Dinosaur Tracks

[Rock Rover]

Hello Folks,

I recently found a set of dinosaur tracks in Turners Falls, MA and I was wondering what to do to prepare them to make them more visible for presentation. They're pretty easy to see when lighted at the right angle, but I'd like to make them stand out a bit more without damaging them. Would you suggest using nail polish or something like it to highlight the tracks? If not, what would you suggest I do, if anything?

Thanks in advance for your input,

Rock Rover

 

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[old digger]

Welcome to TNET!

I would suggest that you leave them as they are. How about some photo's?

 

[Rock Rover]

Thanks for the welcome Old Digger.

I'll try to post some pics. I just borrowed my Dad's camera for that purpose, but you can only see the tracks with the lighting at a certain angle and I'm not a professional photographer so I'm not sure how to best capture them for all to see. That's one reason I'm asking how to better prep them. I went to a dinosaur track shop years ago and they used something like nail polish to highlight the tracks and make them stand out. I think highlighting them somehow would really help them to be more visible. Any ideas, OD?

 

[austin]

Best listen to old digger. There may be laws in your area regulating things like that. Don't want to be showing your pics to other inmates...

 

[Rock Rover]

Pics

Here's some pics ---

 

[Rock Rover]

There's a partial track on the bottom-left, a complete track in the upper middle, and a right claw imprint on the upper-right. These are three toed tracks, about 3 1/2 inches long. Most likely made by a Grallator, the most common dinosaur track found in my area.

 

[kingskid1611]

 

[Rock Rover]

Track Outlines

Here is a very, very quick outline of the tracks. As I already mentioned these tracks are much more impressive in 3-D.

 

[K1DDO1979]

Im no expert but i seen them before you highlighted it. [emoji2]

 

[Inyo]

Deleted by author.

 

[Inyo]

Deleted by author.

 

[jeff of pa]

Here is a very, very quick outline of the tracks. As I already mentioned these tracks are much more impressive in 3-D. View attachment 1200194

Thanks ! I appreciate the Outline , As I thought I saw them But the Outline confirms
I wasn't wrong

By the way welcome to TreasureNet !
& I agree with the others , Don't deface the originals .

 

[Rock Rover]

I see a lot of nice invertebrate tracks and trails there from the early Jurassic of the Connecticut River Valley, in addition to the dinosaur tracks.

Was wondering if the dinosaur ichnofossil at upper middle could actually be Eubrontes (a junior synonym of Grallator, of course, but it's supposed to be different critter)? Fascinating remains, indeed.

It boggles my mind that folks out there in Massachussets and Connecticut (Connecticut River Valley) can simply go out and collect dinosaur ichnofossils at will. I'm used to exploring places where all evidences of dinosaur fossils--from coprolites to tracks to vertebrates--not on private property are completely off limits to collecting without a special use permit issued by the administering governmental authorities.

Edited: I posted the above before the original poster highlighted two dino tracks in a later posting.

Could be a juvenile Eubrontes I suppose. Hard to tell, really. As far as I know, no permit is needed up here.

 

[Rock Rover]

Side-by-side comparison...

Frankly, this is just not very helpful. You went and covered the genuine dino tracks completely. One can compare this photograph with your original, of course, but why should one have to go that kind of trouble? Better would have been to point to the tracks under discussion, instead of placing a covering over them. Just makin' an observation...

Good point Inyo! Sorry about that! Here's a side-by-side comparison. Hope this helps...

 

[Inyo]

Yes. Side by side works well. It is helpful, indeed. Scratch my previous opinion, which was quoted here. I was just about to delete it, actually.

 

[RustyGold]

Very nice find RR!

 

[IAMZIM]

Very cool! I can see them clearly! Oldigger is probly right about leaving them as they are, but if you are worried about them crumbling or eroding, I have used concrete sealer to preserve some of my fossils. Mind you, I have only done this to ones that were falling apart or really fragile. For example, I have some insect fossils that are on VERY fragile shale, some that is paper-thin. The very air has ruined some of these insect fossils I have found, because of them drying out after I split the shale, they just kind of "fell" apart. They were really cool for about two days! LOL! So, to save the other ones I have found, I used concrete sealer on them, and they have lasted for years. (20+) This is only a suggestion mind you! If yours is super rare, maybe better to leave it as it is!!!

 

[Rock Rover]

Very cool! I can see them clearly! Oldigger is probly right about leaving them as they are, but if you are worried about them crumbling or eroding, I have used concrete sealer to preserve some of my fossils. Mind you, I have only done this to ones that were falling apart or really fragile. For example, I have some insect fossils that are on VERY fragile shale, some that is paper-thin. The very air has ruined some of these insect fossils I have found, because of them drying out after I split the shale, they just kind of "fell" apart. They were really cool for about two days! LOL! So, to save the other ones I have found, I used concrete sealer on them, and they have lasted for years. (20+) This is only a suggestion mind you! If yours is super rare, maybe better to leave it as it is!!!

Thanks Rusty Gold and IAMZIM. I really appreciate the input. RR