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Showing results for tags 'Ammonites'.
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Winter is the best time of the year for fossil hunting near the cliffs at the french coast. So like every year Natalie and I spend a few days at the "Côte d'opale" in northern France to prospect. The storms and tides cleaned up a lot of the boulders from the last cliff fals. The weather conditions were a bit harsh but we managed a few good prospections and we scored a few large ammonites.
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- 22
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- acanthoceras
- ammonites
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Quick DFW tour: from Fort Worth to Grand Prairie and back
Shaun-DFW Fossils posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I mapped out a quick trip to recover some pet wood I identified last week but failed to initially remove due to having too many ammonites (I know, a real problem!), taking me initially by a Fort Worth formation spot. I found a few huge macraster echinoids (currently being cleaned a little) in tarrant county, a few smaller mortoniceras ammonites, and a nice bivalve. Then I swung by the eagle ford shale where it starts after the woodbine and found 2 conlinoceras and some nice pet wood in addition to my target specimens from last week. Also a bone, currently awaiting ID. Tarrant to dallas counties, TX
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I had my best hunt of the year Saturday, it was incredible. I guess you could say I was…petrified. Sadly, my phone died after getting stuck in a reboot loop (thanks iPhone 10) so it’s now extinct. Oh and I finally found a dinosaur! It’s on top of an ammonite. 🤣 25 complete ammonites a few partials! I also found a 21-inch long chunk of pet wood and a colorful smaller chunk. I then found 11 ammonites today to start the new year right. My back is still sore and feet tingling after treading through creeks where shallower areas were actually frozen..lol! Tarrant and Dallas County locations. 2 were in partially exposed concretions. One of those is placenticeras or engonoceras? sorry about the blurry pic, I’m using another old phone I have that has a camera that only works when it’s on 2x, so I’m having to adjust to taking pics with it.
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- 14
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- ammonites
- calycoceras
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Hi everyone! Archaeologist here, looking for help with an Ammonite ID 😄 My dad and I found these two Ammonites near Sherborne in Dorset, UK. If anyone is able to tell me the species/age, I would be so grateful!
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I went to an “easy walking” spot to enact my own play called The Rockcracker while my daughter went to see The Nutcracker. This Goodland formation spot is a guaranteed echinoid grab every time. I have a bunch of flawless hemiaster whitei echinoids and a small number of heterasters, plus perhaps the smallest ammonite I have and a few nice gastropods.
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I went to my favorite Fort Worth formation spot near my house (Johnson County) and came home with a nice Christmas present to myself, 6 macraster echinoids, 2 of which are nearly perfect and are now amongst the best I have. They’re also huge, I am naming one Absolute Unit and the other The Rock. Also a rough looking holaster and a bunch of smaller mortoniceras ammonites. Check out the curvy fold in one of them. Poor dude went flaccid right when he hit the bottom of the ocean. Lol..I decided to flip a huge rock I’ve walked by many times (natural for me as a snake chaser) and I’m glad I did, I found a robust 2 inch wide x 8 inch diameter mortoniceras attached within the rock. It’s beyond my ability to easily free it, but I will get it done with some help. Nice calcite on the outside where I broke away some matrix. one of the morts is a mess (the one with the green algae on one side), it’s beautiful but I’ll have to make a decision about leaving it as is or cutting it to the point where it’s complete on both sides.
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Conlinoceras gold mine-new spot in DALLAS county
Shaun-DFW Fossils posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I located a potential spot (a creek tributary) that I never gave a chance literally a few feet away from a spot I’ve hunted before. I stopped by after a work meeting today and I was NOT disappointed (I know, I have fossil fever, no known cure). 9 conlinoceras tarrantense ammonites! One is about 6.6” across and in great shape. I assumed most in this area washed downstream from another location, but I found exposed formation with 1-2 smaller ammonites a few feet up the bank and 2 that were firmly fixed in matrix on the creek bottom, so I have an original source spot to add to my secret shopping list. I now have 13 of these in a week.. Dallas county TX (all of my prior finds were Tarrant county)- 19 replies
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- ammonites
- conlinoceras
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Ok..so far I’ve posted my turrilites and my woodbine ammonites, next will be these eopachydiscus ammonites and my oxytropidoceras, with echinoids and most (some are at the beauty shop) of my mortoniceras ammonites. these eopachydiscus ammonites represent at least a couple of different species from the looks of it, though I am not knowledgeable regarding scientific names, I just know they look different! LOL..no preparation has been applied other than soap/water and a little careful chiseling of matrix that I thought I could tackle. One of the big ones cracked in half due to it being my first big one to remove. I used Elmer’s glue and crushed limestone to fill the crack but I’ll likely soak it to get it out and replace it with an epoxy. Another one is cracked but never broke, I put super glue in the cracks just in case. Nice sutures on a few! 2 of the smaller eopachydiscus are 11-12 inches across, the biggest is around 17 inches, most are 14-15 inches.
