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Over the month of December, I've gotten the opportunity to check out several sites across the state of Texas. In my fossil interests, I have to admit that I am certainly a bit vertebrate-centric, but that does not mean I will pass up the chance to marvel at a beautiful invertebrate specimen when given the chance. For better or worse, these past four mini hunts have not really delivered on the vertebrate end, but have made up the difference in terms of inverts. I've decided to combine these smaller hunts into one report. For those with invertebrate addictions, I hope this sampler of Texas fossils will meet your medically-necessitated daily dose of invertebrate content. Enjoy! Maastrichtian No Mas Kemp Clay and Corsicana Formation Leading up to my eventual move away from Austin back to DFW, I made sure to visit a nearby site that possessed some Maastrichtian exposures. Back up in Dallas, the nearest exposures of similar age are a bit of a drive, so I wanted to take the opportunity to travel to a convenient spot while I still had a chance. I had previously seen this spot mentioned in some old literature, where it was described as exposing the Kemp Clay at the top of a bluff and Corsicana below. Since I had no prior experience with these formations, I wasn't sure what to expect or what to look for in terms of identifying formations. One Saturday afternoon, I carved out a few hours to take the drive and a brief hike out to the spot. I was excited to finally hunt a stage of the Cretaceous I had never searched before. The landscape was quite dramatic and I could see out for miles. Pictures really do not do the place justice. The drop from the trail to the creek bed is much higher than the picture makes it out to be. After navigating my way down, I was immediately confused by the formation the creek bed was composed of. Perhaps I am just too Ozan-minded, but the shale looked almost indistinguishable from my usual Ozan hunting spots elsewhere in the area. It had that classic bluish grey color and was even filled with rather large Exogyra oysters. I began to wonder if so much time and weathering had passed that the creek had finally reached down to the Ozan far below. However, a closer inspection showed that there were some subtle key differences. The wavy shells of the oysters were not indicative of the species E. ponderosa, but instead of E. costata, which is present in the Corsicana Formation at least according to the paper I had read about the site prior. There was also a pronounced presence of tiny phosphatic bivalves that I had never seen in the Ozan. With this information, I was relieved to know that my goal of collecting in the Maastrichtian could continue without issue. Some leftovers from an earlier fossil hunter. Not all of these are E. costata since they washed down from older strata upstream. With little direction as to where to look first, I decided to plop down and try splitting open some chunks of mudstone that had fallen down from a grey and brown formation at the top of the cliff (Kemp Clay I'm assuming). Initially, I didn't find much, but eventually some invertebrate fossils began showing up. I was intrigued by the presence of the original shell on a few gastropods (I hadn't been to the Whiskey Bridge at this point so this was a first for me). They were ornamented, unlike the steinkerns I had been accustomed to for the entirety of my Cretaceous fossilizing career before. Unfortunately, none of them were preserved well and were more so just crushed messes too fragile to take back. In the same rocks, I came across various bivalves that were fairly nice to look at and ended up keeping an orange 2D one, though I am having a difficult time identifying it. A gastropod with the original shell from the Kemp Clay(?) A flattened bivalve(?) from the Kemp Clay(?). It's about 30 mm across, orange, and has thin red lines between the ribbing. At first, I wondered if it was a smushed trigonia, but I'm doubting that now. Afterwards, I surface collected along the bed and climbed some of the cliff where Corsicana was exposed. There wasn't much in the way of large finds, but getting close to the ground revealed a plethora of smaller finds to be had. The first objects of interest were highly detailed button corals. The closest thing I could find online as an ID was the genus Micrabacia which is known from the Peedee formation (also Maastrichtian). I came across a couple bits of crab claws as well. My vertebrate hopes for ginglymostoma were never fulfilled, sadly. Instead, I found only three sharks teeth that were all missing roots . I don't think they can be identified, but I welcome you all to toss out ideas if you have any. An in situ of what could be a Micrabacia button coral. As I walked along the cliffs, I couldn't help but think about the time period I was traversing through. In the formations beneath me were the Cretaceous layers I had grown so used to. In those days, mosasaurs and dinosaurs dominated the world. It's mind boggling to realize that the strata just above the Kemp Clay was the geological blink of an eye that saw an end to all of it. All those billions of ammonites and not a single one made it through such a barrier. Even something so simple yet prolific like exogyra was put to a complete stop. The Maastrichtian was not a final stand by any means either. That day 66 million years ago may have started just like any other, but ended with the world being permanently changed in a way that is almost unimaginable. Speaking of days ending, the time was 30 minutes till sunset. With the day winding down, I decided to circle back and try splitting some more mudstones from the Kemp Clay in hopes of finding a shark tooth