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Here are a few pictures from another recent trip to NSR. Nothing special again but also a few interesting items I have no idea that they are. Anyone know what some of these pictures are of? IMG_4123.HEIC IMG_4127.HEIC IMG_4148.HEIC IMG_4130.HEIC IMG_4144.HEIC IMG_4141.HEIC IMG_4143.HEIC IMG_4147.HEIC IMG_4145.HEIC IMG_4146.HEIC

I suspect this to be mosasaur. Can anyone confirm and more accurately identify?

A customer gave me some neat fossils today, I couldn’t tell ya where they were collected unfortunately. Is the larger one a baculite? No clue on the smaller one. Larger one has crystals inside the fossil, pretty neat. Thanks in advance.

Good morning folks. I have a strange Baculite that "appears" to have eaten a Nautiloid for it's last meal. I dropped the Baculite and it broke. Originally I was disappointed until I saw the contents. The Baculite is from Belfush, Dakota. Am I wrong or does the Baculite seem to have ingested a small Nautiloid?

I completely forgot that this last weekend was a "holiday" weekend and went on a day tripper up to the North Sulfur River near Dallas (an almost 5 hour drive). I met a new fossil friend named John who was going to take me to some of the more 'out of the way" spots he usually hunts to try to find a few specific things - a mosasaur tooth and vert being the top of my list, plus he was going to take me to a spot where we could hopefully find a really awesome looking cephalopod (Scaphites). The first spot was already picked over, sadly, the disadvantage of not getting there before 10am I guess! I found a few nice baculites (which I love and was happy to find including a cool red one) and some other nice little things, gastropods and such. Then I thought I had found something awesome....a nice little bone stuck in the gravel. WHoo hoo!! Was it a mosasaur??? Something Pleistocene? A GLYPTODON???? I was so excited!! Until I got home and looked it up and .....it's a cow astralagus. Yay. Not even a bison. Meh. (I think, anyways...I did look it up and saw some previous FF posts about the difference between Bos and Bison and pretty sure mine is just a Bos). So a question....was Bos around in the Pleistocene? This isn't 'modern" bone, I think it is at least partially mineralized. But I really don't know. So, as relatively disappointing as that was, I still came home with some GREAT stuff- a couple of nice shark teeth (a new one I had not found before, even if it was John who picked it up...I WOULD have found it if he wasn't ahead of me....but he was nice and gave it to me. hahahha) AND even though we busted open a bunch of phosphate nodules with no luck at finding the Scaphites I was looking for.....he had an extra one to give me. SO I came home with lots of fossil gifts! My "consolation prize" - Trachyscaphyties . 3 inches diameter . My first Goblin Shark Tooth : Scapanorhynchus 2 inches Baculites - love the suture pattern Two chunks of a red one (not sure if they were from the same one, but they sort of fit together!) A different Baculites - not sure of species, but it doesn't have the same suture patterns and has more surface detail. maybe just not as worn down? The Atralagus bone: And this i THINK is mosasur bone, but very worn down. 2 inches A cute little Inoceramus clam 1 inch and lastly, some Exogyra ponderosas. Hopefully I can make it out there a few more times before they dam the river and maybe find that danged Mosasaur tooth and vert.

I found this conglomeration of fossils in between a layer of sedimentary rock and a crystalline layer of what I can only assume is calcite. I can identify a few shapes in the upper part of the fossil that lead me to believe I had found a bed of young baculites. It took me a good hour to dig up all of my finds, which included an array of brachiopods and or bivalves, ammonites, and cute little scorpion who was very much alive. (I almost crushed the little guy with my gigantic human hand) Needless to say, I was very happy with my new collection of marine fossils. I will be returning to the site soon to collect more and better quality specimens. ;D

