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Back on October 2017, I was hunting a Texas creek after a flood event and found a nice slab of shark's teeth. I took my wife Susie back to check out the area better. We went upstream to locate where the slab had washed down from. We found a matching location where the teeth had come out of the Eagle Ford formation in a shell hash pocket. The final size of this area was about 1 ft by 2 ft by 2 inches thick. We captured the remaining shell hash matrix in bags and took it home. Over the next few weeks, we used dilute white vinegar solution and ice picks to extract 150+ of these 4 mm to 15 mm wide Ptychodus teeth from matrix. My wife pulled out maybe 60 to 80 of them. In October 2018 communications with Shawn Hamm, I found out that the largest of these teeth were likely from a new Ptychodus species that Shawn was hoping to do a paper on. I then sent 40 of these teeth to Shawn. One month ago, I was contacted by Shawn to donate any more teeth that I was willing to give up for a new professional paper on that species (finally!). I went back through the remaining teeth (now in two clear plastic cylindrical containers) and other fossils from the pocket. I also gave him some of my best of these teeth found from other shell hash pockets nearby. I noted amazingly that over 95% of the remaining 110+ Ptychodus teeth had characteristics of the new species and that there were five different tooth file sets represented. I immediately sent them to Shawn along with other representative shark species. So, he may now have the first associated set of those teeth to study for his paper from the 2018 and 2024 donations. You just never know when an old fossil hunting trip can breath new life into the fossil record and a new understanding. My ignorance of Ptychodus matters in 2017 was replaced by mature knowledge in 2024 that subsequently opened my "eyes" to something I would have never seen before 2024. So, I recommend looking back at your old finds to hunt for new things you might now be able to see with your more mature set of "eyes"!

Found in Round rock Texas, just north of Austin. Pieces found among weathered rubble at base of a limestone cliff rich in devils toenails, next to a creek. The Texas pocket geologic map I'm referencing is a bit confusing, showing the area to be at somewhat of a confluence of the "Del rio clay and Georgetown formation", Edwards limestone, Eagle ford group, and Buda Limestone. I'm very cautious about being the annoying newbie who calls every little rock he finds a fossil, so when I came across four large, curved, tooth shaped stones amid many devils toenails and scallops today, I was hesitant to get my hopes up. My thoughts are that they may be too large to be the teeth of any western interior seaway life that I know of - based on a google search, if these are teeth, they'd be as big if not bigger than even the teeth of tylosaurus, so I have my doubts. That said, my other amateur hunch is perhaps these are fillings of limestone holes that hardened. But I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Below is the first, stuck in matrix on almost every side - there is a small, smooth exposed patch in the right middle. Measurements are quite roughly 3.5 inches from the tip to the base of the matrix, I have no ruler handy at the moment Below is another look, closer this time an centered on the tip Here is the same piece, curved in towards me this time - And one last side profile to show the suspiciously smooth and even curvature Now, I'll show the other pieces I found. All of these , the one above included, were found within a few square meters of each other. It's possible they're associated. below is another angle of the piece above: And to finish, these last two pictures are of two completely separate bits, each only getting it's one picture ...and I would greatly appreciate any possible ID's or explanations! Thanks for reading through!