FranzBernhard Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) First fossil collected ever - clear! But what is your very last fossil collected in the field? Sounds absurd and sad, but I think, there are members in this forum, which do not longer field collect. I am one of these, I don´t do field trips any longer, and so no more fossils. Too much work, too many family issues, already too many "rocks" . Field trips turned to stress makers lately, so I skip them completely. Big relief! Maybe I will do field trips in the distant future again, but I will not collect any more fossils etc., just photographing them. Hope, I can withstand the temptation then . This is the very last fossil I have collected, that to the right: The very last mineral/ore specimen was found and collected a week later, disseminated chromite in dunite from Sommergraben, Kraubath ultramafic complex, field of view ca. 14 cm: Franz Bernhard Edited February 23 by FranzBernhard 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas1982 Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I actually find field collecting a great de-stressor. Just about every weekend I go out collecting to decompress after a stressful week at the office. So anyway, here are a couple trilobites from my last outing: 2/18/2024 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brevicollis Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 A belemnite... Nothing too special. 1 1 Are good signatures really that important ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Thanks for your contributions, I meant the very last fossil of your field collecting career (titel etc. edited). Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 The last fossil I found was this ind. rib from the Hell creek of SD. I'm still in the middle of the prep and rebuild. This like most likely either Edmontosaurus or Triceratops. Sadly, I havent had time to touch it in almost 3 months. All of the rough cleaning is done (more than in the photo), but I'm still going though sections to disassemble, 100% clean out matrix, then reassembly. 1 1 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 47 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said: Thanks for your contributions, I meant the very last fossil of your field collecting career (titel etc. edited). Franz Bernhard I am going out this weekend, and am far from retiring, so I am not allowed to comment here. But I know there are there who have retired from The Field. I'm looking at you RJB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I plan to contribute to this thread. In about 50 years (and I'm 66 now). Don 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 27 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: I plan to contribute to this thread. In about 50 years (and I'm 66 now). Don Our brain-powered cyborg bodies will be able to move a lot of rock much more efficiently. 2 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I’ll collect until the end so I will not be able to post my last find. ”I'll show you my last-collected fossil when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" Apologies to Charlton Heston and others. 2 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 2 hours ago, jpc said: ..... and am far from retiring, so I am not allowed to comment here. .... 1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said: I plan to contribute to this thread. In about 50 years (and I'm 66 now). Don 7 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: I’ll collect until the end so I will not be able to post my last find..... I'm curious why you all are interpreting the OP as meaning "you will never collect again"? I read it as HE can't collect so he wants to see what the last thing you found, NOT that you had to be through with collecting in order to post. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 From Franz's first post: "First fossil collected ever - clear! But what is your very last fossil collected in the field? Sounds absurd and sad, but I think, there are members in this forum, which do not longer field collect." I am one of these, I don´t do field trips any longer, and so no more fossils." And after several people posted their most recent find, he responded: "Thanks for your contributions, I meant the very last fossil of your field collecting career (titel etc. edited). " [note: Franz put "very last" in bold] So the question seems clear, at least to me and some others. In response to the thread about your first ever fossil that got you started, when your collecting career is finished what is the last fossil you collected (or will ever collect)? Don 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 58 minutes ago, hadrosauridae said: NOT that you had to be through with collecting in order to post. That was exactly what I meant. There are members here, that don´t field collect any longer. I would like to see the very last self-collected specimen! Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 1 minute ago, FossilDAWG said: So the question seems clear, at least to me and some others. Thank you! Its nearly impossible for me to express such difficult things properly. Sorry for confusion! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 22 minutes ago, FranzBernhard said: Thank you! Its nearly impossible for me to express such difficult things properly. Sorry for confusion! I think you expressed it well. I'm sorry your circumstances have made collecting a source of stress and not joy. I hope the Fossil Forum will help you to keep some involvement with fossils, we certainly appreciate your contributions. Don 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 @FranzBernhard perhaps a slightly cheerier thread for those who have downed tools for good would be "what is your final legacy fossil?" 