I made my second trip to the North Sulfur River today. I had planned on going yesterday, but it was pretty chilly early, and today was forecast to be much warmer, plus the water was still coming down, so I settled for a 50 mile bike ride yesterday, and headed for the NSR this morning. I seem to be making the most of this time of social distancing / off work. A bike ride yesterday, NSR today, and I'll be crappie fishing tomorrow. If this is a preview of retirement, sign me up. Once again, I just went to the Ladonia Fossil Park. I hiked downstream, the opposite of the direction I headed last time. I'm still finding out what my physical capabilities are for this kind of trip. With all my bike riding, my legs are strong, and I'm in great aerobic shape, but at 69 years old, and after almost 50 years of heavy machine shop work, my back and shoulders are pretty cratered. I'm not sure how I'll hold up for long hikes down treacherous river bottoms, or climbing in and out. I probably pack my backpack lighter than most here. But after hiking a couple of miles down the river and back today, I feel fine. So, maybe I can hold up to these trips better than I thought. I'm ready to try getting in and out of the river at some other spots. I drove over to the FM2990 bridge and looked at that access. I'll tackle it, but I'm definitely going to do it on a dry day. That rope climb back up looks tough. I'd also like to try out the river downstream at 24. A question for those who know the area: Google satellite photos show a lot more water in that area, with hardly any sand bars showing. Is the water that much higher there, or is it just when Google took the photos? Do I need to wait for lower water to try that out? Water level today was 2.08. I didn't bring that much back today. There was nothing of real significance, but as always, some interesting stuff.

I normally find small pieces of black and the 2 or so inch red baculites at NSR. I found this today and want to make sure I label it correctly. Not sure if this would be the same species as the black and small reds as it is much larger than those I have found. Thanks for any help in advance.

Ok, first I believe is a baculite piece but it was found in a different matrix. Much larger than what I normally find there and haven't found a grey one before. Just black and red. . No clue on the next pics. I found a few but only kept one as I think it is geological. Figure if there are something I will head back to grab them.

This baculite piece appears to have undergone replacement by chalcedony. The walls of the empty chambers are very thin and delicate. There is a bit of original nacre intact. Thunder Basin area of NE Wyoming.

Hello, I'm posting this for a buddy of mine. This piece was found in the French Joe Canyon area near the town of Whetstone, AZ. Any ideas if this is an actual fossil or an odd looking concretion? Thank you for any and all help.

I wish I could follow the rules and give you a picture on a plain background, but we had to leave it where we found it as it was on federal land, so this is all I have. We went camping as a family to The Pines Recreation area near Glasgow Montana on Fort Peck Reservoir. My 8 year old son, who wishes to be a paleontologist, and collects every rock he sees, found this in the reservoir. I told him we would take a picture and see if any of our friends knew what it was, but since it was found on the Charles M Russell Wildlife refuge, we couldn't take it with us. One of our friends on facebook told us to check out baculites, and I think that MAY be what it is, but just wasn't sure. I would like to be able to tell him it "probably" is this, so I thought I would see what y'all think? Thanks! A Pastor's wife with no idea at all about fossils IMG_5388.HEIC IMG_3394.HEIC

Greetings from Texas! So I have posted previously about my hunt to find all the species of Echinoids in Texas. Well, I am also on the same fossil quest for all the ammonites, nautiloids, baculites, turrilites and belemnites I can find as well! When looking for one, you might as well look for the other! So I thought I'd start a post of my ongoing hunt for all the cephalopods. I'll start with some of my finds from the recent past and I am still working on my identifications, so please do assist if you notice the wrong ID! Thanks and also post some of your finds! I'd love to see 'em! Start with some of my "backyard" finds (within 20 min drive). I am lucky to have quite a few hunting locals near me, so I occasionally find these lovely little Budaiceras from the Buda formation. I don't think this is Budaiceras, but i actually DID find it in my backyard.....in the creek behind my house, which is Edwards Formation, I believe. Not a great specimen, but the fact I found it in my actual backyard makes it special to me.. . I also find quite a few Engonoeras near me - usually small but decently preserved - I am fairly certain it is from the Glen Rose Formation: Another nice little section from a different spot, also Glen Rose: Best one, however, was from Harker Heights (which is a bit over an hour away) in the Walnut Formation: That'll do for now. More to come in the near future!

Some of my odder finds from North Sulphur River. The pyritized baculite and the preserved skin were both found in the Ladonia area. The baculite was initially powdery white on the exterior, with just a bit of metallic luster showering. A light scrub with a soft toothbrush revealed the rest. The skin appears reptilian, but I would love further insights.