before calling it quits. Rock after rock, I couldn't seem to find anything other than the usual tiny clams and crushed snails. As the light started to dim, I was finally greeted by the sheen of shiny black enamel. It had a strange shape to it, but this being a new place for me, it could have just been a weird shark for all I knew. As I chipped away at the rock, more and more of the specimens figure was revealed. Finally, I realized that all of my labor had been put into exposing a simple enchodus fang, no different from the hundreds I had seen before! And yet, I was still happy with it. After the disappointment of the broken shark teeth from before, it was nice to at last have a complete tooth from the Maastrichtian, no matter how common the animal may be. With that, another stage of the Cretaceous was crossed off the list. Some pics of all of the finds: Strange bivalve, a gastropod, Micrabacia(?) corals, and perhaps a scaphopod? Top row L to R: Crustacean claw bits, and the enchodus (petrosus?) fang. Bottom L to R: Worm tube, and three rootless shark teeth Eocene Escargot Stone City Formation Fast forward about a week, and the time had come for me to pack my things and leave my dorm once and for all. I usually drive straight to Dallas from Austin, but this year things were different. My carless brother started his first semester at A&M, so I volunteered to pick him up on the way home for the break. Being the person that I am, I simply cannot drive all the way out there and NOT visit the world-class site known as the Whiskey Bridge. I made sure to turn in my dorm key early in the morning and head on out for a quick hunt in the Stone City Formation along the Brazos. I was hoping @Jared C could join in the fun, but he unfortunately had a final that same morning . I'm pretty sure passing the class wasn't that important, but I won't hold it against ya . Before making the drive, I had also done a bit of research into which layers yielded the most vertebrate material. Even with the information, however, I still had measured expectations as the Stone City Formation is of course much more famous for its rich invertebrate fauna. The goal for the day was to find some vertebrate material and perhaps a complete cone snail. When I arrived, the place was still covered in mud from the storm a couple days before. With hopes that the popular site had been replenished, I carefully made my way down to the water, passing by a couple of hunters just finishing up their session. The plan was originally to head straight for a productive spot a ways from the bridge, but of course the newness of the place and its fauna had me stopping in my tracks every few steps to pick up a gastropod. When I finally got to the spot, I slowly climbed up the slope to meet the fine hash layers atop the ledge. There is never a dull moment at this locality. Every square inch of surface is covered with bits of white shell. The first oddball that caught my eye was a strange looking piece of coral. Madracis johnsoni Side stepping to the right while hugging the wall of soil led me to my next noteworthy find and the first of the vertebrates! The skinny crown and wrinkling of the enamel was a familiar sight for someone who has collected so many scapanorhynchus teeth in the past. However, it would seem that, for this formation, a sand tiger shark was the more likely ID. I'm guessing this is from Striatolamia macrota. The weathering on it is likely due to prehistoric reworking I would assume. Striatolamia macrota? Not so long after, I sidestepped my way into finding my first ray plate! Unfortunately this one was also in not-so-perfect condition. Myliobatis sp. fragment I couldn't stick around for too long since my brother was waiting for his pickup. I rounded off the trip by filling up a couple bags with fine shell hash matrix for future screening for microfossils. I didn't take too much though, as I have a secret side project involving many bags of micromatrix that is currently occupying most of my micro attention. If I find anything special from the hash, I will be sure to add an update to this topic. Overall, it was a solid first visit to a famous site. I managed to find some vertebrate bits and bobs that I'm happy with. I am a little bummed I never got a complete cone snail, but I guess that will just have to wait for a future outing. Overview of the finds: Top: Dentalium scaphopods Bottom L to R: Striatolamia macrota tooth, Myliobatis ray tooth fragment, reworked Carcharhinus mancinae? tooth, and Conus sauridens fragments Top L to R: Lunulites bouei and Schizorthosecos sp. bryozoans, and Turbinolia pharetra coral. Bottom L to R: Fish otoliths (not sure how/don't want to ID), Balanophyllia desmophyllum, and Madracis johnsoni Top L to R: Weathered Architectonica elaborata?, and probably Venericardia densata that looks strange since it doesn't seem to curve like others. Mid L to R: Anomia ephippioides, Vokesula smithvillensis, Notocorbula texana, and perhaps a worm tube? Bottom L to R: Large Anomia ephippiodes, and a trio of Venericardia densata Top L to R: Athleta petrosus, Ancilla staminea, and Pseudoliva vestusa Bottom L to R: Athleta lisbonensis, Architectonica scrobiculata, and Sinum arctatum Top: Michela trabeatoides Bottom L to R: Protosurcula gabbii, Hesperiturris nodocarinatus, Cochlespira engonata, and Protosurcula gabii though they look different from the one on the left of the row. Top L to R: Distorsio septemdentata, and Latirus moorei Bottom L to R: Mesalia clairbornensis, Turritella nasuta, and Gegania anitquata Phew that was a lot to identify. I'm sure I got plenty wrong, so feel free to correct me on any of these. I will probably find a ton of new species in the micro matrix that I can add in a later update!

