fossilprep

[fossilprep]

Hadrosaur fibula with a Tyrannosaur tooth embedded! The tooth is in the spongy bone on the proximal end of the bone, plus there are subtle bite marks along the shaft, which could point to scavenging behavior from a Tyrannosaur. This fibula is part of a skeleton we're currently excavating at Jack's Bonebed in Havre, Montana, and was found laying on top of the tibia.

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Hadrosaur fibula with a Tyrannosaur tooth embedded! The tooth is in the spongy bone on the proximal end of the bone, plus there are subtle bite marks along the shaft, which could point to scavenging behavior from a Tyrannosaur. This fibula is part of a skeleton we're currently excavating at Jack's Bonebed in Havre, Montana, and was found laying on top of the tibia.

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NEW RAPTOR HAND! This is the partial hand of a raptor dinosaur that we collected from our super-site "Jack's bonebed" in 2024. It does not look quite right to be from the troodontid raptor that we have been collecting from this site, so we think it is from another skeleton that we have only just identified coming out of the same bed - a parrot-mimic oviraptorid (technically a Caenagnathid). We have a few tentative pieces of this skeleton so far, but it's looking really promising!

What's especially cool about this specimen is that it contains the "semi-lunate carpal" (meaning: half-moon wrist bone, outlined in red). This strange little bone was really important in the "birds are dinosaurs" debate: when the raptor bends its wrist, the twisted shape of the semi-lunate carpal means the arm folds like the wing of a bird. Super cool!

I purposely left a bit of matrix between the bones for stability. The bone is fairly crunchy and cracked so there was a little Apoxie gap filling plus the tiny cracks in the bones had to be meticulously cleaned grain by grain. All work done under a compound lens microscope between 12-50x magnification.

From US Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management - Montana/Dakotas

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Raptor brains!

Here's a Troodontid braincase I recently completed preparing using small air scribes, carbowax techniques, and air abrasion under high magnification microscopes. Every square millimeter of this paper-thin hydroxyapatite wants to shatter like tempered glass.

There are probably fewer than 10 Troodontid braincases in the world, and most are squashed flat. This new specimen is preserved in 3D so it'll be put it in a micro-CT scanner to see the inside of the brain cavity. I purposely left matrix inside the cavity because it could have data that the CT scanner could let us see and acts as a support for the brittle bone.

From US Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management - Montana/Dakotas. Found by volunteer Tom Beckenholdt. Collected by Tom & Elizabeth Freedman Fowler.

[fossilprep]

Raptor brains!

Here's a Troodontid braincase I recently completed preparing using small air scribes, carbowax techniques, and air abrasion under high magnification microscopes. Every square millimeter of this paper-thin hydroxyapatite wants to shatter like tempered glass.

There are probably fewer than 10 Troodontid braincases in the world, and most are squashed flat. This new specimen is preserved in 3D so it'll be put it in a micro-CT scanner to see the inside of the brain cavity. I purposely left matrix inside the cavity because it could have data that the CT scanner could let us see and acts as a support for the brittle bone.

From US Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management - Montana/Dakotas. Found by volunteer Tom Beckenholdt. Collected by Tom & Elizabeth Freedman Fowler.

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Preparing a Lambeosaurus

Jacket 2: articulated cervical series

Second jacket containing four articulated cervical vertebrae

There was a liberal application of thin, medium, and then thick Paraloid B-72 followed by supporting the broken surfaces with Carbowax strengthened by cheese cloth. Matrix removal was mainly done with a Microjack #3 under a microscope.

Steve Clawson applying carbowax to cheesecloth with a brush so it adheres to the cross sections of the centra

Cheesecloth coated with Carbowax functions similarly to rebar in concrete - it strengthens the Carbowax, which has the advantage of dissolving in warm water.

Lateral view of the vertebrae with portions of the centra missing

Part of the vertebrae were broken off and situated in a rock that also had some tendons and a quadratojugal.

After being carefully removed and cleaned, the missing piece was glued on with thick Paraloid B-72 and left to dry overnight.

Finally, gaps in the bone were filled in with Apoxie putty and the whole thing was given a coat of Paraloid.

The jacket lines up with the neck elements in the skull jacket. The vertebrae were compressed post-burial making them look smaller than they were in life.

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Partially disarticulated Mioplosus labracoides from the F-1 beds of the Green River Formation.

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Cockerellites liops for a client 🐟

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Badlands Dinosaur Museum posters from the 84th annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Presenting on Deanna's Dead Baby site at SVP 2024!

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Contract preparation is now available!

Contract prep is the process of sending me a fossil that needs work and I send it back to you looking like it belongs in a museum. For examples of my work see my public portfolio here.

Services include but are not limited to:

matrix removal

consolidation

reconstruction/gap filling

polishing

aesthetic restoration

color correction/painting (only upon request)

- and anything else that's required or specifically requested by the client.

Pricing is on a case-by-case basis that depends on material costs, hours, and complexity. Rush fees are also on the table, but the sooner the deadline the higher the fee is. If you're on a budget we can work to set up a payment plan.

Availability is first come, first served. If you have questions please don't hesitate to ask!

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Pterosaur wing bone collected from our multitaxic bonebed. Collected July 2024. Judith River/Dinosaur Park fm near Havre, MT, ~76Ma.

Art by Paleoequii

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how would you recommend someone get involved with fieldwork/fossil prep? i saw you've mentioned how most folks start learning to prep - but how do you actually get involved?

I'd suggest checking in with your local museum to see if they're currently accepting volunteers!

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Polaroids from the Badlands Dinosaur Museum 2024 fieldwork season. Credit: Dalton Thompson

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Brachylophosaurus skin impression found by Denver Fowler while prospecting

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Freshly prepped Ammolite-covered Placenticeras ammonites from the Bearpaw Shale of north-central Montana.

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A couple of days of prospecting the Bearpaw Shale produced some little goodies like ammonites (incl. heteromorph ammonites), baculites, pearlescent clams, and mosasaur material.