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  1. Mikrogeophagus

    Ptychodus anonymous, Turner Park

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Ptychodus anonymous, Dallas Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Feb, 2023 Tiny little tooth, but my first ptychodus from DFW!
  2. Hi all, it's been a minute since I've written a report and I think I'm due To start: This last January I got to be a part of two special discoveries in the marine reptile realm. Though not made directly by me, I'm still glad I got to be there. I'll detail them below: Early January: Last summer, I spent two weeks in North Dakota on the Hell Creek formation, and made some lifelong friends. Two of them (Harry and Piper) arranged a trip down from North Dakota and Florida, respectively, upon the discovery of cheap flight tickets, with the intent of catching up and taking a tour of the Texas Cretaceous. Our weekend was spent well - many laughs, drinks, mishaps (like my catalytic converter getting stolen ), long drives admiring the city lights in my parent's car that they graciously lended me for the remainder of the weekend, and of course....plenty of fossils. The first day was spent gravel hunting - not much came to show from it save for a well preserved (for these creeks) mosasaur vertebra. I was of course very happy to see this, as verts in this watershed are a rarity. The next two days were devoted to the Eagle Ford - one site being a bust on stuff that's worth flying down for - but the next site which we attacked on Sunday produced the best find of the trip. This site is my "if we get skunked, it's our last resort" site - there's always something wonderful to be seen there, and when you have a site like that in your back pocket, it's not something to pillage - best kept for special occasions like this! My hope was that I could get Piper and Harry hooked on some beautifully preserved Cretoxyrhina and Ptychodus, and, if we were lucky.... a Pliosaur tooth. What Piper actually ended up finding was so rare it wasn't even one of my list of realistic goals for seeing that day... We arrived at the site, and while I tried to isolate the elusive fossiliferous layer, I put them on some sections that still had some promise. For both of them, all of their prior field experience is in the North Dakota badlands - so even the act of tapping actual rock and flipping slabs made for an enjoyable and novel approach. After 20 minutes or so, I eventually found the sweet spot - that thin, ephemeral, densely packed layer was underwater. Making a huge mess (mud and water everywhere ), I pulled out some great slabs and passed them out to be picked at, and then picking at some of my own. Here's a fun selection of finds prior to "the big one" Above: Cretoxyrhina mantelli tooth from Piper in the less rich layers. She found this nearly immediately! A gorgeous Ptychodus occidentalis that I was happy to see A Protosphyraena sp. I was happy to see as well. Largely complete teeth from this taxon are not too common for me. a PERFECT Squalicorax falcatus. It may be a common shark, but I love finding a beacon that can just define an entire species in my collection. I have some other smaller, perfect condition teeth for S. falcatus, but they take on a more posterior position in the mouth. For now, this tooth is my Squalicorax pride and joy. Some microteeth showed themselves as well, like this one above. With that size it's hard for me to make a judgment on genus here. Finally, one rock had a trip-maker. I handed a slab to Piper, turned my back to continue "mining", and immediately hear a casual "I think this is something cool". Laying loosly on the slab, ready to come flying off with the slightest disturbance, was THIS: A Coniasaur jaw! That's code for "stupid rare". Here is the specimen under better lighting. Those familiar with North American Coniasaurs may notice something unusual - that it's definitely not the North American Coniasaurus crassidens that most Coniasaur finds here get thrown into. With what's described, that leaves the more conventionally European C. gracilodens, and that doesn't look like a definitive match to me either. For Coniasaurs, it wouldn't be saying anything very extraordinary, as Coniasaur taxonomy has not been properly recorded, but this might belong to one of those coniasaur morphologies floating around without a description. This specimen needs to be looked at under a microscope before a definitive assessment is made though. Here's a graphic I composed for it (note none of the pictures are mine though). On the left (A, B, and C) is Coniasaurus gracilodens, on the right (E and F) is Coniasaurus crassidens. Notice that Coniasaur paleoart is even rarer than the actual animal, so I used art of some other Dolichosaur. It does a good job of representing what Coniasaurus would have looked like anyway. It was a wonderful find to wrap a wonderful weekend, and this fossil will probably make its way to SMU next. If the folks there don't find it useful for the Coniasaur research they have rolling, it'll make its way back to Florida with Piper. Fast forward a week: After one weekend spent fossil hunting a hard, another good one was on the way. This time, my weekend would be devoted to exploring the cenomanian Plesiosaur digsite from July, in search of more bone. My dig partner for the weekend was George, who I met briefly at SMU once by chance, where he was asking around on how to get involved. Unfortunately @Ptychodus04, who (with Joe) I found the specimen with in