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A Late Cretaceous Lungfish From The Fossil Brooks Of New Jersey

njfossilhunter
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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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My most significant contribution to the field of paleontology was finding a lungfish tooth plate on a prearticular bone in a tributary of Big Brook in Marlboro New Jersey. I think that one of the most exciting part of finding this tooth plate was not that it extended the range of lungfish in North America by 30 million years,,,Is the look on David Parris's face when I handed him the tooth plate and the mayhem ( The brains running a hundred miles an hour ) that happened after calling in William Gallagher and Barbara Grandstaff to come and see what I have brought them. All three of them were in what looked like a scene on a football field,,,Huddling around the tooth plate ( like if it was a football ),, discussing their next move. After their conference they approached me and started to tell me about lungfishes after listening to them I asked them if it would be a new species of lungfish since it was much younger and being so far from other similar species of these fish that lived in the upper midwest and the lower part of Texas he told me that it might be a possibility but in all likelihood it's not because their range can extend for a very long time (in the millions of years) without changing. Well at the end of the day they had my prize find and they said that they will be working on publishing a paper about it in the future.

I have donated other rare finds like the only known cretaceous Hyprosaurs Crocodile vertebra from the cretaceous brooks of N.J. and the others coming from the paleocene Hornerstown formation and a plesiosaur braincase as well as a few other extremely rare finds from these brooks . Well I hope I didn't bore you to much with my little tale of fame. I love paleontology and I'm so proud of being able to contribute in any way to the science.

I'm not much on all the scientific lingo so I'm going to let the two publications talk for themselves. I was told by Dave Parris that the Lungfish tooth plate is on loan to the Natural History Museum in NYC. I'm anxiously waiting to hear about any results that they may have.

Well here are the papers.

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Edited by njfossilhunter
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Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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Another great amateur find finds its way into the literature. Congrats and well done.

Thank you....Thats very kind of you to say.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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Great story. It would be awesome to see this in Contributions Gallery, Tony. :)

Thank you John....I'm happy you like the story. I will try to do the Contributions Gallery tomorrow. I have two pictures and a few other really nicer ones of this specimen that was given to me by the paleontologist at the NYC museum that it was loaned to ....I want to first ask if it is OK to use them.

Tony

Edited by njfossilhunter

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Fossildude19 Regular Member

Fossildude19

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Great story and fantastic find,Tony!

I am proud of all of our members who realize the scientific importance of our finds, and selflessly donate them to museums for further study.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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frankh8147 Regular Member

frankh8147

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Awesome find Tony! Great job on realizing you had something there and having the experts look at it (as opposed to throwing it back thinking it was nothing!). That's why I like the NJ Cretaceous so much, you never know what you can find and this is a very good example of that!

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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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Very nice.

Thank you.... Al Dente. Nice of you to say.

Great story and fantastic find,Tony!

I am proud of all of our members who realize the scientific importance of our finds, and selflessly donate them to museums for further study.

Regards,

Thank you...Tim. This is what its all about,,, Helping to further the field of knowledge in our chosen study of sciences

Awesome find Tony! Great job on realizing you had something there and having the experts look at it (as opposed to throwing it back thinking it was nothing!). That's why I like the NJ Cretaceous so much, you never know what you can find and this is a very good example of that!

Thank you ...Frank. Hey maybe we can find another one in our next trip to the brooks....where there is one there is another one waiting to be found.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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frankh8147 Regular Member

frankh8147

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Haha, well thanks to your post, that may be possible! Before this, I would have had no idea what it was and it may have even ended up back in the stream (I just cringed at the thought!). This is really why you have to bring everything home you are unsure of. Congrats again - a fantastic find!!

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Carl Regular Member

Carl

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So the reason Tony's lungfish plate was at the AMNH was so I could compare it to a fragment found in Big Brook by a boy last month. I feel confident it is the second record of such a thing, after Tony's of course. That boy was generous enough to donate that specimen as well and it is now in our Fossil Fish collection. Big thanks to Tony and this boy for supplying the entire record of Late Cretaceous lungfish east of the Mississippi!

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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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So the reason Tony's lungfish plate was at the AMNH was so I could compare it to a fragment found in Big Brook by a boy last month. I feel confident it is the second record of such a thing, after Tony's of course. That boy was generous enough to donate that specimen as well and it is now in our Fossil Fish collection. Big thanks to Tony and this boy for supplying the entire record of Late Cretaceous lungfish east of the Mississippi!

I'm very thrilled that someone has found a potentially another Dipnoan from the late cretaceous brooks in New Jersey. There is a very small fragment ..In only a few millimeter range found at the Ellisdale site in NJ back in the mid 90's... 95' maybe,,, I can't remember the exact date...I have the paper somewhere in a box....but it was too small to say for sure if it is a Dipnoan. I wish you lots of luck and have my fingers crossed that your Specimen can be confirmed as a Lungfish...And I hope you publish a paper about it.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Carl Regular Member

Carl

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Just heard back form Dave Parris about the Ellisdale bit and he is pretty unsure about it. I think for now we all feel confident this new bit is also lungfish, but maybe not worthy of a paper, sadly.

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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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Just heard back form Dave Parris about the Ellisdale bit and he is pretty unsure about it. I think for now we all feel confident this new bit is also lungfish, but maybe not worthy of a paper, sadly.

I'm very happy that it is a lungfish......Great News.... I wouldn't be concerned about the possibly of not being able to write a paper,,,,but what's more important is that we have another confirmed occurrence of a Dipnoan from the late cretaceous of Jersey to add to any future studies.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Jeffrey P Regular Member

Jeffrey P

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Congrats Tony. That is a super important find, and in your case, the product of a lot of hard work, countless hours collecting, and the skill to spot something truly significant. Wow!

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njfossilhunter Regular Member

njfossilhunter

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Congrats Tony. That is a super important find, and in your case, the product of a lot of hard work, countless hours collecting, and the skill to spot something truly significant. Wow!

Thank you....Jeff. Thats very kind of you to say. Maybe we can find another one someday in one of our trips to the brook's

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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