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I had a pretty great birthday 11/09! Still young at 31! Cole woke me up the night before and said after work he is taking me out to Glen Rose Dino Valley State park in Glen Rose, TX and then going ammonite hunting for some decorations for Ruby’s vivarium. (Ruby is my pink morph western hognose snake) Of course I couldn’t go back to sleep before work after that! I know a lot of Texans probably went there during grade school and to some people dinosaurs are too “typical” but for someone who has lived in Indiana & Texas where it’s mostly marine fossils (and in Iceland there were pretty much none!) this was something new and exotic to me, albeit trace fossils. I worked my night shift super daydreamy and stargazy knowing it was going to be a fun day later on, clocked out, and we immediately drove out there! About good 2 hours away where I live and I couldn’t sleep on the way out there. When we finally got there they tried to charge me a child/teen ticket! The park ranger lady thought I was Cole’s teenage daughter. I immediately corrected the ranger and showed her my ID to prove I was 31 to charge me the correct amount (because thats the right thing to do!) and she gasped in shock, complimented my youth and my handmade ammonite earrings, gave me some free goodies along with a map. I haven’t eaten or slept in over a day and honestly it didn’t matter! I was so energetic and excited to be here I didn’t feel any fatigue at all! ^ If ya’ll don’t have the Rockd app- do so! So nifty especially when exploring a new place. We went to all the places on the map that had tracks, I waded in the water of course to see them up close! It was an incredible new intimacy with nature seeing them in person. You hear about them and think “yeah that sounds cool” but your eyes inches from them is whole other experience. The first one I spotted was an Acrocanthosaurus! I crawled immediately down the trail into the Paluxy river and splashed right into the water. After waiting a few minutes for the water to clear I was awarded with this: I reached down and touched it extremely delicately and it sent a jolt of adrenaline through my body like electricity I can’t describe! I got goosebumps like CRAZY. Cole knew I was having one of my “connection with nature moments” and watched me from the dry trail since he is hydrophobic as heck and didn’t want to join in. I’m the total opposite and if there’s enough water at a site- I go wading or swimming even in Texas! I just went on without him in the water and he followed me using the trail. Luckily he had my fanny pack but my phone is waterproof and stayed with me so I could take pictures. Roped off area: I want to share some odd prints I found that I dont think were marked on the map between Wildcat Hallow and the track site by the camping area. I don’t know if the map just needs updated or they are meant to be a “surprise” for the curious explorers but either way I’m sure the rangers know about them and it was fun to see them. Sorry for the finger and shoe marks, I actually tripped in one because I didn't expect any and wasn’t paying attention. (I was spying for any scaley babies at the river bank! Lots of turtles out that day, unfortunately I didn't spot any snakes.) I tried not to directly touch the dry prints. Hoooooly spit. My favorite part is “the ballroom site” where there are HUNDREDS of tracks! Lots of sauropod and predators prints here, the metatarsal tracks of the Acro were ADORABLE. Its amazing how if you look at a set and follow them you can imagine the walking behavior of the animal where they started walking and picking up speed to a sprint. SO. CUTE. My favorite prints were the rear- leg footprints of Sauroposeidon! You can just tell that it stood in thick, firm limy mud the way it was preserved and you can just “feel” it was a hefty animal by the look of the prints. I yelled out loud in awe it was so neat! (There were also just too many tracks to photograph) There were some lines in-between the series of sauropod tracks I was curious if that was the tip-end of its tail that may have left them? map of this track site: Blue is sauropod tracks; red is theropod tracks After this I went over to the deeper water by the swimming hole threw my boots & socks off and just dove right in with my clothes on. (We had pretty much that whole area of the park to ourselves and I brought extra pants & socks anyways!) It felt SO refreshing. I just relaxed enjoying the gorgeous weather ignoring Cole yelling at me (barely audible) worried about brain eating amoeba and wet car seat towels. (He shouldn’t be surprised being my best friend for 13 years now ) Sorry but the water was just… calling me! I was swimming over 100+mya dinosaur tracks and I felt so comfortable in my element. It felt so “right” and I was in full serotonin overload. Exhilarating! The only other fossil I saw besides oysters and dino tracks: Gift shop because I’m such a tourist in my own State. xD I can’t resist a signed book about paleontology! I have yet to read it as of this post but I know it’s about the history of the park and it came with a “dinosaur ballroom dance” CD. We went to Brookshires and then rewarded Cole with the biggest bag of jerky I could find, caffine, paid for a full tank of gas, and said thank you a billion times. This place was worth the visit no matter your age! The nature and hiking trail options itself are enough to visit if you like outdoors. *I have pictures and a few vids on my IG paleopastels as well! After spending most of the entire daylight there so I could dry off we went to my favorite spot in the Goodland Form and plucked out a few fast things on the way back home! I love the Oxytropidoceras the most Cole found me (Yay! So proud!) and I was happy to add another Heteraster to my shelf. I left the Pliotoxasters alone since I have a handful of them from last time. I got a few nice pieces of snake rocks to take home as well. Wet pants, dont care. What’s exciting is my zoic air pen from the UK + a few unique Dactylioceras fossils are coming in the mail soon! A little present to myself. What a great day! That day was the BEST present and best birthday to date! Hopefully this report helps others planning a visit to there! Thanks for reading!

