As I type this, there are still two weeks until 2020 is done, so I will be feeding this post with any and all updates right up until there are no updates to share. With snow on the ground, I've entered into the indoor phase of fossils, which involves research, writing, next year's trip planning, drawing, and preparation. Things seem quiet when there are no big trips imminent or ongoing, but it is far from that! This reprieve from the excitement and adventure of collecting is a much-needed pause to reflect on what was done, where we need to go next, but also the unglamorous behind the scenes work of research and writing. In some ways, these months take up more time than the carefree and fly-by-seat-of-pants collecting days of the season proper. There is much to prepare, as well. My proverbial dance card is full. If I lived in a place without winter, I'd never get any prep done! Nor would I be able to get to plan the logistics of upcoming trips. The focus for next year will be here in Canada, so it is unlikely I'll be making a trip to the US in 2021. And although I continue working diligently on the Devonian field guide, a lot my time will likely be spent in the Ordovician and some Silurian. Oh, and I need to get back to pushing the pencils; a long season has meant hammers instead and not enough time doing illustration. My output this year is dwarfed by 2019. But, now is the time to pencil it in, so to speak. To that end, my newest: And if I can't collect when the snows fly, I can buy. This is one of six that are due to arrive in the next while. I've wanted a Dicranurus monstrosus for some time, and the price was right. The prep is not upper tier, but it is a lovely example at 8 cm. This species represents perhaps the most elaborate evolutionary example of the odontopleurids. What purpose the spines served is not entirely clear or known, but as a means of defense would be a good hypothesis. What is also quite distinct about this genus is the presence of the two large, roll-backed horns, a little like ram's horns. There is a Dicranurus in Oklahoma Haragan Formation strata as well, as both Morocco and Oklahoma shared some territory back in the Ordovician. They are also reported in New York state. Some crappy quick snaps: . More to come as warranted. Updates to follow! UPDATE: Delivery on a Saturday added a new trilobite to the collection. This one I dub the handlebar mustache of trilobites. It is none other than Illaenus tauricornis. and it measures over 8 cm. A Russian bug from the Ordovician. The illaenids were truly mud bugs. Their morphology seems well suited to muddy environments and burrowing. Almost all illaenids have effaced cephalons and pygidia, again probably suited to their environment. This species' unique feature is indeed those long, curling genal spines. The purpose of this ornament is not entirely known. But it does give a bit more pizazz to what would otherwise be mostly a segmented blob like most illaenids. More to come. I have one more that should arrive this week, a Russian lichid, and there will be an asaphid which may come next month (as well as a cluster of bugs for preparation). UPDATE 2: This will very likely be the last trilobite to be added to the collection for 2020, and I end the year on a high note. This brings my total species count to 150. This is truly a lovely bug. This lichid is none other than Hoplolichoides furcifer from the classic St Petersburg, Russia area. With the nicely inflated glabellar lobes, prepared with the long sawtooth genals freestanding, posterior cranidial horns, and thoracic spines, it is truly a marvel of evolution. I've wanted one for some time now. UPDATE 3: This may or may not be my last illustration for 2020. Took me a few days and the camera likes to wash out the finer detail, but a bigger-than-grapefruit sized Pliomera fischeri, enrolled: UPDATE #4: Xmas Loot! I was totally spoiled this year! In fact, I'm pretty much field-ready for 2021 now. A place to store and display only the finest trilobite specimens as opposed to using end tables, dining room table, lamp tables, shelves, or slow moving people. This antique originates from the Bombay Company, and was lovingly restored after purchase. Very nice! Not pictured -- but also purchased from the same shop -- is the classic A Pictorial Guide to Fossils by Gerard R. Chase who, very sadly, just passed away on December 21. New CSA-standard boots! I go through a pair a year. A good pair of boots is the foundation of serious collecting, but also safety-rated boots a mandatory requirement for any access to quarries. On the right are gloves, of course. I go through a lot of the nitrile gloves every year as they tend to wear out quickly -- but are good for working in rain or wet materials, or picking out small items. On the right are packs of your standard work gloves for general grunt work., Tactical field packs! The black and smaller one is for quick trips with fewer tools, and the coyote green one on the right is for week-long excursions. Both are very well made. The green one is the same layout as my 2020 pack from China, but much better quality and more features (not shown). Backpacks are my lifeline in the field. They have to be sturdy and reliable, with a lot of storage capacity to hold my tools, finds, and related necessities. Field fashion! A couple of t-shirts and a hoodie with my trilobite drawings on them.
