May 2015 Finds Of The Month

[JohnJ]

Tarquin showed us an outstanding example of a "common" find last month...and it won. Keep that in mind as you search through the layers of earth's history. You might find something uncommon, or you might open your eyes to an exquisite specimen of something you find all the time.

Carefully read the rules below, make sure you include all the required information, and submit your fossil!

Please pay special attention to Rule #5: Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds. Best of luck to all and good hunting!

Entries will be taken through May 31st. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.
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Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you.

2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry.

3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.

4. You must include the Date of your Discovery or the Date of Preparation Completion.

5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest.

6. You must include the common or scientific name.

7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found.

8. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. So, only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll.

Within a few days, we will know the two winning Finds of the Month! Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

[Ptychodus04]

I would like to submit my avian scapula in consideration for Vertebrate find of the month for May.

Date collected 5/5/15

Date Preparation complete: 5/6/15

Genus: Flexomornis

Species: howei

Late Cretaceous Woodbine Formation (Middle Cenomanian)

Current specimen is a partial scapula from an associated specimen of Flexomornis howei.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Ptychodus04

[PJ68]

I'd like to enter my Hybodont Shark Spine

Found 05/11

Hybodus sp.

Late Cretaceous

Edited May 13, 2015 by PJ68

[Koss1959]

Caenisites Brooki double.

Found on 8th of April this year, just received it back from prep today (14th May)

Lyme Regis, Black Ven, Lower Sinemurian, 189.6 – 196.5 million years old.

Before prep

After prep

Thanks goes to Mark Hawkes for the stunning prep.

[sixgill pete]

Caenisites Brooki double.

Found on 8th of April this year, just received it back from prep today (14th May)

Lyme Regis, Black Ven, Lower Sinemurian, 189.6 – 196.5 million years old.

Stunning!!

[PFOOLEY]

Invertebrate

Placenticeras Placenta sp.

Late Cretaceous (Santonian) Mancos Shale

Discovered May 17th, 2015

New Mexico, USA

( Edit: Further research has led me to believe that the Santonian outcrop this specimen was recovered from is early Santonian thus making it too old for P. Placenta.)

Edited May 22, 2015 by PFOOLEY

[Kanopus]

The beginning of this season.

Moscovicrinus multiplex (Trautschold, 1867)

Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian)

Kasimovian stage

Kreviakian substage

Ryazan region, Russia

Discovered May 2nd, 2015

[Fossildude19]

Very nice, Kanopus!

Wow,... lots of great things already.

Just to make the voting a bit tougher, I'll add my find to the mix of Invertebrates.

I found this guy this past Saturday, on a forum outing.

Phyllocarid : Echinocaris punctata

Found on Saturday, 5-23-2015.
Middle Devonian Windom Shale,
Moscow formation, Hamilton Group.
Deep Springs Road Quarry,
Lebanon, NY.

Good luck to all of this month's participants.

EDIT: Scale in cm's.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Fossildude19

[jpc]

Can I just say this..... Wow!.. .what a stunning collection this month.

[busyeagle]

I'll contribute to this month's menagerie with a sevengill cowshark symphyseal. It was my second this spring (and by far the nicer of the two) after not finding one since 2007.

Notorynchus cepedianus

Maryland Calvert Formation

Early Miocene (17-17.5 Ma)

Found: May 19, 2015

Prep Completed: May 21, 2015

Happy hunting,

Kyle

[Fossildude19]

Whoa! What a beauty, Kyle!

Congratulations.

Regards,

[digit]

Just to round things out in the vertebrate section this month, here is my biggest (literally) find from the Peace River in Florida in 8 years of hunting there. My first complete molar after three large fragments and countless disassociated enamel flakes.

Category: Vertebrate

Species: Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)

Date Found: 2015-05-19

Geologic Age: Late Pleistocene

Formation: Bone Valley

Location: Peace River, FL

Size: 22 cm x 10 cm (occlusal surface), 19 cm maximum depth, 5.75 kg

More about its discovery here if you haven't already read about it: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/54684-more-may-mammoth-mania/?p=584344

Good luck to all--there are some really great finds this month that have me green with envy.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Doctor Mud]

What a beauty Ken!

Persistence in the Peace has paid off big time.

[RCFossils]

I would like to submit this polychaete worm Rhaphidiophorus hystrix for Fossil of the Month

The concretion was collected in April of 2015 and split open on May 11th.

