Bullsnake Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 There is a small road cut exposure I like to frequent in the Plattsburg fm. where the Hickory Creek shale is excavated at a relatively shallow angle. The whole formation it extremely fossiliferous, but specimens with great preservation require diligent and persistent searching. But, to the subject of this post, an interesting means of finding those great fossils is in timing a good rain with a day or two of drying and wind erosion. The shale is very loose and it seems that what happens is fossils (and of course 'just rocks') of certain weights and sizes hold their ground while the shale erodes away underneath them. I've affectionately, though probably not originally, coined them as being pedestaled. Here are a few recent examples: Orodus(?), Cladodont fragment, and Horn Coral Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase_E Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 1 minute ago, Bullsnake said: There is a small road cut exposure I like to frequent in the Plattsburg fm. where the Hickory Creek shale is excavated at a relatively shallow angle. The whole formation it extremely fossiliferous, but specimens with great preservation require diligent and persistent searching. But, to the subject of this post, an interesting means of finding those great fossils is in timing a good rain with a day or two of drying and wind erosion. The shale is very loose and it seems that what happens is fossils (and of course 'just rocks') of certain weights and sizes hold their ground while the shale erodes away underneath them. I've affectionately, though probably not originally, coined them as being pedestaled. Here are a few recent examples: Orodus(?), Cladodont fragment, and Horn Coral Beautiful little fossils! It's amazing what nature can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Nice finds, especially that shark! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Ha! Neat....and easy! Nice to see you posting again. ~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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Nice finds! We see this out here in the Pierre Shale as well! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted August 10, 2017 Author Share Posted August 10, 2017 10 hours ago, Chase_E said: Beautiful little fossils! It's amazing what nature can do. 10 hours ago, WhodamanHD said: Nice finds, especially that shark! 10 hours ago, fossilized6s said: Ha! Neat....and easy! Nice to see you posting again. 40 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said: Nice finds! We see this out here in the Pierre Shale as well! Thank you, guys! @fossilized6s I've been lurking! The membership knowledge base and specimens are rapidly exceeding my limited input. That's a good thing! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 It's always cool to see fossils perched like that. I see that here in Texas at the Waco Pit. I just love it. Makes it easy to find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 That is awesome! I wish my Paleozoic teeth were that easy to extract! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Nice. The corals at Hungry Hollow erode out like that as well as the pyritized ammonites on the clay hills of the Provence in France. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 1 hour ago, TNCollector said: That is awesome! I wish my Paleozoic teeth were that easy to extract! I just recently found these 'easy pickings'. Up until then all of the ones I found were locked in the hard limestones. As hard as they are to find I'll take 'em however I can get 'em! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 34 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Nice. The corals at Hungry Hollow erode out like that as well as the pyritized ammonites on the clay hills of the Provence in France. It's cool to see others have this luxury, also. I've also found tiny pyritized goniatites in this shale. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Neat photos-thanks for sharing them. I like the way the finds present themselves. Sometimes it makes it easier for us older folks who are crawling on our knees to make things out. I was terrorizing an old curled leaf the other day by mistake...but I did find a pedestaled tapir tooth. LOL. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 2 hours ago, Plantguy said: Neat photos-thanks for sharing them. I like the way the finds present themselves. Sometimes it makes it easier for us older folks who are crawling on our knees to make things out. I was terrorizing an old curled leaf the other day by mistake...but I did find a pedestaled tapir tooth. LOL. Regards, Chris Ha! Yeah, I spent 5 minutes photograping a petalodus crown in situ before I figured out it was a spider shedding 'cocoon'! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 I can't recall the number of mesquite beans I've picked up thinking they are something fossilized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 3 hours ago, RyanNREMTP said: I can't recall the number of mesquite beans I've picked up thinking they are something fossilized. Yeah...rabbit pellets, beetle carapaces, hackberry seeds... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Not to mention those pesky .22 slugs that can look like a vert at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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