Collecting Dinosaur bones and dinosaur fossils

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Figured I might start a thread dedicated to dinosaur bones, and for anyone that likes collecting them. I will post some pictures of some of my favorites from my collection, feel free to ask questions or thoughts !!
I will try and identify these now and see how I do, the first picture just shows a variety of verts. The large one is triceratops. The ribs section to the right belongs to Camarasaurus.
The next picture shows a partial vert that likely was submerged rapidly when the dinosaur died, causing the cells to rot away and fill with quartz.
The large piece afterwards is part of a massive leg bone, that is heavily calcified. This means it likely belonged to a much older dinosaur, and did not fossilize well.
The following picture shows a slice of bone, with massive cells and gorgeous coloration.
Next picture is a slice from a sauropod leg bone, with marrow pocket in center
The picture following that is the same slice from the back showing hollow cells that did not fossilize properly
The following piece is a section of Allosaurus vert from the saccral, with the centrums polished.
Picture following is a stack of dinosaur bone slices, cabachons and gems.
The stone following was one I purchased to have a ring made, and is bone that has been faceted.
The final picture is two of my eggs, a Citipatti and an Oviraptor side by side.

[attachment msg=10725][/attachment]

[Himmapaan]

These are just wonderful. What a collection!

I think you may have uploaded the wrong picture by mistake for the last one? 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

These are just wonderful. What a collection!

I think you may have uploaded the wrong picture by mistake for the last one? 

Thanks !!! I just put up some of the highlights of it, but I do love the dinosaur bones and fossils, and since there did not appear to be a similar thread, thought I might share them. When I get some more time I will try and add a few more .
You were of course right about the last picture, so I swapped it for the intended one . I hope this ones makes more sense with the rest . Thanks for pointing it out !
Figured I would add a few more while I have time, first up, a small block of bone with reds and greyish greens . Shows the cell texture quite well
The next piece is a small circle of bone with some quartz in the center, and banded fortifications surrounding the central marrow pocket . Older bone that has been through alot.
The following piece is a sliced section of dinosaur coprolite that has been lightly polished. Amazing how pretty something with such errm...dubious origins can be.
The end of a badly compressed leg bone, that is filled with calcium. Note the central marrow chamber . Gorgeous piece.
A slice of bone that is spiderwebbed and translucent, so the cell walls and details are highly visible
Next set of two pictures are preforms for spheres made from dinosaur bone

[attachment msg=10753][/attachment]

[amargasaurus cazaui]

More dinosaur bones, gems, fossils and even an entire skeleton !!!

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Spheres and eggs.



Section from an ALbertosaurus bone bed, make note of the rib segment on the upper portion


Looks like a neural arch, still filled with matrix


Section of Camarasaurus,with a fragment from the sternal plate.




These two shots are a Saccral vert from an Allosaurus. Notice the polised centrum ends. Piece still needs matrix removal and cleaning.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Been awhile since I visited this thread so I figured I might add something new.I had sent the piece pictured above, containing the albertosaurus rib section to a prep lab for cleaning. They discovered the matrix was almost impossibly hard, likely riverbottom mud sediment. I was hoping to discover some other bone pieces present in the matrix however sadly that did not appear to be the case. Still the rib section was cleaned and revealed much better, providing a view of its natual coloring....suprisingly it had fossilized in a reddish tinged shade. The picture provided was prior to waxing the bone with some gloss to bring out the reds and natural colors while sealing, but gives an idea at least.



Once the piece and its companion I sent along with it return from the lab I will provide better pictures....the second piece I had sent was from the Cloverly formation in Wyoming and contained a section of tenontosaurus that I had guessed was a vert and some ribs, however the prep lab suggested it was more likely a leg bone with the rib sections.

[SpittersForEver]

Let me guess................... the skeloton is a psittocasaurus

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Let me guess................... the skeloton is a psittocasaurus

Hardly a guess, the dinosaur has its own thread and facebook page !! Yes he is a psittacosaurus Meileyingensis, named for the small chinese village where his genus was found.

[SpittersForEver]

How much was he I wonder because Im interested in buying a small dinosaur skeleton like so.
Anyway for an 11 year old it was a good guess

[amargasaurus cazaui]