Collected from the Mazonia Braidwood Wildlife Area

Francis Creek Shale Pit Eleven (Essex Fauna)

Rhaphidiophorus hystrix, Thompson 1979is one of the rarer polychaete worms in the Mazon Creek deposit. At time of description, R Hystix made up approximately 3% of the Mazon Creek polychaete worms in the Field Museum collection.

I believe this is the best preserved example.

[digit]

What a fine specimen from Mazon Creek.

You all are making it a real hard choice for just one IFOTM--not that that is a bad thing.

Great bunch of entries this month--some majorly envious finds here.

-Ken

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to enter a Vertebrate fossil I found today May 29, 2015. The fossil is a Middle Pennsylvanian age, legless Amphibian called Ophiderpeton. My fossil specimen is a juvenile, the smallest I've found or have seen. It looks like a Snake, but it is definitely an Amphibian. There was a head present but was easily damaged while splitting the coal and part of the tail end is absent as it was off the block. This fossil comes from the Allegheny Group specifically the Cannel Coal below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal in Jefferson Co. Ohio. I have included a model of the animal to compare. Enjoy.

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to enter an Invertebrate / Plant fossil I found on Memorial, Day May 25, 2015. The fossil is Middle Pennsylvanian age, The fossil is a Spore case with Megaspores of an unidentified plant source. This fossil comes from the Allegheny Group specifically the Cannel Coal below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal in Jefferson Co. Ohio. Plants from this locality fossilize differently from animals. As you can see from the remarkable preservation, the Megaspores look similar to Human red blood cells or little drums with indentations. Enjoy.

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to enter a Vertebrate fossil I found on May 20, 2015. The fossil is a Middle Pennsylvanian age Amphibian called Diceratosaurus. (Nope, it's not a Dinosaur they were over a 100 million years later.) This the first fossil of this species I have ever found. This Amphibian is one of the rarer Nectrides found in the Linton assemblage. I was lucky to find just a head. There is a close up picture of a disarticulated jaw just loaded with teeth. This fossil comes from the Allegheny Group specifically the Cannel Coal below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal in Jefferson Co. Ohio. I have included a technical drawing of the animal to compare. Enjoy.

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to enter a Vertebrate fossil I found today May 29, 2015. The fossil is a Middle Pennsylvanian age, Fish called Rhabdoderma elegans. My fossil specimen is a perfectly preserved tail. The detail is all there, right down to every bone in place and the spines on the tail of the tail. The other side was a thin vernier that was ruined uncovering this side. What I would give for the connecting block of coal. This fossil comes from the Allegheny Group specifically the Cannel Coal below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal in Jefferson Co. Ohio. I have included a drawing of the Fish to compare. Enjoy.

[Jeffrey P]

That looks like a coelacanth. Is it? Gorgeous preservation. Even incomplete it is a great fossil find. The coelacanth from Linton they have on display at the AMNH is difficult to discern because of very poor lighting. Nice to actually see this one.

[fossilcrazy]

I would like to enter a Vertebrate fossil I found on May 18, 2015. The fossil is a Middle Pennsylvanian age, Amphibian called Ctenerpeton remex. My fossil specimen is an Abdominal section with Dorsal and Ventral views. I am told it is the rarest of the Nectrides in the Linton assemblage. This fossil comes from the Allegheny Group specifically the Cannel Coal below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal in Jefferson Co. Ohio. I have included a drawing of a partial like mine to compare (drawing and identification thanks to FF member dshamilla). Enjoy.

Note: Original post was modified to include pictures of a missing piece of this fossil found on 5/30.

Edited May 31, 2015 by fossilcrazy

[fossilcrazy]

That looks like a coelacanth. Is it? Gorgeous preservation. Even incomplete it is a great fossil find. The coelacanth from Linton they have on display at the AMNH is difficult to discern because of very poor lighting. Nice to actually see this one.

You are right Jeffrey. You called me on it. I forgot to give the common name of Coelacanth. If you didn't notice, I've had a banner month playing with the Cannel Coal. I'm just having a little fun spreading the entries out.

[JohnJ]

...I've had a banner month playing with the Cannel Coal. I'm just having a little fun spreading the entries out.

Outstanding specimens, but I'm going to be up all Sunday night working with the number of your entries.

[Jeffrey P]

John,

Wow. I didn't see your other Linton entries. Yes, you've definitely had a banner month with the Cannel Coal. Amazing preservation- all of your specimens! Good luck with the contest.

[caldigger]

Last day kids, get'em in quick!