What fossils could I find on my Colorado ranch?

[Jerred]

I recently bought a ranch in Pueblo,Colorado. It has some big drainages going threw it, whare I can see many layers. I've already found tons of shells in almost every rock and one Snell shell. What can I expect to find if I'm lucky? 

[DPS Ammonite]

Welcome to the Forum Jared. Show us some fossils and we can give you an idea of what else might be lurking. Fossils sometimes adhere to a guilt by association theme. Let us know what what layers are there.

 

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_68589.htm

[Jerred]

[Jerred]

I guess I didn't take pics of the shells.

[Fossildude19]

According to this website, the area appears to be mostly Cretaceous in age. 

Information here is extremely old, however, and likely no longer accurate. 

 

 

 

[FossilDAWG]

Pueblo is situated on the Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale, which extends to the north, south, and far to the east as well. Several ammonite zones are represented, mostly defined by species of the straight shelled ammonite Baculites, but other heteromorphs such as Didymoceras, Hoploscaphites, Solenoceras, etc also occur.  Some normally coiled ammonites also are present, such as Placenticeras and Menuites.  Mostly these can be found in hard concretions that weather from the shale.  A few vertebrate fossils have been found over the years, such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.  There are also lots of small conical hills called teepee buttes.  These are composed of limestone that formed due to bacterial growth around methane seeps in the sea floor.  The shale erodes away, leaving the limestone masses to stand out.  Many fossil clams can be found, as well as some ammonites, snails, and rarely crabs.  To the west, such as around the Pueblo reservoir, older Cretaceous formations such as the Greenhorn limestone outcrop.  There is a series of distinct limestone layers, each of which contain distinct sets of ammonite and Inoceramus (a type of clam) species.   The Pueblo area is rich hunting grounds for Cretaceous marine fossils.  I'm quite envious that you own a ranch there!    We would love to see some more photos of what you have been finding!

 

Don

[aplomado]

How about some more pictures!  

[PrehistoricWonders]

17 hours ago, Jerred said:

I recently bought a ranch in Pueblo,Colorado. It has some big drainages going threw it, whare I can see many layers. I've already found tons of shells in almost every rock and one Snell shell. What can I expect to find if I'm lucky? 

You could probably find baculites, and more invertebrates. Good luck! Post pics of what you find please!

[hadrosauridae]

You could find a lot of new friends to help you hunt the ranch