Peat Burns Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 4 hours ago, Nimravis said: Lepidodendron aculeatum Bark 4 hours ago, Nimravis said: Peachocaris strongi Shrimp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 Another day of cracking, this time I was working on some larger concretions that came out of Pit 4 (Shadow Lakes). Now I know from experience that these concretions do not yield any fossils, though in the past I have found things, so I would never walk by them without picking them up. Today was a day of duds for the large concretions: Here was a promising looking concretion, but one little hit broke it into 3 pieces and then another just shattered it. Here is one that had a nice little piece of bark, and I really like bark, so I left this one alone aftyer 1 hit. The below concretion is one that I am going to put aside with the ones that I want to Freeze / Thaw, it is very nice looking and I hope that it contains something- but I will not hold my breath. Here are my only other finds for today: Coprolite Bark Lycopod Leaf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 On 7/9/2018 at 2:26 AM, Nimravis said: Pit 11 concretions also contain what I believe is pyrite- they always look like UFO's. Perhaps they are UFOs. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocentx Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 The larger piece of bark is quite nice. 1 "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 Today I went through about 1/2 bucket of concretions from Pit 4, I did not find anything interesting. Neuropteris Pecopteris Alethopteris Annularia Coprolite Myalinella Bivalves 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Lately I have not been having much luck, and today was no different- Here are a couple things. Double Pecopteris Fern Lower portion of a Lepidostrobophyllum majus bract. Coprolite As usual, I came across a lot of concretions with what I believe contain pyrite, here are a few. This one looks like a ghost. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Better luck next time! There's more good stuff hiding somewhere. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Today I opened bunch of smaller concretions, sometimes I have better luck with the smaller ones, but today was not the case. Below are some of my finds: Mazonomya mazonensis bivalves Myalinella bivalve with Microconchids Coprolite Myalinella with Iridescent pyrite Iridescent pyrite Trail Polychaete Worm Unknown- will have to look into this one. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 Today before I left for a graduation party I opened some concretions from Pit 11 (Essex Biota) and Pit 4 (Braidwood Biota), here are a few of my finds: PIT 11 Mazonomya mazonensis Bivalve A double example- Essexella asherae Jellyfish Shrimp ? Coprolite Trail PIT 4 Myalinella Bivalve Alethopteris Unknown Flora Just cool looking / non-fossil 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Today was a good day opening concretions from the Braceville Shaft Mine (Essex Biota). First up are a couple of my favorite finds today: A concretion with multiple Essexella asherae Jellyfish. And a concretion that does not have the greatest preservation, but still a fossil that is not found very often, though this is my second this month- Palaeoxyris. Here are some of my other finds- Essexella asherae Jellyfish- Mazonomya mazonensis Bivalves- Myalinella meeki Bivalve- Polychaete Worms- There were a number of worms that did not crack properly, that is the problem of using a hammer- here is one example. Coprolite- And a few pieces of Flora- Neuropteris- Pecopteris- Annularia- 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stats Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 46 minutes ago, Nimravis said: Neuropteris- Wow, great Neuropteris for Braceville! It's pretty rare to find plant material from there. Cheers, Rich 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 31 minutes ago, stats said: Wow, great Neuropteris for Braceville! It's pretty rare to find plant material from there. Cheers, Rich Thanks Rich- the plant material that I get from there usually has nice preservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 Today was a good day, even though I only opened a couple concretions. I was working on a bucket from the Braceville Shaft Mine that I collected during May of 1998. My first find was a nice Mazonomya mazonensis Bivalve in the "death position". I rarely find them in this state from Braceville, so I was happy to find it. Now a vacant lot that is off of I-55, down the road from Braceville yielded tons in this state. Now my second concretion was really a nice find. When I was looking through the bucket, I was putting certain concretions off to the side that I plan on Freeze / Thawing them over the winter. I had this concretion in my hand to put on that bucket and I decided against it, I was really happy that I did. If you take a look at the concretion, you will see that something was exposed, but I did not see it because there was dirt on it. Now due to the fact that this fossil was not found in the center of the concretion, which would have made it more stable, this fossil would have had a good chance that the thinner side would have disintegrated during the Freeze / Thaw process. See the fin at the bottom of the concretion below- Looking at this fish, I am saying that it is a Conchopoma edesi, but can also see a resemblance of Rhabdoderma, @RCFossils , what do you think? I only opened a couple more concretions because I wanted to go inside and look at the about fossil. Essexella asherae Jellyfish- Bark and Coprolite- Pecopteris- Annularia- 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 12 minutes ago, Nimravis said: Looking at this fish, I am saying that it is a Conchopoma edesi. WOW, nice fish! Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 Just now, ynot said: WOW, nice fish! Thanks Tony, it is very pretty for a 300 MYO fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Another fish, very nice! 1 “...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...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 1 hour ago, ynot said: WOW, nice fish! I am starting to second guess myself and think it might be the Coelacanth - Rhabdoderma exiguum, I will let other way in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdp Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Not Conchopoma or any other lungfish. I'm comfortable with a Rhabdoderma ID. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 WOW, Ralph!!! Beautiful fish find!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Monica said: WOW, Ralph!!! Beautiful fish find!!! Thanks Monica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I agree that it is a Rhabdoderma. A really nice find from Braceville. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 1 hour ago, RCFossils said: I agree that it is a Rhabdoderma. A really nice find from Braceville. Thanks much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocentx Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 A wonderful surprise for you. Nice fish! 1 "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Some awesome finds from these last few days!!! The multi-Essexella is great, and that Macroneuropteris is in really nice shape too. But of course the fish is the tops- I love the intricate detail of the bones. I wonder if it would be worth trying to have it prepped further? It looks like there are more bones in the middle that are obscured. These posts really capture why Mazon Creek hunting is such a thrill- you never know what you find when a nodule splits open, and even common plants and animals are preserved in so many unique ways. Not to mention the enormous diversity of flora and fauna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, deutscheben said: Some awesome finds from these last few days!!! The multi-Essexella is great, and that Macroneuropteris is in really nice shape too. But of course the fish is the tops- I love the intricate detail of the bones. I wonder if it would be worth trying to have it prepped further? It looks like there are more bones in the middle that are obscured. These posts really capture why Mazon Creek hunting is such a thrill- you never know what you find when a nodule splits open, and even common plants and animals are preserved in so many unique ways. Not to mention the enormous diversity of flora and fauna. Thanks for the comments, and that is what I am trying to do with the thread, show the would be Mazon Creek collector what you can find in the concretions and not to get disappointed that the vast majority are void of fossils- you crack enough and you will find something As far as further prep, I know the portion that you are talking about, but I will not be proceeding in that direction at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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