Hello everyone! I have been picking through microfossils from the Whiskey Bridge locality on the Brazos River in Texas. I used the hydrogen peroxide technique to separate the fossils from the glauconite matrix, and I have spent hours at the microscope, picking through the material to find the really tiny stuff. Here are a few batches that I've separated... My reason for posting this in the identification section, however, is that I have been running across a large number of echinoderm fragments and spines... The largest of the fragments are approximately 8 millimeters across, while the longest of the spines are 6-8 millimeters. Does anyone have any information on echinoids from this locality? I'm sure others have run across these before. Any information is much appreciated! Daniel

A couple of hours drive from me is an amazing spot to collect Eocene material. It's on the banks of the Brazos River (more properly, the Brazos del Dio River-The Arms of God river! My parents wrote a book on it: Exploring the Brazos: From Beginning to End). I've been to the site a few times, and always find an amazing amount of lovely little shells and such. I had the greatest luck this time though, finding a large shark tooth! I wasn't even aware that you could find shark teeth out there. I had found a cuttlefish prong there on a previous trip which is still one of my all time favorite finds, but i had no idea you could find shark teeth! So it was already a good day, but , I also took a one gallon bag of loose dirt home and had fun going through it under the microscope camera....and wow! So many tiny tiny things to be found! All the fishy stuff (vert, tooth, and spine) were microscope finds - the spine being the largest at 1/2 inch. Plus the two little shark teeth - 1/4 inches each. I would not have seen those in the field. So my fun with my microscope camera continues. Here are my finds- I hope i have the proper ID's for all that I could (with help from FF friends!) - a few I still don't have ID's for. There are over 200 species from this location! So far, i've found about 50! I forsee many more trips to Whiskey Bridge! ( Edited to correct spelling errors). Cuttle fish prongs are 1 inch Ray tooth plate is 1/4 inch If you are not familiar with this area - the ootoliths are.....Fish Ear Bones! The Gastropods: (All of there are one inch or smaller - the smallest being 1/16 inch) BIvalves:

A few weekends ago, driving to A&M for a gymnastics meet (I'll be transferring there this fall!), I noticed a very familiar looking bridge from this forum, and the sign confirmed that barely 20 minutes away from the heart of campus is the famous Whiskey Bridge. I had no idea, so this was a very pleasant surprise. On the drive back, I decided to hit the bridge bright and early. Found a few cool inverts that are easy enough to ID with the good guides for them, but the sharks of whiskey bridge seem to be poorly written up. In fact, I couldn't find any good guides that compiled more than on just a couple of the Texas Eocene sharks. Are they more poorly understood than their texas cretaceous counterparts? Or is there just less public interest in them? Here's the mystery tooth. Stone city formation of the (middle?) Eocene. If anyone knows of a good online or paper guide for the marine vertebrates of whiskey bridge or the Texas Eocene in general, please let me know.