I want to own it up front that this trip report is not one of my shining moments. In fact I’m a bit embarrassed to admit the situation that I got myself into on the trip back to my car. It was a first time experience for me. But it makes for a good story if nothing else. Spring is in full swing in Texas and Summer is quickly approaching. On my drive last Saturday I took some pictures of the scenery and flowers. One of the many green feilds seen this time of year, with an old barn near Wolfe City, Texas. I don’t think we have wolve in Texas, at least not these parts that I know of. So maybe the name came from someone with the name. The wisteria are in full bloom. Grape hyacinths along the roadside by a bridge where I was checking for creek access. A mixture of redbud trees with some other plant I don’t know. Saturday was a beautiful day for fossil hunting although a bit on the warm side, in the mid 80s. I headed out to the NSR, but chose to take a different route this time that took me through Wolfe City, Texas. It is a small rural town that probably had its hayday during the industrial revolution and World War II. Most of the downtown square area looks like 1920 to 1940s buildings. Many of the homes have a Victorian era look. Most of the downtown buildings are boarded up and no longer in use. The local factory is closed. Despite it being past it’s hayday the town and homes are pretty well maintained. I kind of have a thing for cool entry ways, doors and windows. I like architecture and especially that of older buildings. I made a pit stop at a gas station in Wolfe City. Next to the gas station was this old building. I like the shape, architecture and the style of door. I continued to the NSR. Normally I park my car near the bridge and enter the river near there, but this time I wanted to reach a different part of the river. I checked out the entrance from a creek on the east side of the river, but didn’t see anything I thought I could manage. I opted to drive down a narrow, little used dirt road that cuts through the Caddo National Grasslands. I drove in till it hit private property, parked my car, got my gear and started across the field. The first thing I noticed was a nasty invasive species of plant growing in the field. It looks harmless enough, but it can take over a whole habitat and strangle everything else out. I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. I headed across the field and noticed these little burrows all over the field. I’d seen them on lakes, beaches and river banks, but not so high above water. I was still about 1/4 of a mile away and 30 feet above the river. I never saw the inhabitants, but was sure it was a crustacean of some sort. Then I came across the remains of a crayfish looking critter. I think this may be a coon’s favorite dining “take out” spot. I crossed the field to the forest. Little yellow flowers of wild strawberry plants blanketed this section of the forest floor. There is one along the small log in the background of this pic of wild garlic that is common in the area. Wild garlic can be quite helpful in the woods. This part of the forest was very nice and open with small herbaceous plants covering much of the forest floor. Here is a little anemone flower. I also saw wild violets. Many of the trees have lichen growing on them. The yellow one is often called golden lichen. The pale green one is another lichen. Both are considered edible, but usually only in desperate situations. They’re not very palutable and must be boiled with several replacements of the water so as to not get a tummy ache. Baking soda or acid needs to be added to help make it edible and more digestible. I walked through taking note of landmark trees and land features so at to remember my way back to my car as I made my way to the river’s edge. At the river the underbrush thickened and there were more cedars growing. There was a vertical 30 foot drop to the riverbed as is the case along most of the river. I walked north along the river through the thick forest and underbrush looking for an entry point. I finally came to an area that had been cleared and leveled down a bit, but there was still about a 15 foot drop. Someone had tied a rope to a tree. I put a couple knots in the rope to hang on better and not slide or get rope burn. I knew when I went down that I wouldn’t be able to pull myself and my pack back up. My hunting of the NSR is pretty different from most others. My goal is usually to find invertebrates. Not very exciting I know. I am particularly interested in baculites and ammonites. Ammonites abound in Texas, but the NSR is the only area I know of in Texas with baculites. I’d really like to go hunting with someone who is good at finding vertebrate stuff at least once so I can see the place and stuff in the river through their eyes. I’m sure I pass up vertebrate stuff because I don’t know how to spot it. I find a lot of other invertebrate stuff like Inoceramus clams, Durania rudist fragments, gastropods, other