July, couldn't make it out this time. With his current prep project of a one of a kind green river bird, I can't blame him . It was suggested I show George the ropes the next time I go to my plesiosaur digsite. That might have been a little cruel and unusual, considering how difficult and dangerous that site is, but as you'll soon see, it was well worth it - but not for the reasons you'd expect. We spent two days on the site - one half day digging away overburden, followed by a night in a smoky motel-8, and then the next day more tediously removing small chunks of matrix from the cavity at the bone level. In short, we moved maybe 8 inches further into the cavity, with no bone spotted. As I was hunched over, chipping away, George moved further to the right by some feet to explore for a wayward flipper. This was his first field experience, and he crushed it, breezing through the first slabs as he moved in. It did not take long until he let out a triumphant yell. Thankful to stand up, I came over to take a peek at what he had found in his slab, and went completely silent. It seemed to me that we were looking at a mosasaur tooth... As a reminder, this is (middle?) cenomanian strata - several million years older than the oldest american mosasaurs. Before we call it though, Polcyn is going to evaluate and prep the tooth personally. But, from photos and my own pre-prep observations, we're both optimistic that it's mosasaur. Next up will be some sampling of bentonite layers for a more precise date. Here are some photos: With that find, the day was a success, even though we didn't find more of the Plesiosaur. George and I turned around and started heading home. We had time, so I wanted to make a pit stop to explore a different creek which seemed to have interesting geology after I cross referenced google and geological maps. Fortunately, it didn't take along to find a perfect access point, and from there it didn't take long to find a large shale exposure. This was in the upper eagle ford formation, close to the contact with the Austin chalk, so I was hoping to find the legendary Kamp Ranch shark tooth lenses. We got stopped short by mud and private property though, and we were anyway making slow progress because the geology up until that point was just too interesting. So, we settled down and begin moving into a hill. Much to my surprise, we began finding in abundance one of the last fossils I expect to see in the eagle ford - ammonites. The average ammonite we'd see looked like this - detailed but otherwise in poor condition: Some other good specimens began appearing, thought still flattened: After 30 minutes, we eventually came across a a partially 3D specimen: This was a welcome change from being hunched over for hours in hard rock searching for a humongous marine reptile. This day, we got the best of both worlds! For now, I'm stuck between Colignoniceras woolgari or Prionocyclus sp. as Prionocyclus hyatti also looks convincing. Suggestions are welcome Those were the January highlights, but I would like to take a moment on a February find as well- my first Saleniid ever. Other male fossil hunters might relate to me with this one. When you're this hopelessly obsessed with the hobby, your brain can come up with few date ideas more appropriate than dragging a pretty girl through some muddy creek to look for sea urchins with you. In retrospect, always a terrible idea, but if she sticks it out you found the one Fortunately we didn't get skunked, so she didn't think I was crazy - because we actually made a good find I wasn't expecting. This site is the legendary Comanche Peak shale micro site that I've praised on a few trip reports before. Between my step brother and I, two Tetragramma (one of them gargantuan) have been found, and dozens of Heteraster - but all in the tiny shale section. The shales are encased in limestone, which I noted to be decidedly more barren in previous visits. But, this time - I almost immediately noticed a wonderful geometric pattern in the limestone roof above me: BOOM! I was definitely ecstatic about this. Careful chiseling got it out safely, in a condition to be prepped at home: Pre-prep, I'm tentatively assigning it to Leptosalenia mexicana. For the prep, I think I'll have to use acid for the first time, painting the exposed urchin in paraloid and dunking the rest in vinegar for a day, water for a day, and then repeating. If anyone has a tip or trick that they like for acid prepping urchins, I'm all ears On a total side note, we made an even rarer discovery soon after - though not a fossil. After moving on from the sea urchin spot, we found a newly made walkway that ran by the most perfect, untouched climbing boulder I have ever seen. For anyone reading this who also boulders, you would agree that boulders that have flat landings, excellent top-outs, and solid holds, all while being aesthetically beautiful... are very rare. To find one that is easily accessible and undiscovered by other climbers? That's like finding a unicorn. Here's the unicorn in quesiton: The day after I threw myself at this boulder for a few hours, cleaning the holds and finding routes. I had a dream about it for two nights in a row And so, that was my month. I've been busy, but thankfully not nearly as busy as last semester, so many weekends still give me time to get back out in the field. I have a killer Coniacian spot in mind I want to explore soon, so hopefully I'll be back with a success story. Hope you all get a chance to kick it in the field soon!
  3. Mikrogeophagus

