Ask a Fossil Collector
Since Fossil collecting is a rather niche hobby and somewhat of a passion for some of us, I'm sure there are some of you out there that wants to know about fossil collecting and ask us some questions. I'll be covering questions asked in the interview Tv talkshow with Ngee Ann film faculty (mentioned in a previous post. Click here if you haven't read that yet!) Also, I will add on some of Calvin's take on the matter/ questions if I can remember them correctly. So, without any other delay, let us dive into the questions.
What made you start fossil collecting?
Me: For me, fossil collecting was not something I saw myself ever doing. However, my passion and fascination for dinosaurs and prehistoric animals actually started when I was 4. When I was about 5, I could identify the easier dinosaur species such as pachycephalosaurus, parasaurolophus and of course velociraptor. What really started my fossil collecting was a visit to the Lee Kong Chian History Museum about a year and a half ago. The vast array of fossils and some small ones made me think why I could not collect fossils myself. I went on to Google and googled "fossil collecting Singapore" and I found articles and the page for Singapore Fossil Collectors the rest was history.
Calvin: My fascination for fossils and prehistoric life started from a small trilobite that my mum bought for me when I was a young boy. Back then, Singapore had a couple of rock shops which sold such specimens and my mum bought then for me. This started my fascination of the small but interesting and almost alien looking creatures. From then on I have been collecting fossils for 30 over years. Where do you get your fossils from?
Me: Fossils can come from all over the world. There are fossils that come from the famous and fossil rich bone beds of Hell Creek formation in Utah, Montana and Dakota USA. There are also fantastic specimens that come from the famous Jurassic coasts of Dorset, Whitby and Yorkshire, UK. There are also fascinating array of dinosaur fossils that come from the rich beds of Kem Kem basin in Morocco. These are the main contributors to the international fossil market and these can be bought and traded online as well as through auction sites across the web. Of course we also trade among the group ourselves during our quarterly or annual meetups. This way we get to share our fantastic specimens and get a change of a better or new specimen to take its place. Often we do get our great specimens from the local collectors because they know where to get the best deals!
Calvin: I'm lucky to have a job that allows me to travel the world. I sometimes on free days on these business trips, I take time to visit fossil sites and local rock shops to scout out the fossils that are native to the region. Of course my collection also is bought overseas and online through auction sites and eBay. My earlier collection however was bought in Singapore back in the days when there were still more prominent rock shops around the island. For a beginner, where and how should I start?
For beginners, a fantastic array of fossils can be looked at. That of course depends on the budget of the individual. For this case, we can assume that the individual is willing to spend about $50 max on a specimen. This case, we can look at the more common fossils such as periphinctes sp, cleoniceras sp, spinosaurus tooth, carcharodontosaurus saharicus tooth. or perhaps some copals or baltic amber pieces. These are all generally fantastic specimens to start your collecting with and are relatively inexpensive pieces all ranging from $5 - $60. If you are starting out fossil collecting the best you could do is the surround yourself with experienced people (from the Singapore Fossil Collectors) and do your research and spend within your budget. The community is more than happy to help you on your jjourney. So, we will see you there if possible!
Spinosaurus Tooth from Morocco.
Copal from Madagascar
Perisphinctes sp. Ammonite from Madagascar
Carcharodontosaurus Tooth from Morocco.
Iridescent Ammonite Cleonoceras from Madagascar.
Baltic Amber piece with inclusion from the Baltic Region Coasts
What are some of your favorite fossils?
Me: My favorite fossils would definitely be the pachychephalosaurus skull dome fragment. This is a special piece because I had to wake up at ungodly hours in the twilight hours of the day in order to make a successful bid for the item. After all, it was a part and specimen of one of my all time favorite dinosaurs. This specimen comes from a soon to be matured individual as can be seen by the slowly less porous and more solidified bone structure of the dome as it reaches the surface. This is exemplified by the harder bone on the outside than with the inside. It has been studied and still debated if a young pachycephalosaur does indeed have more porous bone structures on their head and missing the large skull domes of adults. However, according to Dr. Jack Horner's studies, he insists that Dracorex hogwartsia is a young pachycephalosaur and that stygimoloch is a juvenile pachychepalosaur. If I subscribe to this school of thought, my specimen would be undoubtedly a Stygimoloch's given the still porous structure in the middle while it starts solidifying at the exteriors. Full adults usually have solid bone all the way through their thick skulls.
Pachycephalosaurid skull dome fragment from Hell Creek Fm, Montana, USA.
Pachycephalosaurus reconstruction. Taken from Wikia site. Unknown Artist.
Calvin: My favorite fossil would have to be this segment of ammonite which is characterized by the beautiful shimmer of rainbow iridescence caused by the argonite that forms in the layers during the fossilisation process. This piece is known as a gem and comes only from Canada. But, what makes this special is the predation marks that are clearly seen in 2 rows on the ammonites. These are caused by the Mosasaur or the T-rex of the deep back in the creataceous. This mosasaur is likely to be globidens from the circular and blunt bite marks. These bite marks shows the dynamism is fossil collecting in that fossil do tell the story of many million years ago, and that story is sometimes a exciting one that showed the dangerous days of millions of years ago. It also shows the interactions between the animals back in the day.
Ammolite section with predation marks from a Mosasaur. Planticeras meeki. Canada
I shall end this with a short video that they shot that showcased fossil collection as well as Calvin's. Enjoy!
Thanks to the film students, Helene, Sabrina and the many others that I didn't quite get your names for inviting me to the showcase as well as the fantastic host, Joshua Ho for making us feel comfortable and at home during the talkshow itself. I sure had a great time and I'm sure Calvin did too.
