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  1. @Uncle Siphuncle has a great saying that I think of often - "To the motivated go the spoils". To embody that sort of spirit, I have focused my efforts into some hard to reach places in less than ideal conditions, and not always to success. But, now and then it pays off... I was back home for the holidays, with ample Cretaceous strata in every direction. I have been looking forward to this planned week and a half bonanza for months. With the Ochem monkey off my back, my thoughts were now more pleasantly filled with Cretaceous sea life again. Finding it easy to wake due to the dreams I was having about my coming day all night, I zipped up in four layers and shot out. Temperatures for most of the days of this trip report were ridiculous for Texas standards, at one point dropping as low as 17 degrees F (-8C), but more consistently floating at less than 30 F (-1 C). I figured I was the only person mental enough to do any creek stomping in these conditions, and so soon before Christmas. On my first excursion, hopes were high, as a previous storm several days before brought creeks way up, though now the waters were back to normal levels. I was delighted to find my my assumption about the extent of my fossil addiction was correct - no one else had hit my favorite gravel bank yet. The flood spoils weren't of their usual quantity this time, but I was happy to see one of my personal best Cretolamna cf. appendiculata teeth. Shortly after, a nice Ptychodus mortoni made an appearance, to my continued delight. Every Ptychodus I find probably adds weeks to my life. Other finds included a broken Enchodus palatine, a Scapanorynchus tooth from a gravel bank a little further down, and this interesting bone that I can't seem to make anything of: With my first gravel hunt of the behind me, and my eyes finally tuned into the fossil "frequency", I drove home happy to have spent some time outdoors, looking forward to the coming day. The next morning (Christmas eve day) brought me to a new Eagle Ford spot. As with my hunt the day before, success was limited. This time however, the creek I was meant to be stomping in was completely frozen, so, spending some time on the exposure above the bank, I found some success in the Ptychodus realm again. The best of the few Ptychodus from this exposure is shown below. I assume Ptychodus anonymous, but I haven't seen this exceptionally high-crowned morphology in the species from the cenomanian Bouldin Flags member before. I moved downstream, carefully rock hopping, until I settled into an inconspicuous nook sporting some intensely shelly hashplates. The increased current here kept the ice at bay. I didn't hit it particularly hard, as I would like to wait for water levels to drop a bit there, but the look of that layer is exactly what I peel my eyes for in the lower eagle ford, as I have had great success in that horizon in other sites in the past. Below, in order: Squalicorax falcatus, Cretoxyrhina? and Ptychodus cf. occidentalis. Little did I know that the meager Ptychodus finds were just a build up to a Ptychodus grand finale, only a few days out. The next day was Christmas, and I was out again. My family celebrates on Christmas eve, as is German tradition (My family is South African, but my German raised Namibian step mom is boss... not that I'm complaining since the Germans really have Christmas figured out with their interesting cookies and Stollen, my seasonal favorite) My creek stomping efforts at first were thwarted, as the thought of soaking myself to get to the most desirable gravel bars was unbearable. However, I still made a nice find in a less productive spot, Scapanorynchus texanus. Redemption started coming quickly though, at a bank half a mile away, where I began stumbling into artifact after artifact. Three is an unusual number to see in a day for me. Unfortunately, I'm not much of an artifact guy, so I'm not sure of the dates or types of these yet. I suppose I should ask a forum, but if anyone on this forum knows, spill below: In the next few days, temperatures began warming, and I made the drive back out to the recent Mosasaur dig site, with the intent of exploring a spot of bone left in the bank. I made little progress, but in exploring a small Atco deposit in the vicinity, I noticed a small Scapanorynchus tooth. The day after I found myself wading through deep water for many long stretches. The water physically burned, and I was frozen to the core - the air may have been warmer but the creek itself was unchanged. Despite the admirable attempt, nothing came of that hunt. While I was happy to be out in the field and interacting with the little gems above, I was itching to start making big finds and see redemption for the day I spent submerged with nothing to show. That redemption came from my next hunt, just a few days ago. It was back to looking in gravel at a honey hole I've left undisturbed for nearly 5 months. I was always confident in the secrecy of the spot, as it's pretty hard to get to and quite unassuming once you're there. Much to my dismay, I was immediately met with foot prints - that was a punch to the gut. Rather than moving and stopping along the bank as a fisherman would, the footprints followed in a zig zag, as a hunter would . I could only hope that I was instead seeing the traces of an arrowhead hunter. While they have sharp eyes, they're more likely to miss a fossil. My gloom was dashed quickly when, much to my delight, I was met with a tooth that had me whooping and hollering. Sitting like a beacon in the gravel was a preposterously large Ptychodus tooth (also, I guess that guy wasn't a hunter, because you couldn't miss this one...PHEW!) First, the in situ: Picking it up, I found it to be quite water worn. That's ok though, how can one possibly complain when they're holding a monstrous beauty like this? ...and is that it? Is it's size all that had me excited? No!! As if it couldn't get better, I quickly realized that this species was a first for me - P. latissimus, and of this I'm about only 90% certain, and take the ID based on the very thick, sharply triangular transverse ridges. I knew some species like P. mortoni, P. marginalis, and P. polygyrus could reach colossal status, but never