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I've been out to the Lake Waco Research Area (or just the Waco Pit as many people call it) about nine or ten times so far this year. Over the course of those trips I've found a lot of interesting things such as several species of sharks' teeth, some very small sea urchins, fish vertebrae, and of course the common pyritized miniature ammonites. But I've also found several things that I have yet to definitively identify, such as the three finds that I'm making this post about. First is a small piece of shale with a peculiar pattern that runs off the edge. It reminded me of millipede tracks people have found in Carboniferous deposits and so I decided to keep it and do some research later, not really thinking it was anything special. But to my surprise it seems to match up with pictures of hermit crab trackways (Nereites) quite well, with the indented line representing where the shell was dragged across the ocean floor and the tiny diagonal markings on either side having been made by the legs. I'm not exactly sure why the line in the center of the trackway is depressed into the shale as a negative while the "footprints" are raised positives, however, although it does seem to look that way in some of the pictures of modern hermit crab footprints I saw online as well. The other thing I can't figure out is why the trackway (if that's actually what it is) starts in the middle of the piece of shale rather than continuing off the edge in another direction. If the crab had been dropped onto the ocean floor and then began moving I would expect to find some sort of depression marking where it had landed at the beginning of the trackway but I don't see anything like that. The second find is also crab-related and is one half of a claw. I've found other crab claws before at the pit, but they're usually much smaller and rounded with dimpled marks and come from a species of hermit crab called Pagurus banderensis. This lower half of a claw is larger than a full set of pincers from Pagurus and looks nothing like them. So which Cretaceous crab does it belong to? The last find is a fish tooth. Although fish vertebrae are incredibly common in the pit, their teeth are not. I've only ever found isolated Enchodus fangs before, and this is not one of those. It's much thicker and is proportionally shorter. My best guess is Pachyrhizodus or Protosphyraena but I'm not sure; it could very well be an Enchodus tooth, just a lateral one. Thanks for looking everybody! Any help with ID's is greatly appreciated.

All that was on the label for this item was that it’s from the Permian age and from Texas. I don’t have any further info on it. Does anybody know what this is?

I've been wanting to break down each horse tooth I have and try to identify them...Brandy had me going back to look at my teeth to see if there was anything special about them. Actually , they're all special to me but I never really thought about each one or really any of them possibly being from a different type of horse. So I'll be going over different ones separately because they're all so different starting with this BIG ONE. It's huge compared to the others...so are the other horse teeth juvenile and this a normal tooth? It's just much bigger and I can't figure out why...it definitely has wear on the ends where an ID might be impossible. The other teeth are relatively similar in size but this thing was on some serious steroids. Jk..Or.. am I way off and this is from something else?? The markings that I can see don't seem to compare to anything similar as to the last image of the tooth next to it...which itself is a big tooth but still smaller than this one. Found on a gravel bank in SE Texas. Edit: So I did read they Equus Giganteus did exist in Texas and that there may have been an even larger horse E. Enormis.

Just a quick post. Was picking through some washed gravel I got from Post Oak Creek back in the winter when I stumbled upon this guy. I'm surprised my screens were fine enough to catch him. Taking clear pics was a bit difficult so apologies for blurriness. I'm curious about what sort of shark would have a tooth of this size. Was it just a tiny pup or were there just really small species? The hashmarks are millimeters. I might make a post about my POC micro finds once I finish going through it and identifying stuff. It's a long process, but there are plenty of fun finds to be had. Thanks for reading!

I found this today here in SE Texas...the river is down so I thought I'd check the same ole spot...found a bunch of pieces and this cool little one. Actually it's a decent size...hadn't found one of these yet...I just don't know what it is or what it might be from? It's about 4.5 inches total length...could it be bison or something else as big? I took a top, front, back, and bottom picture...then a whole bunch from different views cause I really didn't know how to place it best for an ID. Edit: could it be a cervical vertebra to something?