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- 7
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- ammonites
- big ammonites
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I have 3-4 spots (duck creek, Grayson, Fort Worth formations) I haven’t yet revisited since it rained that are really close to my house. I’ve been to the same conlinoceras spot 3x and this was my last visit until we get heavy rain/erosion again. It didn’t disappoint! Funny how I can walk by the same spot 3x and find things I missed. Haha! I’ve seen ammonites missing chambers before, but this little one seems to have indentations that might have been there originally, like from bite marks or something. What do you think? Just my child-like imagination? the nice looking white calcite specimen missing part of itself is from another larger creek that my primary spot feeds into more upstream. Tarrant County TX.
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I only had 1.5 hours, but it was worth it. I ran out of daylight a month ago when I was at my local creek, so I went back and walked the portion I couldn’t see due to darkness last time. 4 nice mortoniceras ammonites, looking good on both sides (one is a bit worn due to weather exposure). Another one was broken down the middle, but I glued it and I’ll make it a rehab project. How about the perfect scallop too? I rarely find them complete and unblemished.
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- 9
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- ammonites
- drakeoceras
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I sold or donated most of my smaller oxytropidoceras but I kept a handful of 12-15 inch specimens that I found in Benbrook TX and far south along the Tarrant/Johnson county border. They’ve all been washed with soap and water but no other prep has yet occurred. Front/back pics included for most. I hear these take a lot of time to prep..looking forward to getting one cleaned up completely! One smaller one is very orange, it’s a tanning booth variant, and the other small one (not very obvious) is full of crystals..it’s the only one I’ve found full of crystals. It’s rough on the outside. Tempting to grind it down to reveal the inside. Not for now..big ones from kiamichi, smaller ones from tarrant(?) formation or whichever formation has all of the tiny echinoids and brachiopods all over. Pardon my ignorance. I’ll edit once confirmed.
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- 7
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- ammonites
- big ammonites
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My best woodbine hunt ever (since I started this year, lol), 11 woodbines and one of them is over 7 inches across! The overall condition is better than my 2 prior excursions as well. I’m super thrilled about these. I also found some great pet wood pieces with the appearance of having been underwater for awhile “back in the day.” Any insight into the smaller “critters” is appreciated. I am not positive if one piece is sandstone or pet wood, but I do have 3-4 pet wood pieces (some not shown). The small ammonite in front is a different species than the conlinoceras tarrantense. Woodbine/eagleford border, Tarrant county Texas. My toes went numb walking the creek. I know another hunter who found 7 woodbines at this spot 2 weeks ago (after our biggest rain since Spring) but I guess my eyes were more desperate to spot what he missed
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- 20
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- ammonites
- conlinoceras
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I don’t have many turrilites that are complete, and even a couple of those are rough looking. I do have an incomplete monster sized turrilite that is missing at least 1-2 parts but I kept it because of the sheer size. All are from 2 locations in Tarrant county where I find mostly turrilites and nautiloids, and the occasional macraster echinoid.
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Most of my personal collection of fossils is still not fully prepped (or prepped at all in many cases), but I’ll try to share pics by groupings as I pull them out over the next few days/weeks. The easiest will be my echinoids and my eopachydiscus ammonites. My mortoniceras ammonites need a lot of prep work but I have some interesting ones. Here are my woodbine ammonites. I won’t likely keep all of these, and I may slice those that are really worn down on the outside, but for now, they’re all mine. I bought the top right specimen from the recent fossilmania show from the guy who preps my fossils..I hope to find one that size one day! These are all eastern Tarrant county TX. I’m scoping out johnson county for possible spots near Alvarado. The biggest ones you see in my photo are 5-7 inches in diameter.