have I heard of P. latissimus reaching these proportions. Here it is in hand, below. In it's very worn state, it's still 4cm in width, (about 40-41 mm). I can only imagine the size of this tooth before tumbling into the creek. To be fair though, I also don't have a clear understanding of where to draw the line for Ptychodus sizes. At what width is a tooth considered big? Huge? Not sure, but other Ptychodus enthusiasts like @LSCHNELLE, @siteseer, and @Thomas.Dodson might be able to offer some insight into size ranges, as well as corrective ID if opinions are different. All I know is that this the the biggest tooth I've so far seen in person. With the adrenaline pumping and the day young, I got right back at it. Not far up, I made another find that had me jumping with joy: While a mosasaur vert may not seem like big deal to those accustomed to the North Sulpher River, these are hard to come by in the creeks I frequent, and this is the first I've found in the entire watershed. Watching the ordeal were several dozen (indeed, dozen) vultures in the trees above me. Being watched by scavengers with an overcast sky and leafless wintering trees, the setting was a stark contrast to the elation I was feeling. I soon found the source of the vulture's attention though. Some paces away laid a freshly dead boar - not yet stinking too badly but already crawling with flies. I decided to steer clear, a mistake that thankfully reversed itself on the way back. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I traveled up further, finding odd bits here and there, nothing of note. When I came to my usual turn around point, marked by a deep stretch of river, I was pleasantly surprised to find my watery obstacle had been mostly filled in with gravel. Jumping on the opportunity to explore further than I have before, I waded in and discovered a beautiful bluff around the bend. My hopes were not high, as my old turn around point nearby is anyway historically barren, but I didn't mind. Exploring a new spot is usually just that - exploring more than hunting. The huge sheet of late Cretaceous cliffs along one side of the water was epic, and I spent a lot of time admiring them. Running at the bottom was the clearest water I've encountered in the area, I couldn't help from wanting to drink it (thankfully I left that thought alone. ) In the pic below, the foreground gravel is underwater too. I eventually came to another deep section, and not in the mood to swim, turned around once again, this time to be met with a lovely Ptychodus mortoni at the base of one of these bluffs. I was ecstatic. Gravel finds this well preserved are hard to come by. The trek back continued, and after lots of sloshing from gravel bar to gravel bar, I finally came ashore to the large bar containing the dead boar. Feeling lucky, I held my breath and walked to it, to explore the only section of gravel I'd skipped so far. As I approached, I saw this, sitting off to the side of the carcass: My first glance said "bovid", then it registered that this tooth had actual color to it... Pleistocene! Bison! Picking it up, it then dawned on me that this was not bovid, but rather my first Pleistocene camel tooth - Camelops sp. What a helluva way to end the day, and my last hunt back at home (for a week at least - work pulled me back to College Station so I'll be back this weekend for sure). In two weeks, a paleo friend of mine is coming down from North Dakota to do some creek stomping with me, so in the best interests of giving him the greatest experience possible, it's time to let these creeks recharge. When I return, it'll be to explore more new spots from the backlog I have marked in my library. I hope you all find some time to get outside this winter, and if the snow is keeping you in, may your prep projects keep you busy and surprised
  2. I have some extra shale pieces I'd like to trade. The shale is from Central Texas, and is cenomanian/turonian. Pliosaur, plesiasaur, mosasaur, and coniasaur is possible but really rare. The most common teeth are shark and fish and assorted bits. I've seen very few invertebrate material. Mainly shell and shell hash. The piece I have for trade has a two nice teeth showing on top, two ptychodus on the sides, a fish vertebra, and some fish teeth showing. There might be a couple more shark teeth and lots of smaller fish teeth inside the rock. Check out my trip reports and you can see more about the material and things I've found. The rock is about 5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and about 1 each thick. The bottom is a very thin layer of hard rock, and the rest is softer, flaky, fossil-filled shale. The material is hard but flaky, sandy, and fairly easy to work with. These pieces are fun to disassemble and search. I have larger pieces with several teeth showing as well. The teeth are usually in really great shape for being 80m to 100m years old. I'd like to trade for something interesting. Vertebrate would be nice, as would anything reptile or amphibian. I'm a new hunter and collector so im open to any trades. I hunt for fun and not for profit so its important to have a trade we can feel good about. My goal is to be reasonable and communicative and be flexible if anything issues pop up! Thanks! CS (aka Jackito)
  3. Hey forum! No long story this time- it was New Years Day and I decided to hit up my special Eagle Ford spot off the beaten path to start the year off. That day was of my most productive creek crawling adventures in this specific spot yet! I’m already focused on pursuing my education goals this year as well. First: I want to show off my new exciting lucky shark tooth hunting shirt! I drew, on digital, “Prehistoric Sharks of Texas” and slapped it onto a tee. The tag is my autograph printed on the back of the neck which feels surreal! The teeth were hand-drawn by me over layers of photos from my own personal shark tooth collection except the Ptychodus occidentalis. I couldn’t NOT post it here! *It’s not yet available to the public- this shirt is the first test run. I thought my fellow Cretaceous & Texas shark hunters here might enjoy this! (Shhhh but there’s one Permian tooth on there! I plan on making an all-Cretaceous shark one too) First Ptychodus of the year! A gorgeous example of a Ptychodus whipplei