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I found my 2nd ever ammonite in what I’m calling the Grayson formation, based on Mancos app showing solid Grayson, though it’s fairly close to the paw paw. Tarrant County, TX. I’m not well educated on Main Street though, so maybe that fits in here somewhere? Either way, I’ve been to this spot numerous times, lots of cymatoceras nautiloids and I got my biggest turrilites from this spot too. I was thrilled to find a 2 pound, 5.5 inch ammonite. I am GUESSING it might be mortoniceras parinflatum? If anyone can confirm or correct, much appreciated! I used the Kennedy paper on Grayson/Mainstreet cephalopods. I can’t wait to clean it up with air abrasive/air scribe to see what the center looks like.

I had to stop by a work clients construction site today (he builds houses), a mere 3-4 miles from where I live. They had just dug trenches for the waterlines, so I glanced around..Lo and behold, I found the biggest Cymatoceras nautiloid I’ve ever found. Fat Albert must have eaten everything else on the surrounding acre, because I barely found anything else..LOL! I was pretty thrilled. It’s over 11.5 pounds. A friend asked me if it was an Eopachydiscus..nope, it’s a Tarrant county Grayson formation nautiloid!

I made a lunch break stop by my local rec center drainage ditch and found one of the larger pectins I’ve found. In the past, I found big nautiloids here too. I nicknamed the little gastropod guy “curly” and I also have one of the tiniest little turrilites (I think it’s a turrilite?) attached to the back of another fossil. The echinoid isn’t in great shape, but I only have 3-4 of these so I took it anyway. Tarrant county, TX

I would love to learn from some of you regarding what species of nautiloids these are (maybe multiple species). They’re different than the larger ones I find more often in similar areas and I like the pattern detail visible on some of them. They almost always have a very distinct curve at the outer edge. These are mostly from 2 spots in burleson TX. The unusual nautiloid with lots of details visible and crystallized (looks brown in the photo) on the inside was from a different spot (maybe Fort Worth formation?) where I find mortoniceras ammonites.

I don’t have many turrilites that are complete, and even a couple of those are rough looking. I do have an incomplete monster sized turrilite that is missing at least 1-2 parts but I kept it because of the sheer size. All are from 2 locations in Tarrant county where I find mostly turrilites and nautiloids, and the occasional macraster echinoid.

I previously posted my woodbine ammonite collection (calycoceras/conlinoceras). I’ve since sliced 2-3 that were without hope of reflecting external beauty, for lack of a better description as to why. Haha..I find a lot of nautiloids where I live due to proximity to Fort Worth/Grayson formations. Oftentimes, the spots that have mortoniceras ammonites also have occasional nautiloids. I exposed a small amount of crystallization while removing this nautilus, so I experimented with slicing this one. I’m glad I did! What a beauty. I have plenty of whole specimens (some QUITE large) that will stay whole, but this one is unique!

My favorite “homeless creek” with all of its dangers (I’ve been pursued by a guy with a rifle, watched suspected drug dealers meeting, etc) yields the biggest and best macrasters and clean mortoniceras ammonites, rarely do I have to bust out the hammer and chisel. It doesn’t hurt to have a concealed carry permit..I’m looking for fossils, not to become a candidate for fossilization personally. Occasional nautiloids too. Here are a few lunch break finds from yesterday. This is near downtown Fort Worth TX. Still the Wild West! The denture clam/devils toenail brownie (lol) was interesting to me.

I came across this place not too long ago and recently made another trip, I am in love with this site, the colors, the layers, the in your face geology, the fossils, couldn't ask for more. Pocket map says this area is intersection of Woodbine, Grayson, and QAL. Showing in pictures the series of hills running east to west, #1 west end #4 east end. and various shots closer. Forgot to take picture of first hill on western side there was only Woodbine exposure that had layers of intense purple sandstone and what I'm calling snowflake selenite. The far east side was only Woodbine but in the middle hills were several layers of Grayson, top one was more yellow soft and crumbly, below a layer of more white and harder then below that all shades of grey and blue. Along the very top of hills you can see the red Woodbine. Will make separate post for Grayson fossils there are too many pictures, fossils, and questions. This is great learning opportunity so any additional information will be appreciated. Not too many fossils from Woodbine but it's visually difficult for me, everything is red black orange and blends together. Found gastropod, ammonites and various oysters being eaten by selenite but I like the sparkle, and bivalve #6, is this Pinna? Picture #5 was just a single odd place with sand balls. Found what I'm calling chocolate selenite and big chunks of rock imbedded with bivalves and encrusted in white, assuming it's gypsum? I liked the contrast in colors. Including picture of everything found.

A few weeks ago my brother and I took a weekend trip to do some sightseeing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I had been meaning to check out an area of interest in the Late Cretaceous Period, Early Cenomanian Grayson Marl, so early Sunday morning before the museums in Dallas opened I made a quick stop to the site to at least cross it off my list. The outcrop itself was small but I was able to find the usual suspects- Ilymatogyra oysters and Neithea scallops, partial Mariella bosquensis heteromorph ammonites, and a Stoliczkaia conlini ammonite that is sadly missing its juvenile whorls. The real highlight find for me though was a big Cymatoceras hilli nautiloid. Unfortunately it is missing a chunk out of it but it is the biggest Cymatoceras nautiloid that I have found. However, the fun of discovery did not end there. After I brought it home, and as I was taking some extra matrix off, I split the backside of the nautiloid to reveal that a small Mariella rhacioformis ammonite that been pushed inside the nautiloid during deposition. And, as I was further prepping the ammonite with air tools to reveal more detail, I discovered a broken shark tooth, possibly Cretolamna appendiculata, next to it. What I thought was a cool singular find turned out to be an awesome triple discovery.