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- 7
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- ammonites
- conlinoceras
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Hi Fossil Forum, Someone gave me these ammonite fossils that they claim were found in southern Ontario Canada in the early 1900’s. I looked around and the only ammonite fossils from Ontario I saw were small pyritized ones. They look real to me, as you can see structures (of aragonite?) that fakes don't normally have, but none of my other ammonites I own have this ridge down the middle that makes it look like it came out of a mold. Most seem to be of one species that's ridged but one is also smooth with no central ridge. Let me know what you guys think, genus wise, and if you think they are from Ontario. Thanks, Alicia
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Isle of Wight: Enormous fossil ammonite dug out from boulder
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Huge rare fossil in fallen block discovered on Island Liam Chorley, Isle of Wright County News, November 2023 Isle of Wight: Enormous fossil ammonite dug out from boulder BBC News, November 2023 Other Isle of Wright ammonites Huge Isle of Wight ammonite fossil discovered in Chale Liam Chorley, Isle of Wright County News, June 2023 It's all right with ammonite as student pair discover 96kg fossil Dominic Kureen, Isle of Wright County News, June 2020 Miscellaneous BBC article Jurassic Coast cliff falls tempt fossil hunters BBC News, September 2023 Yours, Paul H.- 1 reply
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- ammonites
- cretaceous
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One week fossil collecting trip out west, my sixth time in the past six years. Flew into Denver. Rented a car and headed down to Castle Rock where I spent the night at a motel. Next day drove up to Florissant Fossil Quarry. It was Wednesday and they're normally closed during the week in September, but I made special arrangements for a few hours visit. Compared to my two previous visits there, didn't do as well. The other times, I was there for the whole day, this time was just for three hours, and they had had a considerable amount of rain recently and so the shale was more crumbly and more difficult to split. Here are some of my finds. Plants:
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Oxytropidoceras ammonites Tarrant County, TX
Shaun-DFW Fossils posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I went to a spot in southern Tarrant County TX that I’ve visited 10x before, my biggest eopachydiscus ammonites come from this spot. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rain we had a couple of weeks ago was enough to uncover so many new fossils that I barely made it away from the starting point of my journey. Oxytropidoceras ammonites almost on top of each other and every few feet from that point. Very exciting for me! This recent rain is the first rain I’ve ever had that was heavy enough to “revive” a previously hunted spot of mine, given that I only halfway knew what I was doing since about May, and it didn’t rain in Texas since then..I ran out of time and had to leave a bunch behind, but I’ll be back.
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- 11
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- ammonites
- devils toenail
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Macrasters and mortoniceras from local creek
Shaun-DFW Fossils posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Johnson county, TX creek finds from yesterday afternoon. Unexplored section of a creek that has been productive for me with every visit. The mortoniceras arringtoni and drakei are in great shape on both sides (most of them) and only 2 of the macrasters are compressed or missing a chunk.
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- ammonites
- drakeoceras
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For whatever reason, I used to completely dismiss the Austin chalk as a formation of any interest. I viewed it almost through the same lens that I view the Edwards formation, as if it was some barren uninteresting hinderance that gets in the way of cooler formations. Accidentally finding a large Parapuzosia ammonite in it once changed that a bit, but for the most part I still ignored it... Turns out I was just looking in the wrong places, and had very little understanding of its members. @LSCHNELLE recently explained a lot of it better to me, and so equipped with new knowledge I decided to try and discover a member of the Austin Chalk I've been wondering about for a while now, which I always falsely assumed was its own formation. I found myself deep in a Travis county creek, following very specific instructions I had read on an old thesis from the 80's I found online. To avoid being too long winded - nothing stood out to me as different in the geology, so I think that the vertebrate rich member I was seeking still eludes me. Yet, I wouldn't say I was skunked, because I found some very interesting invertebrates that even a simpleton like myself can appreciate My first find had me cheering and jumping, partly because of how just picture perfect the insitu was, but mostly because it was just an aesthetic looking echinoid I haven't seen before. Here it sat below, as I originally saw it: Fortunately, what's left in the matrix I believe is still in great detail. It's just on a smaller-than-it-looks exposed portion where the wear took a toll, as you will see at the end when I show more photos. For another hour and half beyond this, I was just sloshing my way through the water, very slowly, admiring the highly fossiliferous limestone as I went. Usually when I scout a new spot, it ends up being more exploring than actual hunting, and yesterday was no different. Close to my turn around spot, I for whatever reason took strong notice of inconspicuous looking pebble lying loose on its own. Picking it upon a whim, I was surprised to see it was another echinoid of the same type I found earlier, albeit in worse condition. Pictures all at the end. Walking back was a serene vibe with few fossils - I was distracted by the new greenery that's been blooming lately. When I got back to where I found the first echinoid, I decided to poke around a bit more, and was surprised to find two ammonites - one large (Mortoniceras?) which I removed, and a much smaller ammonite as well. Results below! No vertebrates but these were well worth it! @JamieLynn put together a phenomenal guide of the inverts by formation that we can find in our central texas stratas, but I wasn't able to find these echinoids in it. I'm aware they need prep, but if you know what they are already please chip in! Results below: Echinoid #1: Echinoid #2 - While it's in worse shape than even the first, I think the substantial attached matrix has protected a lot of it. We'll find out when it preps! Larger ammonite I removed - glue will come to the rescue here. I'm rather sure that the inner coils are preserved under that! Smaller ammonite below: This was just one day sandwiched into what is so far a very busy weekend for me on the paleo front - lots of exploring, and also some good work brewing on two interesting, older vertebrate finds. I'll update this post when i eventually manage to get these echinoids cleaned - the hard limestone they're in will be tough for hand tools - perhaps this is my signal to finally buy a scribe
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- ammonites
- austin chalk
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At two different times this year (but at the same basic location), I found sense interesting ammonites that both contained other ammonites inside. This is near Johnson/Tarrant County borders in North Texas. The first shown is an eopachydiscus in fairly rough shape that has a hamite embedded. The second is a mortoniceras with two extremely tiny mortoniceras ammonites visible inside. I’m guessing the smaller ones settled on the ocean floor after the larger ones and actually ended up inside those larger ammonites? I am not an expert on these so I appreciate your input!