I kept popping them out of the gravel bar, one after another: Some lovely Scapanorhynchus r. and Cretolamna a. anterior finds as well! This last one is a rather unusual one! Smooth looking piece. I have an idea but any thoughts from those more experienced is most appreciated as I’m still always learning. Haul of Ptychodus from a little under 2 hours- that’s including “walking time.” I wish I had more sunlight to burn! Some other finds: Very neat tumbled marine reptile bones! Baby shark doo-doo! I’m always a sucker for a good goblin! Third favorite shark of all time…literally. Possibly a Scapanorhynchus r. lateral tooth. Has two small accessory cusplets on each side! Interesting enough is that the tooth is very smooth like a Cretolamna. A lot of my other smaller ones however have striations you can see and feel. Super neat & near complete Cretodus crassidens next to a Scapanorhynchus raphiodon anterior! Cretodus is the big bad tooth in the center of my tee! I don’t collect points but this is my first find in this super specific area. I already gave it away to someone I knew wanted it! Unfortunately for them when I found it, it was broken diagonally near the bottom right but they were still ecstatic. BEST FIND: So as soon as I found this, I *immediately* messaged the first & smartest person to mind that I felt the most confident in asking/trusting for a second opinion. We both came to an agreement this looks a lot like a mosasaur tooth! DAYS ago I finally got a Tylosaurus tooth from Ozan (I forgot to add that hunt day to my other thread- opps!) and it looks just too similar for me to think this is a Pachyrhizodus or another predatory fish tooth. The root cavity too makes me think so as a lot of my other mosasaur teeth have that. It screams “marine reptile” at me. If anyone also wants to chime in with thoughts- please do so! Any info to ID species of stray mosasaur teeth, particularly found in the US, would also be very helpful! Im sure someone here could also find that information helpful in the future. I know there’s “facets” and striations to look for in particular species. Additional tooth pictures: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed Until next time I head back to my prehistoric beach, ya’ll remember to take care & enjoy life. Happy 2023! -Larí R.
  4. Jared C

    a frigid, fossiliferous end to 2022

    @Uncle Siphuncle has a great saying that I think of often - "To the motivated go the spoils". To embody that sort of spirit, I have focused my efforts into some hard to reach places in less than ideal conditions, and not always to success. But, now and then it pays off... I was back home for the holidays, with ample Cretaceous strata in every direction. I have been looking forward to this planned week and a half bonanza for months. With the Ochem monkey off my back, my thoughts were now more pleasantly filled with Cretaceous sea life again. Finding it easy to wake due to the dreams I was having about my coming day all night, I zipped up in four layers and shot out. Temperatures for most of the days of this trip report were ridiculous for Texas standards, at one point dropping as low as 17 degrees F (-8C), but more consistently floating at less than 30 F (-1 C). I figured I was the only person mental enough to do any creek stomping in these conditions, and so soon before Christmas. On my first excursion, hopes were high, as a previous storm several days before brought creeks way up, though now the waters were back to normal levels. I was delighted to find my my assumption about the extent of my fossil addiction was correct - no one else had hit my favorite gravel bank yet. The flood spoils weren't of their usual quantity this time, but I was happy to see one of my personal best Cretolamna cf. appendiculata teeth. Shortly after, a nice Ptychodus mortoni made an appearance, to my continued delight. Every Ptychodus I find probably adds weeks to my life. Other finds included a broken Enchodus palatine, a Scapanorynchus tooth from a gravel bank a little further down, and this interesting bone that I can't seem to make anything of: With my first gravel hunt of the behind me, and my eyes finally tuned into the fossil "frequency", I drove home happy to have spent some time outdoors, looking forward to the coming day. The next morning (Christmas eve day) brought me to a new Eagle Ford spot. As with my hunt the day before, success was limited. This time however, the creek I was meant to be stomping in was completely frozen, so, spending some time on the exposure above the bank, I found some success in the Ptychodus realm again. The best of the few Ptychodus from this exposure is shown below. I assume Ptychodus anonymous, but I haven't seen this exceptionally high-crowned morphology in the species from the cenomanian Bouldin Flags member before. I moved downstream, carefully rock hopping, until I settled into an inconspicuous nook sporting some intensely shelly hashplates. The increased current here kept the ice at bay. I didn't hit it particularly hard, as I would like to wait for water levels to drop a bit there, but the look of that layer is exactly what I peel my eyes for in the lower eagle ford, as I have had great success in that horizon in other sites in the past. Below, in order: Squalicorax falcatus, Cretoxyrhina? and Ptychodus cf. occidentalis. Little did I know that the meager Ptychodus finds were just a build up to a Ptychodus grand finale, only a few days out. The next day was Christmas, and I was out again. My family celebrates on Christmas eve, as is German tradition (My family is South African, but my German raised Namibian step mom is boss... not that I'm complaining since the Germans really have Christmas figured out with their interesting cookies and Stollen, my seasonal favorite) My creek stomping efforts at first were thwarted, as the thought of soaking myself to get to the most desirable gravel bars was unbearable. However, I still made a nice find in a less productive spot, Scapanorynchus texanus. