All posts in category Introductory

Introduction

Happy 1st birthday or I listen to what you search for

Aegoceras (Androgynoceras) maculatum, 7 cm

(Disclaimer : No ammonite has been permanently damaged in the process of making this picture)

It does not seem like it, but it´s to the day one year and 44 (including the first) blog posts since I´ve started it…

so Happy 1st Birthday, Blog !

The folks from WordPress do provide some nice statistics, and I must admit I do look at it frequently to see who´s looking for what…

There have been over 15000 views from visitors coming from 65 countries – that´s still some way from world domination 🙂 ,
but I continue to be amazed by the reach of this tool called the internet…

Countries with more than 10 visits

There is some statistics at what people look at when they´ve reached my blog, unsurprisingly the home page is at the top, being the main landing page.
Almost 600 people (or some repeatedly…) wanted to know a little bit about me, but clearly the most visited ammonite post by far is the one about

the Arnioceras species – it is a very popular ammonite, being sold often on auction websites, and I hope I could provide some help in identifying them.

Top visited pages of the blog

Of course it does also interest me what people look for when they reach my blog through the use of search engines.

The top 20 list tells me that some people use search engines as a bookmark replacement (it´s andysfossils.com, guys ;-)), but also

that Holderness ammonites and again Arnioceras are very popular topics. Some Amaltheus species, Amauroceras, Gagaticeras also feature highly
and I think I´ve covered these well; Psiloceras, Aegoceras, Pleuroceras are still to be done and I know you´re waiting for those probably just as
much as for the second part of the Dactylioceras post (allthough there most probably will be an intermediate step before I cover the upper liassic Dactylioceratidae).

Somewhat unintentionally (but in hindsight not unwelcome), the wants lists do create some kind of an attraction point for the blog since they provide a search engine

target for all the rare ammonites that I still would like to photograph.

Top searches in search engines that led to my blog

Some people have asked for the estimated completion of the book, I´m hoping to complete it in 2014, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of our first visit

to Robin Hoods Bay. It´s still some way to go, I´m currently working on getting my layout template finished in Adobe Indesign, so that I can truly begin writing pages of the book.

AndyS

by andysfossils on May 18, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Ammonites, Introductory

Posted by andysfossils on May 18, 2013

https://andysfossils.com/2013/05/18/happy-1st-birthday-or-i-listen-to-what-you-search-for/

Recent prep results and What´s in the queue ?

Recent prep results, numbers see text

You might have noticed, I´ve deviated from my usual schedule of posting an article about every 2-3 weeks…
There are a couple of reasons, none bad, which have kept me from posting.
Reason number 1 is that commitments from my daytime job have kept me unusually busy for January and February and this will stay that way at least until mid march,
so you´ll have to wait for a new full article until about 3-4 weeks time.

Reason number 2 is I´ve been working on several full articles, but due to my perfectionism I was not satisfied with what I could have posted…

In the “unfinished posts” queue is the first part of the Dactylioceras article, dealing with the lower toarcian Dactylioceras species.
When looking at some of the ammonites I was photographing (every little prep fault somehow gets exaggerated when you look through a lens…),
I found that most of them needed some form of re-prep to comply to the same standard I´ve been trying to adhere to for the book.
This is for example the reason why #7 in the photograph, a Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) clevelandicum, went back to the top of my prep queue :
The inner whorls needed some more attention with the fine air pen and the air abrader – it had been found in 2002 and basically went straight to the drawer at that time.

Reason number 3 is I need to clean up my prep slate before I go for my traditional spring collection tour to make space for potential new finds,
so the proportion of time prepping was higher that the one on writing…
All of the ammonites (and other fossils) have been prepped last weekend, in case you´re wondering what they are here´s the list :

Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) tenuicostatum, 7 cm
Double of Dacytlioceras commune, 5 & 4 cm, thanks to Dr. Mike Howarth for helping to correct my inital thoughts on this one…
A Plagiostoma sp. bivalve, 6 cm, from the apyrenum subzone of the middle lias, a “first” for me, I´ve never seen one before from the Yorkshire lias…
A combo of Amaltheus stokesi (5.5 cm) , Amaltheus bifurcus (2.5 cm) , Amaltheus wertheri (2 & 1 cm)
Pleuroceras hawskerense, 6 cm
Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) semicelatum, 5 cm
Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) clevelandicum, 9 cm