Well, with the seemingly permanent closing of the Waco Pit/ research area, I figured why not start a thread that summarizes the best experiences the members here have had with it. As they say - don't be sad it's over, smile because it happened! I feel close to the site because it was my first anchor when I began fossil hunting. If not for the generous richness of the site, I may have burnt out in my early days with the frustration of not being able to find my targets locally. So, here are some of my favorite snap shots of the time I spent romping up and down those big exposures. My very first shark tooth, ever. Cretolamna appendiculata (It's still one of my best representatives of the species) and in situ: And what is the Waco Pit known for if not its fantastic array of invertebrates? Not only are the ammonites famous for their preservation, but their insular dwarfism also makes them biologically interesting. It's also known for its echinoids, which I was oblivious to in my early days of exploring the pit. Cidarid plates are an occasional find, and collapsed tests of other echinoids litter the landscape. Unfortunately, I never took a closer eye and hunted the site with the technique one is supposed to - inching by just a few square feet at a time, on your hands and knees. Who knows how many echinoids of a variety of species I missed. Fossils are cool because they were alive once, and so It would be wrong to ignore some of the living members of the Waco Pit. Here's a juvenile plain bellied water snake (nerodia erythrogaster) that my friend and I found on a hardcore, all-day romp spent in the furthest areas of the pit. I'm glad I got familiar with this site before it closed. I know it peaked in the first couple decades after opening, but even catching it on its tail end was a pleasure. Let's see what ya'll have found!

This particular piece of marl from Grayson caught my eye because of the little balls covering it then I saw the odd grooved chip, it's very thin and I'm not recognizing it as shell. So what are these things?

I am still new to the Grayson formation and not familiar enough to know if some things are specific to it or not. There was a place with large areas of the curled up rubbery black mud with big spaces within of the flat rusty crust #1, and mounding crust like #2, last pic is back side #2. Best I can describe it and curious what it is.

I have usually looked for the bigger things at this site but this time focused on the small and in a different area. Didn't even realize what this was until I got home and put on my glasses and went through things, it's not in the best shape but hopefully someone can make out what it is. This was in Grayson marl Washita group.

I am, admittedly, not much of a creek hunter. I prefer a road cut any day to slogging around in knee deep water and mud to find the fossils. But sometimes you gotta get out of your comfort zone! And it was WELL WORTH IT!!! My friend was kind enough to share one of his local spots - we've had some good rains in Texas recently and he thought it might be producing some more heteromorph ammonites. He has collected some amazing big and well preserved Mariellas there and I have been DYING to find a good one. All that I have found in my local creeks have been so water worn as to be practically unrecognizable. So dodging some local rainstorms I pulled on my water boots and slogged my way upstream with him and his bounding doggo- I swear there is nothing much more joyful than a dog who loves water....in the water. It took me a while to start seeing the ammonites. It is always fascinating to me how you have to learn to "see" the fossil. What I would pass by, he would point out....you missed one there! I finally started to see them and found a couple of very nice ones. I was hoping to find a full three whorls together, but only found two whorls. There were fragment all over the place, but finding intact ones is much more difficult. I was super thrilled to come back with two very nice specimens and for one of them, I found a whorl fragment that matches it PRETTY well, so I just pretend I found a three whorl Mariella. My "three" whorl: 7 inches Another big one, not as well preserved, but with no "added" whorl. hahahha 7 inches Another nice fragment. 4 inches AND, I was lucky to have found a Hemiaster calvini echinoid too! He said it's only the second echinoid he's seen from this location. It's pretty water worn but has some interesting color and detail. 1 3/4 inch Also this lovely oyster Lopha. It has both valves which is always a plus: 4 inches We found a couple of crumbly nautiloids that didn't survive the extraction, so I was kind of disappointed, but then.....as we were leaving, I look down and see the edge of this guy sticking out of the bank. I called out "hey, come look!" and my friend was amazed that he had JUST walked right past it!!! We dug it out and I got to carry a nice big nautilus the rest of the way up the creek! And believe me, two big mariellas, an assortment of other fossils and a big nautiloid are quite a load when you have to scramble up a creek bank. Fortunately, I did have a little help. So a great day in the creek, even though I did get startled by a gar, I am a little more comfortable going creek hunting! Oh, and the sky was beautiful too. A lovely day in Central Texas.

Went back to my little gold mine today and was again amazed by the variety of things found. Previously I thought I was in Eagle Ford, but it is in Woodbine, with ravine that cuts down to Grayson as was explained to me in first post from this local. Everything was dried out except bottom of ravine, from the looks of things I think a natural spring is involved. So found some more Mariella ammonites, one with part of a scallop maybe?, and a Hemiaster, another Texigryphaea with some shell, I believe a little bacculite, an Echnodus tooth?, unknown clams, a Trigonia, and crawling on hands and knees on top sandy area found these tiny Echinoids which are so small having a hard time making ID, can't believe they even made it home intact.

Too bad we can't haul this out. 200 lb beast.

Too bad we can't haul this one out. 200 lb beast. Lake Texoma is on Duck Creek formation.

At a hidden little gem of a site buried somewhere in the anonymity of the North Texas backwoods, Ma’ Nature in her sporadic largesse bestowed a princely suite of Cenomanian echinoids on my waiting palm.

This is one of those strange little fossils that keeps you guessing. The center “texture” almost looks like a skin imprint. A lot of different things going on here. Coprolite perhaps? Any ideas? Thank you in advance!