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the next few days, temperatures began warming, and I made the drive back out to the recent Mosasaur dig site, with the intent of exploring a spot of bone left in the bank. I made little progress, but in exploring a small Atco deposit in the vicinity, I noticed a small Scapanorynchus tooth. The day after I found myself wading through deep water for many long stretches. The water physically burned, and I was frozen to the core - the air may have been warmer but the creek itself was unchanged. Despite the admirable attempt, nothing came of that hunt. While I was happy to be out in the field and interacting with the little gems above, I was itching to start making big finds and see redemption for the day I spent submerged with nothing to show. That redemption came from my next hunt, just a few days ago. It was back to looking in gravel at a honey hole I've left undisturbed for nearly 5 months. I was always confident in the secrecy of the spot, as it's pretty hard to get to and quite unassuming once you're there. Much to my dismay, I was immediately met with foot prints - that was a punch to the gut. Rather than moving and stopping along the bank as a fisherman would, the footprints followed in a zig zag, as a hunter would . I could only hope that I was instead seeing the traces of an arrowhead hunter. While they have sharp eyes, they're more likely to miss a fossil. My gloom was dashed quickly when, much to my delight, I was met with a tooth that had me whooping and hollering. Sitting like a beacon in the gravel was a preposterously large Ptychodus tooth (also, I guess that guy wasn't a hunter, because you couldn't miss this one...PHEW!) First, the in situ: Picking it up, I found it to be quite water worn. That's ok though, how can one possibly complain when they're holding a monstrous beauty like this? ...and is that it? Is it's size all that had me excited? No!! As if it couldn't get better, I quickly realized that this species was a first for me - P. latissimus, and of this I'm about only 90% certain, and take the ID based on the very thick, sharply triangular transverse ridges. I knew some species like P. mortoni, P. marginalis, and P. polygyrus could reach colossal status, but never have I heard of P. latissimus reaching these proportions. Here it is in hand, below. In it's very worn state, it's still 4cm in width, (about 40-41 mm). I can only imagine the size of this tooth before tumbling into the creek. To be fair though, I also don't have a clear understanding of where to draw the line for Ptychodus sizes. At what width is a tooth considered big? Huge? Not sure, but other Ptychodus enthusiasts like @LSCHNELLE, @siteseer, and @Thomas.Dodson might be able to offer some insight into size ranges, as well as corrective ID if opinions are different. All I know is that this the the biggest tooth I've so far seen in person. With the adrenaline pumping and the day young, I got right back at it. Not far up, I made another find that had me jumping with joy: While a mosasaur vert may not seem like big deal to those accustomed to the North Sulpher River, these are hard to come by in the creeks I frequent, and this is the first I've found in the entire watershed. Watching the ordeal were several dozen (indeed, dozen) vultures in the trees above me. Being watched by scavengers with an overcast sky and leafless wintering trees, the setting was a stark contrast to the elation I was feeling. I soon found the source of the vulture's attention though. Some paces away laid a freshly dead boar - not yet stinking too badly but already crawling with flies. I decided to steer clear, a mistake that thankfully reversed itself on the way back. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I traveled up further, finding odd bits here and there, nothing of note. When I came to my usual turn around point, marked by a deep stretch of river, I was pleasantly surprised to find my watery obstacle had been mostly filled in with gravel. Jumping on the opportunity to explore further than I have before, I waded in and discovered a beautiful bluff around the bend. My hopes were not high, as my old turn around point nearby is anyway historically barren, but I didn't mind. Exploring a new spot is usually just that - exploring more than hunting. The huge sheet of late Cretaceous cliffs along one side of the water was epic, and I spent a lot of time admiring them. Running at the bottom was the clearest water I've encountered in the area, I couldn't help from wanting to drink it (thankfully I left that thought alone. ) In the pic below, the foreground gravel is underwater too. I eventually came to another deep section, and not in the mood to swim, turned around once again, this time to be met with a lovely Ptychodus mortoni at the base of one of these bluffs. I was ecstatic. Gravel finds this well preserved are hard to come by. The trek back continued, and after lots of sloshing from gravel bar to gravel bar, I finally came ashore to the large bar containing the dead boar. Feeling lucky, I held my breath and walked to it, to explore the only section of gravel I'd skipped so far. As I approached, I saw this, sitting off to the side of the carcass: My first glance said "bovid", then it registered that this tooth had actual color to it... Pleistocene! Bison! Picking it up, it then dawned on me that this was not bovid, but rather my first Pleistocene camel tooth - Camelops sp. What a helluva way to end the day, and my last hunt back at home (for a week at least - work pulled me back to College Station so I'll be back this weekend for sure). In two weeks, a paleo friend of mine is coming down from North Dakota to do some creek stomping with me, so in the best interests of giving him the greatest experience possible, it's time to let these creeks recharge. When I return, it'll be to explore more new spots from the backlog I have marked in my library. I hope you all find some time to get outside this winter, and if the snow is keeping you in, may your prep projects keep you busy and surprised
  5. I need an expert's eye on this one . Looks like a fragment of an ptychodus shark tooth embedded in this sandstone. I didn't knew what I have until I posted it on a fossil group on Facebook and some experts told me that it is an ptychodus shark tooth fragment. It was found on beach at the gulf of kutch(65-2mya) late cretaceous-tertiary. I founded that this shark lived during the late cretaceous period and the sediments from where it was found dated the same age.
