Search the Community

The Mesozoic is an area that is sorely lacking in my collection. I don't know why, but I just never got around to collecting in it. I never fell in love with dinosaurs or mososaurs like a lot of other people. That was until fairly recently, when I finally took it upon myself to diversify my collection and get to know better my area's (and in some ways own backyard!) geology and paleontology. I set out to discover more about Maryland's Mesozoic Park. I guess it would be best to start off from the beginning. I started the journey not knowing what I'd find, but knowing what it was I hoped to find. I wanted a piece of the hallmark of the Mesozoic, the age of reptiles - my very own Old Line State dinosaur! There was only one problem - I didn't know where to find one. I knew generally what formations to look in, but not where, nor even what to look for. So I took up the ole' Google machine and my own literature at home and started uncovering more about where to start looking. That's what lead me to the first site. A TREK INTO THE TRIASSIC It would be disingenuous to say that I did this all by myself, and I would like to thank @WhodamanHD for helping me out tremendously. Without him I likely never would have gotten this together. For those who don't know, I'll take the liberty to describe the geology of the Free State. In Maryland, the only Triassic aged rocks exposed are those of the Newark Group, here divided by the Maryland Geological Survey into two formations - the New Oxford and the Gettysburg Shale. Both units are exposed in the Culpeper Basin (centered around the town of Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland) and the Gettysburg Basin (centered around, in Maryland, the town of Emmitsburg, Frederick County, Maryland). After several months of searching I was never able to find a good exposure near the famous former quarries around the Seneca region in Montgomery County, which is what lead me to the area near Frederick. Here the Triassic rocks are more readily exposed, with reports of numerous fossil discoveries of dinosaur footprints, plants, fish, and others in the area near Mt. St. Mary's University and Rocky Ridge. The Gettysburg Shale in this region is the most fossiliferous, and that is the one I ended up collecting in. Thanks again to @WhodamanHD for giving me info about the site! I spent a good hour or so at the Gettysburg Shale site, my mind full of images of that amazing Grallator sp. print I'd know I'd find. Unfortunately, as the shadows started growing and the day grew colder, I was forced to give up my quest without any dinosaur specimens from this unit. Still, it was nice to finally be able to collect in it and get to experience these amazing rocks up close and personal. The vast majority of the finds from this site were simple trace fossils of I assume to be annelid worms, these being most common in the glossy looking shale.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/paleo-profile-the-fish-from-china/

