digit Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 REMINDER: PLEASE carefully read ALL of the rules below. Make sure you include all the required information, IN THE REQUESTED FORMAT (below) when you submit your fossil! If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me (or any staff) 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. Entries will be taken until 11:59:00 PM EDT on APRIL 30, 2024 Any fossil submitted after that time, even if the topic is still open, will be deemed ineligible! Only entries posted with CLEAR photos 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. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month. 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. To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery. Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry! Best of success to all, and good hunting! *********************************** Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests Find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found personally by you are allowed. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per member per contest category.) 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. You must include the Date of Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Date of Discovery (if not found in the contest month). 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 MAJORITY of prep in the contest month. Pre-Prep Photos need to be dated with the start of the month date, and then finished prep date must be supplied. Entries not including this information/photos will be disqualified. You must include the Common and/or Scientific Name. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the fossil was found. You must include the State, Province, or region where the fossil was found. You must include CLEAR, cropped, well-lit images (maximum 4 images). If you are proud enough of your fossil to submit it for FOTM, spend some time to take good photos to show off your fossil. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims. * Significant Preparation = Substantial work to reveal and/or repair 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. PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES BEFORE YOU POST!!! IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT A MOD OR ADMIN. ENTRIES NOT FOLLOWING THE REQUESTED FORMAT WILL BE ELIMINATED FROM THE CONTEST!! ******* Please use the following format for the required information: ******* Information about your find. A short paragraph or sentence or two about why it should be fossil of the month. Rarity, completeness, beauty, etc. • Date of Discovery [month, day, year] • Preparation Completion Date (if prepped) [month, day, year] • Scientific and/or Common Name • Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age • State, Province, or Region Found • Photos of Find (Please limit to 4 clear, cropped, and well-lit images.) (If prepped, before and after photos are required, please.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 For the sake of adhering to the rules, finds will have to be approved, before being seen by the membership at large. They will be approved as the mods/admins have time to check for proper formatting, identification, prep dates, etc. READ THE RULES CAREFULLY! ANY ENTRIES NOT FOLLOWING THE REQUESTED FORMAT or PROVIDING NEEDED DETAILS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!!! 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Hi everyone. I thought I’d get the ball rolling for this month with this Moa claw I recently found. I’ve always wanted to find one as I thought it would be the closest I might come to finding a dinosaur claw. I know technically Moas are dinosaurs, but you know what I mean • Date of Discovery 6 April 2024 • Preparation Completion Date 7 April 2024 • Dinornithiformes (Moa) claw. Unidentified genus and species. • Late Pleistocene (< 100,000 years) • South Island, New Zealand As found After prep 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welsh Wizard Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Hi Ive not posted for a while as I’ve been busy with work. Here is an ammonite I found last week near Lyme Regis. Ammonite is 6 inches across Date of discovery: 9th April 2024 Date of preparation: 11th April 2024 Scientific or Common Name:Liparoceras sp. (Possibly divaricosta) Geologic Formation or Time period : Green Ammonite member, Davoei Zone, Pliensbachian, Lower Jurassic (Circa 190 million years ago) State,Province, or region found: St Gabriel’s Mouth near Seatown, Dorset, U.K. Before prep After prep 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 The moa claw is starting to get lonely by itself in the FOTM. Still time to enter something you are prepping or get out there and find something. To me it's all about celebrating our finds in one place - bringing together into one area from the different threads. Not about the digital badge. So don't be shy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stats Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 I collected this Mazon Creek concretion from the Mazon River in August 2023. It has been in freeze/thaw since January 2024. The surface is a little ugly and it has a shape that suggests a fern. It opened last Friday evening. There is a fern inside, but nestled up next to it is a pretty rare polychaete worm from Mazon Creek. It's a Palaeocampa anthrax. If you heard a yell last Friday about 11 PM CDT... it was me. I was very excited! Date of Discovery: April 12th, 2024 Preparation Completion Date: April 13th, 2024 (some cleanup and gluing) Scientific and/or Common Name: Palaeocampa anthrax Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age: Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian State, Province, or Region Found: Illinois 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 7 hours ago, Doctor Mud said: The moa claw is starting to get lonely by itself in the FOTM. Still time to enter something you are prepping or get out there and find something. To me it's all about celebrating our finds in one place - bringing together into one area from the different threads. Not about the digital badge. So don't be shy Easy for you to say...you have a Moa! I might have an entry, just waiting to see if significant prep is made this month (I'm not the one prepping it). Fin Lover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 9 hours ago, stats said: There is a fern inside, but nestled up next to it is a pretty rare polychaete worm from Mazon Creek. Very clever in ticking both the plant and invertebrate boxes for the IPFOTM category. Lovely entry. Cheers. -Ken 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 1 hour ago, Fin Lover said: Easy for you to say...you have a Moa! I might have an entry, just waiting to see if significant prep is made this month (I'm not the one prepping it). Still feeling lucky and happy whatever happens here. Glad to see fossils showing up to join the claw. Fingers crossed your fossil gets prepped. I’m intrigued! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg1 Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Very minor prep on this. Cleaned a little around the teeth and upper palate. Last picture is where it was found on the beach under about 6 inches of water at low tide. Besides teeth from these animals, skull components are surprisingly rare to find. 2 hours of prep time finished on 4-16-2024 Date of Discovery: 4-10-2024 Preparation Completion Date: April 16, 2024 Scientific and/or Common Name: Desmostylus hesperus skull Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age: Miocene-Astoria Formation 17.2 mya State, Province, or Region Found: Lincoln County Oregon 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2fossils Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Found this Cheek/Skull Teeth section on the Kaw River, it is From a White Tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Date of Discovery: April 14th, 2024 Scientific and/or Common Name: Odocoileus virginianus Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age: Glacial deposits, Kaw River KS State, Province, or Region Found: Kansas 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybot Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 On 4/17/2024 at 11:45 PM, Doctor Mud said: So don't be shy Alright, I'll enter something just for the fun of it My first mandible with teeth. Complete incisor with nice colors. I labeled it as Ondatra sp. since differences between zibethicus and cinnamonius teeth/mandibles are basically nonexistent. Date of Discovery: April 5th, 2024 Scientific and/or Common Name: Ondatra sp. -- Muskrat mandible Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age: Glacial Deposits State, Province, or Region Found: Kansas, U.S.A. 10 -Jay “The earth doesn't need new continents, but new men.” ― Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 What a great month it’s turning out to be! Such a variety spanning a vast range of geological time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 This genus is rare in the Pennsylvanian strata of the Appalachian Basin. Ammonoids from the order Goniatitida Hyatt 1884 appear infrequently compared to the Mid-continent, which is believed to mirror continental shelf environments. I've never found one with this much shell intact, and it even shows the ribs on the flank. There was at least one additional whorl in life—it was already destroyed and removed during prep. The highlighted area shows the siphuncle to the extent that you can see a tubular structure on the right portion of the oval. I took the color photo minutes after uncovering the fossil. You'll notice the reddish color of the rock to the right, which is due to environmental alteration of the limestone, which turns it into a soft substance. This is why the additional whorl was lost. • Date of Discovery: March 30, 2024 • Preparation Completion Date: April 13, 2024 • Scientific and/or Common Name: Schistoceras missouriense (Miller and Faber, 1892) • Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age: Conemaugh Group, Glenshaw Formation, Portersville Limestone • State, Province, or Region Found: West Virginia, USA • Photos of Find: 2 13 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 @cngodles Great prep and photos! What is the size of your scale bar? 1 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 6 hours ago, Bullsnake said: What is the size of your scale bar? Thank you. Scale bar = 1 cm. 1 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobites_are_awesome Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 • Date of Discovery April 15 • Preparation Completion Date April 17 • Scientific and/or Common Name Eldredgeops crassituberculata • Geologic Formation and/or Geologic Age Silica shale • State, Province, or Region Found Sylvania Ohio, USA • Photos of Find: 1 9 Cheers! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntlyfossils Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Date of Discovery (month, day, year) :22/4/2024 • Scientific and/or Common Name: Ichthyosaur (Platypterygius australis) Jaw section • Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Toolebuc Formation, Early Cretaceous. • State, Province, or Region: NW Queensland, Australia. As found After prep finished 29/04/24 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Here's a little something to pad out the invert competition. Always love finding these little guys at a special site in particular. Allomma lindarae is known from the NSR, but is much rarer up there. • Date of Discovery: April 27, 2024 • ID: Allomma lindarae sea urchin • Age: Early/Middle Campanian, Upper Cretaceous; Sprinkle/Ozan Formation • Location: Central Texas, USA 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 (edited) I've got something that might be a contender (invert) but I haven't finished stabilizing/reassembling it, and I don't know if I should enter it as is or finish putting it together and enter it in May. Edited May 1 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Enter it now. 3 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 I agree, enter it now. The rules regarding documentation of significant prepping are complex to navigate. Basically, to enter it later you would have to have photographic proof that there had been a major change in the specimen between the end of this month and when you submit it. For example, you would have to have photos from today showing that the specimen still had extensive matrix covering the diagnostic features. Simply gluing/reassembling the specimen would not be a significant amount of preparation, so it wouldn't be eligible to submit next month. Everyone needs to understand this rule if they are thinking about entering a specimen in FOTM. The rule is a burden, but it was made necessary by people who did a small bit of prep, perhaps even just trimming the matrix to square it up, so they could submit it in a "slow" month with little competition. Don 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 OK. I'm not sure my in-situ shots do it justice, so I'm trying to get as much of it assembled as I can and enter it before 9:00pm PDT tonight. I could show the in-situ shot now, and add the current pic later as long as it's before 12 EDT, if that's allowed..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Just follow the rules, and it should be fine.Tick tock. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 OK, here are some shots of it in place, as found (not technically in situ but in the rock pile where I found it). It's taking longer than I had hoped to get it assembled enough for more pics, so hopefully this will do. No big deal If I don't win because of how ugly it looks... I will show it off somewhere on the Forum later when it's ready. There is one piece not visible in the photos, which I found loose in the scree below. I have all the pieces plus the matrix in between the 'U'. Length of brush is 21.5cm. I am not sure of the ID... I got the name from one of the gurus but I don't think it was for certain. I can count on one hand the exceptional pieces of the taxon, like this one, that I have found in my collecting life. • Date of Discovery 2024/4/14 • ?Pseudoxybeloceras sp. or Schluterella sp. heteromorph ammonite • Haslam Formation, Santonian (Upper Cret.) • Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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