  6. I found this Ptychodus marginalis on a sandbar on a river this spring after a large flood. The river cuts through the lower Smoky Hill Chalk of Northwest Kansas. After I picked it up, I asked myself "is this real?" It is!!! 54mm across.
  7. Jared C

    Ptychodus martini, central texas

    From the album: Proudest finds

    A rare find in central texas - a Ptychodus martini tooth from a gravel bank
  8. 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"
  9. It's been over a month now since @Jared C and I found the Eagle Ford Xiphactinus. In the weeks that followed our discovery I was able to get in touch with the right people at Baylor University where I go to school and start to organize a retrieval project. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make it back to the site since then as all involved will have to wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn enough for us to have the proper permission necessary to return. So I was left with a problem: my first visit to the Eagle Ford turned out so well that I wanted nothing more than to go back, but I couldn't! Of course, that was just because I only knew of one exposure. And so I turned to more old literature in the hopes that I could locate another productive site the same way I had the first one. After many hours of reading papers that were filled to the brim with so much scientific jargon that they often went completely over my head, it seemed like I had finally struck gold when I found directions to a specific locality. Several days later I found myself with enough free time to make a scouting trip. The woods that I traveled through to get to the creek that was my ultimate destination were not making my job easy for me. Anyone who's spent even a little time outdoors in the eastern half of Texas knows that any given stretch of woods is about 80% brambles and thorns. This particular area was absolutely covered in them. I made slow progress - every fifteen minutes that passed would find me moving roughly the same number of feet. Eventually I got lucky and stumbled onto a trail through the thorns made by the local hogs. It's probably the only time I've ever been grateful for an invasive species! Following the trail led me to a steep bank and the creek I had been looking for. Peering over the ledge, I could see that the sides were lined with shale almost from top to bottom. All that shale had to mean fossils and so I wasted no time in making my way down to the creekbed. The paper I was referencing told me that I was within the Lake Waco and South Bosque formations of the Eagle Ford group, but it didn't take long for me to realize that there were probably others present as well. Massive slabs of limestone had fallen from the ledges at the top of the bank and littered the creekbed. Here's a picture of probably the biggest one I saw: My best guess is that this was some of the nearby Austin Chalk making a surprise appearance. From there I made my way westward. Fragments and impressions of giant inoceramid bivalves were visible on almost every scrap of rock I passed. I was so focused on inspecting the broken pieces of shale and limestone I was picking my way through that I failed to notice the pack of wild hogs I had inadvertently cornered! The creek dead-ended just beyond a fallen log, behind which were the makers of the trail I had followed through the woods. A limestone ledge formed a now-dry waterfall and below it was a pool of stagnant water and mud that the local hogs were obviously using as a place to wallow and escape the Texas summer heat - I can't say I blame them! I made sure to give them enough space to escape up the side of the bank and once I was sure they were gone I moved to inspect the pit they had been so kind to leave me. The shale I had been walking alongside further up the creek was exposed in all its many-layered glory here. For a mudhole used by a bunch of pigs it was surprisingly beautiful, and I found my breath briefly taken away when I got my first good look at it. Interpreting what I was seeing using the paper that had led me here proved to be a challenge at this point. At first I believed that everything below the waterfall ledge was the Lake Waco formation and everything above it was the South Bosque, but after a LOT of research since my first visit I'm now fairly confident in saying that almost everything I saw was just one particular member of the Lake Waco formation: the Cloice. The first finds of the day were located on the right side of the picture above in a layer just above a bentonite seam and just below the thick layer represented by the waterfall ledge. See how fast you can figure out what they are: The tooth on the left turned out to be a species of Ptychodus that was super common here (maybe anonymous?) while the tooth on the right was a perfect anterior Cretoxyrhina mantelli, my first of that species! Unfortunately I still don't own a rock hammer and even if I did I would have forgotten to bring it. I'm so used to just walking around at a site and surface collecting that the most I ever pack on fossil hunting trips is a garden trowel. At first I told myself I'd leave the teeth for a return trip when I had proper tools, but my impatience got the better of me as the hours wore on and I ended up using my trowel as an impromptu chisel and a rock as a hammer. The root of the Cretoxyrhina tooth broke in one place but I saved it for reattachment later. My troubles weren't over when I finally got the tooth out of the rock, however. My attempts to pry it out with a screwdriver on my walk back to my car were far from successful and actually caused my thumb to slip at one point, forcing the the tip of the tooth up and underneath my nail. Ninety million years since it was alive and this particular Ginsu shark finally got to taste blood again (even if it was only because of my stupidity ). Rewinding back a little bit to when I first found the site, I was able to follow the layer that I first spotted the Ptychodus and Cretoxyrhina in to the left where it was better exposed. It turned out that although there were obviously teeth in the grey/tan, fine-grained layers roughly three to four inches above the bentonite seam (the two teeth I just