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Last weekend was an extended weekend and good weather forecast, that means a few field trips to the French coast for us The first trip was Friday, we got there early in the morning and planned to hunt the Turonian part of the coast. There was a lot of sand on the beaches so we didn’t find much, but quality is better than quantity and Natalie scored 2! Ptychodus teeth. I only found an ammonite that proved to be incomplete after extracting it :/ and a flint echinoid on the way back to the car. On Monday we tried our luck in the Cenomanian and Albian part of the site. Again lots of sand covering op the boulders but we did find a bit more and some really interesting specimens. The 1st interesting piece was a belemnite in the chalk, this might seen strange, but although the belemnites are common in the Albian gault clay, they are almost non-existent in the Cenomanian chalk and it was the 1st specimen I ever found in there. Not long after that It was Natalie’s turn, she found a complete irregular echinoid. The rest of the finds that day were mostly chalk ammonites, except on one spot were a little bit of gault clay was exposed on the beach were we found a nice little phosphate crab. 1st fieldtrip on Friday, early at the beach: little ptychodus 1: Ptychopdus 2: To bad for this one: A flint echinoid on our way back: Field trip on Moday: Belemnite : Neohibolites ultimus Natalie's echinoid: Tiaromma michelini The little crab in situ in the clay peeking out: All the stuff cleaned up:

Here are some of my finds from spending a few hours on Wednesday, October 26th, in the Graysonites wacoense Zone of the Grayson Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Early Cenomanian, ~97mya). This particular site exposes a micromorph layer full of thousands of tiny dwarfed Mariella bosquensis and M. rhacioformis ammonites plus a wealth of other taxa like various urchins, brittlestar fragments, shark teeth, many gastropods & pelecypods, etc. Those familiar with the Del Rio exposures of further south in central Texas (particularly the now closed-to-public Waco Pit in McLennan County), should recognize much of the fauna to be found at this site as it is laterally equivalent to those and faunally nearly identical, differing only slightly in the rarity of homomorph ammonites at this site vs further south, as well as slight differences in preservation/lithology. The following is just a fraction of what I found: One of thousands of dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Cretalamna cf. catoxodon (Otodontidae) shark tooth, this species was first described from the Cenomanian of Western Australia by Siversson et al., 2015 where many species were split out of the broad C. appendiculata: Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae) sea urchin fragment: A tiny Stoliczkaia texana (Lyelliceratidae) ammonite: Arm fragments of Ophiura graysonensis (Ophiuridae), a brittlestar. I hope to find a complete specimen or at least a central disk at this site soon: Another Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae): Some more dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Found in just a few seconds of searching in one spot: Neithea texana (Neitheidae) scallop: Praescabrotrigonia emoryi (Pterotrigoniidae) clam: cf. Margarites (Margaritidae) gastropod: A very small Cymatoceras hilli (Cymatoceratidae) nautiloid: Imprints of the pellet-lined burrows of mud shrimp (the ichnogenus being Ophiomorpha). These almost certainly belong to Meticonaxius rhacheochir (Micheleidae) which is known from both the older Pawpaw Formation and the younger Britton Formation, the latter of which contains abundant identical Ophiomorpha which have been found with the bodies of M. rhacheochir preserved inside: Chondrites trace fossils: Bivalve shell fragment conglomerate slabs consisting mainly of Texigryphaea roemeri oyster and Neithea texana scallop fragments: A mass of white nodules which I presume are likely fossilized rhodoliths, structures made up of the calcium carbonate secreted by coralline red algae which would freely roll around on the sea floor: Hundreds of Texigryphaea roemeri (Gryphaeidae) oysters: The layers above the micromorph zone abound with more typical Grayson Formation lithology & fauna, such as this Mariella rhacioformis (Turrilitidae) ammonite fragment. This species occurs in abundance in at the site in the more typical layers and occasionally as limonitic/pyritic micromorphs too: A portion of a typical non-dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: Protocardia texana (Cardiidae) clam:

