Back To The Puerco

[Uncle Siphuncle]

good mercy, ms. percy!

[Ludwigia]

Holy Moley Mr. Fooley!

[MB]

Guay del Paraguay

[PFOOLEY]

good mercy, ms. percy!

Holy Moley Mr. Fooley!

Guay del Paraguay

Hooray for lobsters!!!

[piranha]

On 8/9/2013 at 3:51 PM, PFOOLEY said:

...though, by far, the best find was this chunk of C. Woollgari with a lobster molt inside ...

Lobster1 (912x1280).jpg Lobster2 (1280x911).jpg

...HOW COOL IS THAT?! A small crustacean finds refuge in an ammonite shell to molt.

Definitely, one of the neatest things I have found.

Best of luck to you all in your adventures,

Happy hunting!

-P.

 

 

Here are a few excellent papers on crustacean tenants within ammonites. Congrats on the spectacular discovery!

Klompmaker, A.A., & Fraaije, R.H. (2012).

Animal Behavior Frozen in Time: Gregarious Behavior of Early Jurassic Lobsters within an Ammonoid Body Chamber.

PloS ONE, 7(3):1-9

LINK

 

Fraaije, R.H. (2003).

The oldest in situ hermit crab from the lower Cretaceous of Speeton, UK.

Palaeontology, 46(1):53-57

LINK

 

Fraaije, R.H., & Jäger, M. (1995)

Decapods in ammonite shells: examples of inquilinism from the Jurassic of England and Germany.

Palaeontology, 38(1):63-76

LINK

 

 

 

[jpc]

That lobster is, as we said growing up in Boston... wicked pissa

[PFOOLEY]

Here are a few excellent papers on crustacean tenants within ammonites. Congrats on the spectacular discovery!

Thanks Piranha! Much appreciated. I will definitely check those articles.

That lobster is, as we said growing up in Boston... wicked pissa

Thanks to you all. Had me smiling all day (and its a Monday ).

[PFOOLEY]

Fraaije, R.H. (2003).

The oldest in situ hermit crab from the lower Cretaceous of Speeton, UK.

Palaeontology 46(1):53-57

LINK

I will be on the hunt for one of these! For a guy who loves ammonites, that hermit crab is really something else!!!

[Wrangellian]

These are all great, PF. The small Collignoceras is particularly attractive.

[PFOOLEY]

These are all great, PF. The small Collignoceras is particularly attractive.

Thanks Wrangellian. I'm hopin' to get back out there next weekend. Already daydreaming about it.

[PFOOLEY]

It has been a few weeks (seems a lot longer that that )...

...back to the Puerco...

...for an overnight trip to search the Semilla SS member of the Carlile Shale.

Very close to the ridge where we camped is the location of where I found my very first piece of ammonite. I wanted to revisit this area... it had been way too long. The talus slopes did not disappoint.

Started my hike with this nice little Coilopoceras, which still had a bit of shell...

...

[PFOOLEY]

...as I continued down the ridge, I spotted this echinoid...

...which, from what I read, are fairly uncommon in the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico.

Shortly after packing up my little ech, I found this very large clam in a nodule..

...and then this complete Spathites Puercoensis in another...

..

[PFOOLEY]

...as I wrapped up my Spathites, I noticed a nodule sticking out of the shale...

...turned out to be a very cool Coilopoceras springeri...

...

[PFOOLEY]

...which cleaned up pretty nice after getting it back to camp...

As the day came to end, I was walking near camp and picked up this chunk of toredo wood.

A great ending to an excellent day.

[PFOOLEY]

Day two started with a walk through the overlying Juana Lopez. Ammonites from here (at least in my adventures) are not as common as the Semilla. You tend to find large, eroded nodules that contain "creature hash"...

...and while searching for this hash, you can find shark teeth lying about...

...

[PFOOLEY]

...as it reached lunchtime, I decided to head back to the truck. As I walked along a low lying outcrop of the Semilla Sandstone, I found a few more treasures. This chunk P. Hyatti with a smaller P. Hyatti...

...followed by an excellent Spathites Puercoensis.

Grabbed some grub, a brew and called it a trip. I am definitely heading back soon.

Happy Hunting,

-P.

Edited January 24, 2015 by PFOOLEY

[Auspex]

Thanks a million for 'taking me along'!

I miss the freedom of the field...

[Uncle Siphuncle]

i'm diggin' it, mike!

[Fossildude19]

Great report, pics and finds!

Thanks for the vicarious trip.

Regards,

[Jeffrey P]

Great finds and wonderful narrative of your desert adventure. Your ammonites have great character. Lots to admire here.

[PFOOLEY]

Thanks a million for 'taking me along'!

I miss the freedom of the field...

i'm diggin' it, mike!

Great report, pics and finds!

Thanks for the vicarious trip.

Regards,

Great finds and wonderful narrative of your desert adventure. Your ammonites have great character. Lots to admire here.

I really enjoy posting my adventures here. Thank you all for taking the time to check them out. Much appreciated.

[Ludwigia]

Great finds! You can really count yourself as lucky in having such nice stomping grounds!

[Wrangellian]

Yes, quite the landscape down there, I love it.

Spathites sounds like a Triassic name, is this a Triassic site?

[PFOOLEY]

Great finds! You can really count yourself as lucky in having such nice stomping grounds!

Thanks Ludwigia. I do consider myself VERY lucky. It makes me wonder of what I might be doing if I had not found "fossicking" (to quote Wrangellian, I love that term) to occupy my every "spare" moment.

Oh well, I am now a fossicker for life.

Yes, quite the landscape down there, I love it.

Spathites sounds like a Triassic name, is this a Triassic site?

If you ever make it this way, I will give you the tour. Spathites Puercoensis is a Late Cretaceous (Turonian) ammonite. I don't think there are any species of Spathites from the Cenomanian and wonder if Metoicoceras is its ancestor.

Edited September 10, 2013 by PFOOLEY

[Wrangellian]

OK I see Sepkoski agrees with you.. I notice that most Triassic/Permian cephs (Ceratites etc) have -ites names while most of the Jur/Cret ones are -ceras, but not consistently I guess (and Spath is a Triassic name too)..

So your stuff is only a little older than my Upper Santonian.