Monthly Archives: August 2009

From the collections room (dromomerycid)

Posted on August 26, 2009 by altondooley

I’ve mentioned several times the fairly large number of land mammals found at Carmel Church, relative to the size of the exposure. One of the more unusual animals found there is a member of the family Dromomerycidae.

Posted in Carmel Church land mammals, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group, From the Collections Room | 10 Comments

Left-handed whale died a painful death

Posted on August 19, 2009 by altondooley

I’m back in Martinsville for a couple of weeks, but I’ll be back at Carmel Church soon. One of the reasons I returned is because of the release today of a new paper by Brian Beatty and me on one … Continue reading →

Posted in "Sinistra", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans, Paleopathologies | 10 Comments

Carmel Church Days 10-11

Posted on August 14, 2009 by altondooley

My intention was to finish up our last jacket today, and close the pit down tomorrow. However, Carmel Church rarely cooperates with my elegant plans, and today was no exception. Working on our last small patch of exposed bone, by … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Osteichthyans, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans | 6 Comments

Carmel Church Day 9

Posted on August 12, 2009 by altondooley

We’re at a stage now where we’re trying to define our last few jackets of this excavation, as we wrap up in a few days. Making trenches around the jackets at Carmel Church always requires the removal of lots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmel Church Chondrichthyans, Carmel Church Osteichthyans, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 8

Posted on August 10, 2009 by altondooley

It was scorching hot today, but we still got in a full day’s work. We’re now at the point where we’re trying to jacket the bones we’ve already found, rather than trying to expose new bones. Even so, the remains … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Carmel Church reptiles, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans | 1 Comment

Carmel Church Day 7

Posted on August 9, 2009 by altondooley

Another productive day today, even with temperatures approaching 100 F. We’ve removed a large number of teeth and small bones, including the shell fragment from the sea turtle Syllomus shown above.

Posted in Carmel Church Osteichthyans, Carmel Church Quarry, Carmel Church reptiles, Chesapeake Group, Newark Supergroup, Paleontological techniques | 1 Comment

Carmel Church Day 6

Posted on August 8, 2009 by altondooley

More sun today, and a lot of progress. We found several small isolated vertebrae, including the anterior thoracic vertebra shown above. We’ve also hit some rich patches of sharks’ teeth, and probably collected close to a hundred today.

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church odontocetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans | 2 Comments

Carmel Church Day 5

Posted on August 7, 2009 by altondooley

Today was sunny and hot, and we were able to put in almost 10 hours on site. First thing this morning we successfully flipped yesterday’s jacket (above).

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 4

Posted on August 6, 2009 by altondooley

It rained last night and all morning, and while we would normally dig through the rain, this time the tarp was dripping into our trench. After spending a little time at the site after breakfast cleaning mud out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Popeye", Carmel Church mysticetes, Carmel Church Quarry, Chesapeake Group | Tagged Cetaceans | Leave a comment

Carmel Church Day 3

Posted on August 5, 2009 by altondooley

We’re already settling into a steady routine with so many exposed bones. Tim was able to remove the rib he’s been working on (above). Meanwhile, we pretty much completed a trench around the first four vertebrae in the series: