Search the Community

Hello everyone! I just got some but I have no idea about it.The only information that seller gave me is those mosasaur bones from Ozan fm, Texas. So I will post some photos of them for you to have a look if you familiar with them and can tell the ID. here are they: Bone 1: Bone 2: Thank you!

Two quick items this morning from the Ozan Formation (Cretaceous, Campanian) of north Texas (Fannin County). These items are small, picked from the matrix. The first one is 5mm long and I'm wondering if it could be a partial leg of an ophiuroid. It looks similar to one I saw in a publication from the North Carolina Fossil Club. It has numerous partially overlapping segments but unfortunately the bottom? is not preserved. I'm wondering if @EPIKLULSXDDDDD can look at his recent brittle star find and see if there is any similarity, I can't tell from the pictures posted here; http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/129481-some-say-lightning-doesnt-strike-the-same-place-twice/&tab=comments#comment-1400875 I am plenty open to other ideas on what it might be as well and I realize it may be too fragmentary to say anything for sure. Here are a couple of pictures: The second one I believe is a "worm tube", some sort of serpulid, but I'm not sure as it is more "spikey" than I have seen before and looks a bit more segmented. It also starts out in a bit or a curl like I have seen with certain gastropods and even an ammonite, but that may just be coincidental. The black bar at the bottom is 1cm long so this item is about 4-5 mm ish. Thanks for looking and I appreciate any opinions. Mike

I have a set of very small brachiopods from the Ozan Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of north Texas (Fannin County, near the North Sulphur River). Some pictures have scale bars, others do not, but the largest of these shells is ~4mm (they are roughly equidimensional). They are not a rare shell in the matrix, but are small and are not abundant. I collected 57 pieces of them out of 3-4000 fossil items picked from the 12 mesh matrix fraction. I have not found a direct match in my literature and website searches so far, so I am looking for some help from our brachiopods gurus @Tidgy's Dad, @Misha, @Jeffrey P, @Thomas.Dodson @Fossildude19 and anyone else who might care to voice an opinion. Also our North (or even Central) Texas folks surely might have some valuable insight: @BobWill, @JamieLynn @ThePhysicist @JohnJ @erose, @grandpa, @Uncle Siphuncle just to call out a few. Maybe the Dallas Paleo Society has looked into these. I'll start with just a bit of background info first. These brachiopods are not new, but may be as yet officially unidentified, but that is what I hope to find out. Cretaceous brachiopods in Texas are not that common, other than Kingena (Waconella) wacoensis and these are clearly not that species. The 2019 version of the Fossils Collectors Guidebook to the North Sulphur River shows some similar looking specimens on Page 45 (Figure 8) but lists them as "small indeterminate rhynchonellid brachiopods". G.A. Cooper in a 1973 publication named a new terebratulid genus, Cricosia, which was found rarely in the Upper Cretaceous of Texas which bears some similarities and D.V. Ager, et al published a Journal of Paleontology paper in 1963 which discussed two genera (Cyclothyris and Lamellorhynchia) of rhynchonellid brachiopods which bear a passing resemblance (but have some major differences) and I have seen on other websites attributed to specimens from north Texas. As far as I know, that is about the extent of published brachiopods from the Cretaceous of Texas. If I have missed any others, perhaps that are too dissimilar from mine to have come across my radar, but if you are aware of others, please let me know. So my first question as I started looking for an ID, which Order of brachiopods do mine belong to? I thought this would be easy, I was wrong. While brachiopod diversity was very high in the Paleozoic, by the late Mesozoic (specifically Cretaceous) there were only two Orders of articulate brachiopods left, the Terebratulida and Rhynchonellida. That should be easy, only two to choose from. Unfortunately, the brachiopods in question don't fit nicely into the common forms of either one. I made a little table of the common features of the two orders based on information from the Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology (Part H) and highlighted which features are present (check mark) or absent (no go sign) in the specimens in question. Probably the most important feature that distinguishes the two orders, is the support of the lophophore, (the internal feeding mechanism) and I don't have preserved features which make this obvious. On the outside, terebratulids are normally smooth with a curved hinge, mine are ribbed with a straight hinge. Rhynchonellids are normally very biconvex, have a strong fold and sulcus and the line where the two valves join is zig-zig due to very coarse ribbing, mine have none of these features. I can not see any punctae in the shells, but I always struggle with this and maybe the preservation in just not good enough to preserve this microscopic feature. One last thing I read is that rhynchonellids have strong hinge teeth and tend to be most commonly preserved as complete shells (both valves together). I have a couple of articulated specimens, but most of mine are isolated brachial or (less common) pedicle valves. So I am leaning to Terebratulid, but not positive. OK, enough yakking, lets look at them: The brachial valve interiors I think hold some of the most important features for determining an ID. In these you can see that the pedicle opening is not closed, but is an open triangular shape. On this one you can see that the ribbing is somewhat beaded and that the umbo area is somewhat smooth. You don't see that preserved on all of them. I know this is a lousy picture, but you can see the biconvex profile with the pedicle valve on the left and the pedicle opening at the top. In all cases the pedicle valve is quite inflated and the brachial valve is either flat or slightly convex. Here are two different shells in anterior view showing the straight line of junction between the two valves (sorry from the glob of sticky stuff on the top specimen). One is very biconvex, the other is planoconvex. Thee is no hint of a fold or sulcus. Here is a detailed view of the brachial valve interior with some lighting from the side to try and show the crura (right one is in red circle) which are paired processes that stick up and I believe were the base of the calcareous loop that supported the lophophore. So I am asking for any help in pinning a name to these. I'd be happy with a genus but will even settle for a family. Based on searching through the Treatise and reading several publications, I believe they are Terebratulids in the Family Cancellothyrididae. I believe the very distinct processes I see sticking up (red circles), the shape of the cardinal process and the lack of a median septum rule out any rhynchonellids, but I could be mistaken. The genus Cricosia is the closest I can find and it has been reported from Texas, but these are definitely different from Cricosia filosa (Conrad), which I believe is the only species described. Below are snippets from The 1973 Cooper paper of Cricosia and the one on the right is from the Treatise. You can see the shape is similar (straight hinge is very uncommon in terebratulids), the cardinal process is very similar, but the ornamentation is very different (the whole family is one of the few in terebratulida that has ribbing). Of course, my specimens are missing the whole loop feature that is so important, I only have the base of the feature (and is the Treatise diagram, those are reconstructed). Thanks for looking and I appreciate any insights. I can provide more info or other pictures if needed. Mike