I drove to college station to meet up with my future roommate today, and on the way back made the obligatory stop by Whiskey Bridge. This was my second time there, and.... I'll just let this tooth speak for itself. It had me on my knees. Flawless. Striatolamia macrota Stone city formation (Middle Eocene) Another angle, as well as my other finds today:

I went collecting at the Eocene Whiskey Bridge Locality and found a number of oysters (I presume) that I cannot find good IDs for online. I was wondering if anyone here had a better idea. I additionally found some bone fragments that I am curious about, though I don't know how well they can be ID'd.

I found this bone/antler the other day under Whiskey Bridge near College Station, Texas. The area is known for Eocene marine fossils, but also things like mammoth, horse, and deer skeletal remains. The area has tons of modern deer too. I am reasonably confident that this piece is bone or antler, but beyond that I'm clueless. I can't tell if this is modern or 40,000 years old, and I can't tell what animal it may have come from. I can say that it is 8 grams, slightly curved, and the sides are somewhat flattened. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. For further context, this was found on the bank of the Brazos river, the area had near record rain this summer when it rained for nearly a month straight. The water has finally receded enough for people to go down to the banks. I believe animals may be able to get down here too, though the only access point for this specific area for something like a deer is from the highway, the river banks are lined by cliffs about 10-20 feet tall. This piece may have washed down from further upstream.

Howdy folks, About Ten years ago, on my first and only trip to the famous Whiskey Bridge in Bryan Texas, I unknowingly found and brought home not one, but two cephlapod fossils. Well, I smashed one thinking there might be some “cool shiny mineralization” in this odd odd rock that seemed anomalous and out of place since all I read about were shells and sharks teeth. Shameful... I know... however, something strange looking fell out and I held onto it, taking care to store it carefully due to it, and the fossils themselves, being siderite and prone to oxidizing. It’s current state is as it was found, slightly rusty and wierd. I have the rest of the original fossil but it’s in pieces. included are two of the chambers and the anomaly which happens to look a lot like soft tissue. Unlikely... but it’s worth having someone with expertise take a look.

Hi Everyone. I found this gastropod at Whiskey Bridge, near Bryan, Texas two years ago which so far I've been unable to identify. Whiskey Bridge is a marine Eocene site, Crockett Formation, Stone City Member. The specimen is between a half and three quarters of an inch. Thanks. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I have read all of the threads online and on our forum, and I am excited for my first trip to the Whiskey Bridge. It will probably be around the first of the year. Any personal tips would be appreciated. Should I take a sifting screen, and if so, how wide should the “holes” be? I am going to try and build my own(that is a whole another issue). Thanks for any help, in advance.

So, this title might be a bit of clickbait because unfortunately I have yet to find any actual shark teeth, so bear with me. I've visited the Whiskey Bridge site just west of Bryan, Texas several times now. The clay-like matrix that makes up the north bank of the Brazos River under the bridge has several layers of fossiliferous Eocene deposits, and although I've found lots of coral, shells, and even some cuttlefish prongs by surface hunting, I've had no luck when it comes to shark teeth. Assuming that the only way to find small dark-colored teeth amongst a bunch of dark-colored dirt was to take a lot of that dirt back home and go over it out of the hot Texas sun, I picked up a couple gallons worth of matrix on the last trip and I've been treating it with mineral spirits and boiling water over the last three days so that I can sift through it. I'm about halfway through it all now, and I still have not found any. Anyone that has been to the Whiskey Bridge site before, can you help me out? Am I not looking in the right places? I heard somewhere that the teeth collect lower down the cliffside because they're heavier, but when I checked there weren't any fossiliferous layers in that area. This whole ordeal is starting to irritate me because I know that what I'm looking for is there - one of my buddies even found a nice handful of decent-sized teeth the last time he made the drive up to the site several years ago. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to listen to me, and if anyone has any help or words of advice they'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Just found this at Whiskey Bridge. Photos suck because the natural light is gone and I'm too tired to find a camera, but I don't think there's much else this could be. It's a cm long, clearly broken at one end. I didn't think to look around for the rest of it, but I doubt I would have found anything anyway- this was in a heap of eroded-away bits of dirt, everything scattered around.

