Jack Kallmeyer @jkallmeyer
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1 day, 3 hours agoJack Kallmeyer replied to the topic Microscopes for Cleaning and Photographing Fossils in the forum Fossil Prep Tips & Tricks ForumI can only address cleaning as I don’t use a microscope for photography (macro lenses only).
A stereoscope with step-wise or variable power is the best for cleaning small specimens. Larger specimens can be worked on using a ring light with a magnifying lens in the center. The key is you want both of your hands free to manipulate and work on the specimen. The most versatile stereoscope would be one mounted on a boom stand. This type of mount allows the most range of motion both vertically and horizontally. A stand with the microscope mounted on a post is next best as that allows a bigger vertical range of motion than a fixed base type scope.
I find I do most of my cleaning with 10x magnification. Sometimes I use 15x or 20x but not very often.
When doing cleaning where water is involved, some microscopes allow an additional glass splatter guard that can be mounted below the objective lens.
Stereoscopes can be very expensive when purchased new especially if they are big name brands like Nikon, Canon, Leica, Bausch & Lomb. Good used ones can be had for less money but be sure to check it out first as repairs are expensive. Reasonably priced new stereoscopes of lesser known brands can be had for $300. Always make sure the optics are good and there is no distortion (view a straight line grid to be sure all lines remain parallel).
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1 week, 3 days agoJack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group NAPC
There will be a symposium featuring Amateur/Professional Collaboration on Wednesday the 26th. This will begin first thing in the morning and extend to early afternoon. We have both amateurs and professionals presenting at this session. We’d love to see both amateurs and professionals attend this important session. Be sure to look for the poster for this session as well. Our session is: #32 Two to Tango: amateur-professional interactions in advancing paleontological knowledge
Jack
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1 week, 3 days agoJack Kallmeyer joined the group NAPC
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2 weeks, 5 days agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new specimen.
Jack Kallmeyer has contributed specimen mFeM 55877 to myFOSSIL!
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2 weeks, 6 days agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
Sure! This is the first time I have seen color patterns show up with UV but these are fairly recent fossils – Pliocene I believe. I have gone somewhat nuts on fluorescent minerals and stumbled on this on one of the sites I check for that phenomena. Many of our fossils have some degree of fluorescence – usually the calcite which gives an orange glow under UV. A certain percentage of manganese and lead impurities within the calcite produce the fluorescence. Some fossils from the west can have a green fluorescence that is caused by a uranium oxide ion impurity. Also, some fluorescent fossils will phosphoresce after the UV is turned off. I have some Ordovician stromatoporoid fossils that do that.
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3 weeks, 6 days agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
Max, yes it is paleochris. I don’t know why the link didn’t work so here’s another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_HqYfzIHVo . So whereabouts in Florida is the Nashua Formation?
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3 weeks, 6 days agoJack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group Florida’s Fossils
Anyone on here ever see this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_HqYfzIHVo&feature=youtu.be The fellow is collecting fossil shells in Florida at night using UV flashlights. He finds a lot of cone shells with color preservation that only shows with the UV light. Anyone know the age of these fossils or where he might be collecting?
Jack
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I can’t open the link, but I believe it’s the video by PaleoCris? I saw it too, absolutely crazy. I believe Cris mostly hunts in the Nashua Formation (Pliocene) when it comes to shells, but I’m not too sure if this location is also from that formation.
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Max, yes it is paleochris. I don’t know why the link didn’t work so here’s another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_HqYfzIHVo . So whereabouts in Florida is the Nashua Formation?
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Thanks for sharing this video Jack!
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Sure! This is the first time I have seen color patterns show up with UV but these are fairly recent fossils – Pliocene I believe. I have gone somewhat nuts on fluorescent minerals and stumbled on this on one of the sites I check for that phenomena. Many of our fossils have some degree of fluorescence – usually the calcite which gives an orange glow under UV. A certain percentage of manganese and lead impurities within the calcite produce the fluorescence. Some fossils from the west can have a green fluorescence that is caused by a uranium oxide ion impurity. Also, some fluorescent fossils will phosphoresce after the UV is turned off. I have some Ordovician stromatoporoid fossils that do that.
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4 weeks agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
I’m with you. It seems that some regulations have gotten out of hand. Up here you can pick any artifact up you can find except out of graves. It’s like fossils – a fossil not collected is lost forever –
no one benefits. In your case you can always tell them you collected a fossil coral not an artifact 🙂 -
4 weeks agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
@daniel-murrhee, @cferrara I thought there were some overbearing rules about artifact collecting in Florida. As in you better not do it. Yes – No? Cool find though. I’d keep it.
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1 month, 4 weeks agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
At first glance I thought I had this. There is an Eyewitness book that looks remarkably like this but with different authors and a different subtitle that I have. We’re saving that for our granddaughter. My first fossil book was the original Ohio Fossils by La Rocque and Marple, 1955 – not to be confused with the recent Fossils of Ohio.
