The annual gem, mineral, and fossil show is this weekend. The wife and I had a great time. JMatt and his wife were there as well, but we somehow missed bumping into them.
I usually don't buy anything for myself, at least in recent years, but picked up a couple of things this go round. This tiny amphibian footprint is about 300 million years old. Upper Carboniferous(The so-called Age of Coal. Most eastern US coal fields are that age, also known as the Pennsylvanian Period). It's from the Rhode Island Formation, and was collected at the Masslite Quarry in Plainville, Ma. Unfortunately, ownership does not allow collecting there anymore. Years ago, I collected nice fossil plants there, but I missed out on the footprint and insect layers, which had not yet been discovered in those days.
You can see parts of 3 digits, tiny thumb tip to their left, and that may be the heel tip below the digits a bit. This is the positive side of a split slab of shale, so the print is raised, and not indented.
I usually don't buy anything for myself, at least in recent years, but picked up a couple of things this go round. This tiny amphibian footprint is about 300 million years old. Upper Carboniferous(The so-called Age of Coal. Most eastern US coal fields are that age, also known as the Pennsylvanian Period). It's from the Rhode Island Formation, and was collected at the Masslite Quarry in Plainville, Ma. Unfortunately, ownership does not allow collecting there anymore. Years ago, I collected nice fossil plants there, but I missed out on the footprint and insect layers, which had not yet been discovered in those days.
You can see parts of 3 digits, tiny thumb tip to their left, and that may be the heel tip below the digits a bit. This is the positive side of a split slab of shale, so the print is raised, and not indented.
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