Prepping lobsters in concretion?

[ElToro]

I was just sent a bunch of fossil lobsters, Thalassina anomala (mud lobster) from Queensland where a mate finds them walking the inland mudflats. I'm wondering if they are worth prepping and how long this would take? I havnt got an air scribe but am in the process of getting one. My mammal fossils don't require one. I'm thinking that these would be great to start with when I get one. I know many of you are concretion experts but these are my first and look brutal to work with. Any advice? Also, does anyone have a prepped fossil lobster? I'd love to see one.

[izak_]

Nope. I don't even recommend trying The rock is really hard, and the lobster is in fragments within the rocks. I actually have one from that exact place

BUT I may be wrong, I don't have any experience in prepping them, but I have never seen them prepped and also my specimen has really hard rock. It may work with an air scribe, with lots of work

Just realised that chunk of words made this post half useless

Izak

Edited January 9, 2016 by izak_

[ElToro]

Nope. I don't even recommend trying The rock is really hard, and the lobster is in fragments within the rocks. I actually have one from that exact place

Izak

Ahh, that's a shame. Yea the rock is brutally hard. I thought it maybe possible to expose it a little more...

[ElToro]

Nope. I don't even recommend trying The rock is really hard, and the lobster is in fragments within the rocks. I actually have one from that exact place

Izak

PS, do you know how old these are?

[izak_]

PS, do you know how old these are?

I think pleistocene, don't know exact age. And don't get me wrong, it may be possible to expose some more, i'm just a bit skeptical thats all

P.S Note my edit

Edited January 9, 2016 by izak_

[Ash]

Here you go, Mr ElToro!

Their age isn't exactly known, and could be as recent as a few thousand years (or something like that)

http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/journals/16962/906_complete.pdf

[izak_]

Here you go, Mr ElToro!

Their age isn't exactly known, and could be as recent as a few thousand years (or something like that)

http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/journals/16962/906_complete.pdf

Nice!

[ElToro]

Here you go, Mr ElToro!

Their age isn't exactly known, and could be as recent as a few thousand years (or something like that)

http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/journals/16962/906_complete.pdf

Thanx mate!

[ElToro]

Whatever their age, I bet they tasted good with some garlic butter...

[Ludwigia]

I don't have any experience whatsoever with these concretions, but I do know how to work carefully with air scribe and abrader, so I would be tempted to at least give it a try on one of these provided that the fossil is stable and solid enough to hold up to the vibrations. If there are vugs within, then it could prove to be difficult, but if there is a reasonably good separating layer between fossil and matrix, that could be advantageous. It certainly would be nice to be able to expose the carapace.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Ludwigia

[Terry Dactyll]

Eltoro....Rogers right.... Take your time and see how things develop... Its always tempting to rush things but thats how things go wrong...finding the seperation layer carefully is the start and then uncover more from there....

I only ever found a fossil Lobster claw in a nodule, it popped right open....I was lucky...

Pseudoglyphaea Etalloni,oppel..... Upper Lias....Saltwick Bay Whitby

Edited January 9, 2016 by Terry Dactyll

[ElToro]

Eltoro....Rogers right.... Take your time and see how things develop... Its always tempting to rush things but thats how things go wrong...finding the seperation layer carefully is the start and then uncover more from there....

I only ever found a fossil Lobster claw in a nodule, it popped right open....I was lucky...

Pseudoglyphaea Etalloni,oppel..... Upper Lias....Saltwick Bay Whitby

9baf8bf9eca2b12a0530f31373802e21bd65a21b.jpg

b8b084cb005f228497cef801502563bb509fa02b.jpg

I think I'll leave for when I'm feeling ambitious. Lucky one of the claws wasn't concreted! Only on the inside.

[Auspex]

When you get your scribe, go for it; I cannot think of a better project to learn the ropes by.

[RJB]

Ive seen lots of these, even have some myself. yeah, the rock is really hard and ive never seen anyone prep one out. Not saying it cant be done. Because of the vibrations from an airscribe I would recommend one of the micro jacks from paleo tools. it would be slow going, but it just may work. Good luck

RB

[ElToro]

Ive seen lots of these, even have some myself. yeah, the rock is really hard and ive never seen anyone prep one out. Not saying it cant be done. Because of the vibrations from an airscribe I would recommend one of the micro jacks from paleo tools. it would be slow going, but it just may work. Good luck

RB

Micro-jack huh? They look expensive. I have a mate in Taiwan who will most likely source me Taiwanese air scribe. He's very experienced in fossil prep and has locally made tools that are apparently as good as US tools (of course not as good as the German ones) and only about $150 brand new. I'll see what different types there are and get an all-round one I think.

[jon]

A lot of the Queensland lobsters; thalasinna are actually partly hollow.

The best prep'd I have seen were clean when the mud was still wet and had not set to concrete

They can be prep'd, soaking helps soften the matrix a little and filling all the voids in the lobster body cavity.

There were some very attractive brown lobsters rather than white on the market in the early 1990's, this was done by a couple of collectors who painted them with multiple coats of baby oil.

[ElToro]

A lot of the Queensland lobsters; thalasinna are actually partly hollow.

The best prep'd I have seen were clean when the mud was still wet and had not set to concrete

They can be prep'd, soaking helps soften the matrix a little and filling all the voids in the lobster body cavity.

There were some very attractive brown lobsters rather than white on the market in the early 1990's, this was done by a couple of collectors who painted them with multiple coats of baby oil.

Thanx mate! I have heard though that baby oil looks great...for about a year. And then goes black....