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2 months agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
Yes, some certainly do. This is a Platycrinities species. The individual stem ossicles are oval and have a ridge running the long direction that is offset from the actual longest dimension of the oval. When they stack up this gives the twisted appearance. This fulcrum also allows the stem to flex.
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2 months agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
Nathan These all appear to molds to crinoid stems. Your skin is the mold of the external ornamentation of the stem.
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Cool, thanks for the clarification!
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2 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
@jbauer Congratulations. It’s always good when you can find a valuable source like that. The autograph makes it even better.
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Thanks, @jkallmeyer. I agree, the personal note and really nice contact with Brad Macurda really made me feel good about myself and my work. He has been really supportive and fun to chat blastoids with.
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3 months agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
Bill,
I looked at the Ohio Geological Survey VII and there are quite a few Rhytimya sp. I think you are correct with your ID. Thanks. Dalve 1948 is not illustrated. What publication and year is the Pope reference?
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group Cincinnatian Collectors
Here’s another set of pelecypods to check into. Caritodens demissa is one of the few that have shell preservation rather than being internal molds. This group shows “babies” under 5mm across the shells.
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
I hated this site when I first collected it – found nothing. On my next visit I started finding crinoids so I spent many trips there. I ended up collecting 9 different crinoid species from the Liberty part of this exposure plus one partial ophiuroid. I have suites of crinoids from here with at least two such suites waiting for data collection and publication. Alas, the hot crinoid zone is slumped over now so I have to content myself with looking for well preserved molluscs and trilobites. How sad.
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted a new activity comment
This specimen comes from Causeway Road across Brookville Lake. Mollusc preservation is pretty good at the lower end of the exposure – Waynesville Fm.
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That’s spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever collected there!
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I hated this site when I first collected it – found nothing. On my next visit I started finding crinoids so I spent many trips there. I ended up collecting 9 different crinoid species from the Liberty part of this exposure plus one partial ophiuroid. I have suites of crinoids from here with at least two such suites waiting for data collection and publication. Alas, the hot crinoid zone is slumped over now so I have to content myself with looking for well preserved molluscs and trilobites. How sad.
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group Cincinnatian Collectors
I usually only keep pelecypod fossils that are well preserved. Here in the Cincinnatian most have no shell preservation and are only internal molds. These molds are subject to deterioration and poor preservation such that some no longer look like pelecypods at all. This attached is an exceptional specimen about 50 mm long. This is an internal mold with the external shell morphology over printed on it – the ridges on the right. Note the muscle scar on the left corner. The black coating is a carbon preservation of the original periostracum layer. Also note that I am not good at ID for these so no name…
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That is an excellent find and extraordinarily preserved! I have a few nicely preserved specimens from near Flemingsburg – where is yours from?
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This specimen comes from Causeway Road across Brookville Lake. Mollusc preservation is pretty good at the lower end of the exposure – Waynesville Fm.
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That’s spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever collected there!
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I hated this site when I first collected it – found nothing. On my next visit I started finding crinoids so I spent many trips there. I ended up collecting 9 different crinoid species from the Liberty part of this exposure plus one partial ophiuroid. I have suites of crinoids from here with at least two such suites waiting for data collection and publication. Alas, the hot crinoid zone is slumped over now so I have to content myself with looking for well preserved molluscs and trilobites. How sad.
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Jack, on your Causeway Road bivalve without an ID (very nice specimen BTW), I would suggest it’s Rhytimya sp. There is a similar specimen from the Fairmount pictured in “Review of Ordovician Pelecypods”, Pojeta, Plate 16, figure 10. That one is R. mickelboroughi (Whitfield). But your Waynesville or Liberty specimen is probably R. faberi (Miller), which is found in the Richmondian. Check Dalve 1948 to see if there is a picture of this species.
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Bill,
I looked at the Ohio Geological Survey VII and there are quite a few Rhytimya sp. I think you are correct with your ID. Thanks. Dalve 1948 is not illustrated. What publication and year is the Pope reference?
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group Eclectic Echinodermata
Here’s a crinoid collected by a Dry Dredger years ago. It is now in my collection. It is Eucalyptocrinites elrodi from the Silurian Waldron Shale of Indiana. This is one of the less common species in this Formation. It is exceptional because the arms are preserved in place. Usually the arms and the upper part of the cup are missing. Scale bar is 10mm.
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An excellent fossil! I was working in the Yale Peabody Collections several years ago and was rummaging around looking for hidden blastoids (as one does) and found a Eucalyptocrinites identified as a blastoid! I can see the confusion, the arms being folded up so neatly look similar to the blastoid ambulacra. The way these preserve is really spectacular.
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3 months, 1 week agoJack Kallmeyer and Molly Selba are now friends
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