    Goniophorus Scotti

    From the album: Grayson/Del Rio Formation

    Goniophorus scotti, Denton Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Dec, 2022
  4. Mikrogeophagus

    Fish Vertebra

    From the album: Grayson/Del Rio Formation

    Fish Vertebra, Denton Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Jan, 2023
  5. Mikrogeophagus

    Cretalamna catoxodon

    From the album: Grayson/Del Rio Formation

    Cretalamna catoxodon, Denton Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Jan, 2023
  6. Return to the Badlands of North Texas At long last, rain graced the lands of North Texas this past week. For many of us, that meant it was time to finally crawl out of bed and beat the crowd to that one particular site desperately needing a refresh. In my case, I set on my way to explore a newer spot in the Grayson Marl while the ground was still nice and muddy. I'd been to this place once before, but it had already been thoroughly picked over. It's a popular site, but even then, it managed to pull through and produce some fine specimens for me to take home. With that in mind, I suited up in preparation for a very wet and very, very cold day in the "badlands" of North Texas. As I took my first step out of the car, my foot was immediately enveloped by a Grayson Marl pudding. I don't own boots, so my measly tennis shoe was suctioned off as I tried to wriggle free. Although the moistened marl was a hassle to trudge through, I quickly reassured myself that such a characteristic would be a benefit in terms of eroding new fossils and continued on my way. By the time I reached the spot, I was practically walking atop 6-inch platform shoes made of the stickiest mud known to man. It was no use shaking it off, so I accepted the burden of having to walking like a newborn giraffe for the rest of the day. Out in the distance, I could just make out a person with a bright orange beanie. Clearly, they too were chasing fossils after the rain. Luckily, the site was quite large, so there was plenty of room for both of us to graze. Still being unfamiliar with the locality, it took a while for me to adjust my eyes to hunting. The ridiculous number of fragmented shell bits and corroded pyrite fossils made it difficult to filter the noise out. However, the knowledge of what could be found kept me motivated. Eventually my efforts were rewarded with the first decent find of the day: A nicely sized Cretalamna Cretalamna catoxodon Soon after, I happened upon an area with a mess of brittle star limb fragments. I searched very thoroughly for a central disk, but nothing could be found, so I decided to swipe only a single piece. Keeping in the theme of weathered finds, I also spotted the most complete Coenholectypus I'd ever come across there. Though it looked nice, I again decided to leave it be. Few fossils are worth that much of a headache to consolidate! Coenholectypus castilloi? Already, a decent chunk of time had elapsed and I was a little discouraged with the lack of weight to my baggie. Meanwhile, the man in the bright orange beanie had steadily made his way closer to the area I had been working. It seemed he was about to finish up his session, so he walked over and introduced himself as Mike. Apparently, he is an admin for the Texas Fossil Hunting group on Facebook. Though he hunts all over the place, the site we were standing in was his main spot he had been visiting for three years! We had a nice conversation about the Grayson Marl as well as a handful of famous places around the state. Since ptychodus was my ultimate goal for the location, I also inquired as to how many he had found here in the badlands. For the span of three years, only two small specimens were to show. With numbers like that, I figured I better not get my hopes up. He showed off a few of his nicer finds from the morning, including dozens of tiny Goniophorus scotti, before saying goodbye and heading out. I still had a final stretch I wanted to check out, so squatted down and quickly got back to work. I think something about seeing his collection helped me to see things more clearly. I rapidly spotted several more C. catoxodon teeth after our encounter. However, I was most excited to find my first Squalicorax from this formation, despite its miniscule size. I know identification for this genus is quite convoluted, but I felt it had a likeness with S. baharijensis because of its broad neck, well developed serrations, and other features. Squalicorax baharijensis? To round off the day, I looked through one last mound of marl and spotted a very strange and distorted figure. It looked as though some larger fossil had been broken into rubble. I picked up a chunk and observed a texture I was not used to seeing. After taking a moment to process what exactly I was looking at, I realized it was the surface of a heart urchin, likely Hemiaster calvini, with the spines still articulated! I quickly began gathering the pieces in the immediate area in case