FossilDAWG Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Man, lots of museum-quality invertebrates this month. And one lonely museum-quality vertebrate. Well, at least one vote will be easy. Assuming no last-second "header" shows up. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Agreed, some stunning nice and drool-worthy inverts this month but where are all the vert fossils hiding? I like my little Thomas Farm mustelid mandible but surely there have been some exceptional vertebrate fossils found (or prepped) this month! Bring out your dead--um, wait, that's a different movie--uh, bring out your vertebrate fossils.... (I can see why Monty Python used the other line--much catchier...) Seriously, bring out those great vertebrate fossils that you've been holding out till the last minute. I'd hate to win VFOTM unopposed. I really never expected this specimen to even be in the running (I've seen some stellar entries in previous months). I just entered it because it was the coolest thing I've ever found and it made my first time volunteering at the Thomas Farm site a memorable experience. You've only got a few more days this month so lets start seeing some more cool stuff (verts and otherwise). Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceH Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 (edited) June 26, 2014 "Polyacrodus sp." shark tooth Cretaceous Period, Albian stage, Kiamichi Formation (102-103 mya) Tarrant county, Texas Edited June 27, 2014 by LanceH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 June 26, 2014 "Polyacrodus sp." shark tooth Cretaceous Period, Albian stage, Kiamichi Formation (102-103 mya) Tarrant county, Texas 2014-06-27-005-800.jpg2014-06-27-007-800.jpg Congrats on a very rare find, Lance. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Cool tooth--never seen anything like it. I don't think our fossil deposits date back that old. How did you find this tooth? Was it gravel sifting or even micro-matrix sorting? What other Cretaceous Period things do you find where you are hunting? Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Lookin' nice everyone! Gonna pitch in a few of my finds now Archaeoceratops oshimai Jaw Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Mazongshan, Gansu, China Date: 13/6/14 Edited June 29, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Unidentified Dromaeosaurinae Raptor's Foot Claw Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Jiayuguan, Gansu, China Date: 15/6/14 Edited June 29, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Jintasaurus meniscus Ancestral Hadrosauroid In-Matrix Tooth Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Jiayuguan, Gansu, China Date: 15/6/14 Edited June 29, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Suzhousaurus megatheroides Therizinosaur Rib Section Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Jiayuguan, Gansu, China Date: 15/6/14 Edited June 29, 2014 by Sinopaleus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Ptychodus tooth from the Lower Chalk (Cretaceous 95-98.5 myo) of Bedfordshire, UK. Found and prepared 27th June. Edited June 28, 2014 by Kosmoceras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 Lookin' nice everyone! Gonna pitch in a few of my finds now Archaeoceratops oshimai Jaw Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Mazongshan, Gansu, China Henry...you forgot some information. "4. You must include the Date of your Discovery or the Date of Preparation Completion." The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 That's more like it--some pretty darned cool fossils appearing here now. Chinese dinosaur fossils are so far away from both my knowledge/experience and my geographic location that they blow my mind. I do know enough from reading articles and seeing TV shows to know that the deserts of China are producing some exceedingly interesting and important fossils. It must be nice to be able to have the opportunity to hunt in those areas. I also love the shell-crushing teeth of the Ptychodus since I first learned of them on this very forum. What date does the Lower Chalk from Bedfordshire date from--Late Cretaceous? Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) The Thomas Farm site dates from the early Miocene Epoch (Hemingfordian Land Mammal Age) which is about 18 mya. Correct you are about the mustelids being a family of small carnivores including badgers, ferrets, minks, otters and wolverines. The specimen turns out to be Leptarchus ancipidens from an extinct mustelid subfamily known as the Leptarctinae which were badgerlike animals. The specimen I found was about 7.5 cm in length--about the right size for a badgerlike carnivore. Though there are not too many fossils from this species from the Thomas Farm site there is a nice specimen from 1957 illustrated on page 208 of The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida book. Please note, collectors, that the name of the little mustelid is Leptarctus ancipidens, not Leptarchus. Here's a line drawing from Stanley Olsen's description in 1958: Edited June 28, 2014 by Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Here are my entries. First is an ammonite found at the Lake Waco Research area on June 20th, 2014. Engonoceras Sp. Del Rio Formation Late Cretaceous Period Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Second entry is my mystery shark tooth found at Lake Waco as well. Hemipristis sp Del Rio Formation Late Cretaceous Period but the tooth is Miocene or Eocene age. Found June 20th, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Please note, collectors, that the name of the little mustelid is Leptarctus ancipidens, not Leptarchus. Here's a line drawing from Stanley Olsen's description in 1958: I'm finding "Leptarctus", "Leptarchus", and "Leptarcus", all seemingly referring to the same thing. Such is the innate ability of the internet to confuse matters... "Leptarctus" is used in what seem to be the most authoritative references; I will edit the nomenclature in the entry to reflect that. "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...