pelecypods and petrified wood. Not the kind of stuff many go to the NSR for. After entering the river I walked around looking at the area before heading to the area of interest. I found what appeared to be a possible bone concretion embedded vertically in the river bed. I extracted about 8 inches. I didn’t really want to waste my time getting more when I wasn’t sure what it was and I knew better stuff lay ahead of me. I left my sledge hammer because it is pretty heavy to be packing around, but that would have made all the extractions much easier. I came to an area where a significant extraction had recently taken place in the river bank. There was a gaping hole in the bank about 5 feet long by 3 feet wide and about 2.5 feet deep. Whatever they found was pretty good size. I can’t imagine how they hauled it out. Ten to 15 feet away was another extraction site. This was only about 2.5 x 2 feet and maybe a foot deep. The imprint left looked a little like an ammonite, but not exactly. I scanned the bank for whatever scraps might be left. Nothing great, but a few half decent baculite fragments and a couple partial ammonites including 4 partial Glyptoxoceras heteromorph cephalopods. I found a tiny spiraled shell with beautiful detail. I sat on the bank to extract extract what I found. It was in the high 80s and pretty hot as the afternoon sun beat down upon me. I took off my rubber boots and worked barefoot to keep cool. My boots were too hot for comfort. I had put on sunscreen and was wearing a tank top, but I was still hot. After a few hours I was looking a bit pink. I wasn’t sure if it was the heat or the sun. I’m green eyed, blond and pretty fair. I’m a mixture of Viking (yes, I said Viking, genetically proven and genealogically confirmed), English and Native American. I’m not sure how I got to be blond with how my parents look though. My dad has/had dark brown hair and eyes with olive skin. My mother had dark brown hair, green eyes and looked Native American. My bothers were a mix of my parents dark features. My one brother looks Hispanic and the other Italian. I’m the white sheep of the family, but I digress. I rarely burn, but put on a long sleeve shirt I brought with me to protect my skin. I didn’t see or hear another soul in the river or otherwise the whole afternoon. I guess I was the only one crazy enough to be out that far on such a hot day. I scanned the riverbed nearby. A few feet away, under water was a red Pachydiscus paulsoni embedded in the shale of the riverbed. Walking back to get my tools I saw a baculite with about 8 inches exposed, under water. It was also embedded in the shale of the riverbed about 2.5 feet from the paulsoni. The water was slow moving here and the shale was coated with a layer of silt and algae. The paulsoni was almost completely exposed and was easily extracted in a couple minutes. Almost directly above where the baculite was the upper bank was seriously eroded with a big tree just hanging over the edge, perched for a sudden decent upon avalanche. It kind of made me a bit nervous. I began to chip away the shale around the baculite with my rock hammer and a chisel. It was slow going. The water wasn’t moving the debris I stirred up. I had to repeatedly wait for the water to clear before continuing. The shale was only breaking up in small pieces. I decided to try chipping further away from the baculite. This time the shale came up in a large chunk. When I pulled the chunk out I suddenly realized it wasn’t just shale, it was a fossil! I got so excited by what I saw that I let out a little squeal of excitement and delight. I completely forgot about the baculite for a few minutes. It was an ammonite fragment, but no ordinary ammonite fragment. In 30 years of hunting ammonites I had never seen one with such a surface texture and detail. It was totally new and uniques to me. I had never even seen anything like it in a book or museum. It had the form and common ribs of a Menabites, but the whole surface was covered with small dots or circles. It was a polka dotted ammonite! I went back to the water to find more pieces of it, but whatever else was there was shattered when I was attempting to extract the baculite. These are pics of the fragment I pulled out. This is the imprint in the river wher I pulled it up from. The side of the ammonite facing the surface appeared to have been exposed and eroded away in the river so that it appeared as riverbed shale. I had no idea it was there until I pryed it up. The imprint left in the riverbed was only about 40% of the whole and it was about 16 inches wide. So the whole could have easily been 18-20 inches or more. I can only imagine how stunningly beautiful the creature must have been when living. At this point it was about 6:00 PM and I was running out of drinking water. I decided I better make my way back to my car. It was maybe a 20-30 min walk along the river back to where I entered. It had only taken me about 20 minutes to walk from my car to the point I had entered