My Fossil RanchsteemCreated with Sketch.

in #fossils6 years ago (edited)

One of the places where I collect fossils is on my 365 acre fossil ranch, which is located in northwestern Nebraska. This property contains sediments deposited from the late Eocene to the early Oligocene epochs, ranging from 37 to 25 million years ago. During this time the area was most likely flat and covered with lakes and meandering rivers with seasonal floods hitting the area.

The area is very rich in fossil vertebrates, containing mammal, reptile, salamander and bird fossils. The most diverse of these groups though would be the mammals. There were many species of oreodont's, horses, camels, squirrels, rabbits, insectivors, pigs, dogs and nimravids(saber cat likes animals). The most common fossil found on the property are tortoise fossils.

Some pics of the fossil bearing formations on the ranch. As you can see the area has been eroded over time by water and winds, creating many steep ridges, gullies and stream cuts.

White River Badlands.jpg

White River Badlands1.jpg

White River Badlands2.jpg

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My brother would love it! He's been interested in fossils too. Is this your profession of a hobby? Just asking as buying a property with fossils sounds like a serious hobby or rather profession :)

Your photos are great! The area looks like a desert. I would love to walk around and maybe find some interesting fossils :)

Thank you for sharing!

It all started as a hobby 38 years ago. About 5 years ago, bought this property I had been collecting for over a decade from the land owners estate when he passed away. This will be the second land purchased, then I have a lease on another for the next 20 years. Stopped working my job about a year ago and am working this into a full time profession. I lead a few trips a year to this property. You can see the details on my web sites m-mfossildigs.com

Great! I love to see people following their dreams :) Good luck with your business!

Howdy there m-mfossils! that is the perfect place to hunt for fossils at isn't it? Is that why you bought it? What do you do with all those fossils, can they be sold to museums or collectors?

A lot of the stuff i keep in my personal collection. Some items get donated to museums and others get sold to other collectors

Howdy again m-mfossils! Oh that's interesting. I love the fact that you help teach others about it and share with museums too! Thank you for getting back to me.

Welcome to steemit @m-mfossils! :-)
This sure looks like a awesome place to hunt!
Quite a few rockhound folks on steemit like
myself love seeing fossils and rocks 💎
Looking forward to more of your great finds!

Thanks! It is for sure an awesome place to hunt. I'll be posting lots of stuff I found there in the future!

Cool! Consider writing for steemSTEM

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Which came first? The ranch, or your interest in fossils?

interest in fossils came first. started collecting about 38 years ago as a young child

And then you bought property because it had fossils? That is the coolest thing ever!

yup, that's exactly how it happened.


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