I've been wanting to check out some of the construction sites in Eagle Ford areas in north Texas, but most of those are well north of Dallas. I'm 60 miles southeast of Dallas, so I'm not often willing to drive that far to scout sites, most of which probably won't have anything anyway. But yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment in Dallas, plus needed to make a shopping stop in north Dallas, so I decided to do a little scouting further north. It was to be just scouting, and I wasn't dressed for any actual fossil hunting. I had on shorts and sandals, and didn't even bring my hat. But, don't you know it, I brought home fossils. One of the construction sites was on a hillside, so the grading done to level it went deeper there, and I stopped to walk a little of it. I found a rock that just looked like a piece of concrete, but I've learned that some of the Eagle Ford fossiferous matrix looks a lot like concrete, so I routinely waste a lot of time picking up concrete pieces. There were no visible fossils in this rock, but when I turned it over, it looked like gray sandstone on the other side. That told me it wasn't concrete, and every time I saw another rock that looked like it, I picked it up. Sure enough, one of the rocks had a small tooth so close to the surface, I was able to pluck it off the rock with my fingernail. Here is that tooth.

Found this piece the other day on the gravel here in SE Texas. I couldn't figure out what it is or belonged to. It's smaller than some of my other leg bones so my 1st assumption was perhaps deer but I don't know. It has an interesting shape at the top portion...I know some of you will know this immediately. Edit: is it a tibia??

Another one from the west branch of the Trinity River, in north central Texas. Is there enough to ID it further ?

Back in January I decided to check out the Ammonite Beach at Lake Texoma for the first time. The site is well known for its giant Duck Creek ammonites that can be found scattered all over the shoreline. The weather was surprisingly not that bad despite it being the winter. The water level was quite low and there was plenty of good ground to search along. During my time there, I had some success in finding my own ammonites which gave me an excuse to finally put my rock hammer to use. I stumbled upon some echinoids, but none of them were in all that great of condition, so I might need to head back again in the future to solve that issue. Lastly, there were some interesting fossil finds of stuff I didn't expect to be there (more on this later). A lot of the ammonites that come out of Texoma are encased in a decent amount of rock/mud. I have very little experience in any sort of prep work, so cleaning them up was my chance to try something new. My tools were a bit primitive (hammer and kitchen ice pick which got destroyed), but I managed to clean up an ammonite without breaking it for the first time. I didn't think to take a before pic, but the whole face was covered in hard matrix much like on the reverse side. Unfortunately, I made a lot of white scratch marks on it, but I'm mostly just relieved that it came out in one piece. Apologies if this hurts the eyes of any more experienced ammonite preppers reading this . It was a long process and I decided against cleaning up both sides as that seemed too risky of a prospect. I'm fairly certain it is one of those Mortoniceras given the pointy tubercles covering it. Once I finished that, I watched a Lake Texoma video made by "The Fossil Fiend" on YouTube. Even though this was a few weeks after my trip, my exact ammonite showed up on his video! I couldn't believe my eyes when he was pointing right at it as shown in the screen grab above. It's a perfect match to my second pic. What a funny coincidence! My brother and I hauled up a much larger ammonite as well. I'm going to try harder to not scratch this one. I managed to get some work done before winter break ended, but there's still a long way to go. This is gonna be a fun summer project. Beyond ammonites, I came across a plethora of smaller finds that I view to be just as interesting. Below is an overview of the coolest ones: 'A' and 'B' appear to be Leptostyrax macrorhiza? and Cretolamna appendiculta? respectively. I heard that sharks teeth were rarely found at Texoma so coming out with two of them in a single hunt was really exciting. Additionally, I found a piece of what I think is some sort of Cretaceous fish tooth (C). It's black and fairly reflective. A cross section of the tooth is like a football in shape. In other words, there are two edges that run opposite of one another from top to bottom while the rest is rounded. I tried to capture a photo of this, but had some difficulty. Here are some closeups: Something very unexpected was the large amount of pyritized microfossils to be found all over the shoreline, interspersed with the ammonites and echinoids. I had never heard of pyritized microfossils being at Texoma, so I was a bit confused as to why they were there and in such great numbers. It really did feel like I was back in the Waco Pit. I found pyritized ammonites, bivalves, and gastropods. I'm curious if anyone knows what formation they're from. I am under the impression that the whole area is Duck Creek formation, so is that simply what happens to smaller shelled fauna in that layer? The pyritized ammonite 'E' I have below somewhat resembles Mortoniceras, but I'm not sure if they come from vastly different points in time. 'F' reminds of me of a miniature Oxytropidoceras. 'D' is a pyritized heteromorph ammonite. I don't think heteromorph ammonites are known to come out of the Duck Creek, at least in larger form, which makes me think these pyrite fossils are from a different period. Really curious to hear what you guys think of all this! I covered them in wax to prevent degradation. That made it a little harder to pick out details, especially through a camera unfortunately. Here's some closeups: The last handful of fossils are just a sample of the fish verts and tiny oysters I came across: All in all, it was a fun trip - very different from the other sites I have been to. After learning of the huge presence of pyritized microfossils there, I get the impression that it's like having two sites in one; the Waco Pit and the more traditional Texoma famous for its beautiful ammonites/echinoids. Paired with its proximity to Post Oak Creek, I will definitely being taking more drives up there in the future when I'm back in DFW. As usual, let me know if you would like any additional close ups. Thanks for reading!