Recently went for my first fossil hunting trip at whiskey bridge on brazos River. Had a great time and found some cool stuff.

Hi, Brand new to the site and fossil hunting. Went out for my first time ever and found quite a bit but can’t figure out what this one is. Found at Whiskey Bridge near college station Texas. Sight is well known and says most fossils date from 30 to 50 million years ago when this part of Texas was a shallow marine environment. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Spent about 2 hours at Whiskey Bridge today. I found that there's a decent bit of stuff directly under the bridge, but if you walk upstream, there's a lot of areas that haven't really been dug in. Plus, up that way the fossiliferous material is over my height, and you can just walk along it and look at all the layers. That's interesting, in and of itself. Not just because of the appearance, but because I tend to get to thinking about how old they are, and about how every one of those fossils is something's entire life, the cumulation of its efforts to survive. It's fascinating to picture- these layers on layers of life. I wouldn't make it as a paleontologist, not with my fatigue issues, but I'll gladly do this hobby-type stuff just for those moments. I found a good handful of shells, including a nice cone snail. I also brought home some shell-rich clods of matrix to work with. Gonna give those a good long soak and see if I can break them open without breaking the shells inside. A lot of these are surprisingly fragile- I guess they didn't have the strongest minerals replacing them. I soaked everything in water, then brushed them gently with a toothbrush. I cleared some of the mud out of their insides, but I did find that a decent number of them were being supported somewhat by the mud, so a number still have the mud inside. I'm really happy with that cone. The lip is missing and there's a crack, but it's otherwise intact, including the tip. It was actually on the ground, instead of in the wall. I was walking back to the car, looking around, and saw the circle of its end. Didn't want to hope it was intact, not at that size, but it (basically) was! I think it just weathered loose of the bank on its own. In non-fossil news, I found what looks like most of a rat skeleton, minus the toes, with some fur wrapped around it. Gonna clean that up and keep it. And half a snakeskin, which I brought home to show our cats. Also, someone had thrown a pumpkin off the bridge, I assume to see what it did, and we found some old railroad spikes. The sun's gone down most of the way, so I don't have any decent pics. Tomorrow I'll sort these by type and take proper pics, with scales, up close. No shark teeth, unfortunately. I also seem to have misplaced a few things. I had found a piece of what looked like mother-of-pearl, but purplish-blue, and some kind of odd... bryozoan clump, I think. Also some discs with a sort of tiny crosshatch pattern on them, very fragile. Note for next time: bring a smaller pick-style item, like a small icepick. Also bring several non-childproof pill bottles to keep in pockets so I can safely pocket fossils instead of having to hold them when I forget to bring my holdin' cup. It really is a low-tech area, though, you could find some good pieces with just a random stick from the ground. For flavor while there's no scale pics, here's my cat being intrigued by the rat bone, and the snakeskin. Her name is Capri, and I like to bring her things to sniff.

What should I bring for optimal fossil-hunting? I'd love to find a pocket with some shark teeth, and I'm hoping for (though not expecting) a concretion with something fun inside. I'd like to do a little sifting as well, I think. I'm going to have 2 brothers with me who I suspect would just like to dig for interesting things. I have some of those gold panning sifters, which I plan to bring. I'm also going to bring a couple of trowels, a bucket to put tempting chunks of matrix in for later, and a hammer and small chisel. Add in my tiny crowbar (it's about a foot long, but sturdy), and some fishhook cases and pill bottles for small items, and that sounds like a good setup. Is there any point in bringing a large-mesh fish net to kind of trawl in the water itself, see if I can dredge out some things that have been washed down into it, or am I better off just digging on land?

