fossilover Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hi everyone! Hope you all had a fossil-filled weekend like I did! About a week ago I started going thru some pungo material I recently collected in Aurora. First I would scoop a bowl of it into a mesh sifter. Then I would rinse the material until the water came thru fairly clear. My original goal was to use tweezers to pick out any fossils that caught my eye. However, I found myself looking thru every every shell fragment and rock in the bowl. To my surprise there was such a large variety of tiny fossils that I've been going thru the whole 5 gallon bucket this way! As you can imagine, I've found things such as small shark teeth, fish? vertebrae, fish and ray teeth,and a variety of shells. Now that I'm finding all these tiny fossils some questions have arose which I am trying to find the answers for. 1. What exactly qualifies as a micro fossil? 2. Because these fossils that I have found are so tiny (many are just a couple milimeters long) they are hard to photograph. How can I go about getting help in Id'ing them? Would there be someone at the fossil museum I could maybe take them to? I have been to the elasmo website which has helped me ID several fossils, but there are still plenty more I either can't ID or I'm just not sure of. Like the vertebrae for instance, they could be from several types of fish or even other animals, but with my untrained eye I have no way in telling! 3. What are some ways to display such small fossils? I've been trying to think of ways to do it, but I'm coming up empty-handed. I had heard about using the cardboard coin holders, but I am finding they are tough to view because the plastic creates a glare. Plus, you have to take the holder apart if you want to take a picture or get a closer look. Any other ideas? I want to keep a few of each specimen, but I wanted to put the rest in displays and donate them to the fossil museum for them to sell during the festival. I guess that's all the questions I have about micro fossils. I appreciate any input anyone has on the subject. If anyone has further information they would like to add please feel free. I would love to learn more about this subject! Thanks everyone!! Have a great week, Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmorefossil Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 little teeth, i think i have seen really tiny shells and stuff but you can buy little cases just for micro fossils some of these cases also magnify so you can see better but if your things are really really small your going to need some magnification device, im sure museums have something that they could use to see and identify your micro fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybodus Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Sounds like the exact same problem that most of us have run into. There are many ways to store and display them, and I do agree with the coin holders not working very well. Your issue is twofold: First, getting a good image of a micro specimen. I have two methods, and the one I use depends on the size of the specimen. I have an Olympus Camedia C-700 digital camera that I bought used quite a few years ago, and I found close up filters on the internet a few years ago - this combo allows me to get pretty darn good pics of specimens down to the 4mm range. Anything smaller and the camera just can not capture a clear image. To solve this, I experimented with a few models of digital microscopes. I settled on an Olympus MIC-D, which is no longer made. It was a little pricey, but Olympus offered the ability to return it if I did not like it. With the digital scope, I can now capture images of anything micro. Next, how to store the specimens. I like two methods. For the specimens that I know will remain tucked away in a drawer (I am not going to play with them or look at them much) and they are smaller than 4mm or so, I use gel capsules. For the specimens I want to look at, display, trade and so on, I first take an image of them, place the specimen in a 1 1/4" gem jar, and then typically place the gem jars in an 8x12x3/4 riker style mount - I cut holes into the insert for the gem jars (I know they are pre sold this way, but they do not have room for labels and pictures!!) The above is what works for me, and I have seen some other really good ideas here in the past as well - I personally like the idea of showing the specimen and then a pic of what it looks like all in one place. It also means that once I have the good pic, I really do not have much of a need to remove the specimen from the gem jar, helping to ensure that they stay safe! Oh for the question what qualifies as a micro: to me it is anything that I need to use my digital scope on in order to get a crisp, detailed image, or smaller than 4mm, but thats just me. Below is an example, specimens from the South Sulphur River, TX: Full riker mount w/gem jars and digital scope pictures with species names Close up of a few of the specimens from above. The Rhinobatos craddocki are smaller than 1mm x 1mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinG Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Angela, Do you have a SLR type camera? If so, then take off the lens and reverse it. To focus move back and forth and use really bright light. They do make either "extension rings" or "reversing rings" which will make a normal lens more of a dedicated macro lens. Or you can get a macro lens through a camera rental and do it also. Not my best but you get an idea of a macro lens. Kevin Goto, Lafayette,CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoRon Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 You might want to use something like this to display your small stuff in. http://store.goldfeverprospecting.com/mabosetof25w.html There are a lot of dealers selling these and there are several types available so shop around for the best price etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I have a hand-held digital microscope that does the job on opaque stuff. It's a little hard to use, but I keep thinking I'll make a stand for it. (I need to get a didital stage-type with under-lighting too). Here's a link: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~...roduct_id=58140 And here's a pic taken with it (It's of a 4mm bird tooth): "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...
fossilover Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 All such great ideas!! And I love the one about you using gel caps, hybodus. KevinG, I have a snarge-type camera. I've tried taking pics with my camera using various settings, I even bought a tripod a few weeks ago and it's helped some, but my camera (it's a Canon Powershot a400) is over 4 years old and technology has advanced greatly since then. With a tripod, I have been able to take pictures of smaller subjects a little better, but I can't get close enough to the tiny fossils I have. I am definitely going to invest in some of those gem jars. I will be going to Aurora again soon, so I will bring the micro fossils with me and see what suggestions they have. Thank you so much for all the tips, everyone!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Before I had a microscope, I used to hold my hand lens up to the aperture of the camera. It works... somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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