mentioned being examples), the vast majority were to be found within the red-stained "contact layer" immediately above the bentonite. A super thin lense was sandwiched between the bentonite and the dense shale/siltstone above. Here's a picture of the lense as I first saw it: Over the course of the next couple of hours I had my hands full pulling out shark tooth after shark tooth. There were so many in such close proximity that just a single small four by five inch slab of the red contact lense contained three decent sized Squalicorax teeth, a small Ptychodus, a fish vertebra, and an uncountable amount of microscopic fish teeth and other vertebrate detritus. I personally love in-situ photos, so I took a couple to show off. First up, a nicely-preserved Ptychodus anonymous. With the stratigraphy of the site more or less ironed out now, I'm pretty sure that the majority of Ptychodus teeth I found were P. anonymous with a couple of the much less common P. decurrens mixed in for variety. An incredibly small palatine bone from an Enchodus with the trademark fang intact, surrounded by a jumble of fragmented bone and teeth detritus. The blade of a Squalicorax falcatus peeking out from the contact lense. This specific tooth turned out to be the largest example of the species I've ever found (just barely bigger than those from Post Oak Creek!). How it looked once it was cleaned up: My blurry attempt at using an iPhone camera to take a closeup of the incredible serrations of a different Squalicorax tooth sticking out of a piece of the contact lense: One of the bigger fish scales I saw at the site. Every piece of shale was absolutely covered in them. Yet another Ptychodus tooth (probably P. anonymous). A second large Cretoxyrhina mantelli anterior tooth. This one still required some time spent with a dental pick but it proved to be much easier to retrieve than the first one I found. A before and after: And just to show how abundant the teeth were at this site, here's a picture showing the result of only four minutes' worth of digging and picking around: The best find of the day turned out to not be one of the shark teeth, but a tiny little bone that I didn't find particularly interesting when I first pulled it out of the shale. Any guesses as to what it might be? (Hint: this is a view from the bottom side) If you guessed vertebra, you're right! And you're also a lot smarter than I me - my lack of interest was because I thought I was looking at part of a crab carapace. This particular vertebra is from a Coniasaurus (an ID provided by @Jared C) - and it wouldn't be the only one I'd find here. But I'll leave that for the next post since I'm running out of space for pictures and I've already rambled for too long. I'll leave you all with a group picture of the finds from that first day: - Graham
  10. JakubArmatys

    Cretaceous Fish (Shark) Tooth

    Please identify this tooth Found in cretaceous, turonian sandy-limestone in Poland (Górka Pychowicka, Cracow). This rock is amazing, on left there's Ptychodus decurrens tooth too.
  11. WOW, what a day! Today I had the pleasure of finally meeting @Jared C after over a year of reading his trip reports and admiring all of the incredible finds he's made exploring the Cretaceous formations of Central Texas. We have a lot in common: both of us are pursuing a career in paleontology, are both (almost) the same age, and are both attending universities in-state that are only an hour and a half away from each other. Needless to say, I can't believe it took us this long to finally go on a hunt together. Jared drove up from his new place in College Station this morning to meet me at my apartment and from there we set off in search of an exposure of the Eagle Ford formation I wasn't sure existed. Last spring I became very active in the geology society here at Baylor, and as a result I found a treasure trove of old literature published by the university in the '70's and '80's. More than a few of the many booklets, articles, and papers I searched through contained almost exact directions to several interesting locales that were apparently known for producing vertebrate material, specifically shark teeth. I cross referenced Google Maps, marked the spots likeliest to be the ones I had read about, and then....did nothing. I was a little too busy with school work at the end of last semester to have the energy to go scout out new locations with a high probability of finding nothing, and so I sat on the information I'd found. Flash forward to earlier this week when Jared and I were talking to each other on Instagram about the incredible plesiosaur tooth he recently found and the topic of the exposure I had read about got brought back up. It wasn't long before he had made plans to visit and help me do some legwork in a formation he was much more familiar with than myself. Just after noon we arrived at the spot. Getting to the location I had predicted to be the exposure was incredibly easy, and in no time my hunch was proven right when we found ourselves facing a steep wall of grey shale. It's worth saying now that I'm a believer in luck, specifically as it relates to fossil hunting trips. Almost all of my best finds have been found when I was with other people. With Jared being so notorious here on the forum for the insane rarity of some of his finds, I had high hopes that some of that luck would rub off on me today - and it seems like it did! Less than a minute after arriving at the Eagle Ford exposure I spotted a Squalicorax falcatus tooth lying on top of some loose shale. I was incredibly excited, as the only shark teeth I've ever found coming fresh out of the formation they originated from is the Grayson that's exposed most famously at the Waco Pit. Even better, finding a tooth this fast meant that that there must be a lot more to be found. Jared congratulated me on the find and the two of us immediately started scanning the shale for a line of shell hash that might indicate more teeth. After what could only have been two or three minutes at most, I laid eyes on my best find to date. Sandwiched between a couple of roots and a thick layer of sandstone was a line of tooth sockets extending directly back into the wall of shale. If I thought