I went back to Whiskey bridge with my son. We didn’t find much except these few pieces. I’m not as knowledgeable about Invertebrates so please help if you can. I also found this weird rock and kept it as well.

These are some of the Middle Eocene marine fossils I found along the Brazos River on a trip to the Whiskey Bridge location along Highway 21 in Burleson County 4 or 5 years ago. .

Hi, The USGS water gauge for the Brazos River at Highway 21 (Whiskey Bridge) shows the water level at 35 ft. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=08108700 Will any of the fossil beds be accessible with the water this high?

First time posting. Let's do this... We went fossil hunting with our two boys: 11 and 13. We had a blast and collected a lot of interesting fossils from the Eocene (Stone City and Cook Mountain formations). So many fossils! Lots of little things to sift through. We didn't find any shark teeth, but another person did and showed the boys to inspire them to keep looking.

I found several well-produced and entertaining Youtube, videos about fossils and fossil collecting, many about Texas localities. A very articulate young lady, KOI, showed and asked for help to identify Texas fossils. The fossils in the videos are well lit, focused and have species titles with them. Check out here the video "300 Million-Year-Old Fossils..." at 11:58 into the video and at 4:15 into the Whiskey Bridge fossil video. See her videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE91a7T2yWjeZsRDo0pm-wg/videos Could someone who is signed up with Youtube help her ID her fossils or better yet ask her to post her fossils that need an ID on TFF. She would be worthwhile member. Thanks, John

Stone City Fm. Whiskey Bridge locality. Scale marks are mm.