they were from a single organism I could puzzle back together. At the time they were covered in mud, so I did not realize that they were from many individuals likely eroding from a single layer. At home, I put them under the microscope and found some interesting features generally unobservable in most spatangoid specimens. Have a look: A lot of times it's easy to forget how deeply similar irregular urchins are to their regular counterparts. With the naked eye, it's impossible to observe this level of detail in the tubercles of a spatangoid. However, at the microscopic level, we can see that they are alike. These tubercles, in my amateur opinion, are just like that of a salenia or cidarid species. My favorite observation was the presence of the articulated spines of course. Something I did not expect was their morphology. The bottom 2/3 of the spine appears to be longitudinally ridged and has a black color. The top 1/3 transitions to a yellow coloration while also beginning to flatten out into the shape of a shovel. Also, the spines seem to generally point away from the front of the urchins. I'm sure some of the resident echinoid experts on here are already well familiarized with the shovel shape of these spines, but I was quite intrigued. I already knew that irregular echies travel under substrate, so I began to wonder if these spines perhaps served a function that related to their lifestyle. If you haven't yet had the "aha moment", it appears that spatangoids use these shovel spines to help dig and move their bodies while buried! Hopefully this little tangent helped to enrich your appreciation for irregular echies as it did for me ! Anyways, by then I had had enough of the Grayson Marl and was ready to check out some other sites that were preferably a little easier to navigate. So I packed my things and headed for the car. But first, here is an overview of the Grayson Marl Finds: Hemiaster calvini with articulated spines. The one at the top seems to be complete, though completely flattened. The bottom chunks are from many individuals. I have many smaller pieces not pictured. From afar, they have a "fuzzy" texture. Top L to R: Ophiura graysonensis limb frag, Stereocidaris hemigranosus plates, S. hemigranosus spines (cool), and Parasmilia graysonensis solitary corals. Bottom L to R: Bivalve, bivalve, Neithea texana scallop, unknown fossil with interesting bumpy texture (perhaps decapod), and Mariella bosquensis heteromorph ammonite. Top L to R: Cretalamna catoxodon, Squalicorax baharijensis?, Cretoxyrhina vraconensis? (more on this at end of the topic), and Cretalamna catoxodon. Bottom L to R: Various verts, Xiphactinus tooth? (no cutting edges - always wonder if these could be pterosaur), and fishy bits. ~ ~ ~ Some Say Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place Twice... Well, the original plan was to scope out two new Pawpaw sites in the area, but, in my exhausted state, I decided to say screw it and take a trip to my favorite spot in the Pawpaw. It's been said that you shouldn't go looking for fossils when you've already found them, so what was the point in risking my time and energy when I could see what the rain had swept out at ole reliable. When I got to the exposure, I went straight for the productive layer and instantly had a field day with a plethora of micro ammonites. I'm guessing since they had limited exposure to the atmosphere, they were still shiny and easily spotted. It was definitely the best luck I'd had for cephalopods so far at the place. The first picture-worthy find was an exceptionally preserved central disc to a brittle sea star. I could tell it had eroded from a layer different to the previous starfish I had found. Unfortunately, there was not even a single associated limb fragment in sight. The aboral side appears to differ from that of Ophiura graysonensis. It is difficult to compare with O. texana of the Weno since the only picture I could find of the type specimen is blurry and the fossil itself hard to make out. So, I'll stick with Ophiura sp. for now. Periodically I came across more fantastically preserved crab carapaces. It seems every hunt at this site, I find one beautiful Feldmannia wintoni carapace and this visit was no different. In the past, the better Steorrosia crabs I gathered tended to be S. aspera, but this time, I finally collected a couple great S. pawpawensis specimens including my second carapace with preserved eyes! The fierce compound eye of Steorrosia pawpawensis! Vertebrate fossils are tough to come by, so any shark tooth is a welcome site. The one pictured below had an amazing purple tint that sadly did not stay after being cleaned. It was my first Squalicorax from the Pawpaw, so I knew I was adding a new species to my collection. After some research online, I believe it to be Squalicorax priscoserratus on the basis of its thin neck, dense root, and well-developed serrations. Squalicorax priscoserratus I hadn't been hunting for long when I began to