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It's been a few years of hunting for me now. What began as a spontaneous trip to North Sulphur River, spurred by childhood nostalgia, has become something of a gnawing beast that constantly nibbles at the corner of my consciousness. What will the weather be like this weekend? When will I have another three-day break? Is the car road-trip ready? Do I have the right foot ware for the locale? Is that unprepped fossil an ammonite or a nautilus? When will I finally find my first mosasaur tooth? And on and on... I've often wondered if this is a pre-midlife crisis. The time I get to spend outside is usually enjoyable, even when the weather is inhospitable. Is it madness that I am picking up ammonites at Lake Texoma among rocks covered in icicles? Possibly. Why worry about freezing cold water creeping over the tops over your boots when there is a beautiful vertebra with an ebony patina sitting in the gravel bar across the channel? I've hunted the well known sites up until now. North Sulphur River, Whiskey Bridge, Post Oak Creek. I have still much to learn about these places and the fossilized remains found there. But alas the gnawing beast isn't satisfied with only a handful of locations, regardless of their charm and ability to still surprise. So with a few carefully coordinated research tools, new sites began to slowly appear on my radar. I'm gettin' around. Considering this was one of my first scouting missions, this trip was pretty productive. The finds below are all from Bosque County, and likely came from several units: Comanche Peak, Edwards, and Fort Worth. All Cretaceous. Urchins, clams, gastropod steinkerns, oysters, prints. Let me know what you think. Until the gnawing starts again, ladies and gentlemen...

I made a trip out to the Cretaceous road cut north of Snyder near Fluvanna in Scurry County one 102 degree summer day about 6 years ago. It's labeled on geologic maps as Edwards/Comanche/Walnut unconsolidated. It's fairly well picked over due to it's proximity to Lubbock and Texas Tech, but if you look hard enough between the rocks and in the gravel you can find the more demure fossils such as these Selenia sp echinoids. The one to the upper left is a crab carapace with a partial claw lying next to it.

I need some help identifying these two specimens. I have collected and cleaned at least 50 of each specimen. The majority of them were found in the upper Glen Rose formation of Edwards, Real and Uvalde County Texas. I've been told that they are both called "deer hearts," even though they look different. Given the different physical characteristics (deep lines on the right specimen and "ears" on the left specimen), I'm guessing that they are different species. My best guess is either Arctica roemeri or Protocardia texana. Thanks!

First post...here goes. For the past 15 years, I've worked for Smith Bits (oilfield drill bit manufacturer) and have drilled thousands of wells all around this planet. So in a sense, I destroy fossils for a living which is exactly the opposite purpose of The Fossil Forum. So, to add "yang" to my "yin," I started collecting fossils from all over the Texas Hill Country on or near my ranches. I take them home and clean them with my wife's dental hygiene tools while sitting in our pool on the weekends. It's a relaxing hobby with the only downside being that the calcium carbonate raises the pH in the pool. So, I'm constantly having to add muriatic acid to the pool chemistry. Plus, my two boys love digging in the dirt. That being said, I need a community opinion on the correct identification of several fossils that I've found. Group 1 Found in Lower Cretaceous (Trinity Age) Glen Rose Formation off Highway 55 in between Barksdale and Rocksprings Texas. Are they Loriolia texana? Group 2 Found in the Lower Cretaceous (Trinity Age) Glen Rose Formation off Highway 1050 in between Utopia and Leakey Texas. Notes: Although most are damaged, the largest one of the group has a depressed unpaired ambulacrum. The upper-most right specimen has a hole bored into the bottom side of it. Are they Heteraster obliquatus? Group 3 Found in the Lower Cretaceous (Trinity Age) Glen Rose Formation off Highway 1050 in between Utopia and Leakey Texas. Left: Phymosoma texanum? Middle: Club shaped spine? from Loriolia texana or what else? Right: Porocystis globularis? I know it's not an echinoid, but found in situ approximately 3 inches away. Thank you in advance for your help.