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January 2014 Finds Of The Month


JohnJ

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I am entering an Invert find that I had to prep some and put back together. I just finished it tonight. I found this partial internal mold of an Aturia angustata, Nautiloid, Castle Hayne Formation, Eocene on January 17, 2014 at a quarry in Eastern North Carolina. I have only found very small pieces of this evasive species here in NC. The size of this cast is exciting for me. I first saw just a curl along side the matrix. I started to slowly excavate the specimen. To my disappointment, not all of the specimen was there. This Nautiloid was embedded in a large exploded "boulder" of debris which had been transported from the other part of the quarry. I try to imagine how large this Nautiloid was. If anyone has an idea about that please let me know. :)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Subclass: Nautiloidea

First pic: In situ at the quarry...

Second, third and fourth pic...put back together. Finally!~

Libby

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Edited by masonboro37

Process of identification "mistakes create wisdom".

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Most folks won't appreciate how rare and the great condition of your tooth. I would have been extremely happy finding that tooth.

Marco Sr.

Thank you MarcoSr! It's true.

Please google "Oxynotus centrina tooth" and tell me how many fossil teeth you found! ;) (except mine of course)

greetings

Aaron

Nullus finis longius si quod facis delectaris

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ok, I will make an second entry. January was an awesome month for me. Today I found this perfect upper Somniosus tooth in my matrix of Antwerp, upper teeth are a lot more rare than lower teeth (which are also rare)

Somniosus microcephalus (upper tooth)

Antwerp, Belgium

Pliocene age

size: 1 cm

found today (26th)

greetings

Aaron

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Edited by Adron

Nullus finis longius si quod facis delectaris

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Zarhachis Flagellator (tentative ID)

Odontocete Rostrum With Teeth

Calvert Formation

Early Miocene (17-17.5 Ma)

Found: Jan 17, 2014

Prep Completed: Jan 26, 2014

Note: This has been identified with confidence to be a platinistid (comparable to a modern river dolphin), but the genus and species are still up for debate. If it is in fact Zarhachis, it would apparently fill in a gap in the observed range of the species.

This specimen includes both upper and lower jaws, all four of which were fused together during fossilization. There are 18 teeth remaining in place, and one additional loose tooth. The preservation of the bone is exceptionally good, and it is a rare bonus for teeth to be present. Two vertebrae, one of which is cervical, were found in apparent association with the rostrum.

Before prep, and initial teeth sighting:

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After prep:

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Edited by busyeagle
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Here is my first entry for the new year...

One section of Sawfish Rostral Cartillage.

This is Miocene in age, and is from the Bone Valley Formation.

I found it when fossil hunting with a club that I belong to in a Mosaic owned pit on the 25th of January, 2014.

Last photo was taken wet... It shows the surface pattern better.

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Thank you for considering this find of mine for FOTM.

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Here is my vertebrate FOTM submission...

in late December, my oldest son, Josh, and I were collecting at the Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site along with members of the Alabama Paleontological Society. Josh split a shale boulder and found a two-toed impression of an Attenosaurus subulensis footprint, which was not a bad find at all. Here is the negative impression where the toes form ridges instead of depressions:

attenosaurus_closeup.jpg

Then, come mid-January, I was looking up information on this ichnotaxon and saw this picture, indicating how the fewer-toed impression was often the underprint from a normal, full impression:

undertracks001.jpg

Since we had both part and counterpart of the print:

attenosaurus_part_counterpart.jpg

I decided, with Josh's permission, of course, to explore the negative impression side (toes sticking out of he layer) for the full footprint, hoping not to destroy the underprint, but realizing that sometimes one must sacrifice things in the name of science. Along the very edge of the rock, about mid-way through the slab, I could see some slight scalloping, indicating that the other toe impressions were probably along that plane. I split along that plane...and...I could see parts of the toe impressions, but a stubborn chunk of rock clung to the center of the print.

So, into a tub of water for numerous freeze/thaw cycles in the freezer, which weakened the chunk of rock clinging to the print. A few more chisel blows and some fine cleanup with the dremel engraver gave us this beauty:

attenosaurus.jpg

And the negative two-toed impression is on the other side, giving a nice demonstrable specimen of a track with an underprint a few cm below. Then we still have the positive counterpart with the two-toed impression as well. A very nice fossil, indeed.

Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation, Union Chapel Mine (Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site), Jasper, AL, USA.

---Prem

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Edited by prem
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Wow, prem that's awesome! Great how your research paid off.

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Just to clarify, so no one thinks I am trying to do an end-run around the FOTM rules, my son found the underprint in December, while I located and prepped the main footprint in the layers above the underprint in mid-late January.

---Prem

Edited by prem
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Just to clarify, so no one thinks I am trying to do an end-run around the FOTM rules, my son found the underprint in December, while I located and prepped the main footprint in the layers above the underprint in mid-late January. The use of the term "we" from the sentence "We decided to explore the negative impression side..." on, really described my actions whilst Josh looked on.

---Prem

It was not discovered until you "found" it. Your entry is valid. :)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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