A Small Part Of My Collection

[Caleb]

What else can I say?... everyone's already said it... Nice Collection, Caleb. I don't know enough about trilobites, so I have to ask... which one is the ebay fake?

Thanks JPC. The fake one is the Drotops megalomanicus(a commonly faked bug). I knew right away that it was painted(to hide repairs/damage) which is not terribly uncommon for inexpensive Moroccan bugs. While trying to remove some paint with an air abrasive my father found out the entire thing was clay or something similar. I have no doubt that the previous owner thought it was at least mostly(if not all) real. It is a decent fake with faceted eyes and good detail on the cephalon. I decided to leave it as is until I get a real one. Then I'll probably cut this one in half as a good example of a fake trilo.

[Caleb]

Here's a few more I just got back from my father who prepped them:

This first is a new trilobite in my collection. It's a Greenops sp. with a rolled Eldredgeops norwoodensis from the Devonian age Little Cedar Formation of Eastern Iowa. I collected this guy last year on a field trip with one of the clubs I belong to.

The second specimen is a prone, rolled, and headless molt of Anataphrus borraeus from the Ordovician age Galena formation of Southeast Minnesota.

[Kosmoceras]

I love them! Outstanding trilobites, I like seeing them in the drawers, thanks for showing them!

[piranha]

Here's a few more I just got back from my father who prepped them:

This first is a new trilobite in my collection. It's a Greenops sp. with a rolled Eldredgeops norwoodensis from the Devonian age Little Cedar Formation of Eastern Iowa. I collected this guy last year on a field trip with one of the clubs I belong to.

The second specimen is a prone, rolled, and headless molt of Anataphrus borraeus from the Ordovician age Galena formation of Southeast Minnesota.

Wonderful trilobites Caleb... the Anataphrus and Greenops are especially nice. Someone (perhaps Niles Eldredge?) needs to publish an updated paper on the global systematics of the entire phacopid clade. There are good discussions elsewhere on the topic, although evidently some of the Phacops genera in North America remain intact. I imagine the specialists will continue to split these genera as demand for precise phylogenetic characters allow for a more comprehensive understanding of these tricky trilobites. Something old... something new...

[squalicorax]

Those Galena Asaphids are really nice

[Caleb]

Here's the recent batch I got back from MAPS along with a purchase. All prep work was done by Gerry Kloc and post-prep photography by Tom Whiteley.

Sphaerocoryph cf. arachniformis and Porocrinus sp.

Galena Formation

Southeast MN

Before prep

After prep

Dolichoharpes reticulata

Platteville Formation

Southwest Wisconsin

Before prep

After prep

Ceraurinella scofieldi

Platteville Formation

Southwest Wisconsin

And my purchase, it's not the best one they had, but it called to me and the price was right. I especially like the other fauna on the piece.

Dalmanites limulurus

Caleb Quarry, New York

Sillurian

Edited April 2, 2012 by Caleb

[Caleb]

Also...

Starfish and Dolichoharpes cf. uniserialis cephalon

Galena Formation

Southeast Minnesota

Prepped by Scott Vergiels

Pre-prep

After Prep

Edited April 2, 2012 by Caleb

[TMNH]

Having found only two complete trilobites so far myself, I am extremely envious of all of your spectacular specimens! The starfishin your last post and the endocerid in the pic with the Drotops are nice too!

[squalicorax]

The Sphaerocoryph is bizzare, thanks for the pics

[Caleb]

Here's a "new years update" of my display. Turns out this past year I accidently started a cephalopod collection. I don't have many prepped specimens, so the cephs don't take up much room on my table... yet. Also a TARDIS materialized atop my case... hmm.

An updated photo of my display desk:

The top shelf update:

And my mysterious cephalopod collection:

Though not a fossil, I recieved this axe head as a wedding gift. It came from the old family homestead in Nebraska and has been passed down for generations. I didn't even know it existed until I recieved it and I'm more than happy to add it to my collection:

[KansasFossilHunter]

How does one accidentally start a cephalopod collection? Nice display by the way!

[cowsharks]

Cool fossils, nice displays, and neat Axe head - huge.

Daryl.

[Scylla]

I love the way your collection and life intertwine in this story. It starts out "after buying a house" goes on to talk about your girlfriend hunting with you and now a "wedding present" gets added. I'll bet the next drawer starts off with " now that the baby sleeps through the night..." The bugs are amazing and well displayed, thanks for sharing this with us

[Caleb]

I love the way your collection and life intertwine in this story. It starts out "after buying a house" goes on to talk about your girlfriend hunting with you and now a "wedding present" gets added. I'll bet the next drawer starts off with " now that the baby sleeps through the night..." The bugs are amazing and well displayed, thanks for sharing this with us

There certainly does appear to be a trend forming...

[jpc]

a trend... cool... good for you... along with the baby is asleep, another post will be "here is my accidental cephalopod collection in its accidental oversized display cabinet." Oh, by the way... excellent collection and thanks to share.

[Caleb]

How does one accidentally start a cephalopod collection? Nice display by the way!

For a long time I didn't pay any attention to cephalopods and was completely focused on trilobites. In the past year I decided to start to learn how to prep fossils and cephalopods and gastropods made for good practice. As I got a little better at prepping, I started realizing that they make great display pieces and poof, a spot on my table suddenly filled up with cephs.

While trilos are still my focus of collecting, the myriad of cephalopods in the Late Ordovician is starting to grab my attention. With the number of species in the formations I collect it would be very easy to amass a huge collection of just cephs. Because of this, I must limit myself to only picking up the unusual and/or very well preserved specimens.

[Caleb]

I love the way your collection and life intertwine in this story. It starts out "after buying a house" goes on to talk about your girlfriend hunting with you and now a "wedding present" gets added. I'll bet the next drawer starts off with " now that the baby sleeps through the night..." The bugs are amazing and well displayed, thanks for sharing this with us

Now that the baby sleeps through the night(almost), I have time to post again.

Here's a few more items that have recently made it to the display.

Bumastoides milleri

Isotelus simplex

Thaleops laurentiana (Formerly Illaenus americanus)

Thaleops ovata

Westonoceras minnesotense

Edited January 14, 2014 by Caleb

[piranha]

How fitting that the Westonoceras is a perfect Horn-of-Plenty look-alike! Congrats on another spectacular assortment of trilobites!

[Fossildude19]

Awesome additions, Caleb!

I've somehow missed some of your updates - Wow!

What a great collection you have there.

Thanks for posting it, and for the updates.

Regards,

[Wrangellian]

Thanks for sharing.. I like the before and after pics - gives a good idea how 'good stuff' looks when it is found and the prepping process itself.

I don't know how one could avoid collecting Paleozoic cephs, they are fascinating (esp. for someone who is used to the Mesozoic ones..) I guess everyone needs a focus.

[hrguy54]

Great collection. Thanks