Another article that´s in the “unfinished posts” queue for a long time already is about pathologies on Yorkshire coast liassic ammonites, for the simple reason that
literature about pathologies was somewhat thinly spread across a wide range of publications, most of the time with few pictures (so important for the amateur collector !).
But thanks to Prof. Dr. Keupp from FU Berlin this has now changed (http://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/geol/fachrichtungen/pal/eigenproduktion/Band_12/index.html) :
A brand new copy of his almost 400 page thick, large format, just released new atlas on cephalopod palaeopathologies has landed on my desk, I had only very little time to study it yet, but what I´ve seen so far is
spectacular (pictures galore !) and will surely set the scientific standard on this topic for years to come (unfortunately it is currently only available in german).
So through this new publication my “sick ammonites from Yorkshire” post will take a giant leap forward and will be published after the first part of the Dac post…

AndyS

by andysfossils on February 16, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Ammonites, Introductory, Literature, Preparation

Posted by andysfossils on February 16, 2013

https://andysfossils.com/2013/02/16/recent-prep-results-and-whats-in-the-queue/

I´m learning something new every time or A year review

Christmas trees in the snow – Eleganticeras sutures

As the year 2012 draws to a close, it`s time for a yet another year review…

I´ve started this blog in May 2012, and 36 blog posts later I can still say : It works for me !
It works for me because it drives me to write a post every couple of weeks, and that requires research into the ammonites I want to write about, photographs of the ammonites and maybe even a re-prep to make them presentable (allthough that sometime pushes back the publication date, because when you see those fossils through the lense, it´s so much easier to notice all the imperfections in the prep-work…).

It´s sometimes hard to stick to the schedule, because I do have a (non-fossil-related) , sometimes stressful day job and sometimes require a time-out from working at the keyboard, but I think it´s the right sort of methodology to keep work on the ultimate goal – the book – going.

And, the great thing is : I´m learning something new every time I research a new genus of ammonites for posting…

I´ve made some wonderful new contacts through people who have come forward and commented on posts and revived some old contacts who allowed me to photograph
some of their beautiful fossils. Thanks to all of you and I´d hopefully meet you next year to photograph some more !

But does it work for you ?

Countries with 6 or more visits to this blog , there are 30 more countries below this list !

Looking at the map, it does seem so… Of course, most of the readers are in Great Britain, that´s where the fossils come from, those are the readers this english language blog is made for. You know what they say about a prophet in his own country, I guess it´s the language issue why there is only a comparatively small participation from my fellow countrymen in Germany. But what makes me particularly proud is the worldwide readership…isn´t the internet a wonderful thing sometimes ?

But I have a request, too: Compared to the amount of visits (close to 10,000, I know this is not all that much, but then this is not a fashion blog…)
there are just a bit more than 60 comments (and some are from me as well…)

So, I´d really love to hear from you more ! What are your questions, what are your finds, don´t be shy !
And remember : If you comment, you have to leave a valid e-mail address, but nobody else other than me can read it and I do not pass on e-mail adresses !

And a few little steps can make it so much easier to follow this blog, as you get an e-mail whenever I write something new.

The folks from WordPress have a handy little explanation on how to follow a blog :

http://en.support.wordpress.com/following/

If you don´t like to post a comment here, you can reach me in the UKFOSSILS forum (www.discussfossils.com) as AndyS and
on the german Steinkern forum (www.steinkern.de/forum) as AndyS (for both forums : You still need an account there to post messages).

Wherever you are, and whatever tradition you follow during the days at the end of the year:

Have a good time with your family and the ones you love, a healthy new year, and, if you´re collecting fossils, a fossiliferous year 2013 !

All the best,

AndyS

by andysfossils on December 24, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Ammonites, Introductory

Posted by andysfossils on December 24, 2012

https://andysfossils.com/2012/12/24/im-learning-something-new-every-time-or-a-year-review/

Measuring an ammonite or How fat is a “fat Dac” ?

Measuring an ammonite with a pair of callipers

Perception is a wonderful thing – it´s different for everybody. When two persons look at one and the same ammonite they may come to totally different conclusions depending on what light they see it in, what they think they are seeing and maybe also what they want to see…

As I´ve shown you earlier, this even becomes more difficult when you look at the same ammonite species photographed in black & white or in color, or ammonites from different locations preserved differently – e.g. limestone or pyrite, with shell or as an internal mould.