A number of collectors are very interested in Triassic Dinosaur tooth material, however, lots of misinformation exists, partially because little is known and dealers want to sell product. My knowledge is very limited so I tried to put together an assemblage of current information that has been published so that we can all become better versed on this topic. I'm not saying its complete but its the best I can do with my limited knowledge. Most technical papers on this subject are outdated, difficult to read for a novice and not complete enough. Fortunately a recent, legible paper was published in 2015 by Heckert & Lucas that has helped me. I've tried to extract the pertinent information, associated with teeth, since that what most collectors are interested in. First let me get on my sandbox and say that we should NOT assume that what is being sold is accurately described regardless who is selling it or how much you like a dealer. Very little is known and even less is described. If a seller insists what he has identified is accurate, have him show you the technical documents that supports his diagnosis. There are a number of theropods and archosaurs in these assemblages that have serrated teeth so identification is difficult. Triassic dealers similar to those in the Kem Kem which label everthing Spinosaurus like to label everything Coelophysis. Just be cautious..its your money. Almost all the teeth you see sold come from New Mexico so I will focus in that region. A Map of New Mexico with the Triassic outcrops shown below as well as the associated Counties. The numbers correlate to the stratigraphic formations shown below in Figure 4. Figure 4 The Zuni Mountains in West-Central NM are from the lower Chinle Group (Bluewater Creek Fm) and contain Tetrapod fossils amphibians and phytosaurs and aetosaurs. Dinosaurs are possible but nothing is diagnostic. Faunal List of the lower Chinle Group Zuni Mountains Northern/West Central New Mexico has yielded some of the most interesting Vertebrate Fossils most associated with Coelophysis at Ghost Ranch. Included in this group are the Petrified Forest and Rock Point Formation of the western counties. Chindesaurus bryansmalli, Tawa hallae and Daemonosaurus chauliodus are considered valid a dinosaurs in the Petrified Forest Fm. Coelophysis bauri is valid from the Rock Point Formation. Faunal List of the Petrified Forest and Rock Point Formation - Key on this list is Coelophysis bauri in the Rock Point Fm Northeasten New Mexico (Bull Canyon and Redonda Formations). Heckerts 2015 paper comments that dinosaur fossils remains are rare in the Bull Canyon Formation. The coelophysoid Gojirasaurus quayi has been described but its taxonomic placement is uncertain. Herrerasauridae tooth fragments have been found but nothing has been assigned to a taxon. Heckerts & Lucas 2015 Paper on Triassic Vertebrate Paleontology in New Mexico https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Heckert_Andrew_triassic.pdf Bull Canyon Formation 2001 Paper on Vertebrate Fauna https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/52/52_p0123_p0151.pdf Latest placement ( Hans-Dieter Sues et al 2011 ) Coelophysis bauri Formation: Petrified Forest (Chinle Formation) Location: New Mexico, USA Other occurrences: cf Coelophysis may be found in other late Triassic exposures Characteristics: Most all the teeth are recurved Lots of variation is seen in these dentition Some mesial teeth have only distal denticles. Fluted ridges can be see on juveniles The enamel surface texture is braided Marginal and transverse undulations appear to be absent on most crowns.. Premaxillary teeth: rounded cross-section, smaller teeth are ribbed but smooth on larger ones. None show serrations. Maxillary Teeth: the first tooth is recurved with no serrations, second tooth has serrations only on the posterior carina. All the other maxillary teeth have serrations on both edges. Some of the teeth the serrations may be limited to the upper part of the anterior (mesial) edge. Dentary Teeth: the first seven teeth lack serrations, eight tooth serrations only on the posterior edge. Subsequent teeth have serrations on both edges. The first four teeth are elliptical (rounded) in cross-section being compressed after that. Measurements: (From Hendrickx 2019 study) (2 Premax, 15 Maxillary, 3 Dentary) (Not all crowns had serrations) Dentary Density: 40 to 45 / 5mm (Avg 40.0 / 5mm) Maxillary Density: 35 to 50 / 5mm (Avg 15 / 5mm) Average Ratio's: Premax CHR: 3.6, CBR: 0.4 Maxillary CHR: 1.6, CBR: 0.4 Dentary CHR: 2.4, CBR: 0.5 The Museum of Northern Arizona publication Coelophysis describes the teeth as follows: Distal Carina Denticles (Source on colored images C. Hendrickx) Skull characterized by fluted teeth in juveniles, procumbent mesial dentary and maxillary teeth. Also some unserrated mesial crowns Some mesial teeth have only distal denticles. The mesial carina is straight and extends well above the root in lateral teeth. The enamel surface texture is braided and marginal and transverse undulations appear to be absent on most crowns.. (2 photos) Fluted ridges can be see on juveniles Additional images Premaxillary, Maxillary and Dentary teeth shown - Striations visible Anterior maxillary tooth #2 Maxillary Tooth #4 Maxillary tooth #10 Maxillary denticles M#5 Dentary tooth Posterior Maxillary Tooth Paper on Coelophsis Teeth by Currie and Buckley Coelophisis.pdf Additional images of the teeth with no supporting info Good overall paper on C. bauri but does nothing to increase our knowledge on how to describe its teeth https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292525024_The_paleobiology_of_Coelophysis_bauri_Cope_from_the_Upper_Triassic_Apachean_Whitaker_quarry_New_Mexico_with_detailed_analysis_of_a_single_quarry_block Ken Carpenter described these teeth from the Bull Canyon fm as cf Coelophysis. A few skulls Other Theropods Gojirasaurus quayi : one tooth was described with the holotype however it was found isolated and cannot be positively assigned to this species. (Added a few pages below) Chindesaurus bryansmalli : not aware of any skeletal material Daemonosaurus chauliodus Characteristics: Characterized by 3 large premaxillary teeth, first 2 dentary teeth are procumbent, longitudinal ridges on the crowns, some constricted teeth, and hooked mesial denticles A Premaxillary Teeth #3 B Maxillary Teeth C Posterior most Maxillary Teeth Reference on Daemonosaurus: The osteology of the early-diverging dinosaur Daemonosaurus chauliodus (Archosauria: Dinosauria) from the Coelophysis Quarry (Triassic: Rhaetian) of New Mexico and its relationships to other early dinosaurs STERLING J. NESBITT and HANS-DIETER SUES http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/278/1723/3459.full.pdf Tawa hallae : http://www.thefossilforum.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=503864 Characteristics All preserved premaxillary, maxillary and dentary teeth seem to be fluted on both sides Premaxillary are unserrated Maxillary teeth with a mesial denticulated carina reaching the root Interdenticular sulci present on both mesial and distal edges Teeth are very pointy Fifth? left maxillary tooth Scale: 1 cm images from C. Hendrickx twitter feed

