While outdoor field trips this time of year can be iffy because of the roller coaster weather, a dry place to collect is the basement (or garage, or shed, or….). Periodically, I mine my basement and garage, especially prior to a show, as I decide which specimens to take with me.
My current focus is on preparing for the 2016 MAPS (Mid-America Paleontology Society) Expo, which will be held Friday-Sunday (April 1-3) in Iowa City, IA (learn more at www.midamericapaleo.org).
View of some of the booths at the MAPS fossil show.
Every year I go through the ritual of pawing through as much of my material as possible to pick what’s going to this fossils-only show. And every year, I never get through all of the piles. And that means there are pockets of material that have not been seen in years. Eventually, though, I do reach the bottom of every pile. SURPRISE!! “That’s a nice rock! I don’t even remember collecting it!”
For example, I found an unprepared enrolled Calymene (Indiana Waldron Shale) in a zip-lock bag. Didn’t remember that one. When prepped, it was fabulous.
Calymene from the Silurian Waldron Shale, Indiana.
And a 4-inch shark tooth from South Carolina. I have collected in that state on several occasions, but don’t remember this particular specimen. So it must have been picked it up at a show.
C. megalodon from the Pliocene of South Carolina.
In my basement digging, I did relocate a 7.5-inch Montana ammonite that had eluded me for some time. I knew it was down there — just couldn’t find it — until this week.
Placenticeras meeki ammonite from the Cretaceous Bearpaw Shale of Montana.
Then there was the time I found an egg carton containing twelve large enrolled Ohio Flexicalymene. Re-discovering Flexi in the basement is not anything particularly new for me. But surprisingly, these were all prepped! An unexpected discovery.
Flexicalymene meeki, Ordovician, Ohio.
So, if the weather ain’t cooperating, check out your basement. There may be some long-forgotten gems down there.
Don Bissett
A long-time member of the Dry Dredgers, I’ve been collecting fossils ever since moving to Cincinnati in 1975 to work at P&G. I was introduced to fossil collecting by Bruce Gibson, another Dry Dredger and co-worker at P&G. Shortly after that, I met Dredger Dan Cooper. Both of them taught me a lot about the hobby. Ever since, I’ve been hooked on fossils.
My primary focus is collecting trilobites and echinoderms, though I often find myself accumulating a much wider assortment of fossils. Beyond the collecting hobby, I’ve also had the opportunity to work with professional paleontologists – extremely rewarding experiences. Some of those have been described in Dry Dredger Bulletin articles, MAPS (Mid-American Paleontology Society) articles, and technical publications. I plan to share more about collecting and professional interactions in my blog posts.
Latest posts by Don Bissett (see all)
- Massie Shale Calymene - January 4, 2021
- Mississippian starfish - November 13, 2020
- Walcott-Rust Starfish - October 25, 2020
- Spathacalymene - September 20, 2020
- Penn Dixie Dig with the Experts 2018 - May 27, 2018