So a couple of weeks ago, I, along with my younger brother, decided to embark on our first field trip with the Dallas Paleontological Society. The destination was Moss Creek, a decently sized waterway on private property that feeds into the NSR. Just like in the main river, we were seeking a red layer exposure of the Ozan Fm (though I read that this red layer is different from the one at the river). This site is famous for its abundance of marine microfossils, namely shark/fish teeth. One of the people on the trip was a researcher (Shawn Hamm) who is currently finishing up a paper on this very site. I hope to read it once it's published! Anyways, the day was miserably hot as expected, but the scenery and air of discovery made up for it. My brother and I took a more secluded route, traveling downstream whereas most headed upstream. After a bit of searching, I came across a part of the creek bed that was red and, upon close inspection, was filled with tiny black phosphatic fossils. Because the matrix of the layer is so sticky, we couldn't really sift through it at the site. Instead, we, like everyone else, filled up a bucket and took it back to our car. It was a fun day and I met a lot of interesting people. One member told me to use baking soda to break up the matrix and that advice worked like a charm! I'm not sure about a lot of these IDs so feel free to correct me. If you know any species names feel free to drop those too . Here are the pictures of the highlight finds. Sorry the quality is bad... taking pictures of things this small was more difficult than expected: Fishes Lots of Enchodus Fangs and Jaw Sections Lots of Hadrodus Teeth Pachyrhizodus? Teeth Protosphyraena? Teeth. Really not 100% on this ID Pycnodont Teeth Fish Neural Spine. 2nd photo is compared to an X-Fish neural spine I found in Austin. Love the size discrepancy of the two. Fish Verts (Left) and Shark Vert (Right) Sharks Hybodont Shark Tooth. This is one of my favorites. Looks like Lonchidion? but that's just my guess. Lots of Pseudocorax Teeth Lots of un-ID Shark Teeth. Distinguishing between Scapanorhynchus, Carcharias, etc. is way above my pay grade . Trust me, I tried... Cretalamna appendiculata Tooth. By far the biggest tooth. Protolamna? Teeth Squalicorax Teeth. For some reason they all came out broken. Unidentified Tooth. Pathological? The crown is just a flat edge. Shark Coprolite? It's ringed like the ones I've seen online. Sawfish Ischyrhiza Oral Teeth Ischyrhiza? Rostral Teeth Ptychotrygon? Oral Teeth Cantioscyllium? Oral Teeth Misc./Enigmatic Finds Brittle Star Parts? Part of an Urchin? It's rounded and the center has a protrusion for where a spine once was. Kinda looks like a denticle, but may be some weird tooth? Bivalves If you would like any additional pics, let me know. Thanks for reading!

Found this on my 40ft cliff face on my land in Texas…While fishing. Sure looks what I think it is..What do y’all think? A

I’m posting this for a friend. He found it on the Brazos River in Southeast Texas. It seems too long and robust to be horse or bison. My initial thought is mammoth or mastodon tibia. Unfortunately, the distal and proximal ends are missing. Any other thoughts? I can get more photos from him if necessary. Thanks!

I went to the North Sulphur River twice in October with little luck. The first time was after a rain that I thought would get a big rise but only got about a 1 foot rise. The second time saw about a 5 foot rise but each time the rain did nothing to wash away all the mud. It was easy walking because the river was so low and dry but no gravel bars as they are all covered in mud. I went to two different parts of the river as well as the feeder creeks and it was the same. Here are a few pictures of the little I was able to find: Some worn chunckasaur, petrified wood, pyrite sun (cool but common), a couple xiphactinus fangs, a decent mosasaur jaw piece, a piece of mammoth enamel, and a couple other oddities. 1. Some odd fish bone? 2. Horse Tooth? 3. No Idea. I would say fish fin but it doesn't have the flaky fish texture though. 4. Any idea what age and formation these shiny shells come from in the top left of this picture?