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) 4 hours ago, hadrosauridae said: I'm curious why you all are interpreting the OP as meaning "you will never collect again"? I read it as HE can't collect so he wants to see what the last thing you found, NOT that you had to be through with collecting in order to post. Semantics. Should have used the word "latest". The word "last" has enough different meanings to render it ambiguous. Edited February 23 by Mark Kmiecik 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I can’t add a fossil to your thread just yet, but I am sorry to hear that you won’t be out field collecting anymore! I always enjoyed your informative trip reports and your polished rudist sections. I hope you will still be a contributor to the forum. Best wishes! 1 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 (edited) 10 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said: Semantics. Should have used the word "latest". The word "last" has enough different meanings to render it ambiguous. Thank you! Google yields only one translation, lets see: last = zuletzt latest = neueste very last = allerletzte very latest = ganz aktuell The bold one would fit best in German, but its still ambiguous. Tricky business ! Franz Bernhard Edited February 24 by FranzBernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 (edited) 13 hours ago, FossilDAWG said: I'm sorry your circumstances have made collecting a source of stress and not joy. I hope the Fossil Forum will help you to keep some involvement with fossils, we certainly appreciate your contributions. 10 hours ago, FossilNerd said: I can’t add a fossil to your thread just yet, but I am sorry to hear that you won’t be out field collecting anymore! I always enjoyed your informative trip reports and your polished rudist sections. I hope you will still be a contributor to the forum. Thank you! I was about 10 years (also) into fossils, with the main focus exploring formations in western Styria from 2016 to 2022. This resulted in 4 publications in a local journal. Last year in August, I switched back to "fossils sites for families" (started in 2015, but soon abandoned), this time including also sites for minerals, ores and rocks. I have already linked to that, but here it is again: Fundstellen - Inhalt (franzbernhard.lima-city.de) This has also found an end at the moment. Maybe I can resume that in the distant future, but without any collecting (hopefully). Franz Bernhard Edited February 24 by FranzBernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 9 hours ago, FranzBernhard said: The bold one would fit best in German, but its still ambiguous. Tricky business ! In English as well - tricky business! 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 The very last fossil I will have collected is myself. Joking aside, I have been out of hunting for several years... kind of. As with many fossil collectors, my career has gone through various stages. I went from collecting random curios, to collecting everything in sight, to increasing and optimizing a collection with specified limits (e.g. all Pennsylvanian and Pleistocene genera within a strict geographical area around my town). Eventually, I would hunt less and less as new fossil types became few and far between. I have looked into into collecting at promising sites farther afield within my area, but that takes more gas and time to explore. Also, as with many collectors, storage space around the house has become a premium. I will still collect fossils if an opportunity arises, as it did a couple years ago when nearby road construction nicely exposed a concretion-bearing bed. Still, I have a few interesting sites (to me) that I will continue to explore on and off in the future. Edit: Not to mention all the productive highway exposures that have faded and overgrown over the years As for my latest find, it is this phosphatic concretion that I found in a nearby creek a couple months ago, and opened just now: Fish skeletal element Muncie Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian Kansas City, Missouri 1 1 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 I don't think I can talk about my last fossil found, but it certainly had to be a shell. My last outing is a sieving of shell sediment 3/4 hours drive from my home, in the Redonian (Lower Pliocene). I still have some to sort ! Coco 1 ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 I missed this post until now, Franz, but I'm also sorry to hear that your collecting days are at an end (probably). I've already forgotten which fossil was my latest (last year), but hopefully it's not my last (final) one. My collecting trips have diminished for various reasons but I don't expect to quit just yet. There are some newly dumped piles of rock up my local hill that I found out about last year, though it appears other collectors are on top of it quicker than I am, as the finds were pretty sparse for the size of the piles. Maybe after this winter there will be more fossils exposed and I'll get at them before anyone else does, but I'm not counting on that... Competition from other collectors and lack of storage space will be what stop me (if not infirmity/death). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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