A few months ago I had the opportunity to collect a bunch of matrix from the Cretaceous aged (Campanian) Ozan Formation of North Texas in the "red beds". The larger fraction is rich in sharks teeth and other small macro fauna. After breaking down the matrix, I have put it through a number of sieves to facilitate picking and sorting. I have available lots of very fine matrix that made it through my 60 mesh sieve (so it is all smaller than 250 microns or ~0.25 mm). In this fraction I see lots of forams, some ostracods, and some other very small fossils. I am not really equipped to pick and analyze this small of material (and I have gallons of it) so: If anyone would like some, just let me know (PM me) and I will be happy to send you some. Again, this is very fine, I have not seen any sharks teeth in this size range but there are other identifiable fossils. In the US, I will be happy to send you a bag of it; if you are overseas, I may want some help with shipping costs or maybe we can do a swap of other matrix. If you have any questions, just let me know. Here is a quick picture of forams and some items I have picked out of the matrix offered (sorry for the lack of scale, but everything fit through 60 mesh).

Visiting fossil collectors from the Odessa school district found the specimen in the first picture and I was reminded of one I found 7 years earlier at the same site shown in the next images. When they asked for the name I had to admit I didn't know. These came from Moss Creek, a nearby tributary of the North Sulphur River and exposing the same deposits, the Ozan Formation from the Taylor Group of the upper Cretaceous. My example is 65 mm long, with a whorl 30 mm X 15 mm. The fragment has a slightly curved shaft, compressed whorl section with a rib index of 4 per whorl height. It has a sharp venter, rounded dorsum and ribs slanted in an adapical direction along the venter and interrupted on the dorsum. There are no visible sutures other than in an area to small to interpret. There appears to be a single row of tubercles in the center of the venter unless this is a result of being pinched out in preservation but both specimens show this feature. The site produces some examples of Glyptoxoceras sp. which is the closest thing I know of but I don't believe those have the tubercles and they are curved a lot more. Glyptoxoceras ellisoni from the older Austin Group is less curved but also without the tubercles.