To alleviate this problem of non-objective descriptions of ammonites, several measurements have been developed to provide objective measurements for ammonite shells.

I do not know when this actually started, I´ve seen tables with measurements in SPATH´s Liparoceratidae in 1938, wonderful scatter diagrams of various measurements in HOWARTH´s Amaltheidae and Hildoceratidae monographs from the late 1950s and early 1990s, but I think the german author Dr. Rudolf Schlegelmilch has so far provided the most all-embracing measurements for liassic (and also middle and upper jurassic in later books) ammonites so far in his 1976 publication (and the 1992 second edition) “Die Ammoniten des süddeutschen Lias” (The ammonites of the south german lias), which is actually very much applicable to liassic ammonites from locations outside of Germany as well. I´m planning to use the types of measurements that are used in this publication for the ammonites pictured in the planned book as well – so I think it is time to explain them a little and maybe also help non-german speaking users of the SCHLEGELMILCH book, who might be struggeling with the german explanations.

For measuring the ammonite, using a vernier, dial or digital caliper is useful, since it helps in the process of taking the measurements, but precision is only needed to full millimeters.

First a picture showing the simple measurements :

Ammonite measurements

Shell diameter (d – Schlegelmilch, D – Howarth) :
It is important to take a set measurements at as close to the same diameter as possible, since
they may vary with diameter, i.e. an ammonite´s shell can have another whorl height or width
in an earlier stage of life than an adult ammonite.
When giving numbers for all of the following measurements it is thus always necessary to
also quote the diameter at which they were taken.
Umbilical width (n – Schlegelmilch, U – Howarth)
Whorl height (h – Schlegelmilch, Wh – Howarth)
Whorl breadth (b – Schlegelmilch, Wb – Howarth)
Rib count (Z – Schlegelmilch) – Ribs per whorl at a given diameter

For comparing ammonite shells, it has proven useful to create relative, compound measurements :

Relative umbilical width (N – Schlegelmilch) : Umbilical width divided by diameter (N = n/d = U/D)
A larger umbilicus would have a large N, like the quite evolute Dactylioceras commune (like the one shown above) which
has an N between 54 and 62 %, whereas a much more involute ammonite like an Oxynoticeras exhibits an N of only 14 % at 7 cm.
Relative whorl height (H in the Schlegelmilch book) : Whorl height divided by diameter (H = h/d = Wh/D)
H is a factor in how many whorls there are in a shell, when you look back at the post describing the difference between
Gagaticeras and Androgynoceras, I noted that there are more whorls for the same diameter in Gagaticeras and you see it in the numbers :
Gagaticeras has a H of between 23 and 26 % , while Androgynoceras is higher at around 30 %
Relative whorl section (Q in the Schlegelmilch book) : Whorl height divided by whorl width (Q = h/b = Wh/Wb)
A large number for Q would describe an ammonite with high, slender whorls like an Amaltheus stokesi, for which Schlegelmilch
notes a Q of 2.3 (at all sizes), whereas a low Q would describe an ammonite with whorls broader than high, usually of a coronate shell form
like a Catacoeloceras crassum for which Schlegelmilch quotes a Q of 0.7 (at 7.2 cm diameter ;-))

When you collect a lot of ammonites of the same species, all sorts of statistical analysis becomes possible with these measurements
(as long as you´ve got a large enough sample size…), and this allows you to not only calculate variability of the species within a population,
but also show species differences independant from the perception of an individual.

AndyS

by andysfossils on August 20, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Ammonites, Introductory

Posted by andysfossils on August 20, 2012

https://andysfossils.com/2012/08/20/measuring-an-ammonite-or-how-fat-is-a-fat-dac/

20 posts or Who photographs the photographer

My little studio

20 posts so far – that calls for a little excursion into photography and some reflection about my general workflow…

As you can see, this is my little studio where I photograph the fossils, with the “ensemble” of the Amaltheidae post still present.
It´s just a little Novoflex macro table, that I´ve put onto another table to reach comfortable working height. There are 2 flexible lamps with 5400 °K permanent light from above and another from below the slightly transparent table to provide a little contour light from below. There´s another led spot clamped to the table if I need it for a special spotlight etc. In front of the table I have positioned a sturdy tripod with a 3D geared head that holds the camera with a 150 mm macro lens which gets me to 1:1 size if I need to. The geared head makes precisely framing the shot very easy, I find it a lot more suited to the task than a normal ball head. Depending on the size of the fossil I photograph, I move the tripod closer or further away from the table – the maximum size fossil I can do with this kit is about 30 x 30 cm.

