Another Triceratops Found!

[cowsharks]

Mega-Wow's. Too bad work gets in the way of your fossil collecting, but I think we all face that dilemma. If I remember from one of your earlier poasts on your first Triceratops find, you have to sell anything considered a major find? I seem to recall you saying that someone else owns the land you hunt on? Is that right? If so, does that mean you'll have to sell the pieces to this 2nd Triceratops?

Have you have had any museum's contact you or the land owner about looking at these triceratops'?

I think it is so cool that you guys can ride around on that 4-wheeler looking for dinosaurs! Sure beats one of my typical jaunts down a sand covered beach.

Daryl.

[Boneman007]

For those of you that are jealous of this find, always remember: Finding it is the easy part!!

I do not envy the 1000s of hours between finding a major piece and having it fully prepared. It is hellacious work. Also even after all that work, if the fossil is badly preserved, the resulting piece can be a disappointment.

I spent 3 days digging out a Xiphactinus skull out of western Kansas only to realize when I finally got it the 10 hours home to Dallas that it was HORRIBLY root damaged. In the end, the only parts salavable were the lower jaws and a dozen or so verts.

So, on that note, high five, low five, behind-the-back five to our happy fossil hunters! May you wake up Christmas morning and find that Santa has finished digging the specimen out and prepped it for you!

Edited October 31, 2012 by Boneman007

[chele]

For those of you that are jealous of this find, always remember: Finding it is the easy part!!

I do not envy the 1000s of hours between finding a major piece and having it fully prepared. It is hellacious work. Also even after all that work, if the fossil is badly preserved, the resulting piece can be a disappointment.

I spent 3 days digging out a Xiphactinus skull out of western Kansas only to realize when I finally got it the 10 hours home to Dallas that it was HORRIBLY root damaged. In the end, the only parts salavable were the lower jaws and a dozen or so verts.

So, on that note, high five, low five, behind-the-back five to our happy fossil hunters! May you wake up Christmas morning and find that Santa has finished digging the specimen out and prepped it for you!

Thank you Boneman. You are so right! We have so much work to do. I have prepped a few smaller bones so far but I am waiting to do the big ones this winter. The micro blasters are great but very time consuming. Both sites are in very bad spots. One is mid way up a cliff and the other can only be accessed by foot or four wheeler. Getting the big jackets out are tough on a four wheeler. We have many draws to pass through and they are pretty steep. And yes finding them is the easiest part!

[grampa dino]

You really know how to p!%% a guy

another great find, good on yous

[Pagurus]

It's fascinating to read your posts. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.

[jpc]

Good job, chele-

I have to agree with boneman; finding them is easy. The Lance and Hell Creek Fm's are loaded with dino bones ready to disintegrate into a thousand pieces, especially triceratops. Doing the work to get them out is the tough part, and prepping them is the time consuming part. Keep up the good work, chele and Blaine. My experience in the late Cretaceous around here is that Triceratopses tend to be found as a random association of bones. Very few are found in any form of articulation, and even the skulls tend to have fallen apart.

Now on the other hand you say you are finding some T rex bones... much more interesting. How about hadrosaur bones? Keep at it and you might even find the truly rare things ankylosaurs, pachycephalosaurs etc. Looking forward to more reports over the winter.

jpc