\

How much was he I wonder because Im interested in buying a small dinosaur skeleton like so.
Anyway for an 11 year old it was a good guess

mine is a sub-adult at 25 inches long...I see some under twelve inches that are quite small and mounted they bring less than a thousand dollars. Generally the ones from about 18 inches to roughly 30 inches you can figure a hundred dollars per inch . Mine cost roughly that a few years ago. The larger you get, the more they cost exponentially. I have seen psittacosaurs in the 40-50 inch range bring 4-6 thousand . Preservation also plays a key role, the better the teeth and verts are preserved the more it will cost. Mine has fairly rough verts but I lucked out and got decent teeth for a lower price.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I am able sometimes to purchase small lots of scattered pieces and bones from a collector/dealer that is located in South Dakota, meaning the material is normally Hell Creek and Cretaceous dinosaur in origin. Normally they are scattered pieces, and nothing too large or complete, but I have found they are fun to collect, and sort through. Now and then I am able to restore or rebuild a piece that is nice.....and today I had some time so I thought I would share a lot that I had gotten a few months back. First a shot or two giving a general idea what comes in the box.For this particular lot, it is primarily rib pieces and some vert processes. The two are similar in general shape, however the ribs tend to be more curved and have more of a spongy interior, and in general are not as dense as the processes. Also the processes often have the attachment areas present, where they had been joined to the centrum. Notice the close up of a rib center, and how it is textured. Then you will notice a large flange for a rib, that is partially flat...the shape and size indicate parts of a larger rib, although the bone is crumbly, and saturated with cracks. Notice the rib as it takes shape ....a piece at a time, until it is nice sized and quite obviously belongs together . When I have free time I enjoy this amateur fossil prepping and restoring, and sometimes i get lucky and make a rather nice piece . Most of this material is either Edmontosaurus or Triceratops.

[stoneage]

Do you ever glue bones together?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Do you ever glue bones together?

Yes, I do. Anytime I fit something like this together I get the super glue gel out and bond them together. I myself feel the piece gains from being more intact and together than seperate pieces. While the bones I work with are not ....super important scientific specimens or huge intact skulls, they do gain from being repaired and assembled and are more desireable in general. So yes, I do it whenever possible .

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Some of the pictures here....a large batch of various slabs and specimens of dinosaur bone, many left from previous projects. The various macro style shots highlight some of the many different patterns and cells you find. You will also see a small section of leg bone, make note of the clearly defined well preserved marrow pocket within the center of the bone. The two mirror slices of light pastel colored bone are subsequent slices from the same piece and I intend someday to place them within a frame, shaped and polished to look like a butterfly. The small wire wrapped piece was done by a friend of mine for me and contains a large piece of sauropod egg shell from patagonia, and a smaller brightly colored oviraptor shell from Mongolia as well. The large group of polished pieces is bone as well, many different colors and shapes cut from various bones. The smaller pile of less colorful pieces towards the end of the posting are rather unique actually. I was able to acquire a nice parcel of fossil reptile bone from a deposit that is dated to roughly 30 MYA, or post dinosaur times. These pieces would be fossil bone from primarily turtle and perhaps crocodile or lizards, with turtles being the most common suspect. Notice how they all look like a smaller more well organized version of the pattern you see from the dinosaur bone that would date to about 130 MYA compared.







     Had a sunny day today and was sorting boxes and so forth. Figured I would share some of the findings.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

A fascinating bit of trivia about fossil dinosaur bone from the Morrison and jurassic formations of the American west- Much of this bone will trigger a low level hit on a geiger counter. It is not high enough level to produce any noticeable effect or cause issues, but the bone is saturated with a background level high enough to be measured. Under a geologists lamp or blacklight, much of it will play out brilliant colors and display quite well.  There have been a few recent fossil discoveries in which they actually were able to measure by geiger to locate the buried fossil and then excavate it.
  What do you infer is the cause of this? Volcanic activity would seem the logical answer, which makes me ask...in locations where there has been a high level of volcanism is there a measureable backdrop of measureable activity like what is found in fossil bone from the Jurassic? Perhaps areas like Pompeii then would have a raised level?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

This is one of my displays of dinosaur bones.. This particular area is for bones with actual visible identifiable characteristics.


In this picture you have to the left a Camarasaurus partial sternal plate, with a section of rib. The large vert in the foreground is likely Triceratops.


This small grouping of verts is likely Dryosaurus.


A hadrosaurus Ungual, this started out in many small pieces. Someday if I get time there are still about 150 fragments that could use put together for it as well, on the top side. The ultimate 3-D jigsaw puzzle !!!


A partial vert from an animal that likely was submerged quite quickly once it died. The cells have rotted away inside the vert, leaving just the cell walls themselves. The water filling the vert contained minerals that replaced the cells with this white quartz, and against the brown webbing it is gorgeous.No idea the species, but definitely Jurassic .


Another type if replacement , this is a small section of legbone, where the middle of the bone has rotted out, or was hollow, and filled with quartz. These types of bones sell high and are sought for their beauty.

l

A grab bag of vert processes and rib sections.


Very hard to photograph due to the small size, these are likely bird bones or tiny lizard from the Hell Creek.Limb bone and and a small vert.


Both of the spheres pictured in this display are in the area where I put next to be dones. Both are projects that have eaten far too much time. This first one never quite seems to get smooth enough to polish and is made from some type of purple material with darker green  areas. Quite pretty but unknown material and difficult to work with.The second one is chrysocolla in quartz, and comes from south america. It is caused by mineral rich water, infilling a large formation of white quartz, and then leaving behind the minerals, which would likely be copper producing in nature, given the greens and blues present in the quartz.

