A gift from the Devonian!

[Darktooth]

Today, I went on a quick early morning fossilhunt. I have been anxious to get out hunting, any chance I can considering how mild winter has been so far. I decided it would be best to start today with little, to no expectations and just see what the day would bring. 

At about 3:30am I woke up to use the bathroom and when I played back down all I could do was toss and turn. So I did that until about 5:15 and I finally got up. Got to the hunting grounds about 7am, just as the sun was making it's presence known. Unfortunately it was only 20° at the site. There was some snow covering the site as well as ice. 

Obviously this made digging and splitting slabs a real chore. So much so the there wasn't a whole lot I could do. I was hoping that with the sun out maybe it would eventually warm things up enough to make digging a little easier. So for the first 2 hours i kinda putzed around surface scanning and flipping slabs over, looking for something worthwhile. Eventually I started trying to remove slabs. I was actually starting to make a bit of progress, but then the ground got hard again. While trying to remove the slabs, I picked up a small chunk of matrix that fell off. As I inspected the piece carefully I noticed a small Dipluera pygidium and partial thorax exposed on the very edge of the break. I could tell that the rest of it was underneath some matrix. I would of normally been static but the area where the Dipleura was sitting was pretty fractured and I didn't really think I was going to be able to extract it without the whole thing crumbling apart. But I put it in the truck and decided to give it a shot when I got back home. Other then that I only brought home a bivalve and a brachiopod. There really wasn't anything else worth keeping. 

When I got home I inspected the trilo very carefully and looked at every fracture going around it, I started breaking off small bits of matrix till it got to the point where all that was left was the portion covering the front half of the trilo. I took my angle grinder and made a notch. Then I took a screwdriver, twisted and popped off the top! That is when I got very excited! Now I have found Dipleuras smaller then this one, but this is the smallest one the I have found in this good of condition. It measures at 1 7/16 of an inch. Totally made the trip worth it! Here is before and after pics.

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

13 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

Today, I went on a quick early morning fossilhunt. I have been anxious to get out hunting, any chance I can considering how mild winter has been so far. I decided it would be best to start today with little, to no expectations and just see what the day would bring. 

At about 3:30am I woke up to use the bathroom and when I played back down all I could do was toss and turn. So I did that until about 5:15 and I finally got up. Got to the hunting grounds about 7am, just as the sun was making it's presence known. Unfortunately it was only 20° at the site. There was some snow covering the site as well as ice. 

Obviously this made digging and splitting slabs a real chore. So much so the there wasn't a whole lot I could do. I was hoping that with the sun out maybe it would eventually warm things up enough to make digging a little easier. So for the first 2 hours i kinda putzed around surface scanning and flipping slabs over, looking for something worthwhile. Eventually I started trying to remove slabs. I was actually starting to make a bit of progress, but then the ground got hard again. While trying to remove the slabs, I picked up a small chunk of matrix that fell off. As I inspected the piece carefully I noticed a small Dipluera pygidium and partial thorax exposed on the very edge of the break. I could tell that the rest of it was underneath some matrix. I would of normally been static but the area where the Dipluera was sitting was pretty fractured and I didn't really think I was going to be able to extract it without the whole thing crumbling apart. But I put it in the truck and decided to give it a shot when I got back home. Other then that I only brought home a bivalve and a brachiopod. There really wasn't anything else worth keeping. 

When I got home I inspected the trilo very carefully and looked at every fracture going around it, I started breaking off small bits of matrix till it got to the point where all that was left was the portion covering the front half of the trilo. I took my angle grinder and made a notch. Then I took a screwdriver, twisted and popped off the top! That is when I got very excited! Now I have found Dipluera's smaller then this one, but this is the smallest one the I have found in this good of condition. It measures at 1 7/16 of an inch. Totally made the trip worth it! Here is before and after pics.

Very nice! I’ve never found a trilobite before. What is the general location? 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Pretty bug!

[Darktooth]

1 hour ago, Shaun-DFW Fossils said:

Very nice! I’ve never found a trilobite before. What is the general location? 

Madison County in Central New York. If you ever make it out this way let me know. This area has a good amount of Eldredgeops rana, Greenops sp. and Dipleura dekayi. There are other species as well but I haven't been to the sites that those occur in.

[Darktooth]

I guess that I should add, that the gentleman who is going to prep the Dipleuras that I found a few days after Christmas got started today. The first one he finished was the least well preserved of the bunch. The side of the trilo that was initially exposed looked very fragile. That being said I think he did a good job. I told him he could leave the cephalon partially covered as it is fragile and I noticed some of the exoskeleton came of in the prep process. It is still good to me like that. I am hoping the others turn ot better though.

Edited February 4 by Darktooth

[FossilDAWG]

Sweet little Dipleura!!     You really have a knack for finding them.  I have yet to find even one, so I am well acquainted with how well they hide.

 

Don

[Bjohn170]

Wow that little guy is gorgeous! Great find! Now I need to add a find to my collection like that!

[Darktooth]

4 minutes ago, Bjohn170 said:

Wow that little guy is gorgeous! Great find! Now I need to add a find to my collection like that!

Well you probably could but that would require you to stop searching for sharkteeth! 

[Jeffrey P]

Nice one Dave! As already said, they're not the easiest  trilobites to find complete, but you have a special way. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Do you plan to show that brachiopod and bivalve? 

[Danielb]

Nice find!

[Darktooth]

Just now, Jeffrey P said:

Nice one Dave! As already said, they're not the easiest  trilobites to find complete, but you have a special way. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Do you plan to show that brachiopod and bivalve? 

Thanks Jeff, yes I will post the other items as well as some things I found from slabs that have been sitting in my yard from previous hunts. I went through those today after I got home.

I got to get a bite to eat first.

[Darktooth]

37 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Sweet little Dipleura!!     You really have a knack for finding them.  I have yet to find even one, so I am well acquainted with how well they hide.

 

Don

Hi Don, if I remember correctly, you have mentioned that you have hunted fossils in New York before. Maybe you could come to a group hunt in the Spring?

[Kane]

[Darktooth]

@Jeffrey P here are the rest of the pics from today. The first 2 are what I brought home from the hunt. The rest are what I got out of the slabs that were in my yard.

[trilobites_are_awesome]

Great finds!

[FossilDAWG]

4 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Hi Don, if I remember correctly, you have mentioned that you have hunted fossils in New York before. Maybe you could come to a group hunt in the Spring?

I have family in Ottawa Ontario, so I try to drive up at least once a year.  I pass through New York on the way and always stop to collect somewhere.  However it won't be this spring due to my teaching responsibilities.  Hopefully I'll be able to pass that way this summer or fall and meet up with some fossil forum folks.

 

Don

[Bjohn170]

16 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Well you probably could but that would require you to stop searching for sharkteeth! 

One day soon! But the teeth are so pretty and only a hour and a half away from me!