tire. Since the ground was so muddy, I didn't have the chance to sit and hunt like I usually prefer to do. On top of all the squatting, staying right side up on the slippery muck created additional strain. I decided to finish up a little early and save some of the site for a future day when the conditions were drier. I set a location in my mind for where I would call it quits - the area I had found the articulated brittle sea star in my last visit. Of course, I would be crazy to expect a repeat of such a legendary find, but I would be lying if I said the thought wasn't hanging over my head throughout the final 15 minutes of the day. In parts of medieval Europe, heart urchins were once known as "thunderstones" for their supposed creation at the place of a lightning strike sent by a god. They were magical items collected and often cherished by those who hoped to find connection with the heavens. In modern times, such beliefs are easily dismissed, but that isn't to say that the same curiosity and admiration those distant peoples felt for these treasures has eroded away in the slightest. As I approached the location of where the last articulated sea star had been found, I began to wonder if the fossil gods may have cast another bolt in my favor. Kneeling down for one last time, my eyes were embraced with the sight that sent me straight back to my feet. Although the ground didn't show any apparent signs of burn marks sparked by the wrath of Zeus, I was face to face with something I thought I would only find in dreams. A horde of 15 brittle star limb fragments surrounded a single yellow central disc. For reference, my last star had only 4 limb fragments! To any passerby, I looked crazy with the number of fist pumps I was doing. I made sure to gather as much as I could and headed for the car, though I was definitely not in the right head space to be driving . In situ. Doesn't look like much yet! The consolidating process was tedious as expected. Thankfully, my last project had given me some much-needed practice that made the process much easier than it could have otherwise been. With each attachment, the delicate figure of this animal could be more thoroughly appreciated. Once it was complete, I took way too many pictures, but can you really blame me ? Brittle sea stars old and new This is my new favorite in my collection! I'm almost afraid to return to the spot because I know it'll be a let down from this... though on second thought I guess I'm not afraid enough to stay away. Overview of Pawpaw Formation Finds: Top L to R: Cantabrigites wenoensis, Engonorceras serpintinum, and Stoliczkaia asiatica. Bottom L to R: Neophlycticeras sp., Enigmaticeras riceae, Scaphites hilli, Stoliczkaia worthense, and Conlinites wrighti. Not 100% on some of these IDs but based off of overall morphology and suture patterns shown on a publication, these are the names I've somewhat confidently come up with. Top L to R: Steorrosia aspera (the one on the right is oddly shaped and could be something entirely different), Feldmannia wintoni (beautiful blue coloration), and Steorrosia pawpawensis (The one on top has the preserved eyes). Bottom L to R: Various decapod fragments. A look at the undersides of (L to R) Steorrosia aspera, Feldmannia wintoni, and Steorrosia pawpawensis. A close up of the spines on one of the claw fragments: Top L to R: Squalicorax priscoserratus, and Haimirichia anomensis (Even though this is upper Albian and not Cenomanian, I assume this newly described genus applies to this tooth since Eostriatolamia anomensis/Carcharias anomensis were previously known from the Pawpaw). Bottom: Fish parts Brittle stars of the day, oral and aboral sides: ~~~ Questions Just to round off the post, I have some questions regarding identifying teeth from the Pawpaw and Grayson (Late Albian and Early Cenomanian). Specifically, I have confusion when distinguishing between Cretalamna and Cretoxyrhina. About a month ago, I found a tooth in the Pawpaw that I think strongly resembles Cretoxyrhina vraconensis. During my recent hunt in the Grayson, I picked up a couple of damaged teeth that seem to usually be identified as Cretalamna online, but I think share a resemblance with my Pawpaw Cretoxyrhina specimen (similar tiny splayed cusplets and a large, protruding root). So, I am wondering if any of you can help to clarify. Are these teeth also Cretoxyrhina or simply more Cretalamna? I may even have my Pawpaw tooth misidentified for all I know. L to R: My Pawpaw "Cretoxyrhina vraconensis", two unknown teeth from the Grayson (Cretalamna catoxodon or possibly Cretoxyrhina denticulata/C. vraconensis), and lastly a pretty obvious Cretalamna catoxodon from the Grayson. Feel free to let me know if you would like additional pictures or @ some who might know a thing or two! Thanks for reading!
  7. Is this really a mosquito, does anyone know it's taxonomy and does someone know the same for the spider ? This one looks like a genuine amber
  8. Mikrogeophagus

