I believe this is the first time we’ve had fossils as readers’ wildlife. But remember that fossils once were wildlife, too, and these are particularly good specimens collected and prepared by reader Bruce Thiel.
30-40 million years ago, parts of Oregon and Washington were underwater. Marine animals that fell into the sediment were sometimes fossiized and can be found in the uplifted areas that erode out in streambeds or roadcuts. Six years ago I became interested in collecting and preparing these animals and it has morphed into a retirement project. I do not sell them but hope they will someday go into a museum collection for public display. Here are some of the more interesting ones I’ve uncovered. In the first three photos they are all Pulalius vulgaris including the small one next to the big claw—both found within 50’ of each other.
[JAC: If you were to buy these, you’d pay a pretty penny due to the labor involved in finding them and making such nice preparations. For an idea of what they go for, go here or here. ]
An isopod:
After the isopod, two Maeandricampus triangulum meet two new Raninid crabs.
The final picture shows a breakdown of the preparation process, done under a microscope with air scribes, which are miniature jack hammers.
What skill and patience. What incredible art!
Exquisite
Wow. I’ve only seen a few fossils in galleries (Santa Fe, NM) and they were very expensive. Nice retirement project.
These are remarkable.
Incredible work! Seeing these reminds me of Michelangelo saying, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
Most excellent. I’m wondering how one acquires the skills needed for a project like this.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
You mean he’s at Carnegie Hall? Didn’t know they had a natural history museum there….
b&
hamanahamanahamana…I am so impressed! Finding fossils is one of the funnest things a body can do outdoors, IMO. I have had a few good strikes, but nothing like these babies. Wow.
Lovely activity, lovely work, well, just lovely!
Those are some incredible fossils! I never appreciated how much work it takes to dig them of of the matrix until seeing your specimens. Thanks for the pictures!
Great work!
I always have to take a moment to calibrate my mental evolutionary clock with respect to ages such as these. 30-40 MYA is vaguely about the time when the common ancestor of humans and monkeys was living alongside the common ancestor of cats and dogs. It’s long enough ago that nothing would be exactly familiar, but not so long ago that things would have been radically different. Probably not unlike what an aboriginal living on one continent would experience when visiting another continent.
Bruce, if I might ask: how have you dated these fossils? I can imagine that story being as interesting as the preparation technique….
Cheers,
b&
Thank you all for your kind remarks and comments. Many of you are regulars on this site, and I’ve followed and admired your knowledge and insight about the various ideas Jerry writes about and hosts, so your praise is especially heart-warming.
Most fossils are found in concretions from the Lincoln Creek Formation in Oregon/Washington and Keasey Formation of Oregon, which are Oligocene and Eocene. Geologic maps provide an overlay with dates (thank you Don Prothero et.al.) The large basalt flow (1.5km thick in some areas) from Idaho to the Oregon coast 17 – 14 MYO covered a lot of good potential areas, so you have to look in places that escaped the flow or where rivers have eroded through it.
If you want to see more crab pictures look on my Facebook timeline, which is public.
Its a fascinating hobby. When I put in my earplugs and start uncovering ancient life under the microscope, time passes quickly, while one marvels at what has been hidden for millions of years. A calming Zen meditative quality envelops you.
That is really cool. I have hobbies too, but yours seems very rewarding. I would like to see more of this.
There was a fascinating doc made by Nat. Geographic called “Reverse Exploration” about
two Papuan tribesmen who embarked on a trip to explore France. Worth the watch if it’s available online or is ever re-aired.
http://www.natgeotv.com/asia/reverse-exploration
OK, as they say, my gast has been thoroughly flabbered. Awesome work!
Beautifully done, Bruce!
Beautiful! Just take my money! Take it!
Beautiful and amazing!
Wow!
Unlike modeling miniatures where you can start over if you make a mistake, I’d be terrified that I might destroy something so precious.
Simply beautiful.
Wow! I’m incredibly impressed by your skill and the beauty of these. 🙂
I live near an escarpment made of sand stone and limestone. There are silurian fossils there – really nice stuff probably all buried under the forest.
You, too? This is right near our home.
Cool. Did these fossils sediment out of all that beer( only kidding).
Fascinating and wonderful!
Stunning! Wow, your “pretties” case must be full and very interesting!
Hi Bruce, very nice finds and prep work!
The specimen in the top photo seems to be somewhat disarranged in the mouthparts and abdominal region, and I would guess it’s a shed exoskeleton (exuvium) rather than an animal buried intact. This is common with arthropod fossils including, e.g., Holocene mud-lobsters from Darwin and Cambrian trilobites from Mount Isa.
Thanks John. Yes it is a molt. I was trying to locate the carapace on the other side and finally gave up, decided it was finished, cut the bottom off so it would sit squarely and found that I had cut right through the middle of it. I put it aside for another exhibit: “fossils I messed up.”
Strange, I’ve got one of those piles too!
That’s a helluva isopod. Excellent prep work.
Nice work.. little jack hammers revealing the past.