Phytosaur Skull Preparation II

By Bill Parker on Thursday, April 02, 2009
I last featured this phytosaur skull undergoing preparation on February 24th and since that time more work has been done. Some of the right side of the skull has now been exposed. Preparation has been slow due to a plethora of other projects combined with a really tough sandstone matrix. Separation is poor in places and in parts the bone is impregnated with hematite, a common condition of bone encased in Chinle sandstones.

The ventral portion of the right side of the skull projects laterally a little too far suggesting that some dorsoventral crushing of the skull has occurred. So far we have exposed the lateral surface of the posterior projection of the squamosal (it is still a pseudopalatine), both frontals, the right jugal and much of the right maxilla. This picture shows the right side of the skull as currently exposed. Anterior (forward) is to the right, posterior (back) is to the left.




Preparation continues and we will follow it here until it is complete.
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4 comments:

  1. John Scanlon FCDApril 2, 2009 at 9:02 PM

    Left side... then that's some weird tetrapod. Did you mean the other left?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill ParkerApril 2, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    Just seeing if anyone was paying attention ;).

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zachary MillerApril 3, 2009 at 9:52 PM

    Seriously, I don't know how you can see all those features. I can barely make out the orbits.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill ParkerApril 4, 2009 at 7:31 PM

    Well I do have the real specimen to use as a reference for the photo. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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