Bonnerichthys dig: October 2011

On our last field expedition to Logan County this fall, we intended to try and recover the remains of a large Clidastes specimen located by one of our ranchers. That critter turned out to be a bit of a bust, however about 18 inches below it, we noticed another chunk of bone sticking out of the outcrop. Tracing it in, we eventually figured out it was a pectoral fin of the giant filter-feeding fish Bonnerichthys gladius. These fish are pretty darn rare, and since myself and Mike Triebold were co-authors on the paper naming this fish, we were pretty happy to find it.

Jacob Jett's feet for scale. The orange paint marks where we cut the slab with a chain saw

Detail shot of the distinctive fin of this strange fish

The chalk was very hard, but we were lucky enough to have all of our fancy air tools along with us after helping Mike Everhart with his Protostega dig earlier that week. That made life so much easier on our crew.

Preparation begins, with my hand for scale

The dig lasted just a day, and unfortunately it was just pectoral fins (and a few radials) preserved, the most common bits of this critter found. The fins themselves were 3 feet long, indicating a fish in the 15-foot range. We brought the specimen back to the lab and prepared it in a few days. Now what do we do with it?

The most intact fin, after the cleaning is finished

Daspletosaurus prep update

Jacob and I have been hammering away at the remaining small jackets of Pete III. By small I mean things less than the 4 ton main jacket monstrosity that we'll eventually have to confront. This week we've finished the left femur and ilium, along with a slew of gastral elements, vertebrae, and other bits and pieces.

Anterior dorsal of Pete III compared to Stan

The ilium has a strange mass of punky bone on the medial face of the pubic peduncle. We've seen a few instances of old age related pathology on this specimen, it wouldn't surprise me to find more.

Medial surface of left ilium, 42 inches long

Before long, we'll be started on the pathological tail section. Can't wait!

Caudal view of left femur.

Daspletosaurus prep restarts: this time with skull bones

While I was away soaking up pathogens at SVP in Las Vegas last week, paleotech Jacob Jett has been busy preparing some of the jackets from the weathered edge of Pete III's excavation. The bone was in difficult shape to begin with (earning the nickname "The pixelated Tyrannosaur" at SVP) before seeing several hundred Montana freeze-thaw cycles, making this prep work one of our greatest challenges to date. However, results are here! Skull bones so far include both quadrates, a jugal, both quadratojugals, a spenial, pterygoid and possible surangular, with more to come. No toothy bits yet though.

The left quadrate. Actually recognizable!

Dorsal vertebra #1, giving you an idea of the sheer size of Pete III. Transverse process span is 15 inches (38cm)

Surprise! Manual phalanx!

We still have many jackets (including the majority of the big 4-ton monstrosity) to prepare, however we're confident that the majority of the skeleton and perhaps 20-30% of the skull is here. Check back for more updates!

Fall fieldwork!

There's nothing quite like a nice October day in the Niobrara chalk. Lots of hiking, fresh air, and occasionally a few fossils.

Scrappy Cimolichthys verts in the outcrop

Though the puropse of this past 2 1/2 day trip was primarily for scouting, we did return with a few jackets of specimens, including a nice Ichthyodectes tail from the lower chalk and part of a giant Clidastes from the upper chalk. We'll be returning very soon to recover the rest of the Clidastes, as well as a new Nyctosaurus specimen I discovered on Friday (more on that later), and possibly the Pentanogmius I located, or one of the 3 xiphs I stumbled across. It's good to have so many choices.

Mike evaluating a Xiphactinus skull

Interesting thing about the Clidastes. The tail is chock-full of pathological vertebrae, from what looks to be an old infected bite wound. No clue yet as to whether the bite was from a shark or another mosasaur, however from all the intraspecific damage we see on other specimens, I wouldn't doubt it was the result of Clidastes-on-Clidastes violence.

Ouch! Most certainly a grumpy mosasaur

Light at the end of the Triceratops tunnel

We're back from another great Denver Gem and Mineral show. I even got Bob Dietrich to sign my copy of "Boneheads" by Richard Polsky. Dr. Bakker had some good input about javelinas, and we got our Bacculites jaws back from being prepared by Neal Larson.

Captain Jacob on the SS Pointyface

We're now back in our final push to get this giant Triceratops skull built and out of our workspace. We figure less than 3 weeks to go. All assembly is finished, save for installing the missing maxillary teeth. Steel work is also done (I incinerated 3 t-shirts during that process), all that it really left is details details details. Also painting. Today I should hopefully be finished hollowing out the ironstone from the orbits in the last bit of preparation.

A month's worth of work. Also I made the table.

We've got a space picked out in the museum and will let all of our readers know when it goes on display, so you can come visit it in person. Sad thing is, I don't think this Triceratops has a name yet...

Triceratops project update # whatever

8 feet long and 5 feet wide, about the same size as my bathroom

Ok the assembly process is almost done! We've assembled almost all of the frill, a process that took me a week and a half and 100 pounds of steel. I only severely burned myself 4 or 5 times, including a big melty blob that rolled down my shoulder and back. Ouch.

7 days of constant custom steel fabrication, and still not yet done.

Now it is time for the tedious texturing of the filler that went into areas where we were missing bone. We're leaving the busted part of the parietal off while we work around it. Also note in the photos the fancy stage that I built in an effort to save our backs while detailing. A bit of epoxy putty, some epoccipitals, and some paint will get us to the finish line, now hopefully around Halloween, if not sooner. It's painstaking work, send beer,

Poached Again, Dammit

Hey, I recognize that plastic!

This past week Mike and Jacob returned to Kansas to do some field work, and were reminded by the heat and lack of breeze exactly why we don't usually go back till fall. They scouted some outcrops near where we discovered the poached Protosphyraena fin earlier this year. About 1/4 mile south of that site, Jacob spotted a sliver of blue plastic coming out of the outcrop... again.

View from the site

It was haphazardly covered with about 1 foot of loose chalk and had appeared to have been excavated about 2 years ago judging from the size of the plants growing in the talus. As with the last poaching attempt, the site was nearly completely excavated down to the bone layer before it was abandoned/re-covered. I have the distinct feeling these poachers may be headhunters.

Critter just prior to jacketing

After exposing it,the site turned out to be a sorta jumbled Xiphactinus coming out tail first. There may or may not be skull bits present. Our crew made short work of the specimen and took it out in 3 jackets. After that, the thermometer hit 109 degrees before lunch and it was time to get the proverbial hell out of Dodge. I think hunting out there will be better in about a month. Especially with someone out there finding and pre-excavating specimens for us.