Pictures: 2018 Tucson Fossil Show (PICTURE HEAVY)

[Nimravis]

The sign says it all.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

5 hours ago, Troodon said:

Unfortunately  this occurs much to often

Posted on Facebook

 

That's terrible! 

Hope they catch them and punish them with the full weight of the law. 

or the full weight of a Brachiosaur. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 hours ago, Troodon said:

 

I was not planning to go into the show but your enthusiasm caused me to do so and check it out, unfortunately I was not successful with a name but enjoyed the visit.  I was wrong it was not a French dealer but Moroccan.   I asked the merchant if he knew the name and he said "Shell"   No, I said do you know the common or scientific name?   My "expert" can help and he shouted out do you know a name.   He responded yes its a "Shell"   So we know how good experts are here in the Forum and they are always correct so its a "Shell" 

 

I was however able to confirm two items they do come from France.   They also are unequivocally a mortality plate and have not be tampered with.   Took pictures of two more.   Very beautiful and very heavy, enjoy

 

 

 

 

@WhodamanHD

wifey is in stitches. (laughing, not injuries).

We get this all the time.

One points at a dandelion and says,"What is the Arabic for this?" and they will invariably reply with "Flower" or "Plant". No one knows common names and certainly not the scientific names, not are they interested. It's a tree or it's a flower or it's an "insect" (often not) etc. Anything more is just of no concern.

[Troodon]

16 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

That's terrible! 

Hope they catch them and punish them with the full weight of the law. 

or the full weight of a Brachiosaur. 

[Nimravis]

@Tidgy's Dad - Adam you need some of these Coconut Turtles, at least that is what I think they are.

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Just now, Nimravis said:

@Tidgy's Dad - Adam you need some of these Coconut Turtles, at least that is what I think they are.

 

 

 

 

They're horrible! 

Even wifey doesn't like them and Tidgy would be furious. 

Torts are very territorial.

I think I may be tempted to spend wifey's money on a fossil instead. 

[HamptonsDoc]

@Troodon Does it seem like the price of the spino claws went up significantly this year compared to last?  Many of the very large ones that you've posted have exorbitant prices attached and I don't remember seeing any priced like that last year.  I even heard of one from that high end British dealer of Moroccan material that we love had one listed for $25k that I'm assuming sold before the show started since I didn't see it in any of your posts.

[Troodon]

51 minutes ago, HamptonsDoc said:

@Troodon Does it seem like the price of the spino claws went up significantly this year compared to last?  Many of the very large ones that you've posted have exorbitant prices attached and I don't remember seeing any priced like that last year.  I even heard of one from that high end British dealer of Moroccan material that we love had one listed for $25k that I'm assuming sold before the show started since I didn't see it in any of your posts.

Big time, part of it is due to the higher quality of some, especially those without repair or resto and good preservation.  There were more than usual. . I spoke to one dealer who indicated higher prices at the source.  I'm sure the possibility of export restrictions plays into all of this.  Had not heard or seen any 25k claw but 17k which is posted

[HamptonsDoc]

17 hours ago, Troodon said:

Big time, part of it is due to the higher quality of some, especially those without repair or resto and good preservation.  There were more than usual. . I spoke to one dealer who indicated higher prices at the source.  I'm sure the possibility of export restrictions plays into all of this.  Had not heard or seen any 25k claw but 17k which is posted

This is the picture that was sent to me before the show started and was told the asking price was $25k. Never found out the size but assuming BIG and it looks like perfect condition!

 

[Troodon]

11 minutes ago, HamptonsDoc said:

This is the picture that was sent to me before the show started and was told the asking price was $25k. Never found out the size but assuming BIG and it looks like perfect condition!

 

Nice love to know its size and it does look perfect on this side.  thanks

[Max-fossils]

On 2/9/2018 at 7:26 PM, Troodon said:

 

Aw thanks a lot! All incredible specimens. Especially this picture is awesome: an oyster like this is very rarely seen from this location, it's the first time I see one from here! Very likely an Ostrea lamellosa.

And as an honored expert with a PhD in Moroccan Fossil Dealing, I can confirm that their ID of "Shell" is 100% correct  

 

 

On 2/9/2018 at 12:58 AM, WhodamanHD said:

Thanks, but there must be some anatomical differences, location alone shouldn’t define a species...

Sorry that I didn't answer your question yesterday, I got busy. 

 

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that most seashells are quite "picky" with their environment (water temperature, water salinity, depth, etc). So the location does have a very big impact on where the species are found. Also, bivalves are nearly always found along the shoreline, never in the open sea. And as there was (and still is) a big Atlantic ocean separating Europe from the east coast of the USA, the different species would have had an incredibly hard time going from one to the other. Therefore, location alone is enough to confirm that the shells here are NOT Chesapecten nefrens, as these are only found in the Miocene of eastern USA. 

 

 

But there are also anatomical differences too (if there were none, or only a few small ones, then the two different species would likely have been under the same genus). 

Here is a nice Chesapecten nefrens from my collection that I got from Jason @Fossil-Hound. From the Calvert Cliffs, Miocene.

 

And this here is one of the shells from the ones Frank posted. From (probably) Lacoste, Vaucluse, France, from about the same age as the C. nefrens above (Miocene).

 

You are right. There are anatomical differences.