In August, I received an invitation to join a group to hunt fossils and minerals at a cement quarry in Midlothian, Texas on September 10th. It was my very first field trip with a group, and I was extremely excited. I put my dad and my ten-year-old daughter on the list as well, and we figured we'd make a weekend of it. I had to be back on Sunday morning, so we figured we'd leave early Friday morning and squeeze two days out of the trip. After all, its a little bit of a drive to get to Midlothian from Kingwood (220 miles), and we would be passing some great sites that my dad had never visited. At 5:30 am, my dad met my daughter and me at our house, and we set out for College Station, Texas at 6:00 am. We arrived just after 8:00 am and headed out to the Whiskey Bridge for some Eocene fossils. We grabbed our gear and began heading down to the river. I glanced behind us and another fossil hunter was following us down (I'm sorry, but I can't remember his name!). We stayed on the south side of the train trestle, while our new friend moved to the north side. We found lots of great specimens, many larger than ones I had found on my previous two trips. I found two nearly complete Conus sauridens, which I have never had the fortune of finding. My only other specimen was just a fragment. The Conus specimens are below. The scale is in centimeters (as they will all be in this post). I also stumbled across some very large corals that I had never seen before . I believe that they are Balanophyllia desmophylum. My daughter managed to find a shark tooth as well. I'm not sure of the type. The root is missing, as well as the tip, but she was excited to find the first shark tooth of the trip, and her first shark tooth ever! After about an hour and a half of looking, I went over to see how our friend was doing. I showed him my two Conus specimens, and he said that he had found some as well. He reached into his bucket and pulled out a one gallon zip-lock bag with 10 or 12 HUGE Conus specimens. He had hit the jackpot, and piece after piece were coming out of the hillside. I congratulated him and told him where we were headed next, the Waco Research Pit. He had never been there and was interested. He told me he might meet us there. In fact, he told me he was an amateur fossil hunter who had just recently gotten back into the hobby, and he was looking around for possible sites where he could bring his kids. We also found out that he lives less than ten minutes from my dad. It's a small world! I really wish I could remember his name! We left the bridge and drove to Waco. After lunch at one of the amazing food trucks in town (we had the barbeque!) we headed out to the pit. It was hot in town, but we had seen nothing yet. We arrived at Army Corps of Engineers Office and signed in. As we were filling out the paperwork, in walked our friend from the Whiskey Bridge. He said he couldn't pass it up! We drove back to the site and trekked down the trail to the pit. There were few clouds and a very intermittent breeze. The heat was oppressive; the temperature had to be in the upper 90s. And they gray marl of the pit reflected the heat back up from the ground as well. My daughter lost interest very quickly, and found a small shady spot under one of the sparse cedars in the pit. Me and my dad braved the heat for several hours, as did our friend. We managed some very interesting finds. My favorite was a large shark tooth that I found, just gleaming in the afternoon sun. It was, in fact, the first shark tooth I have ever found in my fossil hunting experiences. The tooth, along with two smaller ones is below. We also found some echinoids parts and a spine... ...and, of course, the very common (at least in the Waco Pit) irregular ammonites, Mariella sp.... ...and regular ammonites, of many kinds... ...a curious coral... ...and finally, some small, but beautiful, Neithea sp. bivalves. Once we finally had all we could take of the heat, we bid farewell to our fossiling friend, who wanted to stay just a bit longer, and headed out of the pit. From Waco, we drove north to Midlothian and checked into a hotel for the night. We were exhausted, but happy with our finds so far. We were also excited about the possibilities of what we might find in the quarry the next morning. At 6:00 am the next morning, I awoke to the sound of rain hitting the window of the hotel. We had a cool front blow through the area overnight, and we were now concerned about the possibility that the quarry tour could be cancelled on account of the rain. Our group leader sent out an email saying that he was going to head that way, but that it might still be cancelled. We arrived a little before 8:00 am, and to our relief, the quarry opened their doors to us. We had about 20-25 people in the group. We were first taken into an area of the Atco Formation with deposits of dark, pebbly stone that was known to contain various types of shark teeth (including Ptychodus, which I really wanted to find), mosasaur bones and teeth, fish, and turtle bones and shell. The quarry had very generously allowed us to stay from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. I made some very interesting finds, including fish and shark vertebrae and some bone material. I also found some shark teeth, but they were all damaged partials. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to find any Ptychodus. Below is some of the material that I found. My daughter stumbled across a very badly damaged, but still very interesting tooth. I'm not sure if it is mosasaur or plesiosaur, or something different altogether. It has a keel or ridge along one side and is rounded on the opposite side. Perhaps someone might be able to help identify it... My most interesting find in the quarry was a strange flat specimen, covered in pores, with a concave side and a convex side. I found it weathered out on the surface of a black piece of crumbled stone. The exposed side was bleached white by the sun. The underside, still in contact with the stone was black. As I picked it up, it began to crumble, much as the boulder was doing. I gathered all of the pieces I could find and brought it home, where, with the help of some cyanoacrylate glue, I put the jigsaw puzzle back together again, as best as I could. The complete specimen is below. The first is the sun-exposed, concave side. Notice the unusual shape. The two "lumps" on the left side of the image above, and then the curve outward at the top. I can only guess that the opposite side had a similar curve, but this portion is missing. The reverse side is below. It is much darker, having been against the dark rock matrix... The darker portions on the surface outline a convex bulge in the middle of the piece. Also, notice the "porosity" of the specimen. This is more visible in the next two pictures. Continued below...

Once we left Waco, heading back toward Houston, my wife, my daughters and I swung through Bryan/College Station and stopped off at the Whiskey Bridge. I had never been to this location before, but based on what others have mentioned here on TFF I was very excited. I trekked down the slope toward the Brazos, leading my 5 and 9 year old daughters. With the recent flooding, the hillside was very slippery and muddy, and we had a little difficulty finding a child-safe path. We only spent about 30 or 40 minutes hunting, but we discovered some nice specimens. Here are a few... So here is a cursory attempt at identification. I believe the first specimen is Athleta petrosus. I believe the second is Cochlespiropsis engonata. The third is Pseudoliva vetusta carinata. The last is Turritella sp. If I am wrong on any of these IDs, please let me know. Climbing back out was just as difficult as climbing down. It was made more exciting by my 5 year old daughter landing face first in wet sand and mud. Fortunately, she thought it was funny. Mommy, thought it was less so...