And, not to be neglected, photo taking aids for field finds. The tripod is handy for those days when a few too many beers gives some trembling to the hands the day after, and the light box / backdrop allows for photos not distracting from background clutter, with the LED that means not hunting for the right lighting (harder to do in our dark winters and low-slung sun!). All that remains now is to get some new field pants and field glue in bulk. Apart from planning trip logistics, bring on the 2021 season! It's been one of those weeks, hunched over a microscope with a conga line of fossils coming through the blast box. My goal was to do some cleanup of some long neglected items, and smuggle in some of the newer acquisitions. In the process, two new discoveries, and a few disappointments -- which is to be expected when it is uncertain if a specimen is complete when collecting in the field. The lab is the supreme court where the verdict of complete or incomplete is delivered. Apart from some matrix-scaping, this Gravicalymene is done. It is still wet in the photo, so it is reflecting some white light. Bits of another fossil beneath the cephalon makes this the Devil Gravi. This one was glued back together in the field, so the crack and missing shell on the lower left is what it is. Careful abrasion means surface details can show. The Gravi's fine scattering of granules is a nice feature. And a disappointment. This Triarthrus rougensis looks pretty awful, but from a distance it looks alright. The thoracic spine and right genal is present, and the whole bug measures a whopping few millimetres. It's listing to one side and I think I'll just leave this one alone. Progress to date on this small (about 1 cm wide) and very rare encrinurid cephalon of Physemataspis pernodosus. All the literature I've seen shows only the cranidia, but this has a nice long genal on its right side. Time will tell if the left is buried in there. A return engagement on a piece I'd given up on. It's still a poor specimen of Asaphus lepidurus, but I soldiered through despite its many flaws. It had been found broken in the field, glued together with a strange type of glue, but not perfectly aligned, with some abraded parts and fractures all over. I think the result is the best that can be hoped for this one, which is fine since I have a number of Leppies. Speaking of, a larger Leppy that I had not done a perfect job with, so I came back and did it a solid. I just need to smooth out the tool marks and it can go back into the display case. Just one of the three Cincinnaticrinus on a slab. These are very small, but... ...This is even smaller. Just a centimetre to the left of the crinoid was this 2 mm (sadly broken) example of the hypostome belonging to Hypodicranotus striatulus. The hypostome for this genus is unique among trilobites, running almost the entire length of the ventral side of the trilobite. I've wanted an example for a while, so it was great to discover it long after I brought it back from the field. Speaking of discoveries, I was probing some of the pieces from the Bobcaygeon Fm and this fragment seems to be a match for the cephalic region of Hemiarges paulianus. If so, another species to cross off the list. This group of Gravis are split on the two halves. The shale is brittle and not the most cooperative at times. The halves had to be glued together and prepped from the top. Follow the leader! Sadly, they all have something wrong with them, but still a triple in its own way. A jumble of Ectenocrinus, two main crowns showing. A solitary Ectenocrinus crown that had some of its arms damaged from exposure. A small Cincinnaticrinus with some brachiopod stem stowaways. Either a Dendrocrinus or Iocrinus. Tangled up in its arms are bits of Ceraurus and Flexicalymene (the rest of the slab is full of them).
So that's about the bulk of the prep work this week. I worked on about twice as many pieces, but nothing I'm ready to show just as yet. |
Kane Faucher
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