Took a trip today to one of my new Ozan spots that is rapidly becoming a favorite, despite the headache it is to reach. Although the finds are few and far between, I've always come out with something I haven't seen before. It's definitely been testing my ID skills. I didn't come out with too many things, but I've got a couple I would like to get some informed opinions on. First up is a regular urchin. I've found a few fragments of regular echinoids washed out within a small stretch of creek. Though this is the third I've seen, its the first of this appearance and first to safely make it undamaged (it's a bumpy ride to get in and out). I'm pretty bad with echinoid IDs, but from comparison with the ones I'm familiar with, I think it's a kind of salenia. It also looks like it could be a goniophorus. I don't know the terminology, but the lines of mini tubercles in between the primary tubercles look closer to salenia. They seem to form paired lines. This guy is about 7.5 mm across. If it is salenia, I'm guessing it isn't the typical texana, mexicana, etc. that are found in older cretaceous fms of TX, so I wonder what species it could be if not a new one ! The second specimen I want to share looks like a fish jaw to me. Initially, I was very confused on what it could be. I thought it was tooth shaped, but had enamel unlike any I was familiar with. After some prepping, I think I've found a single tooth socket. Unfortunately, most of the "jaw" had been eroded away. Do you guys think it's a fish jaw? If so, any guesses on genus/species? Thanks for reading and feel free to ask for additional pics!

A nice mosasaur tooth I recently added to my collection

I found several fossil I could not take along today. Any advice for removing from limestone? Good tools?

After two years we are back! This weekend, Saturday and Sunday at the Old Settlers Heritage site next to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX. https://austinpaleo.org/fest.html

Hey everyone! My trusty pup and I are heading to Texas and Louisiana for business and I am hoping to spend about a week in the north Texas area in search of a few good specimens for my collection! As many species, as high a quality as I can find! I’ve been researching extensively, and have what I think is a solid game plan, but since I have never been in the area for fossils I will happily take any advice and if anyone would like to join me, you can blindfold me, swear me to secrecy and sign an NDA if it means I find a few goodies. These will never leave my collection! I am hoping to be in the Dallas area around the 5th-6th!

Here are some of my finds from spending a few hours on Wednesday, October 26th, in the Graysonites wacoense Zone of the Grayson Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Early Cenomanian, ~97mya). This particular site exposes a micromorph layer full of thousands of tiny dwarfed Mariella bosquensis and M. rhacioformis ammonites plus a wealth of other taxa like various urchins, brittlestar fragments, shark teeth, many gastropods & pelecypods, etc. Those familiar with the Del Rio exposures of further south in central Texas (particularly the now closed-to-public Waco Pit in McLennan County), should recognize much of the fauna to be found at this site as it is laterally equivalent to those and faunally nearly identical, differing only slightly in the rarity of homomorph ammonites at this site vs further south, as well as slight differences in preservation/lithology. The following is just a fraction of what I found: One of thousands of dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Cretalamna cf. catoxodon (Otodontidae) shark tooth, this species was first described from the Cenomanian of Western Australia by Siversson et al., 2015 where many species were split out of the broad C. appendiculata: Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae) sea urchin fragment: A tiny Stoliczkaia texana (Lyelliceratidae) ammonite: Arm fragments of Ophiura graysonensis (Ophiuridae), a brittlestar. I hope to find a complete specimen or at least a central disk at this site soon: Another Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae): Some more dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Found in just a few seconds of searching in one spot: Neithea texana (Neitheidae) scallop: Praescabrotrigonia emoryi (Pterotrigoniidae) clam: cf. Margarites (Margaritidae) gastropod: A very small Cymatoceras hilli (Cymatoceratidae) nautiloid: Imprints of the pellet-lined burrows of mud shrimp (the ichnogenus being Ophiomorpha). These almost certainly belong to Meticonaxius rhacheochir (Micheleidae) which is known from both the older Pawpaw Formation and the younger Britton Formation, the latter of which contains abundant identical Ophiomorpha which have been found with the bodies of M. rhacheochir preserved inside: Chondrites trace fossils: Bivalve shell fragment conglomerate slabs consisting mainly of Texigryphaea roemeri oyster and Neithea texana scallop fragments: A mass of white nodules which I presume are likely fossilized rhodoliths, structures made up of the calcium carbonate secreted by coralline red algae which would freely roll around on the sea floor: Hundreds of Texigryphaea roemeri (Gryphaeidae) oysters: The layers above the micromorph zone abound with more typical Grayson Formation lithology & fauna, such as this Mariella rhacioformis (Turrilitidae) ammonite fragment. This species occurs in abundance in at the site in the more typical layers and occasionally as limonitic/pyritic micromorphs too: A portion of a typical non-dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: Protocardia texana (Cardiidae) clam:

This came from the Late Pennsylvanian, Jacksboro LImestone of the Graham formation near Jacksboro, Texas. At first I thought it was Shansiella but the flat bottom and huge umbilicus doesn't fit. It is 4 cm across and 3 cm high with the tip of the apex probably missing.

Bone fragment found in water of Post Oak Creek, Sherman, Texas. One end is rounded, where as the other forms an approx. 90 degree angle.

Bone fragment found in water of Post Oak Creek, Sherman, Texas (Eagle Ford Formation, Cretaceous).

A week ago I made the trip out to one of the roadcuts on loop 360. I realized that I had been neglecting visiting the west side of town which, although very different, is just as rich in fossil history as the younger east. I want to also thank @erose as he has posted lots of useful information on the cuts and what sorts of things can be found. I arrived in the afternoon and slowly climbed up the gravel to get to the first bench. I made the rare good decision to hunt on the side of the road that would shield me from the sun, making the temperature nice and cool, perfect for fossiling. Despite the proximity of the road, the area felt surprisingly secluded. All atop the bench were a variety of giant boulders that had fallen from the many formations overhead. I wasn't sure which ones were best to look through, so I ended up going mostly for the softest ones. They were absolutely packed with everything from gastropods and bivalves to the occasional tiny regular echinoid or algal fruiting body. I took occasional trips up the gravelly incline to the top of the cut, but really it was just more of the same stuff so I decided to focus on the easier-to-traverse ground below. It really didn't take long before my pockets were heavy. The day was periodically graced with more unusual finds like irregular echies and a large fragment of an ammonite (whole ones are very rare here). Before I knew it, the sun was beginning to set and it was time to head back to the car. Most of the stuff was pretty easy to clean at home. A lot of the limestone popped right off, though some was a bit harder to get. An interesting thing I noticed was that some of the fossils had distinct parallel engravings on them. It looked a bit similar to the damage I have caused using vinegar on limestone fossils in the past. I wonder if acid rain was the cause for these markings. Anyways, here are some pictures. Overview of the better finds: A). Irregular Echinoids Heteraster texanus B). Regular Echinoids. All Loriolia? C). Misc: Metengonoceras? ammonite on top. Below from left to right is a Porocystis globularis algal fruiting body, Neithea texana scallop, and Ceratostreon texanum oyster D). Gastropods. Back row: Anchura. Front row (L to R): Nerinea? (From Bull Creek Fm), Unknown, and Natica I will definitely be back in the future and might check out some of the other cuts nearby. Thanks for reading!

