Re: International Mailing of Fossils for Trades (posted for B.Shear)

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Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 10:45:45 -0500
To: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk
From: BillS@Tiger.Hsc.Edu (Bill Shear)
Subject: Re: International Mailing of Fossils for Trades
Status: O

Gary, try palaeobotany@vax.rhbnc.ac.uk for paleobotany discussions.  Also
paleobot@listserver.dartmouth.edu.

Although most of my published work is on early terrestrial arthropods, I
nourish a strong interest in Silurian-Devonian plant life as well.

One reason is that nearly every productive fossil locality I have worked
has been discovered by paleobotanists first!  I work by immersing samples
in hydrofluoric acid, which dissolves the rock and leaves behind
organically preserved plant and animal parts (DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME--HF IS
AN EXTRAORDINARILY DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE).  The most productive kind of rock
is very fine grained mudstone, dark gray to black, with abundant
well-preserved plant fossils showing.  I am always interested in new
localities with this kind of lithology.

You also mentioned an interest in insect fossils.  I would be very
interested to hear of any arthropod fossils (insects, arachnids, etc.) that
you may have come across in your collecting.  Such fossils are rare and
very worthwhile scientifically.

Use my personal e-mail address to send me your mailing address and I will
send you some articles describing my research on early terrestrial
ecosystems.

Best wishes, Bill
___________________
William A. Shear
Department of Biology
Hamden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943 USA
phone (804) 223-6172
FAX (804) 223-6374