bear-dog Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Found out something new this past weekend.Watched a dealer place fossils under a u.v. light.The fossils were from Morocco,the shark teeth roots glowed as well as the matrix around the trilo's.Anyone know of other areas that this is common in? Such as Florida,California,etc. Edited March 16, 2011 by bear-dog Bear-dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I have never heard of this before, but it sounds pretty cool. I have seen minerals that glow, but not fossils. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/gallery/image/4755-carcharocles-chubutensis-uva/ My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear-dog Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Nice .Any ideas on other locations that this happens in? Bear-dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Dunno about locations, but it seems to me this happens because of flourescent minerals that leach into the bone over time. Just a guess, really. What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa dino Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I remember something along these lines but with dinosaur fossils. If I recall only the fossils from carnivorous dinosaurs glowed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I remember something along these lines but with dinosaur fossils. If I recall only the fossils from carnivorous dinosaurs glowed If that's right, I'd sure like to know the reason why! "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...
Diplotomodon Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I remember something along these lines but with dinosaur fossils. If I recall only the fossils from carnivorous dinosaurs glowed Now THAT'S weird. Maybe something with different molecular tooth structures? What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Throw some White River Oligocene fossils under a light and watch the teeth glow bright orange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 If that's right, I'd sure like to know the reason why! it was a common practice amongst the meateaters to use a particular brand of mouthwash that contained fluorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 it was a common practice amongst the meateaters to use a particular brand of mouthwash that contained fluorite. Perhaps the radiation from all dem volcanoes in the Deccan Traps blasting about got to them quicker, so they started glowing before anything else What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Hear's a link to an old thread: My link The pictures in that thread were lost when we changes servers ( ), but the discussion ties-in. "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...
oilshale Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Quite common with Solnhofen fossils. Especially crustaceans and cephalopods show a bright fluorescence under UV-light. Not the fluorine in their toothbrush but the phosphate in their muzzles and organic material like chitin. I prefer to prep crustaceans under UV light. Here is an example: I "borrowed" these pictures from another forum where I am also a member - hope they don't mind... (http://www.solnhofen...silienatlas.php) Thomas Edited March 16, 2011 by oilshale Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 If you do a search with the keywords "flouresce" or "ultraviolet" you will get other threads in which this is discussed. Found out something new this past weekend.Watched a dealer place fossils under a u.v. light. The fossils were from Morocco,the shark teeth roots glowed as well as the matrix around the trilo's. Anyone know of other areas that this is common in? Such as Florida,California,etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalodon_hunter Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 WOW!!! Now I can look for teeth in the dead of night! "One of these day's I'm going to find a tooth over 3inches." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Found out something new this past weekend.Watched a dealer place fossils under a u.v. light.The fossils were from Morocco,the shark teeth roots glowed as well as the matrix around the trilo's.Anyone know of other areas that this is common in? Such as Florida,California,etc. This method is especially helpful to detect faked trilo's from Morocco. Quite often parts or even the whole trilo are made out of polyester which glows under UV light. The glowing matrix around the trilo showed it being a fake! Here is an article about faked trilo's and usage of UV light to detect faked parts. Thomas Edited March 16, 2011 by oilshale Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I have Petoskey (coral) stones, Texas Upper Cretaceous oysters, Ordovician brachiopods and some petrified wood that glow. Not common, but also not rare for fossils to glow. Somewhere along the way I check all my new fossils to see what might glow. And somewhere a number of years back I read about some insect fossils (South America or maybe it was California?) that were invisible on the matrix until hit with UV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 WOW!!! Now I can look for teeth in the dead of night! Nah, only works under special UV light. What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Very interesting... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Quite common with Solnhofen fossils. Especially crustaceans and cephalopods show a bright fluorescence under UV-light. Not the fluorine in their toothbrush but the phosphate in their muzzles and organic material like chitin. I prefer to prep crustaceans under UV light. Here is an example: I "borrowed" these pictures from another forum where I am also a member - hope they don't mind... (http://www.solnhofen...silienatlas.php) Thomas Thomas : Do you use some sort of UV eye protection ... excessive UV can lead to cataracts in the eyes... and damage the retina... PL Edited March 16, 2011 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I don't know about fossil scorpions, but modern ones have this attribute. Any correlation? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexx Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 From what I know - and this has been mentioned above - UV light is used to indentify faked or composite parts on fossils. There is probably nothing around, having a higher "fake-rate" than roots of moroccan shark teeth (especially Palaeocarcharodon Orientalis and Otodus Obliquus) and moroccan trilos. Here a nice link: http://www.jpaleontologicaltechniques.org/pasta3/JPT%20N2/Pdf/JPT_n002_Jul.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wRick Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 My daughter, (and I) did this for her science Expo last year. Here's a pic of a chub from Aurora and a GW from GMR. You can see the Chub glows pretty well, there are only a few bright spots on the GW. Almost all of the teeth from Aurora we tested glowed and the teeth from Venice Fl, and GMR, and elsewhere did not. Picture quality stinks because she took the pictures on her kidpix camera. The UV illuminator emitted at 365 nm and teeth from Aurora glowed for a few seconds after the light was extinguished. Couldn't capture that on the kidpix camera, just not made for those low light situations. It's pretty awesome to see in person! Definitely wear UV safety glasses though. We have more pics of the UV glowing and under normal illumination but it may take me a while to dig them up. "There is no difference between Zen and Purgatory and Time Warner Cable, and they are trying to tach me this, but I am a dim impatient pupil." ----- xonenine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 WOW!!! Now I can look for teeth in the dead of night! We tried this once. Got a UV light that plugged in to my buddy's cig lighter in his car and we walked and picked everything that glowed orange. We got a bunch of chips of agate (common in the White River Fm) and a few tooth bits. We were of course limited on that hunt by the extension cords. This has potential, but its hard to walk the badlands at night. And you would only find fossils whose teeth are exposed. Give me sushine any day. As for only theropod teeth glowing... I call that one as horse manure. Of course I'd be OK if proven wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I have found petrified wood and exogyra shells that glow orange under black light exposure. It is really an attention getter with the kids. This is ususally caused by the inclusion of flourescent minerals during fossilization.... Or maybe the uranium in their diet. Either way... It's really cool. -Rod - ROD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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