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Posted

In September of 2013 I posted a picture of this salamander fossil that I had found several years earlier. Thanks to several folks here at the forum I was able to find it a new home at the University of Oregon Museum and get it identified.

John Jacisin of the University of Oregon completed his master thesis on the Oregon Newts in June of 2014. This fossil aided him in his research. I was able to receive a copy of John's thesis.

From John's thesis:

It is a Taricha Lindoei. The smallest fossil salamander, and most recent acquisition for this study, is from a new locality for vertebrate fossils. The location of this specimen coincides with the Trail Crossing flora. This specimen is not only the smallest articulated individual of Taricha in the fossil record, but also preserves a soft tissue outline for much of the specimen's body.

These beds are consistent with the temperate, hard-wood dominated Bridge Creek Floral of the Oligocene. This fossil was deposited within the John Day Formation and is between 32-33 MA.

post-13236-0-21341800-1432215893_thumb.jpg

  • I found this Informative 1
Posted

Thank you for your willingness to donate this spectacular specimen for scientific study.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

Posted

Excellent! Thanks for the update!

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

 

   VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png    VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015    Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png  PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png    Screenshot_202410.jpg     IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024   IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png

_________________________________________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Posted

Here's a standing ovation for your incredible find, and for what you did with it! :goodjob:

Please, if you wish, add it to our Contributions Gallery: LINK

I would give us great pleasure to award the Partner's Award to your profile for this most memorable find :)

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Posted

That thing is great!

Thanks for the update. And congratulations on donating it, thank you.

~Charlie~

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK
->Get your Mosasaur print
->How to spot a fake Trilobite
->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG

Posted (edited)

Truly outstanding find, exemplary collector behavior!

And three cheers to the Fossil Forum for making things like this possible!!!

Edited by Carl
Posted

Very nice! Congrats!

" We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. "

Thomas Mann

My Library

Posted

Excellent all around.

Posted

I too wish to congratulate you on donating this fantastic specimen well done and thanks for the update :goodjob:

"A man who stares at a rock must have a lot on his mind... or nothing at all'

Posted

Congrats on a spectacular find and for donating it to science.

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

Posted

It would be worth noting that the modern rough-skinned newts Taricha

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taricha) live today along the American Pacific Coast, and belong to the Fam. Salamandridae. T. lindoei is a late Oligocene species of the living genus.

It's also worth noting the Oregon's John Day Fm., particularly the upper e. Miocene part, is famous for its terrestrial mammals - rodents, rhinos, horses, camels, etc.

A fine donation.

  • I found this Informative 1
Posted

You just have to smile when you read stuff like this. :)

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

Posted

Nice fossil!

I don't think I could have given that one up.

Posted

Amazing fossil. Well done for donating it!!

-Lyall

Posted (edited)

Thank you JohnJ for redirecting my post to where it should be.

Since posting this fossil in 2013 I have become intrigued with fossils. I have fossil hunted at the the Fossil Oregon High School site and found a piece of petrified wood rafting the John Day River. I took a trip to England with my sister and visited the Poulton Project site, http://www.poultonresearchproject.co.ukwhere she has volunteered her time for the past five years. While in England we went to Lyme Regis beaches for some fossil hunting. I found a couple of pieces of ammonites.

post-13236-0-09757300-1432433354_thumb.jpgpost-13236-0-40251100-1432433372_thumb.jpgpost-13236-0-81182400-1432433507_thumb.jpg

Edited by clarno367
Posted

Well done with your donation. And nice to see that it had a positive side effect.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

Posted

Where is her Partner symbol?

Posted

Where is her Partner symbol?

That comes with posting your donated fossil in the Contributions Gallery. ;)

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

Posted

Ah. I thought it was awarded for making the actual donation, and it wasn't clear to me from Auspex's "if you wish" line that it depended on the post to the gallery, and maybe it's not to clarno either?

Posted

Outstanding contributions such as this spectacular specimen is one of the many reasons most of us go through as much

as we do to make sure the things that matter do not get lost and put away in some box in a closet.

Congratulations on such an astonishing find, and your willingness to contribute.

Jess B.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

That comes with posting your donated fossil in the Contributions Gallery. ;)

John,

Call my computer challenged. I have not been able to figure out how to post to the Contributions Gallery. Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Linda

Posted

John,

Call my computer challenged. I have not been able to figure out how to post to the Contributions Gallery. Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Linda

Click on the Link in my post you quoted above for instructions and format; then add your post at the end of the Gallery topic. :)

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

Posted

That thing is beautiful!

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine

"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else."

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