 

1) The two lines here are much straighter and (proportionally) longer than in C. nefrens

 

2) the little "ears" have a very different shape (this is one of the key indicators for ID within the scallops)

 

3) C. nefrens has small thin lines in between and on the bigger lines (if you see what I mean) while G. zizinae doesn't

 

 

 

[Max-fossils]

4) the umbo area (hinge area) (probably the most important feature for any bivalve ID) is a bit different too:

 

Sorry if it's not very visible in the 2nd pic, it's a little blurry... But you can still see that it's kinda different.

 

So with these 4 "important" differences, it is clear to see that the two shells are definitely different species, and even different genera.

Now all these details might seem very insignificant, but the more you look at bivalves, fossil or modern (which I do daily! ), the more you understand how critical small details like these are. 

 

Hopefully this clears it up for you 

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

On 2/9/2018 at 5:41 AM, caldigger said:

Hey @Max-fossils theres that 120k year date again. Maybe you need this.

You're right Doren! 

Frank, just swiftly go get this one and ship it over to my place real quick 

 

 

On a more serious note, (I hadn't noticed the date at first), it's interesting to see that this skull is from the Eemian (approx 130'000 years ago to 115'000 years ago). In fact, this stage is what we call the last "Interglacial period" (so it was the last time that it wasn't an Ice Age. (Our period, though it isn't an Ice Age anymore, can't be called an "Interglacial" yet because we don't know if another Ice Age will come in the future). Back in that time, the climate on Earth was very similar to nowadays. So technically the sellers are wrong in saying that it's an "Ice Age walrus", because it lived in an Interglacial period and NOT during an Ice Age (or maybe they just got the age a bit wrong). I wonder if this walrus is the same species as the walrus of nowadays (Odobenus rosmarus), which it likely is, because that would mean that the species would have survived during a warmer period and through an Ice Age, which is quite remarkable for a species to do (most species don't survive climate changes like these!)!

 

Oh, and of course, that is still a gorgeous skull 

[Troodon]

47 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

 

And as an honored expert with a PhD in Moroccan Fossil Dealing, I can confirm that their ID of "Shell" is 100% correct  

 

 

 

@Tidgy's Dad  Look another expert who agrees its a "Shell"

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Max-fossils said:

 

And as an honored expert with a PhD in Moroccan Fossil Dealing, I can confirm that their ID of "Shell" is 100% correct  

 

 

 

 

It is nice to know the knowledge of Moroccan fossil experts is being learned and absorbed by the next generation of palaeontologists. 

A spot on id, sir! 

Well done! 

[Sagebrush Steve]

The show will soon close and many of both the vendors and the visitors have already gone home (including me).  I thought I'd show you one more fossil I picked up on the last day.  I had been wanting an Oreodont skull but hadn't found anything I liked.  Then I came across a vendor at the Hotel Tucson show who is a rancher from South Dakota who digs fossils on his own land.  (There's more of a backstory on him but that can wait until another time.)  He had a number of interesting specimens but the one that caught my eye turns out to have been dug by another rancher back in the 1920s, so it's sort of an "antique fossil." He identified it as a Merycoidodon gracilis.  It doesn't have the lower jaw but I was impressed enough with its provenance I bought it.  It still has the varnish put on it by the original finder but I thought I would not try to remove it because it is representative of the era.  I will make a mount for it so I can display it properly.  And I still have plenty of work to do to prep all the Green River fish I bought earlier in the week.

 

[ynot]

Nice acquisition Steve.

[Bobby Rico]

@Sagebrush Steve that’s a beauty nice buy.

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 minutes ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

The show will soon close and many of both the vendors and the visitors have already gone home (including me).  I thought I'd show you one more fossil I picked up on the last day.  I had been wanting an Oreodont skull but hadn't found anything I liked.  Then I came across a vendor at the Hotel Tucson show who is a rancher from South Dakota who digs fossils on his own land.  (There's more of a backstory on him but that can wait until another time.)  He had a number of interesting specimens but the one that caught my eye turns out to have been dug by another rancher back in the 1920s, so it's sort of an "antique fossil." He identified it as a Merycoidodon gracilis.  It doesn't have the lower jaw but I was impressed enough with its provenance I bought it.  It still has the varnish put on it by the original finder but I thought I would not try to remove it because it is representative of the era.  I will make a mount for it so I can display it properly.  And I still have plenty of work to do to prep all the Green River fish I bought earlier in the week.

 

 

That's a great purchase! 

I like that! 

[Troodon]

Very cool pick up.  Like it.

[hxmendoza]

On 1/22/2018 at 3:27 PM, Troodon said:

 

 

 

 

 

Did you buy that nice hand claw?

[Troodon]

1 minute ago, hxmendoza said:

Did you buy that nice hand claw?

Nope 

[hxmendoza]

On 1/24/2018 at 3:40 PM, Troodon said:

Some Dino Material

A pair of hadrosaur jaws

 

Title on the box

 

Misc items and Trike horn and Vert

 

A poor Ceratopsian horn

 

A Pachy femur

That dromaeosaur foot claw and toe is awesome! Wonder who ended up with that one?...

[izak_]

So much amazing stuff... Btw @Troodon, are you seeing much Australian stuff for sale? Just curious 

[hxmendoza]

On 1/24/2018 at 3:41 PM, Troodon said:

Having technical difficulties with the rest of my pictures.  They are on the disk, I can see them, but all I get when I try to transfer them is "there was a problem uploading the file"  oh well hopefully tomorrow will be better, enjoy what I posted.   Any ideas welcomed

 

Although I did buy a bunch of Kem Kem material I did have some good success at a British Dealer today.  Picked up this beautiful big Mantellisaurus tooth its an Iguanodon so it made my day 

 

 

 

Gorgeous tooth! Congrats.