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Showing results for tags 'ozan formation'.
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North Sulfur River in Texas - An attempt was made
Opabinia Blues posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
This weekend I find myself northeast of Dallas, hoping that I might manage to catch a glimpse of Monday’s solar eclipse. I figured while I was in there area I’d try my hand at fossil hunting the Cretaceous Ozan Formation in the North Sulfur River near Ladonia. It’s a fairly famous fossil hunting site which is open to the public, so I was quite excited to give it a go. When I arrived I noticed that quite a few people were in the same spot, some hunting for fossils and others enjoying the water on a cool day. Someone in the parking lot was showing off a huge Scapanorhynchus tooth they had found, which I was able to identify for them. My hopes were quite high, but pretty quickly I realized that the North Sulfur River wouldn’t quite be the fossil buffet I had imagined. Fossils seemed to be few and far between, so imagining that the area near the park entrance was simply heavily picked over I walked about a mile and a half west to try to get to fresher pastures. Alas, the only fossils I netted myself today were Inoceramid clams, some baculites (the red-zone ones, not the pretty black ones) and two fairly large grypheid oysters. Oh, and some petrified wood too. I found zero vertebrates, save for a bone fragment. I don’t fault myself. Although I was not the first to arrive, I was the last to leave. I combed over just about every gravel bar I came across, remembering @PaleoNoel’s advice: “It pays to be thorough.” At one point I walked back to my car to replace my sopping wet hiking boots for my water shoes, and kept on pushing. But it did not net me much. I have to say I’m slightly disappointed. Maybe I’m just spoiled rotten when it comes to fossils having grown up on the Front Range. But I will say, this is the hardest I’ve ever worked for a few crappy baculites. I talked to some other fossil hunters, and most seemed to be having about the same luck I had. But one person had managed to find about a half dozen shark teeth, a mosasaur tooth, very nice black baculites, and a partial mosasaur vertebra. The proof that there were treasures out there to be found drove my persistence, and ultimately amplified my frustration. Perhaps I went at a bad time - a lot of people are in the area for the eclipse and I was told that it had been a while since there had been good flow. Maybe that’s just the way it goes at this site. Nonetheless, I’m considering trying again within the next year. My sister lives in Waco, and I heard that unfortunately the North Sulfur River won’t be accessible to fossil hunters past 2025 due to the removal of the dam that exposed the rock unit in the first place. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day and it’s always fun to discover new things! As much complaining as I did in this post it is super awesome to find my own fossils from a new rock unit for the collection! I caught a diving beetle too, which I intend to take home and add to my aquarium (I have an aquarium specifically for diving beetles, but they aren’t out yet in Colorado)! Some pictures for your enjoyment:
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- 10
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- baculites
- cretaceous
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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- 2
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- cretaceous
- mosasaur
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Reptiles and Amphibs
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Ammonite Trachyscaphites spiniger Ozan Formation
JamieLynn posted a gallery image in Member Collections
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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Ammonite Menabites delawarensis NSR Ozan Formation
JamieLynn posted a gallery image in Member Collections
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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Ammonite Submortoniceras aff condamyi Ozan Formation
JamieLynn posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils: Ammonites and Nautiloids
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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- cartilage
- cretaceous
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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