December 2018 Finds of the Month Entries

[digit]

Remember...PLEASE carefully read ALL of the rules below, ... make sure you 

include all the required information, IN THE REQUESTED FORMAT

 and submit your fossil! 

If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me a PM. 

Please pay special attention to Rule #5: 

Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens NOT found during the Month of the Contest.

In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds.

Best of success to all, and good hunting!

Entries will be taken until 11:59:00 PM EDT on DECEMBER 31, 2018

Any fossil submitted after that time, even if the thread is still open, will be deemed ineligible! 

 

 Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.

***********************************

Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS.
2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per contest category.)
3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest,

or Significant Preparation * of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.
4. You must include the Date of your Discovery (when found in the contest month);
or the Date of Preparation Completion and Discovery date (if not found in the contest month).
5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest.

Please make sure you arrange for photos if someone else is preparing your fossil find and completes the prep requirements in the contest month.
6. You must include the common or scientific name.
7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found.
8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the Fossil was found.
9. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

 

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. 

Tell us more about your fossil, and why you think it is worthy of the honor. 

*******Please use the following format for the required information:*******

 

Date of discovery

Scientific or Common name

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation

State, Province, or Region found

Photos  of find:(if prepped, before and after photos, please.)

Limit - 4 photos, please.

 

Only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll. 

Photos of the winning specimens may be posted to TFF's Facebook page.

Once the Contest Submission period has ended, after all the votes are tallied, and the Polls for both categories are closed,
we will know the two winning Finds of the Month for DECEMBER 2018 !  

 

 

 

Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

Good luck! 

 

 

* " Significant preparation" (ie: substantial, a revealing and/or repairing of important diagnostic features, resulting in a dramatic change in the look of the fossil.) The qualification of significant preparation is decided at the discretion of staff. Any doubts as to the eligibility of the entry will be discussed directly with the entrant.

 

[Macrophyseter]

'tis the season for another one!

 

Good luck whoever is entering! Can't wait to see what others will find during the holiday season 

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

5 hours ago, Macrophyseter said:

'tis the season for another one!

 

Good luck whoever is entering! Can't wait to see what others will find during the holiday season 

Eye candy for all in this merry season  Each fossil entered is gonna be a Christmas gift

-Christian

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Ok, I'll start off this month.  This was found in a wash on the banks of the Savannah River where teeth big and small have been sorted with the granite rocks that they use to back-fill the breakers protecting the banks.  It honestly wasn't all impressive until I took a high resolution image and loved it.  

 

Personally I am drawn to the fossil as art, mother nature's artistry.  She's been working on this canvas for a very long time and I just happened along to appreciate it ... funny how that works out. 

 

Thanks,

Brett

 

December 4th 2018

Cosmopolitodus hastalis

Probably Plio-Pleistocene

Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia

 

 

[Ludwigia]

2 hours ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

 

 

December 4th 2018

Cosmopolitodus hastalis

Probably Plio-Pleistocene

Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia

 

 

Now that is really pretty!!

[DE&i]

Interesting colouration with the tooth @Brett Breakin' Rocks and clever photography to go with it. I'd be really interested to know how you produce the black background. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

7 hours ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

Ok, I'll start off this month.  This was found in a wash on the banks of the Savannah River where teeth big and small have been sorted with the granite rocks that they use to back-fill the breakers protecting the banks.  It honestly wasn't all impressive until I took a high resolution image and loved it.  

 

Personally I am drawn to the fossil as art, mother nature's artistry.  She's been working on this canvas for a very long time and I just happened along to appreciate it ... funny how that works out. 

 

Thanks,

Brett

 

December 4th 2018

Cosmopolitodus hastalis

Probably Plio-Pleistocene

Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia

 

 

This is truly beautiful. 

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

10 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

This is truly beautiful. 

 

15 hours ago, DE&i said:

Interesting colouration with the tooth @Brett Breakin' Rocks and clever photography to go with it. I'd be really interested to know how you produce the black background. 

 

16 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Now that is really pretty

Thanks everyone .... the colors are rare for this location. @DE&i I used Photoshop to remove the background. The image is a scan using a flatbed scanner. I appreciate the kind words. 

[MeargleSchmeargl]

On 12/11/2018 at 11:23 PM, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

December 4th 2018

Cosmopolitodus hastalis

Probably Plio-Pleistocene

Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia

Looks like a piece of candy. Candy brand?

[MeargleSchmeargl]

In loving memory of when this guy had a nearly complete exoskeleton (portion of the tailshield's exo flaked off at some point ), I'll start off inverts.

 

December 15th, 2018

Aphelaspis brachyphasis

Late Cambrian, ~500 MYA, Conasauga formation

Chatsworth, GA

 

 

Positive:

 

Negative:

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

On 12/16/2018 at 11:18 AM, MeargleSchmeargl said:

In loving memory of when this guy had a nearly complete exoskeleton (portion of the tailshield's exo flaked off at some point ), I'll start off inverts.

