Jace Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Hi Guys I'm new to Fossils and while out looking through a new Shale layer on saturday i found a very beautiful little fossil ( what i believe to be a fossil ) It was about 1/2 inch long, jet black and looking like a plated fish or Yabbie( crayfish ) of some kind, it was between 2 layers of Shale i broke open. It was only the back half of the creature. Problem is.. when i looked closer there was dust coating the specimen so i slid my finger over the fossil to wipe the dust off and the fossil completely crumbled off the rock Has this happened to anyone before? The Detail on the creature was amazing and im really devastated! it was the only good quality thing I've found so far.. Would love some advise.. is this something that happens often ? Was it perhaps NOT a fossil somehow? The grey shale deposit it supposed to be triassic.. and the creature didnt appear to have enough girth to actually make much of an indent in the shale pieces to even bother keeping them... Jace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 It's hard to tell from the description alone, but if you found it inside sedimentary rock there's a good chance it was a fossil of some kind (some fossils are only preserved as thin films, sometimes flaky, sometimes firm, and there are ways of stabilizing delicate fossils), but what kind we can only tell from a pic. Keep looking for more and show us what you find next! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 It's hard to tell from the description alone, but if you found it inside sedimentary rock there's a good chance it was a fossil of some kind (some fossils are only preserved as thin films, sometimes flaky, sometimes firm, and there are ways of stabilizing delicate fossils), but what kind we can only tell from a pic. Keep looking for more and show us what you find next! Thankyou for getting back to me so fast i will hopefully be going out looking again this weekend im taking my camera this time and not touching the fossils! haha I was such a pitty becuase you could see every detail like it had been pressed in paper with a few books ontop, shiney metalic looking scales/plates.. I also found a heap of what look like very very primitive microcyclus fossils about 5-10mm long one even popped out of its rock nice and neat My new spot is a 20 foot road cutt where they have removed about 20 cubic meters of shale for the road or something.. but i have 3 walls to work.. just have to be careful of cave-ins! I did knock one lose shale slab out and there was a lovely venomous "small-eye'd Snake" who i caught and my Mrs took some shots on her Iphone All in all a good day! Jace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 My only advice to you is don't run fossils off of rocks again and don't get bitten by snakes. Especially venomous ones. Next time you find one of these fossils that can rub off like that, please take a picture. They sound interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Sounds like you may have found a "carbon film" compression fossil. They can be extremely fragile - especially if the shale they are within is not well-consolidated. There are a variety of methods in use for consolidation, ranging from "quick & dirty" through to "museum standard". Personally, for small specimens in the field, I use a quick and dirty method for convenience - an aerosol can of matte acrylic lacquer of the kind sold in art or photographic shops for use as a fixative. I wouldn't use that for anything that looks palaeontologically "important" but sometimes a specimen looks as if it won't withstand anything more sophisticated being brushed on it (not very convenient when you're out and about anyway) and might not survive the journey home. 1 Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) My only advice to you is don't run fossils off of rocks again and don't get bitten by snakes. Especially venomous ones. Next time you find one of these fossils that can rub off like that, please take a picture. They sound interesting. Thanks mate I'm an ex professional" snake relocation officer " and i have 18 snakes at home If there is one thing i do know back to front.. it's snakes As for the photo.. I will be taking one of my cameras on every trip from now on. And Thank you Painshill! That was very informative A carbon film ( after googling ) sounds exactly what i found makes sense The next one i find i shall wrap very carfully in Clingwrap and take home with great care.. no touchy touchy! lol I don;t like the idea of spraying it with anything as i'm new at this and i wouldn't want to wreck anything of significant importance. Edited June 4, 2014 by Jace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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