Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Moa, I found my first mosasaur vertebra walking across a stretch to get to some dino exposures in Montana. Eureka! spent the rest of the day looking for more mosasaur stuff...didnt find any. Never did get to the dino area. That vertebra is really poor quality but one of my favorite finds. Then I'm in Texas and a fellow pulls out a box of gorgeous solid mosasaur vertebrae and gives me one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Northstar, this is an EXCELLENT documentation of your adventure. It has been awhile since I was last in the badlands and this got me all jazzed up to get back! Thank you for sharing and I am definitely awaiting what your future trips may bring. Best of luck. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 All are catalogued...takes longer than collecting. Depending on the location, size, etc., I like to keep some smaller specimens in coin holders, then place the pages in a binder. This way I have easy access for viewing and don't need to handle specimens. The coin holders can go directly under the microscope if needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Various raptor teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Ankylosaur, Pachycephalosaurs and misc. reptile, amphibian, etc jaw sections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 (edited) Various Crocodilians, Myledaphus (ray) et misc. Edited September 12, 2013 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Misc. vertebrae....reptile, amphibian, etc and some croc scutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Mammal jaw, Dino eggshell et misc jaw sections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rejd Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Very nicely done. I like how they look. As for getting together. What time are you availble tomorrow evening? A fossil hunter needs sharp eyes and a keen search image, a mental template that subconsciously evaluates everything he sees in his search for telltale clues. -Richard E. Leakey http://prehistoricalberta.lefora.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Your catalogue is a great idea! "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Your catalogue is a great idea! Not my original idea. One of our Alberta Paleo members used to do this then bring his binder to meetings. His collection was incredible. The only caveat is not putting too much force on the fossil in the coin holders. I used to store and display Paleozoic shark teeth like this but I destroyed a few because they were too brittle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Very nicely done. I like how they look. As for getting together. What time are you availble tomorrow evening? Hi...sent a PM. Just figured out how to use it but think I sent one when first joined up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nala Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Great finds and report,thanks to share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Your method of cataloguing is fantastic! Looks like you have had many tantalising finds over the years. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakoMeCrazy Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Wow, what an awesome place to hunt! Sweet finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) At the end of the day I scooped up a 10 liter bucket of clay to bring home. Sifted through it today. Messy but fun doing it with various sieves and the garden hose. . Found a few more larger 'keepers' but also this little stuff. Micro dino teeth, ray, lespistosteus scales, mammal,croc fish, reptile, amphibian jaw, etc. Excuse the poor quality...taken with Iphone through microscope eyepiece and resolution reduced to fit in one posting. Edited September 15, 2013 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Really great post! Terrific site pictures. Wish we had isolated sites like that here in VA and MD. Really nice specimens throughout the post. I especially like the micros. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Amazing, what a great diverse site you have. As Marco said, it would be nice to have a site like this in Va and MD; or in my case NC. 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...
Plantguy Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Wonderful material and great location/geology photos! Would love to see some outcrops without plants/vines covering them down here! Thanks for showing some good stuff. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcoincoin Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hi, Have you had more info on the fish scales ID ? Found this last year in some albian deposit (actually in the area that gave the name to the geologic period) http://www.flickr.com/photos/48637020@N06/8412770938/in/set-72157632604966872 And it s showing big similarities. Will look later in the book where i found infos about this and re post in the evening. Regard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 How'd I miss this report? Great trip and photos. Congrats on all the finds! I'd trade you some Brachiopods for some of that micro matrix or teeth that you found. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busyeagle Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Wow! What a cool site, I agree with Marco and Sixgill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hi, Have you had more info on the fish scales ID ? Found this last year in some albian deposit (actually in the area that gave the name to the geologic period) http://www.flickr.com/photos/48637020@N06/8412770938/in/set-72157632604966872 And it s showing big similarities. Will look later in the book where i found infos about this and re post in the evening. Regard Hi. Thanks No more info. These were from a small marine or brackish water layer. I assume they were some shark associated feature but not my area of knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 Wonderful material and great location/geology photos! Would love to see some outcrops without plants/vines covering them down here! Thanks for showing some good stuff. Regards, Chris So very true about exposed outcrops. I just love riding through mile after mile of exposed outcrops in the American southwest. Stopping randomly here and there always with the expectation of 'something'. I still dream about one isolated Eocene locale in Wyoming...must return before I die. Stuff everywhere. Unfortunately vertebrate collecting no longer permitted on public lands but need to go back for a look. However, also psychological. I was walking in a vegetated area between two exposures in the Scollard Formation looking at the butterflies....walked right on top of a couple of articulated TRex bones....right on the surface. Somewhat weird place for them to be. So, Ive learned to look down at grassy areas. Also, found my best native artifact in the grass. But true, something like Florida vegetation can be discouraging but you have all of those great shark teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazee Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 it took me 15 minutes climb up one steep hill and then a mule deer spooked me by doing the same in about 10 seconds. Found a little shelf with some shark teeth. Must be a marine lens but couldn't hang on for long as it was smack in the hottest sun and hard to see. The first teeth are about a centimeter...the second photo about a third of that. Not sure what the third things are...shark scales? The shark and fish (?) vertebrae were found down among the terrestrial clays...maybe washed in. WOW - what evocative images. I was privileged to collect in some very desolate parts of Utah in July and can relate to your pleasure with the beauty of the wilderness as much as the fossils. This is an amazing variety of material! The fossils in the third photo look exactly like bramble shark dermal denticles from the Pliocene. The ellipse shaped vertebrae might be ray rather than shark, very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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