Final trip to DSR for the season

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

Yesterday my father and I took a trip out to DSR to collect samples for a school display project I'm making.  We made some pretty incredible finds, including the largest trilobite I've ever seen with my own eyes.

 

It was pretty nice at the site, the weather wasn't too cold.  We immediately found some cool pieces, including 2 separate Echinocaris phyllocarid specimens (I found one, he found another)

 

here's the Echinocaris I found, while just one valve it's got some incredible detail.

 

here's the Echinocaris my dad found, it's the only juvenile one I think I've ever seen.  I believe it may be complete, as it looks like the second valve goes underneath the matrix.  Unfortunately the negative which held the telson is still at the site... maybe we will find it in the spring?

 

Here is an awesome piece of a devonian tree branch which my dad found!

 

onto some Greenops I found, this is a complete roller that was just sitting out. It's a bit disarticulated but still pretty nice.

 

some of the many Greenops pygidiums I picked up, sorry for the poor lighting

 

a nice Greenops cephalon with most of the genal spines still present

 

Headless Greenops

 

onto some of Eldredgeops, this is the largest cephalon of one I've found at the site

 

here's a cool hash plate, there's a head and a pygidium present. I might try and split it open to see if there's more inside the block.

 

And now, my favorite trilobite species found at DSR... Dipleura dekayi.

 

two of the smallest I found, the one on the right is the smallest I've ever found in general.

 

 

This is a large segment that my dad found, unfortunately it was just a single segment.

 

I think some of you may want to take a seat before seeing this next Dipleura specimen, it'll knock your socks off!

 

 

 

 

 

This is an 8 inch (from the remainder of the pygidium which might be in the negative to the tip of the cephalon) Dipleura dekayi!!! This is by far the best find my father and I have ever made from the site, as well as the largest trilobite either of us have found! This piece alone made the entire trip worth it, and im excited to get it cleaned and put on display. Interestingly, the Dipleura was found upside down instead of right-side up... Al Tahan proposed that it could've been a molt that was simply more stable upside down, which would explain why every other fossil near it was right side up.

 

I'll be sure to post more about the Dipleura as well as some more specimens I uncover when I go through the material we brought back.

Edited December 15, 2021 by KompsFossilsNMinerals

[Fossildude19]

Great finds! Congratulations on a very productive trip.

[Al Tahan]

That dipleura is just….wow….

[Jeffrey P]

That DSR isn't covered with a foot of snow and still open for collecting this late into the winter is remarkable enough. You definitely made some real good finds, but that 8 inch prone Dipleura certainly takes the cake. I know a number of veteran collectors still searching DSR for that big bad boy.  Congrats.

[KompsFossilsNMinerals]

4 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said:

That DSR isn't covered with a foot of snow and still open for collecting this late into the winter is remarkable enough. You definitely made some real good finds, but that 8 inch prone Dipleura certainly takes the cake. I know a number of veteran collectors still searching DSR for that big bad boy.  Congrats.

Yeah!  There were a couple spots with some snow, but it wasn't too bad because of the warm-ish weather.  I'm incredibly fortunate to have the Dipleura in my collection, fingers crossed I'll be able to find another like it next season... 

[Sjfriend]

Nice finds and of course the Dipleura is AWESOME!

[Fossildude19]

16 hours ago, KompsFossilsNMinerals said:

Yeah!  There were a couple spots with some snow, but it wasn't too bad because of the warm-ish weather.  I'm incredibly fortunate to have the Dipleura in my collection, fingers crossed I'll be able to find another like it next season... 

 

Hey now, ... save some for the rest of us...   

[Ludwigia]

Mama Mia!!!