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Back on October 2017, I was hunting a Texas creek after a flood event and found a nice slab of shark's teeth. I took my wife Susie back to check out the area better. We went upstream to locate where the slab had washed down from. We found a matching location where the teeth had come out of the Eagle Ford formation in a shell hash pocket. The final size of this area was about 1 ft by 2 ft by 2 inches thick. We captured the remaining shell hash matrix in bags and took it home. Over the next few weeks, we used dilute white vinegar solution and ice picks to extract 150+ of these 4 mm to 15 mm wide Ptychodus teeth from matrix. My wife pulled out maybe 60 to 80 of them. In October 2018 communications with Shawn Hamm, I found out that the largest of these teeth were likely from a new Ptychodus species that Shawn was hoping to do a paper on. I then sent 40 of these teeth to Shawn. One month ago, I was contacted by Shawn to donate any more teeth that I was willing to give up for a new professional paper on that species (finally!). I went back through the remaining teeth (now in two clear plastic cylindrical containers) and other fossils from the pocket. I also gave him some of my best of these teeth found from other shell hash pockets nearby. I noted amazingly that over 95% of the remaining 110+ Ptychodus teeth had characteristics of the new species and that there were five different tooth file sets represented. I immediately sent them to Shawn along with other representative shark species. So, he may now have the first associated set of those teeth to study for his paper from the 2018 and 2024 donations. You just never know when an old fossil hunting trip can breath new life into the fossil record and a new understanding. My ignorance of Ptychodus matters in 2017 was replaced by mature knowledge in 2024 that subsequently opened my "eyes" to something I would have never seen before 2024. So, I recommend looking back at your old finds to hunt for new things you might now be able to see with your more mature set of "eyes"!

Hi guys my names Conley. My kids and I live in SE Colorado and have been digging and finding sharks teeth and various other fossils. Since we started looking 4 years ago we have found 300 teeth in a 1 acre spot. Some of the other fossils we have found we are not real sure what they have came from.

Hello, my friends. This tooth was found in Ternopil region of Ukraine. Cenomanian stage

Hi all - found a small outcrop in an area mapped as “Eagle Ford Group and Buda Limestone undivided.” I filled a plastic bag with crumbly matrix and have so far found 2 Ptychodus teeth amongst other shark and fish teeth and fragments. Can anyone help narrow down an ID on these two? I’ve also included a photo of some of the matrix I gathered. Curious if anyone can tell the age or more details based on its appearance and the IDs of these teeth. Thanks!

I took off yesterday morning and drove to a Grayson County creek, one of my previous hunted and favorite spots. It was my first fossil hunting trip since early in the year. I haven't posted here since October of last year, and had made only a couple of trips where I didn't find much since then. And, truth be told, when I'm not hunting, I'm not browsing the forum either, hence my long absence. The multiple meniscus tears in my left knee finally became too much to allow for hiking creeks, so I stopped hunting. I finally had knee surgery May 2nd, but have not been able to kneel on that knee again until very recently. The past few weeks, I have felt like that, with a bit of extra padding, I could use my knee pads again, but with daily temperatures from 105 to 110 degrees, I have just not been willing to fossil hunt. Finally, yesterday was cooler, so off I went. Here are some in situ photos. That first photo has two teeth.

