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Hello everyone, I'm happy to be back with one more of many questions I will have. This was part of the bins of rocks I inherited. I mentioned on my last post they came from my neighbor and family friend growing up and the man who sparked my interest in fossil science but did not reveal his identity out of respect for his surviving daughter but after speaking with her she said her dad would be honored and said absolutely. My neighbor growing up was Dallas Lemmon and he was a professor of geology at Western New Mexico University for many years and is the one who left me a few bins of his collection.

Last weekend I made a trip to New Mexico to hunt the Rio Puerco Valley with @PFOOLEY in search of Upper Cretaceous ammonites, mostly in the middle Turonian Carlile Shale. Mike is incredibly knowledgeable about the Upper Cretaceous of New Mexico and the stratigraphy of the area and I had a blast collecting alongside him. Before making my way to New Mexico I had told Mike that my goal was to find a Placenticeras. Placenticeras and Sphenodiscus are my two favorite Upper Cretaceous ammonite genera. Despite Mike's warning that the areas we would look had been consistently collected over the years, I was excited to explore a new area and collect some new fossils for my collection. Going into the trip, I had told myself that if anything I would get to spend a weekend collecting amongst a beautiful surrounding. I met Mike early on Saturday before we made our way to the Carlile Shale. After we exchanged some quick pleasantries, Mike gifted me an amazing Placenticeras pseudoplacenta embedded in a large concretion. At the very least, I was not going to leave New Mexico without my Placenticeras! Once we arrived at the site, Mike explained to me which horizons hold the best fossils and what color concretions I should be looking for. He also said that rattlesnakes can be found out here and that he hoped we would see one -- that made one of us. I am happy to report that we did not see one! With Mike's two dogs guiding the way, we found ourselves over the next several hours climbing up and down several slopes on the hunt. Given that we were in the Prionocyclus hyatti zone, Prionocyclus hyatti made up the majority of our finds, but to both of our surprise, we were still able to find quite a variety. I found a couple Placenticeras pseudoplacenta of my own as well as two "Franken-ite" ammonites that I wrapped and glued back at home, including an uncommon Romaniceras mexicanum. Mike found his first ever Scaphites carlilensis, which was cool to see. Prionocyclus hyatti Placenticeras pseudoplacenta Romaniceras mexicanum Indeterminate Collignoniceratid While the ammonites were the obvious draw to the site, I also enjoyed picking up a couple of the other invertebrates lying around the hills, including a double valve Inoceramus howelli. Cameleolopha bellaplicata Cyprimeria sp. Nuculana sp. Inoceramus howelli After walking the full stretch of the exposure, Mike said that he wanted to check out one more site, an exposure of the Santonian Satan Tongue, before heading home. Once again Mike gave his fair warning that he had only found a few fossils in the past from this formation but that he had always thought it worthwhile to check it out as a last stop before calling it a day. As we walked around I could see why he had given his warning. I could find nothing! Mike came up to me to ask how I was doing and when I said I was empty handed, he handed me to my surprise two Baculites codyensis and showed me an interesting oyster he had picked up. I have no idea how he could find these things! Baculites codyensis We walked around a little bit more, and just as Mike said "I hope this stop was not a waste of time," I spotted a Placenticeras syrtale peeking out of the ground. I quickly called Mike over, and as soon as I looked at the ground again, I saw another one less than half a foot away from the first. We spent a few more minutes searching this horizon and each collected a few more pieces. Placenticeras syrtale Shortly thereafter Mike left me to head home for dinner, but before he did, he pointed me in the direction of another area worth checking out. Mike must have the magic touch for ammonites, because after he left I did not find much else. Nonetheless I still managed to find another Prionocyclus hyatti and a couple other invertebrates. Prionocyclus hyatti Pecten sp. Cardium sp. Eoacteon sp. Before flying back home in the afternoon on Sunday I wanted to make one more effort at finding some ammonites. Returning to an area Mike and I had visited the day before I decided to go right while we had gone left. That decision turned out to be a poor one. I spent the next hour hiking with nothing to show for it except a few isolated broken Prionocyclus hyatti chunks that I left where I found them. Believing that I might not find anything for my day, I made my way back towards my starting point, and just as I arrived there, I spotted an interesting concretion on the ground. Crouching down to examine it, I decided to split it open. No luck. Just more tiny Prionocyclus hyatti fragments. But as I spun around from my seat I saw what looked like the shell of a decapod. Mike had joked with me the day before that he had found a crab in association with an ammonite several years ago and when he donated it the researchers had wanted to break off the ammonite to preserve the crab. He said that decapod material is rare, so I did not have much hope of finding one myself. The concretion had broken into four pieces so I made sure to collect everything and wrap them appropriately. Since returning home and consolidating the specimen, I have struggled to identify it. Yesterday I spoke with one academic who asked to see it in-person. I will report back once I have a definitive identification. Unidentified Decapod All in all, I had a great time in my short visit collecting from the Upper Cretaceous of New Mexico. I found some great fossils and multiple personal trip makers. I cannot thank Mike enough for his hospitality and generosity. I cannot wait to pay him back on a potential trip to the Upper Cretaceous of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. As a funny aside, I did not have enough space in my checked bag for all of my finds, so I had to store a couple of them in the two backpacks I carried onto the plane. TSA pulled one bag aside but not the other, and when the agent came to look at the bag closer, she asked me, "are these rocks?" My guess is that TSA agents see a lot of things come through security, but "rocks" was a first for her.

Hi all, I'm considering buying this vertebra, but I want too know what age it is & how old it is. it was Quay, New Mexico, and is supposed too be a fossil. Unfortunately there aren’t anymore pics or a size, but too me it almost looks like Zarafasaura, but I don’t know if that species is found in New Mexico, or even the US. TIA

Hello, I found this egg looking specimen a couple of weeks ago in a dry river bed in Northern New Mexico. The location was roughly 80 miles NW of Albuquerque, NM at an approximate elevation of 7,500 feet. The first thing I thought was a possible dinosaur egg with an actual yolk/embryo in the center. The smaller piece in the pictures actually is part of the egg portion. It was found in a location where any people walking in the area are few and far between. The layers looked pretty distinct and the black lines caught my eye. I believe I saw similar black lines on pictures of other dino eggs online. So what do you guys think? Is it possible that this could be a real dinosaur egg? I have very little experience with this type of thing so I thought I would consult with the experts. Thank you very much. (It's only letting me add one picture, so i'll try and add a few others in my own replies).