Dave pom Allen Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) I am just loving this i am finding more bones every time i sit down to work on this amazing find, Thinking now that this maybe the bones of a large ShearWater and not a Petrel as first thought. Some more prep work on this and plenty of reading papers and cross referancing similar birds around today. if anybody out there can help with relivant information that can help me it would be greatly appeciated. Here is a couple of shots showing my progress so far. Found on 05/06/2010. From the late Miocene - Early Pliocene from my favorite site here in Taranaki New Zealand. Edited June 22, 2010 by Dave pom Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinodigger Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Geez this is really gorgeous. Fantastic specimen. I'm unfamiliar with the paleo from that area. Can't wait to hear the identification. Will any graphic renderings of the bones be done? CT Scans? This looks incredibly scan-able. There is some good stuff happening with molecular and elemental research on fossils these days, at the Stanford Particle accelerator. They've been identifying the different elements in fossils using some new X-ray methods. Certain elements depict different elements of the body, tissues, organs, etc. Would be fun to see what your fossil has going on. CF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossisle Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Awesome project,looks time consuming,how many hours? Cephalopods rule!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Awesome project,looks time consuming,how many hours? 20 hours so far, its a fine line on how far you go without spoiling an important fossil such as this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insectboy Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Nice find! Just wondering how many bones could you see when you first dug it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Nice find! Just wondering how many bones could you see when you first dug it up? There was no sign at all on the out side of the concretion. But as soon as i saw the inside (1st photo) i knew it was bird as i have found others in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) I am just loving this i am finding more bones every time i sit down to work on this amazing find, Thinking now that this maybe the bones of a large ShearWater and not a Petrel as first thought. Some more prep work on this and plenty of reading papers and cross referancing similar birds around today. if anybody out there can help with relivant information that can help me it would be greatly appeciated. Here is a couple of shots showing my progress so far. Found on 05/06/2010. From the late Miocene - Early Pliocene from my favorite site here in Taranaki New Zealand. If you don't have it already, you might check out: Chandler, R.M. 1990. Fossil Birds of the San Diego Formation, Late Pliocene, Blancan, San Diego County, California. Part II of Recent Advances in the Study of Neogene Fossil Birds. Ornithological Monographs No. 44. The American Ornithologists' Union. The San Diego is a marine unit well-known for its marine mammals and sea birds. You would also want to look through a list of Hildegarde Howard's articles on Miocene-Pliocene sea birds from sites in California and Mexico. I think you can get some of them as free downloads. Also, I told Auspex about this title last year: http://www.amazon.com/Extinction-Biogeography-Tropical-Pacific-Birds/dp/0226771423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257697003&sr=1-1 I saw it in the Florida Museum of Natural History gift shop. It looked good as a reference with some photos of bones. Amazon has it as a better price. Edited June 22, 2010 by siteseer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Beautiful stuff. I agree with dinodigger... get it CT scanned. Take it to your local hospital radiology dept. and ask nicely if they can help you. Most hospital radiologists I have dealt with are thrilled to do something differetn from a human being. It would be a good way to see what else is in the rock and esp to see if the skull is in there. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 Beautiful stuff. I agree with dinodigger... get it CT scanned. Take it to your local hospital radiology dept. and ask nicely if they can help you. Most hospital radiologists I have dealt with are thrilled to do something differetn from a human being. It would be a good way to see what else is in the rock and esp to see if the skull is in there. Good luck. i am booked in for an MRI next month i will sweet talk the lovely radiology girls and see if they can help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 20 hours so far, its a fine line on how far you go without spoiling an important fossil such as this. Dave...... Looking fantastic.....your eye and experience will tell you when to stop.....I think they are brilliant on many levels.... preservation and rarity....good job you found them and that you are capable of work of this quality.... anyone else may of not done them justice..... Im sure your collection will be scientifically very important in the future..... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 I see why that is your favorite site, beautiful. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 id so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 There are several very distinctive features well revealed there; the capital groove in the prox. "head" of the humerus is gigantic (more of a "crotch" than a groove), and the combined pollical facet and process of metacarpal 1 on the prox. end of the carpometacarpus looks like the blade of a medieval pole-axe! I have found nothing in my scanty osteological references with this combination. Someone with better familiarty of southern-hemisphere seabirds could no doubt announce the family at first glance. I'm stumped. I'll keep digging for clues; maybe I'll get lucky. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossisle Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 id so far Thanks for posting the new picture with the bones labeled ,very helpful!! Cephalopods rule!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted June 29, 2010 Author Share Posted June 29, 2010 There are several very distinctive features well revealed there; the capital groove in the prox. "head" of the humerus is gigantic (more of a "crotch" than a groove), and the combined pollical facet and process of metacarpal 1 on the prox. end of the carpometacarpus looks like the blade of a medieval pole-axe! I have found nothing in my scanty osteological references with this combination. Someone with better familiarty of southern-hemisphere seabirds could no doubt announce the family at first glance. I'm stumped. I'll keep digging for clues; maybe I'll get lucky. Thanks for your help Auspex, i am in contact with a Alan Tenneson of Tepapa here in NZ, he has another one (but not as good as this) that i donated to the museum of New Zealand a couple of years ago, it was described as having characteristics of a large shearwater or a possible petrel. but is still being studied and not yet named Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now