High-tech tools reveal opalized fossil skeleton by Flinders University, August 29, 202 Absolute gem of a find: Opalised dinosaur fossil studied using innovative 3D printing technology. The rare fossils may represent a new Australian dinosaur species Cosmos Magazine, August 29, 2022 Dinosaur Bones Shimmering With Opal Reveal a New Species in Australia A discovery in an Australian opal mine remained unexamined for three decades—it turned out to be the most complete opalized dinosaur skeleton in the world, Gemma Conroy, Smithsonian,June 3, 2019 “Opalized” Dinosaur Skeleton Discovered 30 Years Ago, Now Scientists Have Named the Species. One man was hunting gems and found a load of natural history instead. Rose Heichelbech, Dusty Ol Thing Bell, P.R., Brougham, T., Herne, M.C., Frauenfelder, T. and Smith, E.T., 2019. Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid- Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39(1), p.e1564757. Yours, Paul H.

Hello to all forum users! Glad to join you. I would like to share photos of some of my findings. Now there is an opportunity to post only a small part - the topic will be gradually supplemented. So, the finds of marine reptiles from the Cenomanian of the Cretaceous period of Ukraine. Several photos of the crown of the Ichthyosaurus tooth.

This last weekend produced probably the best results I've ever experienced while fossil hunting - these last two days will be hard to beat. Before I get to that though, I do want to include a find from the weekend before (since this is the topic of rarity). It was a local find and a first for the species for me. Not only that, but my first real "heartbreaker". It was bound to happen at some point! Sticking halfway out of the gravel, I instantly recognized a large Ptychodus tooth, of either P. marginalis or P. polygyrus - I couldn't remember at the time which of the two was the younger, but regardless both are rare and would be a first for me. (spoiler - it's P. polygyrus)(EDIT: I forgot you don't find polygyrus in Texas - this is probably a P. martini then (also rare, woohoo!). With great anticipation I pulled it out - only to realize that it wasn't half buried - just broken in half! Despite the realization, I was still ecstatic, heightened by the fact that this was on a scout to a new spot as well. But, that't not what y'all are here for, so without further adieu, let's fast forward to my time last weekend. I at first met up with Kris ( @Ptychodus04 ) up in north Texas to take a look at a woodbine site where he discovered the holotype of Flexomornis. That's right, our own forum member discovered north america's oldest definitive bird! It was an estuary-esque deposit, and I was curious about what potential the site had for dinosaur fauna ( a newly inspired interest ever since my time romping around in the hell creek formation). We found some powdery bits and pieces of chunkasaur, as well as some tiny amounts of croc, fish, and bird material, so the excursion was quite informative for me. Kris brought his old friend and hunting partner Joe, and the three of us were chatting it up the whole time - it was a morning well spent. Before the day became too hot, we turned back and Kris offered to take me to a cenomanian Eagle Ford site in the area. I have a very hard time running into the lower Eagle Ford, so I was happy to accept, and we hit the creek with the sun high above. Now, you won't catch him tooting his own horn, so I'll do it for him - Kris is an insanely skilled collector. He and Joe have made some bonkers discoveries that I had no clue about - new things, completely articulated things... his 40 years of collecting experience has a track record that shines. In our first ten minutes into the creek, something coming out of the weathered bank caught my eye: 10 minutes prior, as we were walking in, I joked to Kris about finding a fully articulated Coniasaurus here. Coniasaurs have been bouncing in my head for a couple months now, ever since having an energizing discussion about them with Mike at SMU (the first time I found out they even exist). They and Pseudomegachasma were why I was so bent on finding cenomanian Eagle Ford, and this being my first time In cenomanian eagle ford strata, I had my fingers crossed.... and it seemed to work! I didn't want to be the boy who cried coniasaur... but I was fairly positive that that's what I was seeing. Kris was right behind me and seemed to agree - so, I drove a pick in below the vert to pry it out... and out came another vert locked into attachment with it, freshly broken in half. Silence. I looked at Kris, Kris looked at the vert, and we both went "oh!" From this alone, I was starting to get very excited, though I had to remind my self that odds were low that it would be all I was imagining. Kris (thank god he was there and could take over the digging, literally the best person for the job) began exploring deeper, and the vertebrae continued. Joe continued a little further up as we dug. Soon, we had a line of them exposed. Keep in mind, this is without 1.5 verts that broke off with the initial discovery: If you look to the left of the closest to the screen vert, you can see a tiny rib piece (which I originally assumed to be a process) The verts continued still, and then my phone overheated, so the pictures had to stop. Here's one that Joe nabbed of the scene: Paraloid was slapped on and Kris removed the first major block. A spot of bone on the other end looked to be on the side, so we moved in further and revealed another block where the bone seemed to finally stop. Covered in sweat we then continued our hunt. While looking at a pyrite inclusion, I practically stepped on a Xiphactinus tooth. Kris spotted it as I walked away, I was shocked I missed it! This sort of find is almost casual for these two (yeah, they're good), so he offered I keep it. I was happy to accept - it's the best Xiphactinus tooth I've personally seen. Our walk was mostly uneventful from there, right until we got to our turn around point. Kris and I realized at some point that we left Joe where we had turned around, and I went back to check on him. He was under a large overhang, where he had pulled out few plates of shale containing bone. Since both of them have found many large fish on this creek, they didn't bat an eye, but I was amazed! It seemed there were some skull elements of a large fish on them. "Are there more? " I asked "A little", said Joe, and he showed me where he spotted them. After a few seconds of moving material, we