    Vertebrate coprolites, Turner Park

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Vertebrate coprolites, Dallas Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Jan, 2023 Coprolites with articulated(?) bony fish inclusions. High quality vertebrate coprolites, bentonite layers, and tan/buff coloration are characteristic of the Turner Park Member of the Britton Formation of North Texas.
  9. Mikrogeophagus

    Ptychodus anonymous, Bouldin Flags

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Ptychodus anonymous, Travis Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Oct, 2022
  10. Mikrogeophagus

    Scapanorhynchus raphiodon, Bouldin Flags

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Scapanorhynchus raphiodon, Travis Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Oct, 2022
  11. Mikrogeophagus

    Squalicorax falcatus, Bouldin Flags

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Squalicorax falcatus, Travis Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Oct, 2022
  12. Mikrogeophagus

    Ptychodus occidentalis, Bouldin Flags

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Ptychodus occidentalis, Travis Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Oct, 2022
  13. Mikrogeophagus

    Cretoxyrhina mantelli, Bouldin Flags

    From the album: Eagle Ford Group

    Cretoxyrhina mantelli, Travis Co. Cenomanian, Cretaceous Oct, 2022
  14. siteseer

    Another Kem Kem Oddity

    Here's a specimen bought at the gem show back in the days when Moroccan vertebrate stuff was starting to appear at Tucson and other shows. It's from the Kem Kem Beds (Cenomanian), Taouz area, Morocco like that other crocodile-like tooth I showed here several days ago.. This one is just under 2 3/8 inches (59mm) long with long folds/ridges of what appears to be enamel along its length so I think it's a tooth. Some of the folds end part of the way to the tip. There are spots where these folds are chipped revealing a rather smooth layer. It shows wear at the tip. I think it's some kind of crocodile though it seems rather slender for that and I would expect it to be more hollow (view at the root end provided). I'm wondering it actually belongs to some large fish. Maybe it's an odd spine. @Troodon, @LordTrilobite
  15. siteseer

    Kem Kem tooth Crocodile?

