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. Comments are closed.
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Kane Faucher
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February 2024
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