I had been excited by the shark tooth just a few minutes prior, I was wrong - NOW I was excited! After several exclamations of "oh my god I found a jaw!" Jared hustled back over to where I was standing and confirmed that yes, my eyes weren't deceiving me. We took a bunch of pictures from several different angles of the bone as it was without being disturbed in case it turned out to be a significant find or if there was articulated material covered up by the shale. Here's a view of the shale wall with my gardening knife marking the spot just below where the jaw was located: After examining what portions of the jawbone we could see that were already exposed, Jared ruled out marine reptile pretty fast. That left bony fish as the only real contender. Based on the shape of the jaw and the differently-sized sockets, I reasoned that we had a Xiphactinus on our hands. With a tentative ID, probably as many pictures taken in the span of a few minutes as possible, and the exact location marked on my phone, all that was left to do was excavate the fish. This proved to be incredibly challenging. Shale is a lot easier to separate and break apart than something like limestone, but unfortunately it's also more similar to soil - roots surrounded the fossil on almost all sides and would be a pain to remove. Jared's pocketknife and the serrated edge of my gardening knife were both pretty blunt, but after several minutes' worth of sawing away we were able to remove the offenders and clear away some of the overburden in the process. What was immediately clear was that what was exposed wasn't a jawbone, but instead the maxillary, with what seemed like a fair amount of the skull and facial elements attached. Traversing the rest of the exposure to find more shark teeth no longer seemed like the direction the day was headed, but to say I didn't mind would be an understatement! During the hours we spent crouched amongst the loose shale, slowly chipping away at the earth around the fossil with a dental pick and a knife, I was immensely glad that I had waited to explore this location with someone else who knew what they were doing when it came to articulated remains (and in this formation no less!), as I had never come across anything like it before. Jared's knowledge from his mosasaur excavation and time spent in the Hell Creek was a lifesaver. Thankfully he had also decided on a whim this morning to bring Paraloid pellets and acetone which saved us a trip to the local Lowe's. After a while it became clear that there wasn't an end to the fish in sight and more overburden shale would need to be cleared out of the way before we continued any farther. Jared produced a roll of aluminum foil from his backpack and we got to work wrapping what was already exposed. Once protected by the foil, the risk of falling shale damaging the fossil was greatly decreased. Once the overburden was cleared it was time to get rid of some more pesky roots. Distinguishing between shale and bone became increasingly difficult as the hours wore on. In many places the bone was the exact same color as the shale that surrounded it. As a result, a couple of pieces were broken off by accident, however, videos were taken explaining where they came from before they were glued back into place. After a while Jared and I both needed a break and some time to stretch our legs. We ended up following the exposure further away from the direction we came from. I followed Jared, and so I squinted my eyes to try and see if I could spot a shark tooth he might have overlooked. That's why I was so surprised when I found an ammonite right next to the snakeskin he'd just been examining. Jared had just started walking away again when I pulled the ammonite out of the shale, flipped it over, and spotted a tiny Ptychodus tooth clinging to the underside of it. After getting home and pulling the tooth out of the matrix tonight, my best guess is that it's a posterior tooth from Ptychodus anonymous, one of the more common species from the Cenomanian; although decurrens is also a possibility. On our way back to the dig site Jared spotted a large slab of limestone with some really eye-catching gastropod internal molds. I wonder why they all seem to be facing the same direction? Finally, after several more hours spent uncovering and preserving the sections of bone we could see, the sun was beginning to set and that meant it was time to leave. The chances of getting the skull out in one piece before we left were looking very unlikely. Jared had initially been optimistic and I wanted to be as well as I knew the forecast for this upcoming week looks like multiple days of rain. Unfortunately it just wasn't doable. We both decided it would be best to cover up the bone still in place with tinfoil and take the assorted loose fragments with us. I took another look at what he had exposed and did a quick mockup later of what the portion of the skull I think we uncovered today looks like (although it's debatable whether or not the orbital is part of that portion just yet): All-in-all, today was one of the best days of fossil hunting I've ever experienced, made even better by great company, amazing finds, good weather, and excellent ice-cold lemonades from Sonic after Jared and I headed home. Some time this week I plan to speak with the paleontology professors at Baylor that I know personally and get their opinion on what should be done next. There is obviously more bone to be found than just what Jared and I were able to uncover today, and I don't have the equipment or the expertise needed to do it properly. Luckily I know quite a few graduate geology students who would be more than willing to help. With the direction of a professor or two we should be able to get the fish out in one piece. I'll make sure to keep everyone posted! I know this is just the sort of thing that I'd be waiting every week to hear more about. Until then.... - Graham
  12. Hey everyone! I’m looking to trade various Florida fossils such as Lemon shark, Carcharhinus, Tiger, and Hemipristis Serra teeth, soft shelled turtle shell, sting Ray mouth plates and barbs, etc. for a Ptychodus or a Squalicorax tooth! Feel free to send me a message if you want pictures or have requests!