    Here's a tooth I bought at the gem show back in the days when Moroccan vertebrate stuff was starting to appear at Tucson and other shows. I've been meaning to show it to people for years. It's from the Kem Kem Beds (Cenomanian), Taouz area, Morocco. It's about 61mm long with cutting edges that appear to be slightly crenulated rather than finely-serrated. It's oval in cross-section on the root end but the crown becomes blade-like toward the tip so it is somewhat labiolingually compressed. I assume it's a crocodile tooth but thought it might have a small chance at being from a dinosaur. I'll hit up the "Kem Kem regulars" for comment but am interested what others say as well. @Troodon @Haravex @LordTrilobite Thanks, Jess
  16. Hi TFF, Last week the GF and I went for the holy trio (geological wise ), the turonian, cenomanian and albian. It's simply amazing that in a relatively short stretch of cliffs you can find all three. Driving our way there it seemed like the UK also had some decent weather that day as it was quite visible. We first hit the turonian. On the way there you can find santonian(?) deposits which produce some nice flint urchins. I'm usually looking for big ammonites like lewesiceras or mammites. Only two small examples were found that we did not take home. In-situ weathered lewesiceras. For the good eyes amongst us, an i-situ mammites nodosoides. Unfortunately a very flat compressed example At some point a nautilus 'belly' poked out, fairly uncommon and a pleasant find. I believe it's eutrephoceras. Not much later I made a little squeak. We don't find these often here. Meanwhile the GF was very pleased finding another nautilus. Albian deposits drift off towards cenomanian and turonian plates. The next day we were welcomed with a nice rainbow. You see why they call it the 'white nose / blanc-nez'. These visible layers are cenomanian. I hoped for the gault layers (which would be on the other side of the picture) but only some ex situ albian layers were exposed. These are full of pyrite and little ammonites (anahoplites). Sometimes bigger pyrite specimens can be found like this partial beudanticeras. To my surprise something else was just waiting to be picked up. Pretty rare and well sought after. Surrounded by pyrite and ammonites. On the way back we managed to pick up a little acanthoceras. And a final picture
  17. Here are just some of my finds from a day spent in the Graysonites wacoense Zone, Grayson Marl Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Lower Cenomanian, ~97mya) last Sunday, November 13th. This is my second visit to the site, which is equivalent to and faunally almost identical to the Del Rio micromorph exposures of further south, today only present at a couple sites in the DFW area. Starting off with the first find which happened to be my first complete (sans spines and Aristotle’s lantern of course), and largest Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Parasmilia graysonensis (Caryophyliidae) coral A beautiful little Haimirichia amonensis (Haimirichiidae) shark tooth: Ex-situ photo of the H. amonensis: A couple more Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchins: Coenholectypus nanus (Holectypidae) urchin: Crushed C. nanus: The most abundant fossil to be found, progenic dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Progenic dwarf Mariella rhacioformis (Turrilitidae) ammonite with distinctive strong ribbing: A very tiny Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Turritella irrorata (Turritellidae) gastropod: Two teeth of Squalicorax sp. nov. (Anacoracidae), an undescribed shark from the Grayson/Del Rio Fm. of Texas: Second specimen: Progenic dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: And another nice Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin to finish it off:
  18. Hi everyone! Last week we went on a weekend trip with our fossil club the BVP to go on a fossil hunt to the jurassic clay cliffs "Falaises de Vaches Noires" between Houlgate & Villers-Sur-Mer in Normandy, France. https://www.paleontica.org/locations/fossil/68 The famous cliffs of Vaches Noires date back to the Jurassic period, and span both the Callovian & Oxfordian stages (166 - 157 mya) and the Cretaceous period spanning the Cenomanian (100 - 94 mya). Back in the jurassic this area was a rich marine environment and fossils that can be found here are many species of bivalves (like Gryphaea, Lopha & Myophorella), ammonites, gastropods, belemnites, brachiopods, crinoïds, sponges and other invertebrates. The cliffs are also known for marine reptile material and even dinosaur material, though these finds are rather rare but you'll see some nice pieces in the museum pics later. We arrived Thursday