If I photograph fossils for any post I´m planning, I will always do a lot more pictures than you actually get to see in the post. One reason is that I obviously do several different photos where I vary lighting, sharpness points, positioning of the fossil etc to get the best shot possible. The other reason of course is that I do not photograph only for the post – there are a lot more detail photos and shots of additional fossils that I get to be used later for the book !

I normally research the ammonites I´m planning to write about first, so the text usually comes before the pictures.
For writing the text I use a software called Evernote (it´s a free editor that saves the texts etc in the cloud) – It allows me to continue writing on my texts even if I´m not at home or not at my main computer. Once the text is about ready, I select the fossils from my collection and do a photo session. Today´s photo session for the Amaltheidae took about 5 hours (while outside a thunderstorm with torrential rain & hail was going on…).

As the thunderstorm subsided, I switched my computer back on and began editing the photos. I run the pictures through a software called DXO first – it does a lot of automatic corrections for colour, white balance, sharpness, lens distortion etc for me. After that is done I do the masking, cropping and combining of pictures in Adobe Photoshop. If the picture will get used in the book I save it uncompressed for maximum quality in Photoshop´s own format so I can later use it without further problems in Adobe InDesign, the publishing software I´m going to use for the book. If it gets used in the blog as well, it will be re-sized for web use, marked with a copyright notice (If you like my pictures and would like to use them – contact me) and saved as a jpeg file, in a setting optimized for both size and visual quality of the picture.

Once text and photos are complete, I upload the picture files to the WordPress media library, add any pictures comments and paste the text for the new post from Evernote into the WordPress editor. I then add the links to the pictures in the media library, do a final spell & visual check – and publish the post !

This workflow has worked quite well for me so far, I feel that writing the blog posts gives me an intermediate goal that continues to drive my work for the book.

With over 2000 views to date (not much for a blog, but this is also a very specialized topic with a small target group), you readers out there seem to enjoy it as well

– thanks for reading, wherever you are !

AndyS

Blog visitor statistics 07.07.2012

by andysfossils on July 7, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Introductory, Photography

Posted by andysfossils on July 7, 2012

https://andysfossils.com/2012/07/07/20-posts-or-who-photographs-the-photographer/

The journey begins here…

Actually, it began in 1989 when we first visited the Yorkshire coast in the UK to collect fossils. We´ve been back every year at least once since. The collection has grown, mostly ammonites but also crinoids, starfish, bivalves, brachiopods and even some marine reptile bone material. As of today, it contains roughly 2500 specimen ranging from the lowest to the highest Lias (a time in the Earth´s Jurassic period about 200-175 million years old).

But this blog is mostly about the ammonites and the idea to build a documentation about finding, preparing and identifying them with the clear goal to publish this in book form at some point…
This idea started some years ago amongst members of the UKFOSSILS forum (discussfossils.com), kindly provided by the UKGE Geologists Equipment store (http://www.ukge.co.uk/).
An early expression of this idea can be seen in the members identification database, which was meant to provide a mechanism to “crowd source” pictures and identifications from various collections. While this worked fine in the beginning, the “crowd sourcing” aspect slowly got lost, with various members leaving the forum for different reasons and my identifications for liassic ammonites being the only ones left…

For personal reasons I had to abandon execution of this project for a while, mostly due to lack of time, but now the time seems right to restart it, this time with myself in complete control of all aspects of the project.

This blog will provide a diary of this project, from finding ammonites, preparing them, identifying them and the process of documentation & writing the book…

Yorkshire Ammonites (and other fossils ) revisited

All posts in category Introductory

Happy 1st birthday or I listen to what you search for

Recent prep results and What´s in the queue ?

I´m learning something new every time or A year review

Measuring an ammonite or How fat is a “fat Dac” ?

20 posts or Who photographs the photographer

The journey begins here…

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