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Showing results for tags 'salenia texana zone'.
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Pitstop on the Road to San Antonio. The Salenia Texana zone.
Mikrogeophagus posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Last weekend, I made the trip down to San Antonio to tour and interview at a school. Though the drive wasn't all that long, it was enough for me to decide to take advantage of the opportunity and make a visit to one of the most famous Lower Glen Rose roadcuts in the Northern San Antonio area. In recent weeks, I have finally hopped onto the echinoid train and begun rapidly expanding my urchin collection. To keep the ball rolling, my goal was to find at least one decent specimen of Leptosalenia texana. Luckily for me, the layer I was heading to has been dubbed the "Salenia texana zone" for a reason. Local echi hunters will probably recognize this spot pretty quickly. The day was hot, but I'd grown used to the heat after the Texas summer we've had (or are still having?) since May. I first poked around the more accessible parts of the exposure. I wasn't surprised to see dozens of urchin shaped holes dug into the wall; it is a popular spot after all. I steadily made my way across the exposure, prying out the stray irregular echies as I could find them. Half an hour passed and I was still at a loss for completing my initial goal. I decided switch things up and worked my way through some bushes to less friendly spots that others may have not wanted to bother with. As soon as I set my water bottle down, I spotted my first piece of salenia sitting right there next to it. The ornamentation on these things are so alien, they really jump out of the background unlike anything else. Pretty quickly I spotted a whole mess of leptosalenia just erupting from the hardened clay. Thankfully, I brought some tools and got straight to work popping each of them out one at a time. Most of them weren't all that pretty, but the thicker shells on Leptosalenia texana help with keeping them better preserved in a higher ratio than most other urchins (none of my irregular echinoids looked all that great at least). The day continued more of the same and before I knew it, it was time to continue my way down the road with a baggie full of goodies. It's not every day you get to add a genus and three new species to your collection! Pics: Better specimens of Leptosalenia texana Irregular echinoids. Top is Heteraster obliquatus and bottom two are Pliotoxaster comanchei Misc. Fossils. Left to right: Bivalve, Porocystis globularis, and echinoid spine. If anyone knows which urchin that spine goes to, let me know! For those who are wondering, the interview went great! I'm gonna be on the road again to another big city in Texas where I will get to check out a familiar spot (assuming the water level stays low) so look forward to a future report! Thanks for reading- 9 replies
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- 13
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- central texas
- cretaceous
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