This tiny tooth came from a tributary of North Sulphur River called Moss Creek. This is Upper Cretaceous, Taylor Group. It's about 5 mm tall. Any Ideas?

Hello, I made a run the the North Sulphur River yesterday and there are a couple of finds that I’d like help identifying. The first looks like a coprolite to me but I’ve never ID’d one. Please confirm or deny. If it is one any ideas on what animal made it? It reminds me of a small dog poo. I’ve found this vertebrae but I don’t know what it belongs to. I doesn’t look like the mosasaur vertebrae I’ve found in the past. Can anyone help with this? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I got this partial tooth in last week which I bought from a US-based seller claiming it was a mosasaur tooth - though I bought it already suspecting it is not. Having since received the specimen, I can confidently say it's plesiosaur, more than likely polycotylid, as the ornamentation exhibits dense packing of fine striations lingually and a near complete drop-off of striae labially with only some small ones remaining near the base of the crown at great intervals. In a lot of ways this type of ornamentation is reminiscent of that of Jurassic pliosaur teeth. But as the tooth is said to have come from the Ozan Formation, which dates to the Campanian and Maastrichtian and therefore a time after pliosaurs had gone extinct, it's obviously not possible for the tooth to be pliosaur. It's morphology would moreover be somewhat strange for a brachauchenine pliosaur, as the striations are indeed very fine. Cross-section of the tooth is sub-circlular without carinae but with a slight lingual curvature. Now my question here would be if anyone knows what species this tooth might be attributable to. From my own experience identifying Jurassic pl(es)iosaur teeth I know this can be quite a challenge, but also know that there's often some minute indicators that can still help do so anyway. My current candidates, based on regional occurrence and time-bracketing would be Dolichorhynchops and Polycotylus. I, however, lack the proper geological and geographical resolution to narrow genus or species ranges down further. @JarrodB @Jared C @JohnJ @Jackson g (and anybody else who might be able to help out)

It seems that every time I post in the fossil ID lately, it's something my friends found when they were with me - brand new eyes are really good at avoiding the "routine" we get into when hunting, and they produce all sorts of crazy cool finds as a result. Here are some field photos of something I suspect is fish scales - I can ask her for better photos if needed. Ozan formation, mid-campanian of the cretaceous, Texas Here's a side angle I took so that the ridge is more evident: thoughts?

Hi everyone! I'm a newer member to the fossil hunting community. I first started as a little kid, but have only really gotten into it over the pandemic as a hobby. I've done some hunting up around Dallas where I'm originally from, visiting famous spots like NSR and POC. For college, I'm currently living in Austin and have checked out a few nearby spots. These past few months I've been frequenting a local creek that runs through the Ozan layer and have been finding some cool fossils/artifacts. The items I am showing you today are collected from two places. The first assortment (lots 1 and 2) are from the NSR and contain Cretaceous/Pleistocene fossils. The second group (lots 3 and 4) was collected in Austin and contains Cretaceous fossils as well as some artifacts. For some objects, I am fairly certain of their identity, but for others I have no clue. Some fossils/artifacts have additional closeup shots for greater detail. Any comments or tidbits of wisdom concerning their identities or fossils in general would be greatly appreciated! Lot 1: NSR fossils I am fairly certain of 1A: Vertebra I believe to come from a mosasaur. 1B: My favorite piece from the NSR: A mosasaur tooth with a sizeable chunk of seems to be bone/root(?). It's a bit weathered, but there's still enough to get the imagination running! 1D: A nice little red bivalve from the red layer. 1E: A fragment of Pleistocene tooth I would love to know more about! From looking at the folds on it and doing some researching, I feel that it could be from a horse. 1G: The nicest piece of baculite I found that day. 1H: I'm not sure if this is a piece of coprolite or just a random cluster of two fossils. There is an identifiable baculite fragment and gastropod. Moving on to the second lot from the NSR, these are the things that I have very little notion concerning the identity of: 2A: Could just be an oddly shaped piece of sandstone (as it has that texture), but it does make me think of a scute. I would love to hear what y'all think! 2B: I truly have no idea what I am looking at. It feels like a fossilized "something", but that is all could really say. Here are some closer pics: 2C: Petrified wood? 2D: Very strange texture. My initial thoughts were some type of bone or petrified wood. 2E: Rock with fossilized bits of something that is difficult to identify. Maybe fish parts? 2F: A piece of cylindrical bone I believe. 2G: Piece of turtle? 2H: No clue. 2I: Petrified wood? Lot 3: Fossils from Austin Creek that cuts through Ozan layer 3A: Fairly certain this is an ammonite valve. Found quite a few in this creek for some reason. They never want to be whole. 3B: Good size vertebra likely from a mosasaur 3C: Really don't know what this is. My best guess is some really weathered down ammonite. It has symmetry and an overall spiral shape. It kind of reminds me of a curled up shrimp. Would love to know more about it! Here are some closeups: 3D: Nice little heart urchin. 3E: Nice urchin. I had only ever found heart urchins until this one, so it was an exciting find. 3F: Gastropod. 3G: Have yet to find a complete shark tooth from this spot, but here is a fragment. Might not be enough to secure an ID, but it's worth a try. 3H: Strange little fossil. Seems like some bryozoans grew on it at one point. When I look at it I get thoughts of echinoids and crinoids. Would be interested in hearing y'alls thoughts. Lot 4: Artifacts from the Austin creek (I know this isn't an arrowhead forum, but I figure there's a lot of overlap in hobbyists so there could be some insights): 4A: I believe this is a part of a larger tool like 4B. Not sure if these are knives, scrapers, or something else. 4B: Knife, scraper, or something else? 4C: My favorite artifact. Super pretty and thin. My guess is an atlatl dart point? 4E: another point, though not as visually appealing as 4D. The base looks a lot different too. Could this be an atlatl point? 4H: The base of some point. Would love to know more about the names or dates of any of these! If anyone would like more closeups of a specific item, feel free to let me know!