afternoon (november 3th) and stayed to Sunday (november 6th). We were very happy to join this trip organized by our club since it is probably the last year that fossil searching is allowed in this amazing location. We were with around 27 people I believe and met each morning at the entrance of the beach at Houlgate. We searched the cliffs for 2 days and went to the local museum "paleospace" on sunday. The weather was amazing for the 2 days of searching, it was even sunny the first day! The first few hours we mainly searched among the rocks on the beach which were littered with large Gryphaea fossils and other bivalves like Lopha gregarea. After our lunch break we moved on to search more near the clay to find smaller fossils. On our second day we again searched the clay, went through some interesting places in the sand which were littered with oysters, gastropods and had some ammonite and crinoïd fossils and we ended the day at the cenomanian rocks in search for some fossil urchins. The Cenomanian rocks on the beach A piece a chalcedony A partial ammonite Me very happy with my first complete ammonite, which I found next to me while having lunch One of the mystery fossils which nobody could really determine (we brought it home along another we found) The tubes seem to be pyritised. I believe it to be some kind of Echinoderm and someone suggested it might be a Crinoïd with a parasite on it. But eventually our top finding (and the best of the entire trip) was spotted by my girlfriend Elise and is this gorgeous fish (probably Lepidotes sp.)
  19. 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:
  20. 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:
  21. 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.
  22. On Wednesday, October 12th, I took another trip to a nearby favorite spot of mine that I found a few years ago which exposes the Sciponoceras gracile Zone, Camp Wisdom Member, Upper Britton Formation of the Eagle Ford Group here in Texas (Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian, 92-95mya), and had probably my best hunt from this site, including several different ammonites, a few shark teeth, my first Enchodus, and 26 Ferroranina dichrous crabs! First find was this very nice Yezoites delicatulus (Scaphitidae) ammonite A very worn Ptychodus sp. (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth: Sciponoceras gracile (Baculitidae) ammonite, namesake of the zone: Dead modern Procambarus steigmani — this crayfish is endemic to northeast/north central Texas: Legs of a Linuparus sp. likely L. grimmeri (Palinuridae) spiny lobster: Metoicoceras geslinianum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite: Pair of Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalves: Some of the 26 total Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crabs found during the day: Selenite crystals: Opuntia macrorhiza (Cactaceae), as a botanist this genus is one of my focus groups: Cameleolopha bellaplicata subsp. bellaplicata (Ostreidae) oyster occurring here as overwash from the younger Turonian Arcadia Park Formation (89-91mya) which is otherwise long since eroded away in this area: Next into some things I decided to take nice camera photos of (and consequently some of the best finds of the day) A nice tiny Cretalamna appendiculata s.l. (Otodontidae) shark tooth: My first Enchodus (Enchodontidae) fish tooth, I’m not sure which species are known from the Britton: cf. Margarites sp. (Margaritidae) gastropod, the first of this family I’ve seen in the Britton: A very beautiful Ptychodus anonymus (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth, found while crawling on the ground beneath a slope: Worthoceras vermiculus (Scaphitidae) ammonite, the nicest one I’ve collected: Natica sp. (Naticidae) gastropod, this species is extremely common in much of the Britton: Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab: My first Nannometoicoceras acceleratum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite, fittingly tiny: Another Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalve: Hesperotettix speciosus (Acrididae) grasshopper: Really interesting preservation on this Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab that I had never seen before, these are almost always found in orange to dark red concretions: The total Ferroranina dichrous haul: The Nannometoicoceras acceleratum after some cleanup showing the distinctive tiny, conical umbilicus and tubercle arrangement:
  23. 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.
  24. 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"
  25. 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!
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