Is there a significant difference in regulations regarding fossil collecting on the shores of Lake Texoma and the Red River, depending on which side you are on? Texas vs Oklahoma?

This was found in the west branch of the Trinity River in north central Texas. It's just a hunch, could this be a piece of siphuncle from a large ammonite ?

Having played around old equipment all my life, I think I know what this is, but it just looks so much like a fossil I had to check. Hint: It fails a tap test.

I found this piece today...same area as the others...I think it's a Bovid astragalus? I tried to compare it to others online. Southeast Texas gravel bank. Definitely has river wear.

My backyard has a large area where it's mainly rocky, meaning you can't really dig. Separating it from the "nice" grassy side of the yard is a hill. My daughter and I have found fossils there of bivalves and snails. I've attached some pictures of what I found today. But my question is regard to these tiny, circular, flat pieces that seem to cover the hill (first 3 pictures). I'm thinking they're a fossil of some kind, but I'm not sure. Can anyone help?

I’ve always been interested in rocks and fossils but living in the big city searching for them was nearly impossible. I recently moved to the country and live in a place that was populated by the early Caddo Indians and is known for artifacts and fossils. I have found several items that I hope to find out some information about them. After following the fossil forum online I decided to join. I thank you all for your assistance and your expertise!

I have a question or two on this piece I found today. Of all the pieces I've found this is the ONLY one that has this flaking property to it. It has some weight to it...but the outside is flaking like a buttermilk biscuit. And I know that a gentleman said that even really old bones don't necessarily have to be fossilized or mineralized...could this be old or were conditions just right for it to do this and perhaps it's a few months to a few years old? I know with the ends missing the mammal might not be able to be identified...but it does have this edge that's broken that I focused on. Found today on a gravel bank in Southeast Texas.

I found this piece today...it's the first time I'd seen something like this...I don't have anything like it. I can see where a bone has broken off from it...but i can't figure out the area with the flatter side and the holes or openings. I'm not sure where to start with this identification. Horse and cow are pretty common in my finds but I've already been surprised by other pieces. Gravel bank in Southeast Texas. And forgive me for all the pictures...I'm really trying to get everything I can to help ID it.

Found this today on a gravel bank and I think it might be a phalange? It's about 1.75 inches in length. I think it might be Equus?

Actually found this inside a bag of potting soil that was manufactured in Godley,Tx. Not sure if it is a fossil, tooth,claw or something else. Maybe you experts can help me out. Thanks in advance.