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🦖 UK-based Palaeontologist
🦕 Sharing my fossils
🤓 Scientific research
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Here's part of the prep work of an ichthyosaur skull I found a few years ago on the Jurassic Coast.

Many of the fossils found here on the coast are preserved in hard limestone, but this one was in a soft layer. This allowed me to do much of the prep work using nothing but a scalpel. You have to do this quickly though, while the soft shale is still wet. Once it dries out, it hardens much like cement. Once dry and hard, you need more powerful tools to do the job. So, as with much of fossil hunting and prepping, it's a race against time!

#fossil #fossils #geology #rock #rocks #history #ancient #dinosaur #Jurassic #jurassiccoast #Dorset #beach #fossilhunting #collecting #hobby #discovery #adventure #nature #wildlife #find #ichthyosaur #ichthy #bone #bones #dino #mineral #minerals by @fms.fossils

10 months ago

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A time lapse of the prep work of a giant Asteroceras obtusum ammonite I found on the Jurassic Coast.

This took around 24 hours of work using pneumatic tools to slowly remove the rock from around the ammonite on both sides while sculpting the remaining rock matrix. The end result is a natural piece of art!

These large Asteroceras ammonites are rare, and finding one is a real buzz! But finding it is only half the battle. Prepping it takes patience, dedication, the right tools, and a very steady hand!

#fossil #fossils #geology #rock #rocks #history #ancient #dinosaur #Jurassic #jurassiccoast #Dorset #beach #fossilhunting #collecting #hobby #discovery #adventure #nature #wildlife #find #ammonites #ammonite #shell #shells #crystal #mineral #crystals #minerals by @fms.fossils

39k

a year ago

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This is the forelimb (paddle) of the ichthyosaur I've recently finished prepping. You never know how well articulated the bones are going to be until you fully prep these fossils. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this one!

#fossil #fossils #jurassiccoast #fossilhunting #ichthyosaur by @fms.fossils

336

12 days ago

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This is the perfect skull of an ichthyosaur I found on the Jurassic Coast three years ago that I've finally finished prepping! It's taken a long time to get this beautiful fossil finished, but it's well worth every hour spent on it.

Fossils like this that you see in museums don't just fall out of the rock in this state, it takes countless hours of dedicated work to get them looking their best. It also requires a lot of specialist equipment.

With this specimen, much of the work involved stabilising and preparing the rock matrix that the fossil is preserved in. The rock was very fragile when the fossil was found, and without this work the bones would simply have fallen out and the specimen would be lost. This meant extreme care had to be taken when collecting the fossil and at every stage throughout it's preparation in the workshop.

I'll post more pictures of this beastie as it's a pretty special one!

#ichthyosaur #skull #fossil #fossilhunting # jurassiccoast by @fms.fossils

794

16 days ago

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The final reveal of the skull of an ichthyosaur I found on the Jurassic Coast - this is a sped-up video of me using air abrasive techniques to remove a thin layer of rock from the delicate bones. This is the best and safest way to reveal the bones without damaging them. The machine blasts powder, in this case soft bicarbonate of soda, at the fossil using compressed air. This is strong enough to erode away the rock, but leaves the harder bone underneath untouched. You still have to be careful not to blast the bones completely off the underlying rock!

#skull #ichthyosaur #fossil #fossilhunting # jurassiccoast by @fms.fossils

2 months ago

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Here's a beautiful ichthyosaur jaw I've been working on recently. I found it many years ago on the Jurassic Coast. It's an unusual one as this part of the jaw is perfectly preserved in 3D with all the teeth still in place, but the rest of the body was completely scattered and disarticulated on the seafloor before becoming fossilised.

This could have been because the heavy skull sank into the soft mud of the Jurassic seafloor after the animal died, while the rest of the body stayed on surface of the mud allowing it to decay and drift apart or be scavenged upon.

Each fossil can tell a unique story of life and death.

#fossil #fossils #jurassiccoast #fossilhunting #dorset by @fms.fossils

309

3 months ago

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The most INCREDIBLE weekend - overwhelming in all the best possible ways, and most importantly, filled with LOVE 😍

I can’t wait to share more from these three days (the animals! The outfits! The venue! The people!), but for now, I’m just going to leave this here 🥹

🎥 @_livvid_ by @fms.fossils

10k

164

5 months ago

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We did it!! 💍

09.05.26 taken in Mapperton House, Gardens & Wildlands by @fms.fossils

11k

284

5 months ago

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$Check out the colours on this beauty. These iridescent ammonites can show all the colours of the rainbow. The colours change as the viewing angle changes thanks to the refraction of light as it passes through and bounces off the thin layers of shell, that are made of the mineral calcite. Nature and art coming together! #fossil #fossils #ammonite #fossilhunting #ammolite by @fms.fossils$

222

5 months ago

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Here's another time lapse of some prep work on an ichthyosaur from the Jurassic Coast of the UK. This is the rear limb (paddle) of the animal that was embedded in soft limestone.

The bones in these limbs are tiny and delicate, so careful prep work is needed to reveal them.

#geology #ichthyosaur #fossil #fossilhunting # jurassiccoast by @fms.fossils

353

5 months ago

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Here's an update on the ichthyosaur I've been prepping recently. I've removed the harder shale matrix that was covering some of the jaw and eye socket, revealing the detail beneath. This includes the delicate sclerotic ring of bone that was inside the eyeball itself in life.

The detail in this skull is phenomenal, about as good as it gets! The teeth are particularly well preserved and intricate. I've started prepping the body of this animal, and will reunite it with its skull.

#ichthyosaur #fossil #fossils #jurassiccoast #fossilhunting by @fms.fossils

571

5 months ago

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Here's a quick time lapse of some air abrasive work I carried out the reveal the front limb (paddle) of the ichthyosaur I've been preparing recently. These tools are new to me but have opened up a while new world of fossil prep!

I'm using bicarb as a powder, which is blasted via compressed air through the machine. Because this powder has a low hardness, it removes the soft shale that is stuck to the bones without damaging the bones themselves. It's very satisfying work! There's plenty more to do on this fossil, but it's getting there.

A big shout out to @naturalselectionfossils for helping me get the abrasive set up!

#ammonites #ichthyosaur #fossil #fossilhunting # jurassiccoast by @fms.fossils

508

5 months ago

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Dr Fiann Smithwick

@fms.fossils

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