M&M Ranch in Nebraska

[MarcoSr]

5 hours ago, ricardo said:

 

Marvelous! Thank you for upload those pictures. It was a privilege seeing them.

 

5 hours ago, OwlEyes said:

Amazing finds!  Thank you for sharing.

 

3 hours ago, PaleoNoel said:

Awesome finds! M&M is certainly on my bucket list. Love that oligocene material.

 

2 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Those are some really great finds! I can only imagine what it must be like to own property that contains great specimens like these!

 

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

As usual, a very impressive procession of finds! You guys sure do dig up some great stuff!

 

Thank you.  My sons are very experienced badlands collectors and find a very large number of really nice macro specimens.  I'm only a so so badlands collector of the macro stuff but I am really good at collecting the micro stuff.  We really enjoy collecting the M&M Ranch.

 

Marco Sr.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

I'd enjoy another shot at the ranch right after a big rain.  

[caldigger]

What time of year is the best for an expedition there?

 

[MarcoSr]

8 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

I'd enjoy another shot at the ranch right after a big rain.  

 

 

Rain in the badlands is key.  First it can quickly uncover new specimens.  Secondly, when the formation is wet, there is much less glare and colors are much truer, which makes it easier to spot specimens.  When everything is dry and dusty everything can blend together.

 

Marco Sr.

 

[MarcoSr]

9 hours ago, caldigger said:

What time of year is the best for an expedition there?

 

 

As I said above, rain is key.  It doesn't matter how many people have been searching the ranch previously if you get a good rain right before or while you are there.  However, you can't really  anticipate when you will get rain.  The ranch is closed to collecting late Fall through Winter because of snow.  Some people like going in early, like April or early May because you have had the entire winter to uncover stuff.  However, you can still get snow at this time and although the snow usually melts quickly (sometimes in the same day) you may be unable to collect.  The Summer months can be hot to collect.  There is absolutely no shade in the badlands.  The formation holds the heat and it can be really hot collecting when it is only 80F with the sun beating down on you.  However, a good wind goes through the buttes like a wind tunnel and can really cool things down in the summer.  As far as weather, September is probably the best time to collect.  However, there have been four or so months of collecting already that year.  The boys do keep the number of people collecting down so the ranch doesn't get over collected in a particular year and all you need is a good rain to refresh the fossils.  Plus the ranch is 360 acres+ and with all the buttes and ravines there is always something to find.  The boys do their main collecting in September and find lots of stuff.  During the trips they help the collectors especially with digging out and jacketing.

 

Marco Sr..

[caldigger]

Thank you for the info.

[jcbshark]

WOW Marco, those are some truly impressive finds for sure!!!!

[MarcoSr]

57 minutes ago, jcbshark said:

WOW Marco, those are some truly impressive finds for sure!!!!

 

Jeff

 

There is a tremendous diversity of species that you can find.  Plus the condition of the specimens can be pristine.  However, it does take a good bit of work to dig out and jacket some things.  My big tortoise (over two and a half feet) took us (both my sons and myself) almost a full day to dig out and jacket.  Plus you really need to be able to do a lot of the prep work yourself to keep costs down.  My sons are learning to do the prep work.  However, if any restoration needs to be done, that requires a special skill set and years of experience.

 

Marco Sr.

[cavemanfl]

The cats are gorgeous

[MarcoSr]

4 hours ago, cavemanfl said:

The cats are gorgeous

 

Below is the saber cat that my younger son Mel found in 2018.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[Mioplosus_Lover24]

Nice!

[cavemanfl]

42 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Below is the saber cat that my younger son Mel found in 2018.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

Awesome.... I love it

[Plantguy]

Another one of these threads that I'm just shaking my head about in disbelief. So very cool on so many levels! Looking forward to hearing more about future finds/endeavours.. thanks!

 

Regards, Chris 

[MarcoSr]

43 minutes ago, Plantguy said:

Another one of these threads that I'm just shaking my head about in disbelief. So very cool on so many levels! Looking forward to hearing more about future finds/endeavours.. thanks!

 

Regards, Chris 

 

Chris

 

I've only posted in this thread some of the mammal and turtle/tortoise specimens from the ranch.  We also find lots of squamate and amphibian specimens and a few bird specimens which aren't as impressive as the mammal and turtle/tortoise specimens because they are usually really small.  However, some of these are still really interesting like the bird egg my son Mel found on the ranch in 2016 shown in the picture below.  My sons have found three bird eggs on the ranch and I have found hundreds of bird egg shell fragments in the anthill matrix.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[caldigger]

Have they found much in the way of bird bones to assist in the identification of the egg donors?

[jpc]

I can't speak for Marco's kids, but bird bones are even rarer than eggs.  In my years of collecting in the White River I have only found one set of bird bones.  

[ynot]

Wow!

Some really impressive finds!

Almost as good as the little stuff from the ant piles.

[MarcoSr]

8 hours ago, caldigger said:

Have they found much in the way of bird bones to assist in the identification of the egg donors?

 

No, bird bones are somewhat rare.  These eggs are commonly called duck eggs but as far as I know duck bones haven't been found in the Oligocene formations of the badlands.  There is an egg shell researcher in Canada looking at the egg shell fragments that I found at the ranch and hopefully she can shed more light on the egg donors.

 

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

7 hours ago, jpc said:

I can't speak for Marco's kids, but bird bones are even rarer than eggs.  In my years of collecting in the White River I have only found one set of bird bones.  

 

Jean-Pierre

 

My sons haven't found any associated bird bones yet.  However, I've found a number of small bird bones in the anthill matrix and they currently are with a researcher in Germany.

 

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

6 hours ago, ynot said:

Wow!

Some really impressive finds!

Almost as good as the little stuff from the ant piles.

 

Tony

 

Actually I prefer the little stuff.  No digging (only scrapping of anthills), no jacketing, no lugging out, no prepping, no restoration, and ready to go. 

 

Marco Sr.

[caldigger]

12 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Tony

 

Actually I prefer the little stuff.  No digging (only scrapping of anthills), no jacketing, no lugging out, no prepping, no restoration, and ready to go. 

 

Marco Sr.

A "Sweep 'n Carry" fossil hunter. 

[MarcoSr]

36 minutes ago, caldigger said:

A "Sweep 'n Carry" fossil hunter. 

 

I definitely take the easy way out.

 

Marco Sr.

[PaleoNoel]

That egg is so cool! Looks like great preservation.

[Nimravis]

7 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

Actually I prefer the little stuff. 

I am with you Marco, the micro stuff is great.

[MarcoSr]

4 hours ago, PaleoNoel said:

That egg is so cool! Looks like great preservation.

 

 

Almost all of the missing shell was found with the egg.  The egg looks even better with that back on.

 

Marco Sr.