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A couple of years ago, It finally dawned on me that my property outside of Austin is actually an exposed fossilized coral reef. It was that day , I stopped looking up at the oaks, and started looking down at the rocks. Since then, I have found some great fossils, however none as unusual as this one. It was strange to see a rock with color standing out from all others which are almost exclusively white. It was the contrast that caught my eye. I acknowledge many have thought they found Ambergris, just to be disappointed. Thus, I would not make the claim here without first being unable to answer the question, "If not Ambergris, then what is it?" The specimen is composed of so many different layers and veins that I can not come to any normal identification. I look forward to someone with more knowledge and a better eye, posting a more educated opinion than the one I am able to offer. Best to all - TM Central TX

This post is not so much about a single trip, but more to showcase this summer's hunting, with some details or stories with some of the posts. Historically, for me at least, the Austin area is one heck of a locale to scour.There are some incredible, charismatic, interesting fossils around, but man, looking for them can beat you down at times. I am pleased to say at least, that I think I've finally clicked for the area though. I can find something of interest practically every time I go now. But enough rambling, here are (some) of my favorite finds as of late: 1.) First thing's first - of the fossils I'm showing today, this one was closest to home, coming out of Round Rock, Texas As you can tell, I have not cleaned it yet - that may irk some people, but I actually kind of appreciate fossils that look as natural as possible. I was not actually fossil hunting when we discovered this Ammonite partial. An old friend of mine invited me to a local park along a creek, to go fishing and herping (finding snakes). We were stomping around the creek, hardly paying attention to anything, just chatting away. As we stepped out, back onto the bank, she pointed out a strange texture protruding out of the bank.. "Is this a fossil?" to which I replied, "I doubt there are fossils here, probably not" The water was clouded, so I just groped around until I felt that texture - the greenish part above to the right is what was sticking out of the bank. After wiggling it out with great effort, we were both surprised and excited, making for a great memory in the waning light, in the middle of a forested creek. Since it was her find, I insisted she keep it, but despite thinking it was super cool, she insisted it's not really her interest and that I take it home instead. Since then, I've returned to this spot, and discovered that there's about a 5 meter stretch where ammonites poke out the bank consistently. It's nice to have a new spot, found with friends. 2.) All the rest of these come out of the same creek in austin, and from 2 different spots at said creek. At the top, a plesiosaur caudal rib. All of my my finds from this creek came from one site, except for the caudal rib, mosasaur tooth, and a bison tooth, which came from another single site. At the bottom left, a chunk of columbian mammoth tooth, and at the bottom right, a fossilized fish vertebra. 3.) a closed (exogyra? I'm not versed with invertebrates) oyster. I've never found one that's still closed like this, so I suppose it's unique enough to showcase 4.) These are some of my pride and joys - on the right, a tylosaur tooth. You can imagine the absolute mosasaur meltdown I had after finding that one. Immediately to it's left is a large Scapanorynchus texanus. Of the ptychodus teeth, I know that the upper tooth is a mortoni, and a beautiful one at that, with a complete root as well. As for the ptychodus tooth at the bottom, I haven't decided on a species, but it was nonetheless a wonderful find, despite missing the root. The last tooth on the left is another scapanorynchus tooth that is in worse condition, but I don't mind, as it is still a shark tooth and still from austin, giving it a gold medal in my books. 5.) Lastly, some more recent mammalian stuff. The mammoth tooth chunk would've been a better fit here. Here are the four bison teeth I've discovered so far. My favorite came out of the same site that produced the mosy tooth and plesiosaur caudal rib, and is the one that I have a separate photo of. I like it the most because it has the best signs of preservation out of any of the teeth, making it probably the oldest out of the four. The beautiful orange (which is seen in the mammoth tooth piece as well) is just beginning to creep in along the edges, so I think it's safe to say the tooth might be many hundreds of years old, if not well over a thousand. I know practically nothing on preservation rates, so that's more of a loose guess of mine. Feel free to correct me if needed, as I'd love to learn. Lastly, some native tools. Not the best in terms of quality, but interesting tidbits of history nonetheless.