We never find any good insects here in Arizona. I have never even found a single wing! You are so lucky to have a nearby deposit like that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona Chris Paleo Web Site: http://schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Dragonflies have wider hindwings. The forewings / hindwings of damselflies are nearly identical. With the claspers present, it appears to be a male broad-winged damselfly. Congrats on finding it! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 1 hour ago, piranha said: Dragonflies have wider hindwings. The forewings / hindwings of damselflies are nearly identical. With the claspers present, it appears to be a male broad-winged damselfly. Congrats on finding it! Thank you so much for this information! I was trying to identify this bug in Lance's book and he doesn't make too much of a distinction from what I read. The claspers were the first thing the museum noticed, apparently it is quite rare for them to preserve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 On 2017-07-24 at 1:24 PM, FossilDAWG said: Breathtaking dragonfly!! I would have had a heart attack if the rock split and I saw that! Don Me too, I think. Fossil-hunting is not for the weak of constitution.. I'd be nervous just handling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 9 hours ago, FossilDudeCO said: This was as split in the quarry *pic* My god... you are very lucky that the rock split like that, any closer and it would have split right through the wings. I bet you were nervous getting that covering layer off the other side of the specimen! "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 10 hours ago, FossilDudeCO said: When I found my paddle fish Do you have pics? Also, congrats on your damselfly, its beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 6 hours ago, piranha said: Dragonflies have wider hindwings. The forewings / hindwings of damselflies are nearly identical. With the claspers present, it appears to be a male broad-winged damselfly. Congrats on finding it! 1 minute ago, Foozil said: Also, congrats on your dragonfly, its beautiful! It's a damselfly, not a dragonfly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 On 7/23/2017 at 10:34 PM, FossilDudeCO said: OK, I will throw my hat in the ring with an invert this month. This is only the 3rd dragonfly found at the quarry in 14 years, and the first found in the 18-inch layers again, ZERO RESTORATION, is what makes this specimen so AMAZING! Name: Dragonfly / Damselfly Found: July 22, 2017 Formation: Green River Formation Age: Eocene 51.2MYO Location: Lincoln County, Wyoming Missing one small chunk on the body and a few knicks in the wings, this specimen is 100% NATURAL, ABSOLUTELY ZERO RESTORATION!! This is how it split from the rock. Lance has a section for Dragonflies / Damselflies in his book The Lost World of Fossil Lake. These are highly sought after insects! With every cell on every wing visible, this dragonfly / damselfly will be one of the best for a very long time! If you would like more close up pictures for voting purposes send me a PM Careful! Looks like this beauty might just take flight at any second. Very impressive For comparison: Dragonfly: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 @FossilDudeCO. That bug is one of the best ive seen Blake. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 On 7/25/2017 at 6:08 PM, Wrangellian said: Me too, I think. Fossil-hunting is not for the weak of constitution.. I'd be nervous just handling it. Nah, just get in there and clean it up by soaking the plate overnight and scrubbing with a a nice hard bristled steel brush. Make sure you really brush vigorously. Then polish starting with a very course grit grinder. That should get rid of any traces of that nasty insect. Yes I am being facetious, that's what jealousy does to a man! This has my vote for a GDB award. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 OK. So here is my entry for the July Vertebrate Fossil of the Month. There is a vicious rumor that immediately after finding it, I danced with it above my head at the edge of the river. Sounds like what jealous people would say...... It will most likely end up getting donated to a museum some where later this summer. I would rather have our dog carrying around a cast of it in his mouth than the real thing. An almost complete vertebrae from: Deinosuchus rugosus Lag deposit of Tar Heel and Bladen Formations of the Black Creek Group (late Cretaceous, ~72 - 78 MYA); Location: Eastern NC Found on: July 16, 2017 Cheers, SA2 2 Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bguild Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Well July is shaping up to be a great month! I might as well throw my hat in the ring for invertebrate/plant find of the month. Here's the largest fern fossil I have found to date from a land where fossils are few and far between . Name: Pecopteris arborescens Found: July 2, 2017 Formation: Rhode Island Formation Age: Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian - 300 Million Years Old Location: Cory's Lane - Portsmouth, Rhode Island 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeargleSchmeargl Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Many awesome finds! Now it's my turn: A nice 2 3/4" Carcholes Megalodon Age/formation: Oligocene/Hawthorne formation Date: July 28 Area: Summerville SC Not a huge Meg, but it has a full enamel front and back, full root, and even serrations! Really excited to find it in Rumph's Hill Creek! Front: Rear: 1 Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeargleSchmeargl Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Serrations close up: Hope y'all enjoy this tooth as much as I did! Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 On 2017-07-28 at 5:15 AM, caldigger said: Nah, just get in there and clean it up by soaking the plate overnight and scrubbing with a a nice hard bristled steel brush. Make sure you really brush vigorously. Then polish starting with a very course grit grinder. That should get rid of any traces of that nasty insect. Yes I am being facetious, that's what jealousy does to a man! This has my vote for a GDB award. The Golden Drool Bucket... I hadn't thought of that but I think you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I've got no words for all those incredible finds... And I somehow wish I didn't click on this topic, because now I'm Let's hope the mods don't notice my duplicate accounts, so I can add a vote to every entry I do have a question though: 3 days ago, I went to the Zandmotor, and brought some sand home, hoping to find something cool in that micro-matrix. I won't have time though to search through it until next month though. Let's say I do find something cool in it: would it have to be in the July FOTM, or can it still be in the August one? Because it will be technically collected in July, but "discovered" in August. Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Max, you technically might get away with the " found then, but not prepped until now" clause for finds. I guess that will be up to the moderators to clarify. We would still like to see pics either way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 5 hours ago, Max-fossils said: I've got no words for all those incredible finds... And I somehow wish I didn't click on this topic, because now I'm Let's hope the mods don't notice my duplicate accounts, so I can add a vote to every entry I do have a question though: 3 days ago, I went to the Zandmotor, and brought some sand home, hoping to find something cool in that micro-matrix. I won't have time though to search through it until next month though. Let's say I do find something cool in it: would it have to be in the July FOTM, or can it still be in the August one? Because it will be technically collected in July, but "discovered" in August. Just to quote from the rules: 3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or most of the significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.4. You must include the Date of your Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Discovery date (if not found in the contest month). In your case, given how closely it was found to August, I would wager it would qualify IF you are performing significant preparation in August (and so would then qualify for August's FotM). If no preparation is required, then I don't think it would qualify as sifting through matrix alone is not preparation as such. 2 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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