Recently acquired a Triassic Theropod Dinosaur Tooth from New Mexico, USA Coelophysis bauri tooth Location: Bull Canyon Formation, Norian, Upper Triassic, San Miguel County, New Mexico, USA 210 Million Years Old Obtained from Palaeontologist Byron Blessed Below are some sample photos, I am looking around for a small device in order to try magnify the serrations on the tooth as there are so many and it is very hard to count the number per mm. I have read the books and journals on Coelophysis bauri that were linked on this forum previously and they are so interesting! Will try to post some close-ups of the serrations, the other side of the tooth and the bottom of the tooth soon. Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelophysis_bauri Journal is called 'Acritical re-evaluation of the Late Triassic dinosaur taxa of North America'

Ok so some weeks ago I visited a friend in Bristol one of the days he was in work I ventured up north via public transport (which is always good fun especially when the buses run only every hour and stop at 6) so was limited on time a found a few rocks containing some surface but fragile fish scales, having never been there before I really should have thought on to bring some field tools but was a more spare of the moment type of thing, anyway so back home with the blocks and have just started processing them (and by them I mean 1 so far very nervously) by using a bolster and chisel and splitting along the sediment layers, first I was wondering if anyone has any tips on extracting fossils from this type of matrix yes it is limestone however I remember reading somewhere that using an acid such as vinegar can also damage the specimens. However what I have been ding is using a manual tool to very little effect and the dremel, the problem with this is the manual tool just isn't really helping with matrix removal and the dremel isn't chipping the matrix as effectively as I would hope and instead more crushes than chips (yes this is a dremel engraving tool however this vibrates rather than using a pneumatic action) the other thing I have been doing is using a syringe and very weak solution of b-72 protecting any specimens and using small amounts of vinegar on the surrounding matrix however again the amount that seems to be removed by the vinegar is minimal its probably soaking in to the matrix to be honest but I don't want to fully emerge the blocks and damage precious fossils, I understand this has almost become and essay of writing and was wondering if I should post in the preparations forum however I do have a few pieces I was looking for some id help with again first real exposure to fossils that are non dinosaur in origin, and first time ever dealing with this type of matrix. Any help is always appreciated Matt

Hello, I found this last year during a fossil hunting trip in the Bendricks, South-Wales. I know their are several track ways and some 200+ footprints embedded within the rock around the local areas, however I have not seen a footprint cast from this locality either (that I know of). I have tried finding a contact for the geology department at the national museum based in Cardiff, though it has been unsucessful. Any light you can shed on this would be much appreciated! It may be just a conveniently shaped rock, however it is always worth asking. Apologies for the picture, I've had to rely on someone else for the picture - it is slightly larger than than palm size. Local rocks are Triassic - approx 220 million years

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/dinosaur-fossil-trove-discovered-in-land-removed-from-bears-ears-monument/

Hi It is footprint fossil? Size near:11 mm Location:Poland Age: Tiassic

Fossils found in Japan support idea of Pangea supercontinent By Akira Nemoto, Asahi Shimbun, February 14, 2018 http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201802140058.html Yours, Paul H.

Yet another student found a totally new species of a reptile https://phys.org/news/2018-02-south-wales-fossil-species-ancient.html

Exquisite fossils show butterflies appeared before there were flowers to pollinate By Ben Guarino, Washington Post, January 10, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/10/exquisite-fossils-show-butterflies-appeared-before-there-were-flowers-to-pollinate/ Finding the Oldest Fossils of Butterflies Using a Human Nose Hair By Nicholas St. Fleurjan, New York Times, January 10, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/science/fossils-butterflies-moths.html 'Butterfly Tongues' Are More Ancient Than Flowers, Fossil Study Finds By Rebbeca Hersher, All Things Considered, January 10, 2018 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/10/576763256/butterfly-tongues-are-more-ancient-than-flowers-fossil-study-finds In 'pond scum,' scientists find answers to one evolution's which-came- first cases, Boston College, January 10, 2018, https://phys.org/news/2018-01-pond-scum-scientists-evolution-which-came-first.html https://www.livescience.com/61394-oldest-butterfly-on-record.html The paper is: Timo J. B. van Eldijk, Torsten Wappler, Paul K. Strother, Carolien M. H. van der Weijst, Hossein Rajaei, Henk Visscher, and Bas van de Schootbrugge, 2018, A Triassic-Jurassic window into the evolution of Lepidoptera. Science Advances 10 Jan 2018: Vol. 4, no. 1, e1701568 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701568 http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/1/e1701568 Yours, Paul H.

An interesting early plesiosaur. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42339936