Turtle Fossil

[Kristoff]

A fossil from my collection.
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This is Perisphinctes, a nice ammonite from Madagascar.
This is a fairly small one at just 3 inches diameter, they get to more than a foot across.
It is Late Jurassic so about 150 million years old.

That is absolutely stunning!
We went to the geological museum in Copenhagen yesterday. Daughter picked up this souvenir from the museum shop:


We saw some crystals, minerals and a small dinosaur exhibition, including some authentic dino eggs and fossils but mostly replicas.

 

[Moozillion]

That is absolutely stunning!
We went to the geological museum in Copenhagen yesterday. Daughter picked up this souvenir from the museum shop:
View attachment 229946
View attachment 229947
We saw some crystals, minerals and a small dinosaur exhibition, including some authentic dino eggs and fossils but mostly replicas.
View attachment 229948

Wonderful stuff!!!! [emoji2][emoji106]

 

[Oxalis]

That is absolutely stunning!
We went to the geological museum in Copenhagen yesterday. Daughter picked up this souvenir from the museum shop:
View attachment 229946
View attachment 229947
We saw some crystals, minerals and a small dinosaur exhibition, including some authentic dino eggs and fossils but mostly replicas.
View attachment 229948

Very lovely indeed! I love the ammonite!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

That is absolutely stunning!
We went to the geological museum in Copenhagen yesterday. Daughter picked up this souvenir from the museum shop:
View attachment 229946
View attachment 229947
We saw some crystals, minerals and a small dinosaur exhibition, including some authentic dino eggs and fossils but mostly replicas.
View attachment 229948

Nice footprint!
The ammonite is probably a Cleoniceras from Madagascar. Cretaceous period, 110 million years old.

 

[Kristoff]

Nice footprint!
The ammonite is probably a Cleoniceras from Madagascar. Cretaceous period, 110 million years old.

Just by looking at a picture!!!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Just by looking at a picture!!!

Firstly, it is commonly sold around the world cut and polished as Madagascar is one of the few countries left that allows mass export of fossils.
Secondly, on the natural uncut half of the specimen you can see the shell material and ribs (patterns). Not diagnostic but a clue.
Thirdly, on this side, near the aperture are some zigzag lines, these are the interior suture marks, visible where the shell has come away,where each chamber wall joined the outer shell. each species of ammonite has a unique suture pattern, and though i can't see all of it, this looks like Cleonoceras to me.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Prepping is cleaning a fossil up to make it look nicer. This can be done in a number of ways, using hammers and chisels, dental picks, acids and polishers for example.
A couple of pages back i showed my little Itagnostus trilobites and you could see they came from a matrix of mudstone containing the larger trilobite Elrathia kingii.
My American friend sent me three of these from Utah. Middle Cambrian, 507 million years old.
Here they are before prepping.



And after prepping using just a jeweller's loupe to see and a board pin to clean off the mostly soft matrix.

The above one (1.8 cm long) has a smaller cephalon (head) lying on top of the main one and has damage to the right hand mid pleura which may be what killed it.
The one below (1.2 cm) has damage to the front of the cephalon, also a possible cause of death.

The next one is my favourite, first I had to pop it free of the matrix as it was upside down.
Here it is free and with prep just started :

Then finished. ( 2.3 cm long)

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

As a bonus, i then got to smash up the remaining matrix where I found most of the Itagnostus pieces posted earlier.
And a few more bits of Elrathia.
This little cephalon is 1.5 mm at it's widest point!

And this one is 1.2 cm long. Note it has no free cheeks or pygidium (tail) as this one is a shed that the animal leaves behind when they need to grow.

Likewise this large cephalon was shed as this trilobite grew. This would have been a big one for this species as the head is 1.8 cm wide!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Elrathia kingii

 

[CarolM]

TURTLE
Today, another unnamed early turtle from the late Triassic of Poland, this one 215 million years old.

Not much else to be said about this one.
Except it's beautiful.

Yes it is. Also well preserved for something that is 215 million years old.

 

[CarolM]

View attachment 229842
This was posted on Linkedin. It just sold for $130,000.00

Wow.

 

[CarolM]

Today's fossil from my collection :
Not all fossils are millions of years old.
These river limpets are of species still around today
View attachment 229855
I have one of the same species as the one in the middle from Southern England.

The one on the right looks like a caramel meringue.

 

[CarolM]

Soooo cool!!!! [emoji2][emoji106]

I agree. They should have had one of these in the Jurassic movie just for fun.[emoji1]

 

[CarolM]

A fossil from my collection.
View attachment 229913
View attachment 229917
View attachment 229918
View attachment 229919
This is Perisphinctes, a nice ammonite from Madagascar.
This is a fairly small one at just 3 inches diameter, they get to more than a foot across.
It is Late Jurassic so about 150 million years old.

Ooooohhhhhh. I LIKE this one. Very pretty.

 

[CarolM]

It will be even more so when I get round to cleaning it up!

Really!! That is not cleaned up. Wow definitely want to see it when cleaned up then.

 

[CarolM]

That is absolutely stunning!
We went to the geological museum in Copenhagen yesterday. Daughter picked up this souvenir from the museum shop:
View attachment 229946
View attachment 229947
We saw some crystals, minerals and a small dinosaur exhibition, including some authentic dino eggs and fossils but mostly replicas.
View attachment 229948

Very nice. The first picture is very beautiful.

 

[CarolM]

Firstly, it is commonly sold around the world cut and polished as Madagascar is one of the few countries left that allows mass export of fossils.
Secondly, on the natural uncut half of the specimen you can see the shell material and ribs (patterns). Not diagnostic but a clue.
Thirdly, on this side, near the aperture are some zigzag lines, these are the interior suture marks, visible where the shell has come away,where each chamber wall joined the outer shell. each species of ammonite has a unique suture pattern, and though i can't see all of it, this looks like Cleonoceras to me.

You sure do know your stuff.

 

[CarolM]

Prepping is cleaning a fossil up to make it look nicer. This can be done in a number of ways, using hammers and chisels, dental picks, acids and polishers for example.
A couple of pages back i showed my little Itagnostus trilobites and you could see they came from a matrix of mudstone containing the larger trilobite Elrathia kingii.
My American friend sent me three of these from Utah. Middle Cambrian, 507 million years old.
Here they are before prepping.
View attachment 230520
View attachment 230521
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And after prepping using just a jeweller's loupe to see and a board pin View attachment 230525to clean off the mostly soft matrix.
View attachment 230528
The above one (1.8 cm long) has a smaller cephalon (head) lying on top of the main one and has damage to the right hand mid pleura which may be what killed it.
The one below (1.2 cm) has damage to the front of the cephalon, also a possible cause of death.
View attachment 230529
The next one is my favourite, first I had to pop it free of the matrix as it was upside down.
Here it is free and with prep just started :
View attachment 230531
Then finished. ( 2.3 cm long)
View attachment 230532

OMW that is just Wow. What a big difference.

 

[CarolM]

As a bonus, i then got to smash up the remaining matrix where I found most of the Itagnostus pieces posted earlier.
And a few more bits of Elrathia.
This little cephalon is 1.5 mm at it's widest point!
View attachment 230534
And this one is 1.2 cm long. Note it has no free cheeks or pygidium (tail) as this one is a shed that the animal leaves behind when they need to grow.
View attachment 230536
Likewise this large cephalon was shed as this trilobite grew. This would have been a big one for this species as the head is 1.8 cm wide!
View attachment 230537

I am so impressed.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I am so impressed.

Than you very much for all your kind comments, Carol!
I have loved all this stuff since preschool.