piranha Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 I'm finding "Leptarctus", "Leptarchus", and "Leptarcus", all seemingly referring to the same thing. Such is the innate ability of the internet to confuse matters... "Leptarctus" is used in what seem to be the most authoritative references; I will edit the nomenclature in the entry to reflect that. Frequently it seems, many so-called 'authoritative' sources abound, however, only one answer can be correct. The minimal time and effort to get the correct information is an exercise that everyone should strive for at TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Apologies for the typo. The true and proper name is indeed Leptarctus ancipidens. That's what I get for typing the species name from memory when I've got way too much Latin bumping around in there (making all the spelling variants that Auspex mentioned look plausible). A good reference for this species might be The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida edited by Dr. Richard C. Hulbert, Jr. where there are some nice drawings of a few specimens of this species. They have the images from Stanley Olsen's 1958 description and three views of a right dentary (mine was the mirror image left dentary) that was found in 1956 . Harry Pristis correctly caught my mistaken spelling and provided an image of the skull that was the basis for S. J. Olsen's description of the species in 1958. That paper is available online for any who wish to know more about this interesting little mustelid carnivore: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00000472/00001 Thanks for the spelling catch to keep me honest. At least I got it spelled correctly in the topic thread I created about my trip to Thomas Farm and my random luck to have found something interesting: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/45220-thomas-farm-volunteer-dig-spring-2014/ Cheers. -Ken P.S.: Still room for lots more interesting finds for June. Take some photos and post your finest while there is still time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Henry...you forgot some information. "4. You must include the Date of your Discovery or the Date of Preparation Completion." Thanks John for the reminder; they have all now been updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Chinese dinosaur fossils are so far away from both my knowledge/experience and my geographic location that they blow my mind. I do know enough from reading articles and seeing TV shows to know that the deserts of China are producing some exceedingly interesting and important fossils. It must be nice to be able to have the opportunity to hunt in those areas. Thanks Ken; yes, I always look forward to my annual hunts in the Gobi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thanks John for the reminder; they have all now been updated! Thank you, sir. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Actually, Olsen only described the skull. The species was described in 1924 by Matthew, and later contributions by others. But, the skull was apparently unknown. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 That is a rare find and it occupies another level of rarity being a complete crown. Some collectors would really like it for being an Albian-age (Early Cretaceous) one as well. That's killer. Jess Congrats on a very rare find, Lance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Actually, Olsen only described the skull. The species was described in 1924 by Matthew, and later contributions by others. But, the skull was apparently unknown. Funny how different describing extinct species from the fossil record is from describing extant species. Nowadays, you generally need a holotype and a few paratypes to show variation in morphology before you would even consider writing up a new species. More recently, you'd also want a DNA sample as well as that is becoming an important factor in species description. As Harry points out previous to Olsen's description of the skull in 1958 this species was known from only fragmentary bits and bobs: "This dearth of crania is particularly true in the case of the animal from the Florida Miocene, Leptarctus ancipidens, which heretofore has been known only from partial upper dentitions, supplemented by a lower jaw and several isolated molars and premolars." I know of one modern extant species description that was made based on fragmentary material (only because I had the great luck to be involved with it). There is a species of garden eels (that currently seem to be endemic to Florida waters) which is known as Heteroconger luteolus (the Yellow Garden Eel). It was described from several partial adult specimens and some planktonic larvae (in eels called leptocephalae). The partial specimens were obtained by deeper water dredges off the gulf coast of Florida. Garden eels are about the diameter of pencils and a foot or more in length and have the unusual habit of picking plankton from the water column while extending from their sandy burrows. Sometimes vast colonies of garden eels can resemble seagrass beds, hence the name. The dredge net had clipped one of these unlucky chaps as it dragged by severing and collecting several inches of the head end of this animal. A couple of samples were obtained this way in the 1960's and 1970's and decades later an eel specialist at the Smithsonian (Dr. D.G. Smith) finally described this new species (it had unique coloration differing from the known species in the area) but never had a complete specimen. I had learned about this new species in a publication from the American Fisheries Society while I was double checking the scientific and accepted common names of fishes for a field guide ID book that I help edit. Several weeks later while diving off Boca Raton, FL while swimming between two ships in a cluster of wrecks in about 70 feet of water I noticed a field of garden eels that looked out of the ordinary. I had a friend pull the paper where Dr. Smith had described the new species and it matched the coloration I had seen on these uncharacteristically bright yellow and white garden eels. A few weeks later with instructions from Dr. Smith on how to prepare a "noose" to capture one of these spooky eels, we managed to capture the first complete adult specimen of this species and take the first living in situ photos. That specimen has become the neotype for this species to this date remains the only complete specimen in any collection. With that specimen they were able to give a complete adult length and vertebrae count (obtained by X-ray so as not to destroy the type). Once the word got out fish watchers started noticing this species all along the southern part of Florida waters (usually in deep sandy areas). Turns out it is not particularly rare in Florida but just not where divers and scientists usually go. I really enjoyed my little nano-role in furthering the scientific knowledge of eel taxonomy. Never thought I'd get the opportunity to tell the Yellow Garden Eel story on this forum but it seemed tangentially appropriate. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I love garden eels. They have some at the Dallas World Aquarium. I can stand there and watch them bob up and down for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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