A couple of weeks ago, @Jackito, his son, and I took a trip out to one of his favorite Eagle Ford sites. For those of you who are familiar with Carter's posts, this was once the famed location of the so-called "giving rock", so the bar was set high for the day. I've come across some of Austin's eagle ford material in the past, but it was always only the leftovers of what had been washed through miles of rushing creek water. This was my first time getting to poke through the source material, so I was eager to see what could be found. The water was low and the temperature mild. I was thankful I wouldn't have to suffer trudging around in soggy shoes. As we walked beside the creek, Carter explained the various layers and where the best stuff could be found. He pointed out the notable spots where things like pseudomegachasma and pliosaur teeth had been dug up. I knew to not get my hopes THAT high up, but it was certainly a good motivator to stay attentive and expect the unexpectable. It took me a while to get the hang of pinpointing which slabs were best to open and how. Carter was nice enough to share some of his finds, and I must admit, not everything pictured below was necessarily first spotted by me . I was quickly surprised by the sheer number of shark teeth we started finding. Being the completionist that I am, I would immediately try to excavate every tooth I found. Carter advised me that simply bringing the matrix home and processing it there would be the most efficient use of time which I have come to agree with. Every tooth had fantastic preservation and would often pop right out of the shale (though not necessarily in one piece). The Ptychodus teeth were the most mesmerizing. They basically broke off without a speck of matrix still attached and had a beautiful shine. Thankfully, they were also robust and rarely fell apart. A decently sized Ptychodus still in matrix The amount of Cretoxyrhina to be found was also staggering. Unfortunately, they required a little bit more delicate prep than what I had to offer in the field, so my ratio of broken to unbroken teeth was higher than I'd like to admit. In my defense, I managed to lower that ratio as the day progressed. Squalicorax was also a common sight along with various fish teeth. Carter's son managed to find some turtle material... that was still alive and may or may not have come from out of the stream . For most of the hunt, Carter and I had some nice discussions on things to be found here in Austin along with various chats about life. The hours seemed to fly by so fast, it wasn't long until Carter and Jack had to head on out. They'd been wanting to find some mosasaur material for a while, so I sent info on one of my favorite sites (the place where I came out with 4 mosasaur verts in a day). Hopefully we'll get to hunt together over there some time in the near future. I stuck around as I had a couple hours to kill before needing to drive to a friend's birthday. The rest of the time was spent doing more of the same. I managed to come across a huge Cretodus tooth, but the root was unfortunately nowhere to be found. I also started gathering some of the leftover matrix for later processing for microfossils. The layer was just so rich, how could there not be something cool to find? I filled up a couple Ziploc bags with the stuff and made my way out, thinking of ways I could clean this while residing in a college dorm. The richness of fossils in the matrix. This piece was a little too stony to break down though. Might try vinegar. Suffice it to say, I figured out a way to clean it without clogging the communal sinks, but it's a slow process. Though, I must admit, it's nice to come home each day to a cup's worth of dried micro matrix ready for screening. In only my first batch, I found something I think is pretty amazing. What was at first just a shiny little speck, upon closer analyzing, may, in fact, be a tiny coniasaur tooth! It has that characteristic bulging crown that is instantly recognizable. Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun on this one. A couple rounds later, and many many puny Ptychodus teeth, I managed to spot what appeared to be the tooth plate to a Pycnodont fish or something similar. After some delicate cleaning and lots of paraloid, it's still a little bit scuffed, but there are definitely some little round bulbous teeth in close association. The tooth plate before and after cleaning. Can anyone confirm if it's Pycnodont? There was plenty bony fish and shark material. Interspersed within them were some that eluded my identification (including mayyybe Paraisurus?). I've got plenty of matrix to still go through, so I will post updates if anything cool is found. For now, here are some pictures summarizing the finds: Please excuse the hand pics. It's just that the details come out better on a slightly darker surface as opposed to white paper. Closeups of Coniasaur(?) Tooth L to R: Bony bits, "Coniasaur" tooth, and "Pycnodont" tooth plate The best of the Ptychodus and a close up of the smallest one. The bottom left is smoothed over. Is this maybe feeding damage? Also, any ID for species is much appreciated : Cretoxyrhina mantelli. My favorite is the fat one on the left Best of the Squalicorax falcatus. Right two are a little strange. Possibly symphyseal? Best of Scapanorhynchus and huge rootless Cretodus (hard to see in pic, but its got the wrinkling): Paraisurus? I saw that genus mentioned in a Shawn Hamm publication on the Atco and thought it could be a match. The roots are very skinny on both specimens and the teeth seem vertically stretched. The larger tooth on the left initially appears to be missing half the root, but it is actually nearly complete. The only break is a tiny portion of the root at the very top. The right specimen is very fragmented. No signs of cusps nor nutrient groove on either one. Cantioscyllium orals and Sawfish Rostral Teeth: L to R: Enchodus, Protosphyraena, and Pachyrhizodus Some oddballs. The left is a fragment of some sort of multi-cusped shark tooth. The middle is a a segment of some barbed material that seems similar in appearance to the fishy bits found in the matrix. The right specimen is a shiny crescent shaped thing that I have found in other micro matrixes from Moss Creek and POC. Never kept them, but now I'm curious after finding them again: Thanks for reading!

