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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

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!

Hello! I have a question. The Squalicorax species, kaupi and basanii: Are they the same species? For example: I got a Squalicorax from Morocco. With the label Squalicorax kaupi but I have seen the same shark teeth being named Squalicorax basanii. Is it kaupi or basanii? Here is a photo of a "Squalicorax kaupi" (not mine) but similar : Regards Adriano

Hello, I'm looking at this shark tooth for sale, which is listed as Squalicorax bassani from the Phosphate beds of Morocco (scale in cm). I quite trust the seller and as far as I can tell it looks to be the correct species based on a cursory search. However since I am a complete rookie to teeth and have never bought any before, I wanted to ask for a confirmation on the species, and ask how is the quality? Is it good/medium/bad? The other S. bassani teeth I see don't usually have this reddish brown coloration, rather they are ivory/black and shiny, compared to this one appearing rough and grainy. Any idea why that is? Thanks.

Here is my shark teeth collection. photo 1 Species: Carcharocles megalodon Age: 2,6-15 million years (Miocene-Pliocene) Size: 9,5 centimeters Localisation: Georgia River (Georgia) Formation: Hawthorn photo 2 Species : Isurus hastalis Age: 9 million years (Miocene) Size: 4,8 centimeters Localisation: Copiapo, Chile Formation: Bahia Inglesa photo 3 Species: Squalicorax pristodontus Age: 70 million years (Upper Cretaceous) Size: 2,9 centimeters Localisation: Morocco Formation: Kem Kem Beds photo 4 Species: Carcharodon carcharias Age: 3 million years (Plocene) Size: 4,6 centimeters Localisation: Ica region, Peru Formation: Pisco

Hi all, I found this pristodontus tooth at Big Brook. Of all the Squalicorax teeth I've collected and seen, I haven't seen any with ridges on its lingual or labial sides. Would anyone be able to share if this is a normal feature or pathology? Thanks.

I made a trip to a Navarro County creek yesterday morning. This is the same creek I visited a few weeks ago, but I was a little bit further downstream yesterday. It was still a Wolfe City formation area. It ended up being one of those days where I spent more time hiking and exploring than I should have. I was looking for likely outcrops in this creek, and just didn't find any. I eventually started checking the unlikely looking ones closely, but never did find any fossils that way. I finally spent some time crawling gravel bars, and found a few things there. I'm still a relative newbie at this, but in my limited experience, I've had better luck finding fossils in good shape in outcrops than on gravel bars. This day was no exception; what I found on the gravel bars was in rough shape. The best gravel bar was less than a half mile downstream from the outcrop where I found everything last time I was in this creek, but it was obvious that yesterday's teeth didn't come from that outcrop. All of the teeth from that outcrop were black; yesterday's teeth were brown. I found myself wondering where the outcrop was where they came from, if it was covered with mud and would show up again next flood, or if I had just missed it in my searching. I didn't leave myself much time for crawling gravel bars yesterday. I want to hunt this area again. Yesterday's haul was pretty sparse, and in rough shape.

I live near the western edge of Henderson County in Texas. It's a fairly flat area with few outcrops of any kind exposed, and even when they are, they aren't very fossiliferous. The county just west of me is Navarro County, and it does actually have some formations that hold fossils. But I haven't had much luck finding anything in Navarro County. I keep looking, since it's so close. I did a long hike down a Navarro County creek yesterday. For most of the day, it looked like another of those trips where I just don't find anything. But one thing I've learned about fossil hunting is that even after hours of unproductive searching, it only takes one small spot to make you end up bringing home some cool stuff. Yesterday, I eventually found that small spot. The area I hunted is Wolfe City formation. I just didn't have any luck finding anything in the gravel bars in the creek, or in the outcrops themselves. But I did stumble on an outcrop that had some fossils in the mud just below it. For those who enjoy "Find the fossil", here are some in situ photos. That pick is small. The handle is about 55 mm long.

I recently went on two fossil hunting trips to Cretaceous sediments of Eastern North Carolina, the second of which was earlier today. Today’s trip to the Bladen formation yielded baculites ammonites, some worn mosasaur teeth, the nicest goblin shark teeth I’ve personally collected, some fish mouth plates, turtle shell fragments, and some other goodies. My first trip a couple weeks ago was to Tar Heel formation sediments and I collected several small mosasaur teeth, a mosasaur vertebra, a piece of petrified lignite, lots of goblin and crow shark teeth, lots of turtle shell, a very worn Deinosuchus tooth, and some coprolites (I’ve posted a few of the images from this trip in the ID section of the forum already). North Carolina is an amazing U.S. state for fossils, it has loads of fossils from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic (although if you want Jurassic look elsewhere). If you haven’t already, you should come check it out! Pics from today’s trip: Pics from the first trip:

Dear Fossilforum members, I was wondering if the echinoid on this piece of matrix is indeed a Gauthieria radiata and if so, does that appoint this fossil to the lower, middle or upper Turonian? The shark tooth is a Squalicorax falcatus and the piece was found in the Ardennes departement of France. I know the age of a few locations nearby, but the age of the location where this piece is from is nowhere to be found in literature. I also am not sure if I may say where it was (it took a lot of questioning to find out where it can from haha). Therefore I hope that the echinoid perhaps could be used to appoint a specific age to it. In anycase, thank you very much for your answers, Kind regards, Sander

Hello, I have a squalicorax tooth, it is posterior. Is it rare, and if it is how much would it cost