free4rms
freely admits to licking rocks
My little pet walrus
Member since January 2007
Posts: 839
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Post by free4rms on Jun 15, 2007 18:09:50 GMT -5
I have been a fossil collector for over forty years in the Summerville, S.C. area. Recently a friend of mine found a 30 million year old fossil leatherback turtle shell on the bottom of a drainage ditch. He wanted to donate it to the S.C. State Museum and since I have acted as a field liason with them for 18 years, I contacted the museum. We have been working on excavating the turtle for two days now and the media jumped all over the story. Here is a link to the newspaper article if you want to see it. There is a link in the article to a gallery page of photos, too. I am the person who is reading the red t-shirt in the photos: charleston.net/news/2007/jun/15/scientists_dig_rare_fossil/ |
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jun 15, 2007 18:44:37 GMT -5
Hey that's neat! They think it's mostly intact huh? I'd love to see it when the excavation is complete!
Dan
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Jun 15, 2007 21:15:46 GMT -5
cool find! It's rare to find reasonably complete turtles anywhere, except for the Nebraska-South Dakota badlands. I've found a few, but them, I am the fossilman  |
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Post by parfive on Jun 15, 2007 22:32:14 GMT -5
Let's see . . . Paul found it two or three weeks ago, it's still half-buried in the ground, but it's already been uranium-thorium dated and identified, even though "knowledge of the genus is spotty at best because scientists usually find only little pieces of shell".
Are these paleontologists on speed? ;D
Don't get me wrong, Vance . . . it's an incredible find and you guys deserve all the kudos.
Rich
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adrian65
Cave Dweller 
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,789
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Post by adrian65 on Jun 16, 2007 0:07:46 GMT -5
Great find indeed!
Adrian
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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 16, 2007 5:40:13 GMT -5
The closest I've come is a 1 inch square of turtle shell. :-)
Give me a find like that and I can die a happy man.
Congrats man, that is a great find!
Curt
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free4rms
freely admits to licking rocks
My little pet walrus
Member since January 2007
Posts: 839
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Post by free4rms on Jun 16, 2007 7:40:10 GMT -5
Rich,
Yeah, the story line the newpaper gave does make it sound a bit confusing. It is true that the discoverer found it and left it exposed on the surface for two weeks, and that was a very, very bad idea. Anyone could have come along and plundered it. Luckily another collector saw it exposed and took an educated guess who had found it and left it there. He called the guy who originally discovered it and eventually someone called me. It took three or four days to get the museum people down here to work on it, and luckily no damage had been done to it before the digging began. The turtle itself was not uranium-thorium dated, but other fossils in that type of matrix had been dated much earlier. It is also true that the genus information was spotty, but this was based on fragmentary pieces of shell found over a long period of time. As a matter of fact, the world's expert on fossil leatherbacks lives in N.J. and he had contacted the S.C. State Museum and asked them to be on the alert for any good turtle shells we might find around here. So, when this one showed up, he was the first one we contacted. This shell is far, far better and more complete than any this expert has ever dealt with. Hopefully, this one will yield the information that will allow a correct genus name to be assigned.
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Jun 16, 2007 11:08:29 GMT -5
leatherback turtle fossils are very rare. Any find like that is likely to be the highlight of any fossil hunter's life.
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Post by sandsman1 on Jun 16, 2007 14:46:02 GMT -5
thats just too cool great find --- to you all
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chinook203
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2006
Posts: 849
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Post by chinook203 on Jun 16, 2007 21:37:56 GMT -5
Very very cool!
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Post by parfive on Jun 16, 2007 22:16:39 GMT -5
Vance - Thanks for the more detailed info.
Makes a lot more sense, about the dating of other fossils in that type of matrix.
I hope you get some good pics when she's all excavated.
Rich
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Post by beefjello on Jun 17, 2007 13:35:42 GMT -5
That is an extraordinary find! It must be a thrill to be part of something like that!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Jun 18, 2007 12:22:20 GMT -5
way cool!
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Post by larrywyland3 on Jun 18, 2007 13:40:27 GMT -5
Great find; awesome that you are working to preserve it for all.
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