Devonian Fossil Hunting
9 messages in this thread
> What's the uncommon stuff there?<
I'm told that all Devonian fossils are uncommon. But you couldn't prove it by
me. At the rock show I almost died laughing when I saw a chunk of backyard with
a price tag of $8. *BUT* they get the price in other parts of the country. In
any case, what we have here are shallow-sea small stuff, mostly. Crinoid stems
and bivalves are quite common- mucrospirifer, brachiopods, some snails. I've
found several types of coral – rugose, horn, stuff that looks like bubbles
blown from rock, and of course our real prize, Ptilodicta. It's really
non-descript, but this is one of the few areas of the world where it's found.
(It's number 388 in the Audobon Field Guide to North American Fossils) Now that
I think about it, there are maybe a dozen types of coral here.
And just north of me is a prime Silurian zone, in which I personally have never
found a eurypterid or a Tully monster. (DANG!!!!) Just south of me is
Pennsylvanian, with *lots* of giant ferns and club moss…………JD
I'd recommend boxing and selling your backyard, then!
I thought I'd found eurypterids once, but they were just sections of
cephalopods. Orthoceras are a dime a dozen around here, some large, some
small. I found some casts the other day that were too weathered to take home,
but were about six-eight inches in diameter. I've got some better preserved
sections, too. This past weekend, I found a six-inch section, one or two inches
in diameter, with remarkable internal detail. It was as if the center section
internals had mummified and then turned to stone… it looks like a dried
section of spinal cord, larger than the channel of siphuncal (sp) that's often
found intact.
As for tully monsters, weren't those only found in the Mazon Creek ironstone
concretions once found outside the Chicago area?
Heh! If I could box my back yard and sell it, rest assured I would! One of the
premises that we're here on CI$ for, is that my backyard junk is your treasure,
and vice-versa! (The ol' Back Yard Theory!) (For instance, I recieved some
INCREDIBLE ammonites from Jurassic (? I forget!) England in return for the
local woodchuck ammo (G) and the recipient was highly pleased! I''m mostly into
minerals, but never turn down a decent fossil.
Now, about your sections of cephalopods, and dime-a-dozen orthoceras…… Six
to eight inches in diameter???!!!??? My god, where do you live? And of course,
the obvious questions: What age were they, and I have LOTS of Devonian to
trade! I *paid* a bundle for Moroccan orthoceras to make jewelry out of, and
yes I have one in my collection. We're talking DINKY, like 1/2" in diameter,
though. Hey, if you want to unload some of your back yard, you're ON! (Note
that I also have other fossils, not just Devonian. I'm in a gold mine area,
fossil-wise! And lots of extra. (Hmmm, one of these days I should make up a
fossil trading list…..))
And finding internal details is rather….. rare as heck! Hang on to THAT
specimen…..
Tully monsters: Named after the place they were located. Tully, NY, one of my
regular runs along Rte. 20 in New York. They *may* have been found in Mazon
Creek concretions. I can't say, not being an expert. If you got one, hang on to
it! Sell *ONLY* to museums! (Or me (G)) I've been cruising Tully for years. If
we didn't have Eurypterid, Tully monster would've been the state fossil. And
no, I haven't found Eurypterid either. Sigh………But there is a MEAN
specimen in the Albany museum, about 7 feet long. NOT the critter to tangle
with! I want a 7' eurypterid, darn it!!!!!
Any way, if you're up for trading, let me know. (An email or private msg. with
your address will get you some local Devonian…) ……..JD
I've also thought it would be fun to upload some GIF images of our favorite
fossils. Sort of a virtual museum.
Yup, the cephalopods around here got big. I think 12 inches is about the
biggest, and about nine feet long. The largest I've seen in a museum is about
six feet long, and not detailed. There's quite a range of detail of
preservation, some of the casts are weathered out or covered with lime scale,
but you still see the obvious shape and the ripples.
I thought Tully monsters were named after a collector, not a place, but I
believe you. 🙂 I'm not sure if I'm up for trading yet… I'm still
building my collection, but as the bulk overflows the basement, I'm sure I'll
turn to a trading mood.
John,
You must have been reading my mind, cause I was thinking about uploadling
fossil GIFs, too. Has anybody tried it? Can you get decent close-ups with a
Polaroid camera? I have a 35mm with a macro lens but don't want to waste
a whole roll of film (and pay for developing) for a few pictures. Anyone
have suggestions for a small scanner?
Joe
Hi Joe-
(Again, give me a couple of weeks) My page scanner (Chinon DS-3000) can focus
on objects up to about an inch. As I note to John, it is B/W and of no use for
minerals at all. BUT for fossils, B/W is cool, and I will try to scan in some
of my stuff directly from the fossil. Note that I have had varying success with
3D objects. I usually can get a grey-scale PCX. (There's a step before that.
Bit mapped if I recall….) Getting from grey-scale into a GIF is about a 40%
shot with what I have. And yes, I'm loaded for bear……
Hey, if anyone can send me decent close-ups, I WILL deliver nice digitized B/W
shots for a price. Note that color is needed for minerals……
Suggestions for a small scanner: You don't want one, they're a waste of money.
You can't use a hand-held, your hand isn't steady and constant-speed. Mine
isn't either. Go with a page scanner. And as long as you're going with a page
scanner, get color. The few extra hundred bucks are well worth it if you're
into pictures. Be aware that you also need storage space. Pictures are big
storage items and you need a Bernoulli box (my choice), tape drive (I'm of the
old school and don't trust 'em) or lots of floppies. Don't try to store 'em on
your hard drive. You'll load it full within hours. Honest. Don't go with a
small scanner. Go for the max you can afford. MUST HAVE: color. Needed for
minerals! (And dirty pix (G))……..JayDee the Lost
Hi John-
Uploading GIF images wouldn't do much for minerals. They would need to be
museum quality, and in color. The idea of uploading FOSSIL GIFs stikes me as a
good idea! I can get my page scanner to focus +/- 1/2" or so, I bet I could
manage some. Let me play with that idea! Good thinking!
If you're not up for trading, that's cool too. I could send you a load of my
back yard anyway if you want. (Save a woodchuck! (G)) Bear in mind that when I
trade (as I told another person, really it's coming from my back yard in
Berkshire, some 20 miles from *this* back yard. The fossils are better there
and I was closer to Ithaca, so got all kinds of the rare coral…) Not to say
that my back yard in Bing. isn't loaded. It is!
>As the bulk overflows the basement, I'm sure I'll
>turn to a trading mood….
Ummmmm, you might not have this trading concept quite down yet. See, the whole
idea is to overflow your basement. (I don't have one, but lawd knows my garage
and lawn are full!) Your trading stuff comes from the rocks in your garden. You
don't want them, everyone else does! And yes, if you have any cephalopods you
want to trade, I have loads of stuff! Pennsylvanian leaves? I still have a few
bugs from Colo., Devonian of course, Ordovician Cincinnati, OH., Silurian
(personally, I don't see any difference between Silurian and Devonian, but then
I haven't *found* the Tully Monster. And yes, I have roamed Tully, NY
*thoroughly*!)
So whereabouts are you that these cephalopods are found?………JD
I'm in Jefferson, Wisconsin, halfway between Madison and Milwaukee. I've found
similar cephalopods in many quarries around here.
You're right, if you take care not to scratch the glass of your flatbed
scanner, most can "focus" within range of a 3D object close to the glass.