 

December 15th, 2018

Aphelaspis brachyphasis

Late Cambrian, ~500 MYA, Conasauga formation

Chatsworth, GA

Not bad, honestly  I quite like it!

-Christian

[PaleoNoel]

Here's my submission for December, found this one while going through some of the Douglas Pass material.

 

December 1st, 2018

Diptera indet.

Eocene (approx. 48 mya), Green River fm. Parachute Creek member.

Douglas Pass, CO

[GordonC]

Am submitting these starfish imprints which were on the same rock about 8" apart.

Found 11 Dec 2018

Devonaster eucharis (Dr. Lisa Amati NYS Paleontologist)

Informal middle member of the Mahantango Formation near Sparrowbush NY.  USGS calls the area Port Jervis Gorge https://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc38.htm

I take a fossil hike in that area about weekly. A good way to find material is to see something in the wash and follow up to its presumed source.

More dumbfounded then excited when finding these.

Cheers, Gordon

 

 

 

Found 11 Dec 2018

Starfish

Devonaster eucharis (Dr. Lisa Amati NYS Paleontologist)

Informal middle member of the Mahantango Formation near Sparrowbush NY.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Stunning finds. 

[Fossildude19]

Gordon, can we get a picture of the entire rock? 

[JohnJ]

33 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Gordon, can we get a picture of the entire rock? 

@GordonC

 Yes, please?  To qualify as one entry, we would need to see them associated on the same rock.

[FranzBernhard]

58 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

To qualify as one entry, we would need to see them associated on the same rock.

@GordonC...and size would be also nice(Judging from the small part of the coin, I would say the lager one is 2-4 cm in diameter.)

Franz Bernhard

[Fossildude19]

3 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

@GordonC...and size would be also nice(Judging from the small part of the coin, I would say the lager one is 2-4 cm in diameter.)

Franz Bernhard

I agree, but for comparison: 

 

 

 

From HERE.

[GordonC]

Howdy, replying to the above:

The larger star fits inside a 3 cm circle (about 1 3/8" diameter). The smaller just covered by a one cent piece.

The rock is a rather large slab carried out. Later the larger star was extracted. The photos show the single specimen,

which came out quite nicely , that specimen (placed) on the slab and the obverse of the specimen (placed) on the slab.

Note the crinoidal bits on the obverse relate to those on the slab.  The small star is below the penny.

Thank you for your consideration of this entry. Gordon

 

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

@GordonC Very nice - I love that starfish material!

-Christian

[History Hunter02]

This is by far my best fossil I have ever discovered and my first entry ever for the vertebrate fossil of the month.  This is a 100% complete canine tooth from Canis dirus, or the dire wolf.  All the enamel and the root is still on it, meaning the wolf died with this tooth still in its skull and was fossilized, now being washed ashore due to the strong winds and rough surf.  It was sitting on top of the beach in an area I was searching near Charleston, SC.  Thanks for checking out this post! -Justice (History Hunter02)

 

22 December 2018

Canis dirus

Pleistocene Epoch, Unidentified Offshore Unit

South Carolina beach, near Charleston

 

[PaleoNoel]

On 12/23/2018 at 8:26 PM, History Hunter02 said:

This is by far my best fossil I have ever discovered and my first entry ever for the vertebrate fossil of the month.  This is a 100% complete canine tooth from Canis dirus, or the dire wolf.  All the enamel and the root is still on it, meaning the wolf died with this tooth still in its skull and was fossilized, now being washed ashore due to the strong winds and rough surf.  It was sitting on top of the beach in an area I was searching near Charleston, SC.  Thanks for checking out this post! -Justice (History Hunter02)

22 December 2018

Canis dirus

Pleistocene Epoch, Unidentified Offshore Unit

South Carolina beach, near Charleston

 

On a jealousy scale from 1 to 10 I'm at about 12. That's an awesome find! Congratulations!

[Max-fossils]

@History Hunter02 now that's a super impressive find!!! Congrats!

[LordTrilobite]

Great submissions so far!

[DE&i]

This large tooth from a crocodylomorph, possibly thalattosuchian was found from a quarry in Lincolnshire UK.

 

The quarry shows the finest “section” of Bajocian (Jurassic ~175mya) to Bathonian (Jurassic ~165mya) strata currently available in inland Britain with extensive outcrops of Middle Jurassic strata. At the very top of the exposures (section) is the base of the Oxford Clay which is where I found the tooth, this Oxford Clay is a very limited exposure making the tooth a significant find.   Geology below:

 

 

 

Date of Discovery: Saturday the 1^st of December 2018.

Scientific and/or Common Name: crocodylomorph tooth.

Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Probably the base of the Peterborough Member, Middle Jurassic.

State, Province, or Region Found: Lincolnshire, UK.

 

 

 

 

crocodylomorph tooth in-situ 

 

crocodylomorph tooth prepped