[Blackdanter]

I've been taking a serious interest in our local Geology here in Hastings for a couple of years now. The rock material here is Wealden, early Cretaceous around 120-140 million years old. The environment represented is of a large lowland flood plain crossed by river systems and subject to flash floods and seasonal forest fires (at least that burnt material was dumped here from higher land during flooding). Hastings is famous for it's dinosaur material and plant fossils however, dinosaur material is actually very rare. I have found some over the course of last winter, various fossil bones believed to be Iguanodontid. These are mainly caudal verts, some broken.



I also found some nice tracks following the winter storms however these were sadly soon destroyed by the sea or reburied.


 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

You are quite fortunate, I cannot find dinosaur fossils in my area, which is Kansas. This was a huge sea when the dinosaurs ruled so not much to be found here at least except lots of shells and sea bottom material, and a miles thick layer of limestone.

    I like the preservation of dinosaur material from your area, and have seen some bone from that area that is fossilized in manganese so the cells are all metallic. Amazing material. Looking at your verts, they see to have a sparkle-like area at the edges, perhaps calcite or pyrite or some form of quartz to make them look like that. That left vert is killer with nice partial processes.The second vert to my eyes does not appear to be the same type as the others, Is the last bone a vert or could it be an astralgus, or foot bone? The shape looks consistent from this angle with a foot bone.
    That track you found was amazing, I would have bought it from you , too bad you could not collect it. I am still shopping for a nice dinosaur track for my collection but I am stubborn and refuse to purchase a replica. You are very fortunate to be able to hunt these yourself like that and I appreciate you sharing them

[Blackdanter]

Your local geology would still be worth investigating. There would be the possibility of marine reptile material I would imagine. 

The bone material tends to be found in mudstone, clay and sandstone. It's tough to remove from the harder sandstones we have here from the Ashford series. It tends to weather out of the mudstones and clays quite well but is then a bit of a race to get to it before the sea does too much damage. Preservation is variable but the cellular material is often replaced with quartz, pyrite or siderite.

Iguanodon verts vary in shape quite considerably along the length of the spine as you probably know. The larger vert is from the top of the tail closer to the hip area. The three smaller ones are closer to the tail tip. The bottom piece is the end of a larger bone which is flatter in cross section and has a slight curve. The closest I could get when I took this to the NHM to compare with their research material was either scapula (most likely) or part of the pelvic cradle, possibly ilium. I am aware that the area that I found this material has also yielded most of the pelvic cradle, more caudals and various femur parts to other searchers so we are looking at the remains of probably one animal weathering out from someplace in the vicinity. My suspicion is that the animal is lying in an exposed bed below the low tide area someplace.

I found 26 tracks over the last winter following severe storms. None were recoverable unfortunately as they were either in areas where the tide was too quick to work with, in areas that were too dangerous to work in due to the crumbling cliff faces or just not removable as the rock was either too hard or too soft. All of these have now been reburied under tonnes of shingle or falling cliff. A good few in the softer clays are just destroyed very quickly. The print shown was the largest I have yet found and was one of a pair (left and right). Any attempt to have removed them would have destroyed them as the rock was quite soft. Best left for others to see under those circumstances. I will find something removable at some point hopefully. If I can get you one I'll let you know. The other major problem with these is the size of rock required to be removed with them. The beach isn't good terrain at all, no sand so no easy walk! It's about a mile of boulder strewn shingle to get to the point where these are to be found ........ no easy access! It can be hard work hauling even a few medium sized samples back along the beach!

We do find other interesting things here though (dinosaur material is a rare bonus):

Hybodus Teeth



Hybodus Fin Spine



Turtle Bone



Turtle Shell



Pterosaur Bone and Fish Scale



Fish Scales (articulated)



More Articulated Fish (probably Lepidotes)



It makes more sense from this angle. You can see both flanks of armoured scales and spine bone material. I mistook this for a plant cone when I first found it!



It's an interesting place to investigate for fossils. 

Finally, some more prints found last summer a bit further along the coast at Pett.





 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

You are quite lucky with your finds , some very nice pieces there. I am very fond of the pterosaur bone for instance. I would love finding my own fossils here, however mostly what is found is just deep limestone. Shells are common, but nothing in the way of actual marine reptiles generally. If you go west of my location sixty miles you can find beds of limestone that yield many types of shark teeth, however you really have to go to the western end of my state to find much for marine reptiles or pterosaur material. I am unsure why this is, unless where I am would have just been too far from the shore areas, or too deep maybe. I do know I can visit a lake about thirty miles north of here when it is low and find hundreds of feet of exposed sea bottom material, that is literally encrusted with shells of a bewlildering variety and amount.
  I truly envy your collect and wish you success with your finds. I am enjoying looking at them for sure. Such nice fossils....truly great of you to share.