BestTechnology Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) I went back to the same place I found on the highway, one last time to get some distance in my search. I finally found a baby Oreodont lower jaw that I was able to dig out. I was happy because my last attempt at the adult was to hard to get out. Now I am on my trip home to Wisconsin but not empty handed. Here is a baby Oreodont and maybe better since its a baby? Should I knock more dirt away and if so how do I do this without crumbling it? Pics Edited July 30, 2011 by BestTechnology "I love to touch things that nobody has touched for millions of years!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeloiVarden Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Pretty cool. As for taking more dirt off, I think it looks pretty good as it is and it is always hard to tell if the jaw bone really fossilized very well or if it is just the teeth that fossilized. If I did it, I would use a dremel, but you could end up with a hand full of teeth real quick. I guess you have to decide if you are willing risk it. Hopefully someone with a little more experience adds there two cents worth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestTechnology Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 Pretty cool. As for taking more dirt off, I think it looks pretty good as it is and it is always hard to tell if the jaw bone really fossilized very well or if it is just the teeth that fossilized. If I did it, I would use a dremel, but you could end up with a hand full of teeth real quick. I guess you have to decide if you are willing risk it. Hopefully someone with a little more experience adds there two cents worth! I agree with what you say above. I can't really tell if the jaw bone is fossilized all the way on the outside because dirt is blocking it. I agree with ending up with a handful of teeth with a dremel there has to be a softer way to clean this. Any kind of compound you can put in water and drop the fossil in to clean itself? "I love to touch things that nobody has touched for millions of years!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Considering that the fossil is either Eocene or Oligocene in age, I can pretty much guarantee that it is completely fossilized! Now...whether it is actually INTACT underneath that matrix I can't tell! If you carefully remove some of the matrix with hand tools you'll have a better idea of the condition of the bone. As for it being a baby...that's very unlikely considering how much wear there is on the teeth! It may be one of the smaller oreodont species. Nice find, regardless! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Considering that the fossil is either Eocene or Oligocene in age, I can pretty much guarantee that it is completely fossilized! Now...whether it is actually INTACT underneath that matrix I can't tell! If you carefully remove some of the matrix with hand tools you'll have a better idea of the condition of the bone. As for it being a baby...that's very unlikely considering how much wear there is on the teeth! It may be one of the smaller oreodont species. Nice find, regardless! -Joe I Agree with every point Joe makes. As for the dremel, I would avoid it cuz oyu are likely to ebnd up with a buch of dremel makr son it. A cheap and better tool is a small electic engraving pen. Its loud and vibrates a lot, but unless you want to spend the money for real prep tools, it might be your best option. Get some glue and glue each and every crack as they appear, but without putting too much glue on the specimen. Better bet is to send it to me, or another preofessional prep person (there are a few of us on this forum), and I can make it look nice for probabaly a small amount of cold hard cash. PM me if interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 The little engraving tools are great for working on White River type material...as long as you're willing to take your time and practice a little. This skull was almost completely encased in matrix and all of the prep work on it was done using engraving tools and hand tools (dental picks, X-Acto knives, etc.). It turned out pretty well...don't you think? Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 (edited) BestTechnology, Great finds! Pretty neat trip you had. Joe, I think it would be safe to say that it is stinking awesome and "pretty well" is a bit of an understatement!! How long did that take to prep using alot of patience and hand tools? You all prep guys are killng me with this fantastic stuff...Keep it up. Too modest all of you! Regards, Chris Edited July 31, 2011 by Plantguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Plantguy... Thanks for the kind words. It took a couple of months to get that skull into its present condition. Of course...I wasn't working on it continuously over that time. I estimate that there are about 100 hours of work in that skull. The little Dremel (or Craftsman) engraving tools work wonders as long as you're careful! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestTechnology Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Considering that the fossil is either Eocene or Oligocene in age, I can pretty much guarantee that it is completely fossilized! Now...whether it is actually INTACT underneath that matrix I can't tell! If you carefully remove some of the matrix with hand tools you'll have a better idea of the condition of the bone. As for it being a baby...that's very unlikely considering how much wear there is on the teeth! It may be one of the smaller oreodont species. Nice find, regardless! -Joe I removed some of the dirt from the bone and I can see a few cracks in the jaw. Yeah it must be a smaller oreodont species. I can fit my whole hand around it. It was nothing compared to the one in the dirt before. I Agree with every point Joe makes. As for the dremel, I would avoid it cuz oyu are likely to ebnd up with a buch of dremel makr son it. A cheap and better tool is a small electic engraving pen. Its loud and vibrates a lot, but unless you want to spend the money for real prep tools, it might be your best option. Get some glue and glue each and every crack as they appear, but without putting too much glue on the specimen. Better bet is to send it to me, or another preofessional prep person (there are a few of us on this forum), and I can make it look nice for probabaly a small amount of cold hard cash. PM me if interested. Give me some time and I might send you the jaw for professional prep. In the mean time I might read up on some books on how to do this and if its to hard to figure out then I will stop and send it for sure. Thanks for all the tips. The little engraving tools are great for working on White River type material...as long as you're willing to take your time and practice a little. This skull was almost completely encased in matrix and all of the prep work on it was done using engraving tools and hand tools (dental picks, X-Acto knives, etc.). It turned out pretty well...don't you think? Amazing job you did on that one it seems to be the perfect find and perfect job in making it perfect. BestTechnology, Great finds! Pretty neat trip you had. Joe, I think it would be safe to say that it is stinking awesome and "pretty well" is a bit of an understatement!! How long did that take to prep using alot of patience and hand tools? You all prep guys are killng me with this fantastic stuff...Keep it up. Too modest all of you! Regards, Chris Thanks Plantguy I was looking all over in 90 degree heat about to fall over but I had my eagle eyes spotting any rift in the rock and was climbing head to toe almost 150 feet at times. More pics just got home from the trip and broke away some of the matrix on the side. Edited August 1, 2011 by BestTechnology "I love to touch things that nobody has touched for millions of years!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Looks like a very salvageable piece! Just take your time and have some glue handy to repair any cracks as you see them. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert rat Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 This is good looking work. N.B. I always try to have a bottle of "Paleobond" stabilizer in the fridge when working on any bone type specimens. It is a very (and I mean VERY) thin cyanoacrylate type glue. It soaks into bone and hardens it. I use it right through dirt if need be. Then the dirt can be chipped of like any other matrix. The general drill is to patiently remove matrix and then put a drop or so of the stabilizer on the exposed bone before continuing. Has saved some really ratty stuff for me. The mosasaur skeletal remains from Morocco are often particularly soft and fibrous. The stabilizer works wonders on that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I think it looks great as is. Nice find by the way. In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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