Hi all, before I post today's trip in fossil hunting trips, I'd like to know a little better about the ID's. This is a ll from a creek in Austin (central texas) that exposes the Ozan formation (aka the lower taylor marl here) Specimen 1) I'm fairly sure it's a mosasaur tooth, but It's oddly stout. It seems to have two cutting edges, but I'm still just not quite sure how to differentiate Mosasaur teeth from Pachyrhizodus teeth. Which one is it, and why? Specimen 2.) This jaw is likely very modern - i'm thinking Racoon, the only reason it made me curious is the sheer amount of holes in it for teeth. Confirm or deny? Specimen 3.) I think this may be a fish tooth in a piece of jaw, but there's just not a clear point where the tooth starts and the jaw ends. Any ideas? Specimen 4.) This was from a slightly earlier hunt, but I'm still curious. I'm thinking Xiphactinus tooth, but the groove down the side seems to be an important feature, and I didn't spot that in pictures of any cretaceous fish teeth. Specimen 5.) This is a preserved rib - I recognize that ID will be difficult, but since it's old enough to be well on the way to fossilizing I'm still interested in trying Specimen 6.) A very large bone found sticking halfway out the gravel. Seeming we found several bison teeth in this area, I'm crossing my fingers for bison

An assortment of interesting finds from our hunt today. This was in the late cretaceous Ozan formation (also called the Lower Taylor Marl, I believe) around the Austin area, in central Texas. I'd like confirmation or correction on some ID's 1) I'm thinking Mosasaur tooth for this one, but since it's small enough to maybe be fish, I'm checking anyway. If measurements end up being important for any of these, I can provide them. 2.) I'm thinking Cretolamna for this shark tooth, but it looks like the cusps have two peaks, which is throwing me off. Any thoughts? 3.) A very unusual ptychodus. It looks like there was a dome that was worn flat, but that would imply then that this is a Ptychodus whipplei, which is supposedly quite unlikely around Austin. @LSCHNELLE, any thoughts? 4.) I'm fairly positive on this one being some species of Cretolamna, but since I've never seen Cretolamna in this area before, I'm just making doubly sure. This one is about the size of a finger nail.

Hey ya'll Here's a small Ptychodus that my step brother found while we were hunting a gravel bed. Still in the matrix... you can say I'm a little jealous. I'm thinking, based off the ID guide that's pinned, that it could be mammillaris. Let me know if more or better photos are needed.

I got a few NSR shark teeth and this one has me stumped. It’s small at 6mm and not complete but I think an ID is possible given it’s unique features. It has distinct folds and the cusp has an odd bend. I was wondering if it could be a Cretodus tooth of some odd position. That’s my best guess at the moment. I don’t think it’s Goblin or Sand Tiger. Ozan Formation NSR Texas.