Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 3110737, member: 76194&quot;]Those of you who have seen my fossils before know that I&#039;m not really into dinosaurs or other land dwelling creatures that get all the glory around here. Rather, I prefer collecting things that most people tend to overlook...blastoids, crinoids, echinoderms, and other sea dwelling life from the Cambrian period (540,000,000 BCE) to the Triassic period (201,000,000 BCE), before the dinosaurs became the undisputed rulers of the land and started hugging all the glory. Don&#039;t ask me why, but I&#039;ve always found primitive sea life fascinating.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently made an exception to my pre-201,000,000 years or older rule, and got this rather modern 180,000,000 year old fossil of a belemnite (partial fossil anyway as I suspect 1/3 of the structure is missing). Anyway, here it is, one that is sure to make you squirm...my latest fossil acquisition.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]789285[/ATTACH]</p><p>SPECIES: Youngibelus gigas</p><p>AGE: Jurassic (180 Million Years Ago)</p><p>LOCATION: Holzmaden, Germany</p><p>FORMATION: Posidonia Shale</p><p>SIZE: 4.2&quot; long on 5.5x2.6&quot; Rock</p><p><br /></p><p>So what exactly was a belemnite? It was an ancient cephalopod with a hard horn-shaped internal structure, and 10 tentacles with hooks to ensnare their unfortunate meals with. Think of them as an ancient relative of the modern squid, nautilus, and octopus, but much meaner.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]789297[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Often all that survives is the horn-like internal shell as it was the hardest part of the creature. Unfortunately what you usually find on sale is the shell structure highly polished to a jewel-lile gloss like the one below....yuck! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie96" alt=":vomit:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> At that point it is more a piece of jewelry than an actual fossil you can study and admire. I get it, it&#039;s beautiful and it may even shed light on the internal structure, but the shape is lost and it just doesn&#039;t look right to me. To each his own.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]789300[/ATTACH]</p><p>So when I found one that wasn&#039;t polished to death, and was still attached to the rock in a very tastefully executed way , I jumped on it. Never been a fan of fossils completely removed from the rock it was found in, so having a piece of the original shale to go with the fossil was a huge plus.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in