  13. 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. I've come a long way and hope to go a long way still. It's almost embarrassing to show now- but here's my first ever post on here, just three days after my interest in paleontology first ignited
  14. 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"
  15. Manticocerasman

    Turonian jewel in the chalk

    During the first part of our summer holiday we spent a few days at Cap-Blanc-Nez. The tides and weather weren’t optimal for fossil hunting and lots of tourism at the location didn’t help much either, so our finds were relatively limited. The last day however we found 1 spectacular piece. A little brown spot was reflecting light on one of the loose boulders on the beach. It was a ptychodus tooh peeking out. They are very rare there and this one allone was worth the trip. After the prep at home it only got better, the tooth was complete and of considerable size. Enjoy the pictures :
  16. School starts next week and my 10 yr old kiddo and I are both trying to extend summer as much as possible. We decided to go on a hunt yesterday afternoon. His focus was on the ever shrinking pools within the creek for turtles, snakes, and frogs, and my focus is on finding a mosasaur. It’s frustrating because I’m finding all sorts of shark and fish material but I have yet to stumble upon marine reptile. There seems to be several types of rock that yields teeth within the creek. The rocks range from dense shell mass, crumbly bits of pulverized things, light shell hash and shale, dark shale, sandy shale mix, and sandstone. After a bit of prospecting on loose rocks in the creek bed, I went to my go-to rock. This one rock is the most productive rock ever. It’s a big slab that was previous covered in water. It moves each time it rains, and teeth erode out from the bottom. Yesterday I loped off a 2ft section of the slab and explored it. At one point I uncovered a nice tooth that I was trying to gently break free. In doing so, I uncovered several additional teeth. In total, I probably found 15 ptychodus and 30 shark teeth. I've also posted a picture of a previous find of two teeth stacked, and of the various teeth we've found in a couple of trips. Most of the teeth are in the matrix so it takes some patience to work them free. Luckily the material is soft and crumbly, and can be worked with fairly easily. I might shift my focus to Dallas and try to do a road-trip hunt to a few spots along I-35 in Ellis, Tarrant, and Collin County for mosasaur. I'll read the old geology publications, paleontology papers, geology apps, and google maps, and jot down addresses to hunt. Probably a lot getting skunked but maybe one will pan out and I'll get that mosasaur tooth I'm after. Feel free to send a direct message if you can point us in the direction of the elusive marine reptile, or if you'd like to meet up and do some hunting.
  17. I have been hunting the Basal Atco member of the Austin group in Central Texas for about 7 years. Others say that it is the uppermost part of the Eagle Ford. I don't doubt that it is some type of erosional zone involving the two. I have found hundreds of fossils in it. Most of them are beautiful reddish brown color. Most of them have been damaged somewhat by paleo-erosion before they were left in their final state. Many Basal Atco fossils are very interesting to me, because I can't find them anywhere else. My first area to hunt back in 2015 was a lot of fun. An exposed bluff where a giant chunk of the overhanging bedrock limestone had fallen down into the creek. I'm glad I wasn't under that whenever it fell. But, it left behind a nice exposure of what I came to think represented the Basal Atco. Boy was I wrong. Over 100 Ptychodus and other shark's teeth from the same area within a 1 ft thickness of conglomerate like material. Since then I have been at multiple locations of the same Basal Atco with many different expressions of what that might look like from a soft shaley mudstone to a hard rock-like conglomerate to primarily white thin sandy limestone seams with only occasional fossils in the middle of the bedrock. Most of these Basal Atco exposures have no fossils WHATSOEVER! I have found only half again as many Ptychodus fossils in all the other Basal Atco sites combined. Maybe I'd have better luck hunting the gravel banks - which is not my forte. I found a new location that I was not aware of early this summer. It was kind of fun hunting it because it was different than all the rest. I pulled out a partial ammonite and knew that I was in the Basal Atco formation and that there might be more fossils in there. It was obvious that other people had probably been hunting it some before I had been there. I came a second time and walked the football field length of the seam. If you've ever hunted the Basal Atco, then you know you might find yourself under an overhang of a large bluff that could collapse on you at any moment. This one was not that bad! I have generally avoided the areas with the most extreme overhangs. Those where you feel like you have entered a cave-like area (like Mesa Verde) where the rock acts like a huge roof over your head - that (in my overly cautious mind) could fall at any moment. So my goal was to hopefully find a Ptychodus martini. I have developed long-term inflammation in my wrists and hands. So hammering with a big 3 lb hammer or geologic hammer to break open limestone rock is no longer a pleasant thing. In fact, it can be downright debilitating for the next few days. But I did it this one time and was rewarded with a few Ptychodus teeth out of a 7 ft length x 1ft wide triangular seam of sandy limestone. The largest Ptychodus was 18 mm wide and it initially appeared to be what I was seeking. But, upon further evaluation it was instead a nice Ptychodus latissimus. The latter species is perhaps my favorite from the Atco. Under the light it has a little bit of a rainbow sheen which doesn't come out in the photos. I don't know that it has pyrite as part of the preservation. I've seen and found Ptychodus that were completely pyritized from South Dakota and this was not like them. The first photo is initial shot of the Ptychodus latissimus in the rock. The second is of a similar limestone flaggy rock to the one I found these fossils in. The third is a shot of it in my display area partially still in the rock. The final picture is a shot of one found in North Dakota that is a Ptychodus marginalis that was completely pyritized. Mine is a little smaller. The last photo is a side view of the Ptychodus latissimus. It comes out of the rock but still has the root. You can see how low the crown is. My wife and I have continued our monthly fossil forays (her Christmas gift to me) finding at least one nice Ptychodus fossil on each outing. On the above featured hunt, she and one of my adult daughters were at home with a very unkind version of COVID19. So, my wife kindly invited me to "get some fresh air" and leave the house for a while. So I took her up on it and hunted several places on that hot day. Cheers!
  18. ThePhysicist

    Cretaceous sharks

    From the album: Sharks

    Just a handful of Cretaceous species, most from North Texas. The sea that bisected North America ~85 million years ago played host to a diverse and burgeoning ecosystem that supported many species of sharks. It was likely due to specialization that allowed these sharks to all live in the same place and time.
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