the river. Sunset was about 8:00. So I had plenty of time, but it was still hot and I would run out of drinking water before I got back to my car. Note to self: “carry more fluid with you!” I made it half way back down the river and ran out of water. I sat down on a rock in the middle of the river to rest a bit. My pack was pretty heavy. The water was flowing fast here babbling over rocks and shale. The water was clear and cool. I took my boots off again and cooled my feet and hands one last time in the river. I splashed water over my neck, back and chest and then filled my bottle with river water. I thought I could use it to poor over myself to keep cool on the hike back. I made my way back down the river to a creek near where I had entered hoping to find a point where I could climb the bank out of the river. Throughout the day I had heard small pebbles and rocks clattering down from the vertical walls along the river, occasionally the sound echoed off the canyon like river walls. The sound seemed lonely and foreboding as if the banks were taunting me with threats of avalanches. I hadn’t seen or heard a full on avalanche that day. Although, there was evidence of numerous recently deposited piles of rock, dirt and even the occasional tree all along the banks. I had never been to this area of the river. I turned down the unfamiliar creek. The creek entrance was about 25 feet wide. The 30 foot banks towered over me as I entered the narrow passage. It felt a bit intimidating. I shook off the feeling and pushed further into the creek. Both banks looked avalanche prone. Loosely packed rock and dirt clung to the banks. If an avalanche occurred I could only run ahead or back to try to escape it. At least the river was wide enough to give the banks a wide berth. Ahead I saw the creek open up a bit with the banks receding and begin to slope back, no longer vertical on both sides. I had gone about 75-100 yards up the creek when I heard an avelanch begin about 20-25 feet behind me to my left. I did stop to look and see how big it was. I tried to run away from it up the creek, but the creekbed was covered in a mixture of silt, sand, mud and gravel that made it soft slippery and difficult to get traction on. I narrowly missed being covered or crushed by the avalanche, feeling only a few pebbles hit the back of my calves. I was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of dirt and dust. I coughed as I emerged from the dissipating cloud. I was a little spooked by the near miss. I tried to walk on quickly, but the soft creek bed made for slow going. Up ahead I saw the bank diminish in height to about 5 feet vertical and then the upper part sloped away from the creek rather than the vertical banks I’d just passed. Ahead of me 50 yards was the sight of another avalanche that was quite unique in its own right. Five small whole trees, with roots and soil in tact sat in the middle of the creek upright, almost as if it had grown there. I took off my pack and hoisted it on the South bank and then climbed up on the edge of the bank. It was with some difficulty that I managed to get my pack back on without losing my footing on the bank. It was still very steep, but it had a few small trees I grabbed onto to keep from slipping back down. I slowly climbed to the top. I was relieved to be able to get out of the river and attain the level surface on top. I had entered the river from the West. I exited the river from the North. Also,I believed I was now on the private property that had no trespassing signs. I wanted to respect the no trespassing signs. There was a small fishing or hunting camp set up on the edge of the bank maybe 150 yards to the East of where I had exited the creek. I don’t think anyone was there, but polite as I am I wanted to respect the “private property/no trespassing” signs and not cross through the camp. If I had done so it was only about 300 yards back to where I had entered the river. Getting back to my car would have been a breeze. I would have been to my car in 20 min or so. Hind sight is 20/20. If only I had just crossed through the camp back over to where I’d entered I would have saved myself a whole lot of trouble and anxiety that was about to come. Instead I attempted to skirt around the edge of the private property heading West about the distance it was to my car and then cut South to where my car was parked. I stopped a brief moment to rest and was quickly found by several mosquitos. The woods were riddled with wallows and small Spring time ponds that were stagnant breading grounds for the pests. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the air cooler which was perfect for mosquitos. I walked on another half hour then stopped to rest. At my next stop a dozen or more mosquitos buzzed me, biting me numerous times. I had come to realize it was going to be more of a challenge to get back to my car than I thought. The next time I stopped I sat down next to some wild garlic. I pulled up a tuft of it and began munching on it. Partly for the fluids and partly as a hope it would work as an insect repellent. Unfortunately the benefit of garlic by ingestion for insect repelant takes at least 8 hours I think. So I decided to macerate the ends of the tuft, wet with saliva and then rubbed the mix all over my exposed skin. There was no one around to risk offending with eau de Allium. I did this a few times until I felt I had covered my hands, arms, neck and chest. I put some on my shirt sleeves too. I grew up in an area where we had lots of chiggers (red bugs), ticks and seed ticks. The two easiest ways to avoid getting bit by ticks or catching chiggers were eating lots of garlic and onions and using lime powder on your boots and pant legs. So I thought the garlic might work well for mosquitos too. It worked great where I had applied the garlic juice, but not where I hadn’t. I missed one shoulder and didn’t think of putting it on my back because I was wearing my pack. What I didn’t realize or feel was that when I took my pack off they were biting my back through my shirt. Before the night was over I had 12 bites just on the one shoulder I evidently missed making application to. The rest of me, except for my back was nearly bite free except for the few I gotten before I found the garlic. The mosquitos bit through my clothing. Besides the mosquitos all went fine until I started to turn back South. I hit a wash about 8 feet deep with vertical banks. I couldn’t cross it so I attempted to skirt around it. I headed a bit further west. I encountered a dense thicket filled with greenbriars that I preferred to avoid. So I headed further west still. Numerous attempts to head back to my car were met with both of these obstacles multiple times. I still wasn’t too concerned, but I was a little concerned because I was feeling a bit dehydrated. I finally made the choice to drink the river water I had collected in my bottle. I still had plenty left. I came into a clearing and saw the land rising above me. It was then that I realized I’d gone way too far West. Until then I hadn’t realized how far I had gone. I’d been walking for almost 1.5 hours! I had a freak out moment. I realized there was no way I could get back to my car now before dark. If there were no obstacles sure, but I had to detour too many times, merely because of my wimpiness to not get super muddy sliding down the muddy wash and the clawing my way back up the other side or get all scratched up. Now I didn’t have time to backtrack before dark. My phone was dead. I was in the middle of the Caddo National Grasslands a couple miles from the nearest paved road with no known path to get to it the road or my car. I was in a pretty bad fix. I had heard more airplanes fly overhead that day than I had heard vehicles on distant roads. That’s how remote the place is. I hadn’t seen another human the whole time I was out there. There were thick forests all around the meadow/ field I was in with heavy underbrush in most areas. Packs of coyotes began howling in numerous directions. I had a moment of panic and began to cry. I saw a game trail opening at the edge of the woods in the direction of my car. I thought I’d make a last ditch attempt to make it though the dense woods to my car. I fought my way in about a hundred yards and stopped. I had no clue where the game trail came out or led to. It may not even continue in the direction of my car. The very last thing I wanted was to be in the dense woods come night fall and dark. I attempted to gather my witts about me. The light was starting to fade in the dense woods. I had been praying that God would guide me to a safe place, a road or house or something. I heard a voice in my head, as if it were my own thoughts, tell me to go back out of the thicket the way I came and then empty my pack in the field. My thoughts suddenly cleared and I calmed down. I had a calm resolve. This wasn’t any big deal, just a horrible inconvenience that I could deal with and make it through. I’m tough. I was raised in a place more rural than this with more dangerous predators. I could do this. I back tracked to the clearing. There was a cattle pin with 8 concrete troughs in it. I knelt down on the ground and emptied my pack except for a couple fossils I didn’t want to lose. I left most of my tools except my knife, a pick, gun, phone and water bottle. My pack had been quite heavy and had slowed me down and tired me out considerably. It felt much better mostly empty. I stood up and looked around. The sun was on the horizon very close to setting. That meant I had about 30 min of light left to find my way to a road. If I couldn’t find a road I had seen a deer blind I thought might work as a shelter for the night. Provided I could back track to it in the dark. If so then I could make my way to my car in the morning. I still knew the direction it was in. It is late and I have to work tomorrow. I’ll have to finish my story later. Hopefully tomorrow night. Sorry for being so long winded. To be continued. . .