revealed another large piece of bone, and I about died. However, not too keen to excavate, considering it's fairly insignificant material for them (and the heat was oppressive at this point), we left for Kris's place. I told them I planned to get right back as soon as I got in my car, and they wished me luck and told me to send updates. Back at the site, I revealed the bone quickly, and in doing so, more bone that was previously buried revealed itself 10 inches to the left. I began on that, and soon realized I was working on a HUGE vert. "Xiphactinus it is then", I said, as nothing else from this portion of the cenomanian (except perhaps plesiosaurs) could produce something this big. As I continued work though, I started losing faith in my ID. The bone itself was nothing like fish. The day was drawing to a close, and I drove back home with a renewed interest in the mystery vert. I arrived home late. Then, early the next morning, I woke to do it all again, but first on the list was to drop off the coniasaur at SMU. I mentally prepared myself to spend another $90 on gas and then set out loaded with energy. I stayed at SMU for several hours - it's always a pleasure to spend time there so I didn't mind getting out to the dig site later than expected. It didn't take long for me to finally remove the vert... and revealed behind it was another...yes!! Happy to finally be out from under that overhang, I looked hard at what was in my hands. Both sides were revealed now, and I caught my breath. This was certainly reptile. I showed some photos to Mike at SMU, wondering about Plesiosaur, and he decided that while it would need some prep first, he doesn't think so. This leaves Archosaur origin, if I dare suggest. Some more field photos are below: (During the dig) Once removed: Unbelievable two days, to say the least. I'll have to return this weekend, and I'll update this thread as necessary. The site though is in the worst possible place it could be - at the back of an overhang held together by only the roots of a cedar, whose exposed roots hang like a curtain behind you as you work. It's going to take some work to make that safe, and more work to dive in from there, but I'm rearing to go. What a weekend - if I wasn't typing this at midnight I'd probably write much more, but that's the gist of it for now. Stay tuned! Update #1 I type this with dirt under my nails and a keen soreness in muscles I didn't know existed The original plan was to drive up with James ( @Rat Muncher ), a rock climbing friend who is getting interested into paleo lately, and my step brother Christian, who historically is always good luck. From there we were to meet with Joe, who originally found the fish bones to the right of the vert(s). Unfortunately Christian couldn't make it so it was James and I taking on the overhang all of Saturday, while Joe came and helped us today: We moved an enormous quantity of material. I can't really quantify it in weight, but it's like someone piled the back of their pick up high and then dumped it all in the creek. Some photos: How the site looked on arrival - I'm crouched in there for context: The first vert's original positioning (the one removed last weekend) The current vert, which lay directly behind the one above. The first vert was touching it at the bottom of the face, where you can see a break in the photo. As you can see- almost articulated. Look to the upper left of my finger: That's more delicate bone that's associated. This made things much more difficult - though the preservation of smaller skeletal elements hopefully suggests good preservation of the rest of the specimen. But now, instead of moving verts out one at a time, this was a game of getting the largest bone blocks out as slabs as possible, to preserve the orientation of these other bones. This is the practically the most difficult possible scenario for an excavation. As excited as I am, I have to admit I'm a little frustrated. The overburden here is ridiculous. We successfully made it safer, but it's not safe yet - and this animal is going straight into the bank. All three of the possible options (pliosaur, croc, or floated dinosaur) are lengthy animals. James and I slammed away with pick axes all of Saturday, and Sunday was more picking followed by the more concentrated work trying to remove the rock directly above the would-be bone block away, so that we can have room to pry up the bone block from the bottom. We thankfully accomplished this. Yet, we left the bone until next time - I don't want to fall victim to impatience and damage the bone with hand tools. The next time I come out again (hopefully soon), we'll remove the bone block we revealed with a chainsaw. Joe came in clutch here today - James and I were cloudy headed and sweating pure Red Bull by this point, and Joe pointed out some tricks to make our dig a little easier, some of which were obvious in retrospect - we made some goofy mistakes in that heat Once the bone block is removed, I have to admit I don't know what I'll do to get the rest of the bone out that may be behind it. I suspect it's going to be a story of getting little blocks removed at a time as we tediously tunnel in over the coming weeks, if the bone continues. If the bone getting revealed is exciting enough to convince them, I think I'll ask a paleontologist interested in this fauna to send some manpower and tools to continue. I would like to do research on this specimen if it gets there, so that would be great if it happens that way. Update #2: This is a delayed update...but I found more of the animal Joe came out with the chainsaw and it was a game changer - one entire day was spent removing overburden and chainsawing the sides of the bone block - we had trouble freeing the back end of the block so that's what I spent the next day doing when I was on my own. The block didn't break perfectly, but nonetheless a huge section came off, revealing one of the most beautiful sights I've personally laid eyes on: Three associated verts, with their fallen (unfused) neural arches, from right behind where the fourth vert was removed.... I lost my head, as this preservation means we may have much more of the animal waiting. There is more bone still in the bank- another process from another vert hiding away. Now, the folks at SMU have a hunch about what plesiosaur this is, as well as a few other exciting details (like how, for example, this animal seems to be facing into the bank) but I can't give y'all anymore hints - don't want to spoil any surprises!