Apologies for the dramatic title. I thought it sounded cool and stuck with it even though 90 + 80 + 80 is only 250 . Anyways... This past 30 days, I decided to make it a point to check out some new spots. I won't be living in Austin soon, so I thought it would be good to branch out and scout some new locations with potential. I've found lots of creek-worn mosasaur bits and pieces over the past year. I'm ready to find things in situ, and, one day, something articulated. It's a tall order, I know, but I feel like it's the next step and really the ultimate goal I've always had. So, the first step towards this objective was to find locations and, of course, take a look. This is what I saw! Location 1. Austin Chalk: In my usual Ozan stomping grounds, I've come across a variety of fossils ranging from the Eagle Ford to the Ozan itself. Included, was an assortment of spectacular Austin Chalk invertebrates along with the occasional and highly sought-after mosasaur vertebra. They can be readily distinguished from their Ozan counterparts by their yellow-orange preservation and lack of pyritic elements. Honestly, I come across them just as commonly as I do Ozan verts, so I took this to be a sign that the Austin Chalk could be a good bet. In Austin, it's a pretty wide formation with lots of members to look into. I did some research and found a place with some potential. When I arrived, it was a hot afternoon. I picked up my backpack and swapped my school notes out for a rock hammer and a couple of icy bottled waters. Walking down a little trail, I came across the first large exposure of Austin Chalk in what I believe to be the Dessau member. Literally within the first minute, I had to take a double-take at a white glint on the ground. "Surely there couldn't already be a shark tooth," I thought to myself as I kneeled for a closer inspection. Sure enough, it wasn't just a shiny piece of shell; it was indeed the enamel to a bleached tooth from the king shark of the Late Cretaceous seas, the infamous Cretoxyrhina mantelli! Thankfully, it popped out in one piece. A recreation of the tooth in situ and after extraction. I poked around the rest of the surrounding exposure. There were a couple of mangled echinoid bits and gastropods, but not much else, so I continued on to search the main creek. Unfortunately, the only apparent path forward was along a narrow and steeply banked feeder stream. Many of you will know that navigating through these can be a real pain. The brush was densely packed and smelly stagnant water had to be avoided with every step. There were thorny vines dangling from each limb and I was constantly tasked with picking off the burrs that snagged onto my clothing and in my hair. Last year, I was in a similar situation when I was suddenly attacked by a hive of wasps (don't worry, I managed to avoid getting stung too much). It's a fun story to tell friends now, but I must admit that the thought always crawls back into my mind when I am in a position that's a bit difficult to get out of in a hurry. Anyways, after about twenty minutes, I took the final hop over a fallen tree to get to the main creek. It was nice to breathe in the fresh, open air as I sat my backpack down and took a rest, of course, with my eyes perusing along the limestone bed. After the brief sit-down, I began to notice the beauty of the area I was in. The air was filled with the drip-drop of water leaking from the fern-covered bank and the reflection of the greenery was simply mesmerizing. I couldn't help but snap a quick photo. A beautiful, hidden place away from the city. Though, not too far... there's a shopping cart wedged in the gravel just out of frame. In terms of fossils, this place was loaded. Just about everywhere I stepped, I was standing over piles of clams and oysters along with the occasional baculites segment. I didn't bother taking any of these with me, however, as I have plenty already. I noticed there was a decent amount of chert as well, so artifacts were on my radar when I came across a preform. A little farther down the creek, I found a nice ammonite fragment. I didn't intend on keeping it, but sometimes it's nice to have something to hold so I took it along with me. By now, much of the afternoon had come and went. It was about time I turned around and faced the prospect of navigating my way through the dreaded feeder creek in reverse. As I was coming to a stop, I saw a girl walking along the slanted banks of the creek who almost certainly did not enter the way I did. I tried my best to get her attention without spooking her (keep in mind I look and smell like a swamp monster at the moment). She was nice enough to come close to the limestone ledge and introduce herself as I trudged my way through knee deep waters towards dry land. Turns out, she's a local who often hikes by the creek. We chatted for some time and I ended up giving her the preform and ammonite fragment, hopefully inspiring a future hobbyist. After explaining the situation I was in, she laughed and pointed out a trail that led back to the road. When I climbed out and exited the trail sore and tired, I kicked myself. My car was right in front of me. I could have taken this path from the beginning, but instead I took the road never traveled and boy did it make all the difference. Location 2. Ozan Formation: Although many of the mosasaur verts I come across are from the Austin Chalk, a significant portion are still from the good ole Ozan. With that in