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I made a trip to a different spot on the North Sulfur River this morning. I had been to this spot one time last year, but an unforecast rain shower showed up and turned the river into such a muddy mess that I turned around and left without finding anything. With a 100 degree high forecast for today, I didn't figure rain would be a problem. I found some of the usual things you expect to find at NSR, Hamulus worm tubes, a gastropod, a perfectly preserved complete bivalve, some interesting bones, and lots of bacculites. The only bacculite I brought home was the one in this photo, with the great suture lines.

Following a refreshing swim at the lake with a few friends over the weekend, I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment stop at a construction site I happened to be driving by. The sun was setting, cooling the area and finally making it hospitable despite the recent heat wave. I was not familiar with the exact geology of where I was, but with only an hour and a half of daylight left I decided to not waste too much time and immediately began scouring the dirt. I quickly noticed that the ground was composed of two distinct formations. The higher layer was a grey limestone while the layer underneath was bright red and filled with a wide range of greens and yellows among other colors. It was only until I got home that I realized these were the Grayson Marl (/Mainstreet limestone?) and Pawpaw formation respectively. My first find was an unexpected, but welcome one. Coming from the grey rock, I noticed a rounded form that stood out against the jagged terrain surrounding it. After prying it out, I was surprised to find that it was indeed a large nautilus (A). Not too long after, I found a couple more that were in slightly worse condition. Continuing my search in the greyish area led me to later find a chunk of Mariella heteromorph ammonite (B) as well. I particularly like this specimen as it is interesting to compare it with my Mariella micromorphs from the Waco Pit and other locations. I also managed to snag a few pretty little brachiopods (C). I have a really difficult time differentiating between brachiopods so my ID for them is a bit iffy, but for now I'll go with Kingena wacoensis. The cool thing about this site is the fact that it sits on the border of two very distinct formations. As a result, one can find a wide variety of fossil life. The rest of the things I brought home from this trip were found in the red Pawpaw formation. For whatever reason, Texas loves to produce pyritized micromorphs. I was surprised to come across a multitude of ammonite genera with that classic bronze coloration I've come to be all too familiar with. I found a few un-pictured fragments of Mariella and other ammonite pieces. I was also able to pocket a few chunks of my favorite ammonite, Engonoceras (D). I didn't really capture its beauty well on camera, but something about the way light bounces off of the broad reflective shell is mesmerizing. I hope to one day come across a complete one. To round off the hunt, I found one last slightly enigmatic specimen (E) that came out of the Pawpaw. Its a big rock with lots of holes running in and out of it. The holes are covered with countless tiny divots. My guess is they are what's left of some crustacean burrows as they bear some resemblance to the poopy burrows I have seen elsewhere online. Some of the burrows have crystallization. Here are the finds: A). A large nautiloid and a smaller one coming from the Grayson Marl. I believe them both to be Cymatoceras. There is some extra matrix on the outside that I am debating on chiseling off. B). A fragment of Mariella heteromorph ammonite from the Grayson Marl. C). Kingena wacoensis? from the Grayson Marl. They have some nice detail! D). Pyritized Engonoceras fragments from the Pawpaw Formation. E). Crab burrows from the Pawpaw? All in all, I'm glad I made a quick stop at this particular site. It's a pretty interesting place with a wide variety of things to be found in a couple of formations I have only just begun to explore. I will likely make another trip there in the future! Thanks for reading!

My daughter and I went hunting in the North Sulfur River near Dallas, Texas. She pulled this strange bean looking bone out and I had no clue what it could be. After lots of googling, it seems clear that it is a patella of some sort given the faces on the back. The closest looking thing I have found was a black bear patella for sale, though that specimen was significantly smaller than ours. I did run a "burn test" to check for extant collagen and didn't detect any burning smell. Any thoughts?

I made a drive down to a creek in Grayson County yesterday morning. Grayson County has had several inches of rain in the last couple of weeks, and I wanted to see what that might have uncovered in one of my favorite spots. After my misadventure with sticker vines on my last visit to a creek in this area, I was armed with leg and arm chaps, but I didn't think I would need them for this spot, and sure enough, even though it's also more grown up than the last time I visited, the chaps stayed in my backpack. There was a lot more water in the creek than the last time I was here. The water covered part of the gravel bars still, and the parts of the gravel bars nearest the water were still wet, so very dark and harder to spot fossils on, but I still found plenty. I do love this spot. Here are some in situ photos.