Recently, my good friend Carter ( @Jackito ) found my personal holy grail of Texas Cretaceous sharks - Pseudomegachasma comanchensis While I knew of the existence of the genus here in Texas, I didn't know much about the teeth themselves as I never was really that convinced I'd ever find one. But Carter's find proved it's possible, and what's better... he found it at a site we both knew of! So, we went out together in an effort to find another. What's better is that I had suspicions about that site's age for a while, and the finding of his tooth attests to the late cenomanian-early turonian (ish) range. Prior to this, I assumed it was middle Turonian like the exposures nearby, and while I find the middle Turonian a greatly interesting time, I've been keen to find cenomanian strata due to it's ability to produce very occasional Coniasaur, Pliosaur and Pseudomegachasma material. It was out first time hunting this area together, and it turns out my usual primary spot of interest is maybe 40 yards from his. He showed me the "giving boulder", and it rapidly started living up to its reputation. Carter may be "new" to fossil hunting, but his research ability and persistence is that of a seasoned veteran, and his knack for rare sharks (such as his Cretoxyrhina symphyseal, his maastrichtian nurse shark tooth, his Pseudomegachasma and huge maastrichtian saw shark rostral tooth) is astonishing. Rapidly, the finds started flowing - for the most part tiny Squalicorax falcatus and Ptychodus of various species, and some really nice teeth from other species began popping up as well: Lovely Cretoxyrhina mantelli with broken root lobes: Squalicorax falcatus. It's easy to imagine these as the Cretaceous equivalent to tiger sharks, both from tooth morphology and their opportunist natures. What looks like Cretolamna - personally an uncommon genus for me One of the larger specimens of the 15 or so Ptychodus Carter found in "the giving boulder" I then found the most unusual Ptychodus tooth I've encountered - perhaps partially digested? @LSCHNELLE It was soon after seeing this that I made a find I have long dreamed of... I was working on the same slab that produced the strange Ptychodus tooth, which I pulled from the bank not even 10 feet away from where Carter was making crazy finds of his own in the Giving Boulder.... when I saw this: It's like I was hit with a shock wave, it sent me absolutely reeling. I lost all inhibition, released a string of not so appropriate words, and fell to my knees, only to get up and start pacing in circles repeating the same not so appropriate words interrupted by cheers. With my explosive reaction, Carter at first assumed I smushed a finger under a falling hammer. I shakily said "no... Pliosaur tooth". He saw it, and while his reaction was much more controlled than mine, many subsequent curses still followed. We were delighted, but any random passerby wouldn't have known from looking at us This was absolutely electric. Most of my best finds I was unsure of upon discovery - but with this I instantly knew, so the subsequent adrenaline and then adrenaline crash meant I had to take a long recovery before I started poking around again. Right as I got back into it, Carter made another crazy find - this time a beautiful Ptychodus occidentalis of great size and fantastic condition. It's funny, because prior to the P. occidantalis I found at a different site a day or two before, I had never even seen one in person, yet on this day we found a couple - though Carter's was by many, many orders of magnitude the largest: Everything was carefully wrapped up and taken home, and so concluded my last hunt before moving to my new college. No Pseudomegachasma, but I cannot complain in the slightest with the bycatch of a long awaited goal of mine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That was yesterday - today was trip number two.. which was moving into my flat in College Station, where I'm continuing my journey more formally as a student of paleontology (though my major is Biology, but you get what I mean) at A&M. It's intimidating moving out from home for the first time, and I had a harder time with it than I thought I would. But, then I remind myself why I'm here and what I'm here to do, and I'm newly determined. Here I am now, in my new room for the first time ever - all in the pursuit of a passion that started here on the forum. I cannot thank you guys enough - I know it seems silly thanking folks on the internet, many of whom I've never met, but without the community here I wouldn't be here either. I noticed the arrangement on my desk earlier - and I snapped a photo, because it captures the energy of what my next two years here will hopefully be like. In the photo are some paleo books I've brought, my field watch that has somehow survived every adventure and misadventure I've put it though in the last 8 months, and a travel box containing two specimens: The Pliosaur tooth that I'm ever so slowly prepping (updates on that will be in this thread), and my Hadrodus hewletti tooth. Update: The prep is finally finished! Very happy with this fossil. Only needed glue once, near the root. Soon I'll drown the whole thing in some 3% paraloid solution.