mind, I took a trip to a creek I usually don't hunt that had a decently-sized exposure. Something in a book tipped me off to this particular site, so I had high hopes. The trip from the road to the waterway wasn't as troublesome as the feeder creek from the week before, but it was still a challenge. I worked my way along the dirt bank to a place I could safely enter the waters when I saw what I was more so wary of. Across the lazy stream was a tent set up along a slope with a clothesline and shopping carts around it. On the initial drive to this spot, I did take notice of the pronounced homeless presence in the area. From the cover of the trees, I took a moment to scope out the tent and the surrounding area. The last thing I wanted was to have an unexpected encounter in a secluded place like this. Luckily, it seemed nobody was home, so I entered the creek, though making sure to have my rock hammer visibly in hand. When I approached the first gravel bar, I was greeted with tons of broken down blocks of Ozan shale and various Austin Chalk fossils. Curious, I started splitting the blocks open to see what the area had to offer. Each one was filled with heart urchin spines and plates! Most were fragmented and all were extremely fragile. Still, I took this to be a good sign. After hours of splitting the loose slabs, I finally found a complete irregular urchin. It's a definite upgrade from the half of one I had found a while back in the Ozan (though that one did have a nice red color). A compressed heart urchin. Looks to be Pliotoxaster/Hemiaster? It may appear round, but it is totally flat! The slab splitting continued with some compressed ammonites and enchodus teeth, but not much more, so it was time to move on to the main event. As I walked the rest of the gravel bar, however, I was forced to once again stop in my tracks. Lying in the mud right in front of me was, by far, the largest mosasaur vertebra I had ever seen in person. It had the preservation of what I assume to be Austin Chalk (of course as soon as I return to the Ozan). The underside of the vert was badly weathered, but it was, nevertheless, far heavier than any others in my collection. Plus, I only need one decent side to show in my picture . Gargantuan mosasaur vertebra. I wonder how long the whole lizard was. Welp, there's really no better motivator than something like that, so I took the short walk to the main exposure. A large expanse of creek bed was Ozan shale ripe for the picking. I got straight to working chiseling out every strange thing just poking out of the ground. Most of them were only oddly shaped pyritic accumulations, I'm guessing originally bivalves and poop. Now and then I would come across a Hamulus squamosus worm tube or piece of fish bone. The bed was a little difficult to see as the lack of recent rain meant that the detritus and algae had yet to be washed away. I didn't find much in the water. Thankfully, the dry parts of the bed were easy to probe. Eventually, I came upon something unmistakably bony. Before I could stop myself to snap a photo, I was already digging. It popped out easily and was instantly apparent of being mosasaur, the very thing I was seeking most. Frantically searching for a continuation of the vertebral column, I spotted what I thought was the head of the next vertebra behind. In my mind, I could see it all right in front of me. The ultimate prize was right there! Just some minor excavating and I'll have done it! Perhaps in theme with fool's gold, I was fooled by the imprint of the very fossil I had just pulled out . I was bummed out for a second, until I had time to realize that this was my first ever mosasaur vert found in situ! Out popped my first in situ mosasaur vert! Cleaned up, it is a real beauty. The color of the cuboidal pyrite outgrowths looks amazing when moved under the light. "Fool's gold" is a real disservice as far as names go. And with that, the sun was already starting to set. The finds of the day. 2 mosies, a flattened echinoid, a Hamulus squamosus tube, an Austin Chalk ammonite, and an Austin Chalk Exogyra tigrina. Location 3. Ozan Formation: After crossing such a major milestone, I had no choice but to head out for the Ozan again once a brief rain had passed. This new location was similar to number 2 in that it was a large expanse of Ozan creek bed. Unfortunately, the route to reach it from the road was a treacherous one. I didn't intend on swimming across a sudden deepening of the creek waters, so I had to search along the steep banks for ways to traverse the barrier. There was somewhat of a flattened trail along a slope with various obstacles that seemed the most doable to me. For the most part, I side-stepped my way across, hugging the dirt and tree limbs to avoid losing balance or putting too much weight on the unstable ground. Now and then, I'd have to cross through a bush that would replenish the population of burrs covering every part of me. By that point, I couldn't have complained too much as things were going relatively smoothly. That is until I made one misstep and had to quickly catch myself by snagging an exposed tree root. Regaining my composure, I heard the rustling and sliding of a plastic bag followed by a loud splash of water from underneath my feet. I usually carry my dirty pair of tennis shoes in a plastic bag since I swap between them and water shoes on my excursions. Now they were just a white shimmer far beyond reach. I hopped off the bank and landed