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  • Tiny Footprint

    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.

    Click image for larger version

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    Click image for larger version

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    Rhode Island

  • #2
    Now THAT is awesome. Itโ€™s also what I would call โ€œpretty oldโ€.

    ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ•บ
    Wandering wherever I can, mostly in Eastern Arkansas, always looking down.

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    • #3
      Charlie - I was gonna say that looked like a raised print. That's awesome - What are the odds that you could identify the critter that made the print. We have lots of slate quarries around here and I was considering asking permission to walk the quarry but have been putting it off.
      Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Scorpion68 View Post
        Charlie - I was gonna say that looked like a raised print. That's awesome - What are the odds that you could identify the critter that made the print. We have lots of slate quarries around here and I was considering asking permission to walk the quarry but have been putting it off.
        The prints are given genus and species names themselves, unrelated to the critter that made them. That's true of dino prints, as well as the amphibian and reptile tracks found in the Rhode Island Formation. There's a guy on eBay who apparently has permission to collect, and who is evidently able to identify the many trace fossils found there. Including insect tracks, millipede tracks, and distinguishing which tracks are amphibian and which are reptile. I am not sure how often tracks can be matched to the actual species of critter, though it has been inferred with some of the dino tracks found in the Connecticut valley.
        Rhode Island

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        • #5
          Looks like kermits great (ร—300 million) grandpa tracks! Lol cool fossil Charlie! Thanks for sharing!
          Josh (Ky/Tn collector)

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          • #6
            Hey Charlie, That is a cool track. Such imprints are every bit as interesting as fossilized bones. After all this is picture of a part of the living critter. Very cool
            Michigan Yooper
            If You Donโ€™t Stand for Something, Youโ€™ll Fall for Anything

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            • CMD
              CMD commented
              Editing a comment
              I agree, Ron. And it's a fossilized moment in time as well, something else that's cool about trace fossils.

          • #7
            Thanks for sharing this Charlie. Thatโ€™s pretty cool
            South Dakota

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            • #8
              That's cool!
              Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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              • #9
                That is awesome !!!!!
                As for me and my house , we will serve the lord

                Everett Williams ,
                NW Arkansas

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                • #10
                  WoW really puts you there at that time he put his foot down soo many years ago. Great!
                  If You Know Your History You Can Predict The Future

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                  • #11
                    Very nice Charlie!

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                    • #12
                      Very interesting , very cool . I would love to have that !
                      Good buy .

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                      • #13
                        That's a score! Fossilized footprints are always fascinating, thanks for sharing!

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