This has to be a very brief report, as I have to hop in my car soon to go hunt for my ever elusive Pseudomegachasma tooth - but I discovered a tiny, amazing site on a scout this weekend: The trek had me running into several large homeless camps, so I was a little tense the entire time, but the results were worth it. All of these finds came from a sandstone roof above me. It was like looking up at a church ceiling mural, telling a story of some distant time, except this was a ~95 million year old story, of a seafloor frozen in time. For that reason, I named this site "The Sistine Ceiling". First - The king of the cretaceous: Cretoxyrhina mantelli This was historically a very difficult species for me, but I thankfully seem to be getting better at finding them! But, the crowning achievement at this site was my first ever Ptychodus occidentalis. It's big, though not my biggest ptychodus find, but it's also exquisitely preserved - making this perhaps the best Ptychodus tooth I've ever found. Not prepped completely yet - there's some sticky sandstone on the root that resists an exacto knife like titanium, but enough has been revealed to show it's grandeur. I feel like @BobC after he found his Edwards formation Cidarid, where he says: "On the way home I cleared off the passenger seat so he could be displayed properly to admiring passersby, and placed him there. I could tell every person on the expressway was extremely jealous, and frankly, who could blame them? I will post my address soon in case anyone wants to send me congratulatory letters, faxes, e-mails or even extravagant presents"