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A few years ago I bought this Ammonite in a fossil convention, but I don't know the specie. Somone can help me? Thank you.
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I went to my first show in Glen Rose over the weekend. I met some great people and had a good time! I managed to only buy 2 fossils….LOL! I sold everything I didn’t want to keep from my entry year to collecting halfway through the show, which amounted to a lot..I will miss some of the big eopachydiscus (19 incher was sold) but I have bigger ones I kept at home..also sold one of my nice oxytropidoceras but have 3 big ones at home. I’m ready to replenish my empty bedroom with new fossils! I was also really proud to see how well Mercer Brugler cleaned up the mortoniceras he got from me that I originally found this summer, if you saw them when I gave them to him you wouldn’t recognize the fossils..very motivating to learn how to clean them like he does.
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- ammonites
- collection
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To pass some time I've been recently researching early Paleocene life and I keep coming back to researching (in my view) the two strangest and controversial Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene Formations I know of. These are the Hornerstown Formation dating 66.5-65.5 Million Years ago in what is now New Jersey, U.S. And the Takatika Grit Formation dating 66.5-60.0 Million Years ago in what is now the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=0b3baee9ab1afc7973337f5047495b723fcfa4f2 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315461615_The_age_of_the_Takatika_Grit_Chatham_Islands_New_Zealand https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667109000184?via%3Dihub I've read many reports about these formations and the pretty controversial stuff that's been found in both these areas (Paleocene ammonites and reports of archaic marine reptiles like Paleocene Mosasaurs). I'm really not 100% sure what to make of this as I've heard conflicting hypotheses on whether these more archaic marine reptile fossils were reworked from older formations while others say it's not too too likely? https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/maastrichtian-ammonites-from-the-hornerstown-formation-in-new-jersey/4F051D07668B7B893EEFECF0506E2F1B https://bioone.org/journals/acta-palaeontologica-polonica/volume-57/issue-4/app.2011.0068/Short-Term-Survival-of-Ammonites-in-New-Jersey-After-the/10.4202/app.2011.0068.full For most of these "controversial" specimens, I would say reworking is likely while some I'll admit I'm not sure? For the Mosasaurs, it's clear that the astroid impact 66 Million Years ago caused their total extinction, but I'm still not 100% convinced that none emerged from the event alive (at least barely) and swam the seas in the very first days of the Danian Paleocene but not too long after. Unlike the mostly terrestrial Non-Avian Dinosaurs, which could only hide in so many places and it's very unlike more than a tiny amount of individuals (not enough to support a population) made it into the Paleocene, the Oceans have slightly more areas to hide and more even for endothermic air breathing animals like Mosasaurs (though as an endotherm, food does become a major issue especially when the ocean food chain nearly collapsed completely). What I'm wondering is how valid are at least "some" of these supposed archaic marine reptile and ammonite fossils from the earliest Paleocene sections of the Hornerstown Formation and the Takatika Grit? Also, of all the Maastrichtian Mosasaurs known so far, which ones would have been the mostly likely to have (at least briefly) survived the Cretaceous-Paleocene Extinction Event of 66 Million Years ago (would it have been generalist feeders, ones that specialized in deep sea hunting, ones with cosmopolitan distributions, ones small by mosasaur standards but still around the same size of the few confirmed large reptiles that survived the event like the 8 meter (26 feet) in length Thoracosaurus, or ones with all these traits and advantages)? -
I feel like I finally hit pay dirt today, my best woodbine ammonite day in my short time looking. I think the smallest one (2.5”) might be a different species? It has 4 little bumps across the top, I notice the rest have fewer. I was pumped to find these! I started out a bit too far in the woodbine, but I grabbed some small pet wood pieces, at least. Far eastern Tarrant county TX
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