on firm ground. Most of the bed was readily exposed to the air. There was a high density of deer and raccoon tracks. I was entertained most by the shale claw marks I saw at the bottom of shallow pools that I interpreted to be raccoons taking a refreshing swim. From way up the creek, I even caught a glimpse of a coyote jumping from out of the foliage. He sniffed around a bit before noticing me and darted off the other way. I settled down to catch my breath and inspected broken bits of Ozan shale nearby. Pretty soon I spotted the first regular echinoid I've seen in the Ozan. Unfortunately, it was too fragile and didn't survive the journey home. A regular echinoid and a mess of urchin spines surrounding. This portion of the Ozan is rich in echinoid material, though heavily compressed and often very fragile. Denture clams are the other most common find of which fragments can also be seen here. After some rehydration, I got up to start looking for bone. It took some time, but I eventually found a peculiar specimen sticking out of the shallows. It was too suspect to ignore, so I began excavating. Spongey thing as originally found. I was hoping it would be a rib or something, but it just didn't look right. The pores of the cancellous bone were much larger than what I was familiar with for reptiles and the thing didn't seem like fish at all. Typical for fossils in this layer, there was pyrite all over. However, there was an additional mineral I hadn't encountered before. Encrusting the entirety of the underside were selenite(?) crystals in prismatic shapes. As I dug deeper and deeper, the form continued on. The spongey thing was long and had curvature. There was another short one layered just underneath it intersecting close to the hammer. If it's vertebrate, I have no idea what bone it would be. I suspect it's invertebrate in nature. Revealing more of it showed that a separate, shorter piece was present just underneath. Both structures were flattened, fragile, and had to be removed in chunks. From what I could tell, their spongey structure remained consistent across the entirety of their lengths. Once extracted, I searched the surrounding space, but found no sign of continuation. Post extraction I was completely stumped by what I had found. All I could think was spongey, pores, spongey, pores. I am embarrassed to admit it took me way too long to cut off the "y" and realize that it's likely a sponge. Pore bearing (porifera) is about as accurate as you can get when describing it. So, I settled with that as my final guess for what this mystery structure could be. Though, this is still up for debate, so let me know if there are any opposing opinions. From there, I took a couple of paces before stumbling upon the next thing of interest. It was a robust black protrusion with some apparent symmetry. Okay, if the last thing was pseudo-bone, surely this had to be the real thing. As per usual, there was pyritic encrusting on it. From how it was positioned, it was hard to say how long it could be - if there was much more to try and dig out. I got to chiseling and it popped right out within the first few swings. Instantly, I knew I had once again fallen for some pseudo-bone. That being said, it was the first time I had found carbonized wood in the Ozan. I don't usually keep fossil wood, but this guy is interesting enough to warrant it. A pyritized deposit of coal, pretending to be a mosasaur rostral. The fossil wood with a pyritized denture clam and Serratolamna(?) tooth on top. A piece of an artifact and irregular urchin on top. The clam on the right is a cool optical illusion. It's only 3/4 of an inch tall. Here and there I made some other nice smaller finds. A fragment of an artifact, some shark teeth, and an even better flattened irregular urchin to name a few. Though, I had spent a lot of the recent weeks hammering away at things in creeks, so I thought it would be best to call it early and head home to have a nice meal and reflect on my prizes. No articulated mosasaur bits, but a great many lessons learned and special memories to reminisce upon in the future. I know I'm preaching to the choir with this one, but there are few things as magical as traveling alone and exploring a side of the outdoors you hadn't encountered before. It's hard to explain, but I love just parking somewhere and walking into a part of the brush where few people go, if ever. It's freeing in a sense. But for now, I've creek walked way too much. I'm gonna go hunt a roadcut or something

I cannot for the life of me figure out what this tooth is. When I first found it I was sure it was Cretoxyrhina but with further inspection I doubt that’s the case. Does anyone have a clue what shark this mysterious tooth belongs to? (Found in alluvium/ozan)

I’m planning my return trip to Lake Texoma and I was wondering if y’all had any suggestions for tools to bring. Preferably batter-powered (no generator) and powerful enough to excavate large ammonites from hard limestone. Explosives, battery acid, and hydrochloric acid are out of the question. I’d settle for gas-powered tools, but only as a last resort.

Had time after a good rain for round two in my green belt. Since I have a better idea of what to look for I definitely found more. some I know, and some I don’t. I am happy to take close ups or videos if you want/need a closer look. Also, wanted to mention I am waiting on a copy of “A Field Guide to Fossils of Texas” by: C. Finley. thank for your time