Hello TFF, I'm very curious about these two tiny bones. Does anyone recognize them? Thank you very much . Ps. Sorry for the samples being between my fingers, but it was the best way to solve the excessive reflection. Nº1 Nº2

I acquired the tooth below a little over a year ago along with some Cretodus crassidens teeth from a Texas collector. They're from a Dallas County, Texas, site that exposes a buffer zone between the Eagle Ford and Woodbine Formations (Cenomanian-Turonian). All of the teeth were identified to me as Cretodus, and that appears to be correct for the others, but I'm pretty sure the ID on this one is incorrect. On further examination, it appears to be a cardabiodontid, though I'm not sure whether Dwardius or Cardabiodon. The slant length is just under 39 mm. @ThePhysicist @siteseer, you helped ID a previous Cardabiodon tooth that I picked up from Kansas--any thoughts on this one? @MikaelS if you see this, your expertise would of course also be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hello all I recently bought a tooth from the Kem Kem beds that clearly belongs to the genus Onchopristis. The weird thing about the tooth is that it has two hooks instead of just one. I know the species Onchopristis dunkeli has two (or more) hooks, but I don't find any official rapports metioning them in the Kem Kem beds. The tooth has yet to arrive, but I already wanted to ask the question. What do you think? Is there a chance O. dunkeli occurs in the Kem Kem beds or would it just be a pathological example. I have been searching a long time for a specimen like this. The tooth has not yet arrived so sorry, no photo's yet. @LordTrilobite, @Haravex Greetings Thijs

Last weekend we have been to the coast of France to look for fossils in the chalk. We found the usual ammonites, but I also saw some fish remains sticking out of a boulder. At first I thought to leave it since it looked very brittle. Natalie convinced me to take my time to try to extract it. She put some paraloid on it in the field and I removed the fossil with a knife. At home she consolidated the matrix and prepped the piece. She sure was right to take the fossil home , it turned out to be a really nice Enchodus Jaw. (moral of the story, always listen to the missus ) In situ: after the prep:

Mostly my finds from Hunstanton are readily intelligible, but these are some I'm struggling with. Red rock: Hunstanton Formation, Cretaceous, Albian Stage White rock: Ferriby Chalk Formation, Cretaceous, Cenomanian Stage The first are two mysteries from the Hunstanton Formation. As always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone, I am not a specialist in paleontology, I would like some help in identifying these 3 stones. I found them in clay from a marine environment dating from the Cenomanian... It seems to me that there is a bivalve, a vermiform fossil (?) and one resembling a degraded bone. I do not know well the paleontological discoveries of my region, I just know that there was the discovery of a vertebra of a marine reptile and the tooth of a sauropod. Thanks a lot for your help

Hunstanton, Ferriby Chalk, Cretaceous, Cenomanian. When I found this piece I was looking for echinoids, so saw it and thought tubercle. I've kept it with my Ferriby echinoids, but I'm not convinced that's what this is, there's nothing about it to me that looks echinoid except for this little tubercle like shape. Beside it is another similar ring. If it's part of a test, something really bad happened to it, it must be a broken folded test. But I was wondering if I was always on the wrong track with the idea it was echinoderm related. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Hello forum members! With the new Coronavirus raging across the world, I thought it would be nice to start some kind of advent calendar, using my own Squalicorax collection. Everyday I will post one or multiple Squalicorax teeth from one location. Let's see what ends sooner, my collection or the virus outbreak. I will start with the oldest tooth from the Albian substage and end with the teeth from the uppermost substage; the Maastrichtian. The first one is the oldest and also one of the smallest teeth in my collection. Unfortunately it is so small that the photo's are not as sharp as I would have liked, but I think they are good enough. It is Squalicorax primaevus from the Middle Albian Argiles tégulines of Courcelles, Aube Department, France. See you guys tomorrow, Sander