Even after having a night to sleep on the fact, I'm still in shock. I was tempted to not even go on this trip since part of me wanted my plesiosaur tooth from last week's Woodbine adventure to be my final impression on North TX. The other part of me wanted one last crack at the Kamp Ranch and a new potential site. It's fine to return to already known locations, but I was thirsting for one more journey into unknown territory where the risk of failure is greater, but the taste of victory is sweeter. After swimming/wading a ways, I found the first small outcrop of Kamp Ranch. I've had some previous experience with this layer in the past, and the knowledge I picked up from then proved useful. While most of the outcrop was relatively devoid of vertebrate material, there was a thin pasty layer cemented to the underside of the thickest limestone that proved to be rich in teeth. I pried out the odd Ptychodus tooth here and there, but pretty soon I was out of real estate. The thick limestone slab looked precarious and the rest of the pasty matrix I was after was nestled deep in the crumbly wall. Noticing the slick shale beneath my feet, I decided jumping away from an avalanche was out of the question and it was time to move on. Ptychodus from the outcrop. All P. anonymous except the top right which may be a P. marginalis(?) lateral. On the walk over to the next outcrop, I made sure to scan the loose pieces of Kamp Ranch matrix scattered about. Most of them were only comprised of oyster bits and Collignoniceras woollgari impressions, but once in awhile there would be some shark. I went for a rock with a shiny black Ptychodus anonymous that had caught my eye. As I dug it out to have a closer look, I saw there was a tiny tan mosasaur situated next to it! Unfortunately it's cracked and in super hard material. If I try to bust it out, it will probably explode! Ptychodus anonymous and mosasaur tooth (Russelosaurine?) Just a few feet further I found an absolute heartbreaker. I could see black striations coming from the edge of a slab and my hopes shot up. As I turned the rock, I realized it was a shattered piece of a pliosaur tooth . Don't even think it's worth keeping... Pliosaur tooth, likely Brachauchenius lucasi I picked up my pack and headed to the last outcrop of Kamp Ranch. I was relieved to see the thick limestone was much more secure. As I examined underneath, I had my mind set on small Ptychodus teeth when I almost fell on my back from surprise. Cemented to the slab was a truly astonishing sight: Pliosaur Tooth! If that wasn't crazy enough, just centimeters below was a limb bone jutting out. I got out my excavating gear and carefully went to work. I don't carry b72 in the field, so each tooth fragment was extracted separately. Afterwards, the bone slid out pretty cleanly. I didn't find other similar material, so I'm not sure if the two are associated or it's just coincidence. Maybe someone familiar with reptile anatomy can say if the bone came from a pliosaur. The tooth came in 6 pieces Once I was home, I got straight to cleaning and gluing. The fragments had held up alright along the journey thankfully and the prep went smoothly. By the end, I was holding up the newest and greatest tooth in my collection! It is most likely Brachauchenius lucasi although Megacephalosaurus eulerti is also a rarer possibility (I don't have access to the paper distinguishing their dentition). Both of these pliosaurs represent the youngest pliosaurids in the fossil record which adds some extra coolness factor. That Woodbine plesiosaur tooth (possible basal Polycotylid) I found last week is interestingly tied evolutionarily with the demise of pliosaurs such as B. lucasi. Polycotylids had traditionally been placed in Pliosauridae until more recent findings moved them to Plesiosauroidea instead. This confusion is likely due to convergent evolution. As pliosaurs disappeared in the aftermath of the Cenomanian-Turonian Anoxic Event, it seems some Polycotylids evolved to fill a similar niche, moving away from gracile dentition (like my Woodbine specimen) and into a more robust form similar to B. lucasi. At least that is how I understand it. Brachauchenius lucasi most likely The second half of the neat discoveries is this reptile bone I found several centimeters below the tooth. I'm not sure it's associated. The high energy nature of the Kamp Ranch makes me wonder if it was just coincidence. Anyways, it seems to be a limb bone. If you look closely, you can see toothy scrapes that are probably from scavenging sharks. I tried to look for signs of serrated teeth, but I didn't see anything obvious. Some of the attached matrix is vertebrate rich with tons of little fish verts and other goodies. Anyone know if this is pliosaur in origin? @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Reptile Limb Bone So glad I decided to have one last exploration before my move. I guess it's not like I will never hunt in North TX again, it's just that it will be much, much more rare. I've added so many new, fun, and interesting sites to my list this past half year, I'm a bit sad to leave them all behind. At the same time, I'm itching with excitement to make new discovers in the southern half of our big state. It won't be easy though! Look forward to more trip reports in the not-so-distant future . Thanks for reading