dinodigger Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 (edited) Hey guys, Just wanted to post some field pics from today. Got out for a few hours after we closed up at the museum. In the prep lab we've been slowly piecing together a really wonderful Edaphosaurus skeleton that I found about a month and a half ago now. Really great specimen, with a full spinal column and what appears to be a complete fin. Leroy is huge guy. The length of the dorsal verts is nearly 50 mm which puts it right up there with the record for the species. And just looking at his bones in person really gives you that sense that he was indeed a big boy. The ribs are massive as well. I can only imaging the size of the gut of him. The cross-bar fin spines are wicked. Just immense. Why these guys needed so much bone, geez it made him heavy. Today I moved a few feet south trying to keep in line with how his remains separated. Found two more vertebrae that brings his count up to the mid twenties now. These two are really cool, strange. They appear to be cervicals, the tell-tail lean of the neural spine and the narrowness of the centrum. DANG those verts are thin, but SO INCREDIBLY LONG. Much longer than I anticipated. These guys are known as one of the Permian Pinheads, very small heads with enormous bodies. Funny guys. The necks are cool. Unlike DDON whose cervicals are relatively the same size 2 through 7 or so, Daphy's cervicals seem to reduce in size rapidly from C7 to C2. We collected Leroy's C2 a few weeks ago and its roughly the size of a golfball. Todays possible C7 is about baseball size. Pretty neat. Really does go from a thick neck down to the proverbial pinhead. Anyhoo, one of the photos shows the layout of some of Leroy's skeleton thus far. Kinda starting to tinker with the mounting possibilities. Chances of finding the tail are slim... why can't those pesky meat eaters just pick on somebody their own size and leave my poor Leroy's tail alone. Jerks. https://www.flickr.com/photos/45026327@N05/sets/72157648716592705/ Edited October 13, 2014 by dinodigger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Thanks for sharing that excitement. I always enjoy seeing your reports. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Chris, I like your 'tinker toys'. Another great report. Have any of your nicknamed critters reached the stage of a cast reconstruction? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinodigger Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Chris, I like your 'tinker toys'. Another great report. Have any of your nicknamed critters reached the stage of a cast reconstruction? Hey thanks John, yeah, Willi is in the final stages of the casting, molding, and mounting. Will is one of the best DDONS found in the formation in the last 100 years. It will go on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science sometime early next year we hope. I think Leroy is going to be a fun one to cast and mold as well, due to the uniqueness of the fin and whatnot. So when you coming up for the tour?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Thank you; I'll be in touch. It's been a busy year. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Fantastic. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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