Whiskey Bridge Shark Teeth

[GPayton]

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! 

[JamieLynn]

I had been there three times before I found my first shark tooth! They are not at all common, so your friend finding a handful is really unusual!  While the concept of the teeth falling to the lower layers sounds legit....all the teeth I have found were in the upper layers. So yes, perhaps you are not looking in the right places. And are you looking small enough? I found one nice big honker (1 1/2 inches) but the rest were TINY  - 1/4 inch. Good luck...fossiking is a lot like gambling...sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And sometimes they person right next to you at the table wins the pot.

[JohnJ]

The teeth I've found there are usually in pockets of 'shell hash' (crushed shell).  

[facehugger]

They are difficult to spot, I have been many times and only found two. Additionally, being such a well known and documented location, it is usually under significant hunting pressure...

[Jeffrey P]

From what I've seen shark teeth are more a bonus than something you expect to find there. The main event for me are the well preserved gastropod shells. 

[MarcoSr]

I believe that  @silverphoenix, Chase J., was TFF member that used to send me matrix from Whiskey Bridge that contained shark and ray teeth.  The matrix was mostly small shells and shell hash.  I don't know if Chase is still active on TFF.  There is a small thin layer in the formation that contains a good number of shark and ray teeth.  If you don't know what you are looking for you probably won't find it.

 

Marco Sr. 

[erose]

The teeth do seem to be concentrated in the layers with fine hash. And I have encountered those hashes most often in the upper part of the section. Often I start finding the little oval fish otoliths before I spot teeth. Look just above the hard Iron-rich layers. 

 

i usually work my way thru the matrix with a tiny pointed trowel or sometimes an ice pick, moving slowly looking for shiny black phosphatic bits. 
 

Now with all that said, one of our club (PSA) members picked up two large (1”+) shark teeth just sitting exposed on the mud a year ago.  

 

[GPayton]

Thanks for all this advice guys! Unfortunately while I did see some of the shell hash lines (and collected some nice cuttlefish prongs from on top of them), I didn't think to take any of the matrix from them with me. Of course, that just means I'll have to go back again - and it's such a nice site that I don't need much of an excuse to make the drive. 

Next week I'll be making a visit to Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas, which is very well-known for its variety of Cretaceous shark teeth. Hopefully this means I can finally scratch that shark tooth itch! 

[facehugger]

52 minutes ago, Wendigo1014 said:

Thanks for all this advice guys! Unfortunately while I did see some of the shell hash lines (and collected some nice cuttlefish prongs from on top of them), I didn't think to take any of the matrix from them with me. Of course, that just means I'll have to go back again - and it's such a nice site that I don't need much of an excuse to make the drive. 

Next week I'll be making a visit to Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas, which is very well-known for its variety of Cretaceous shark teeth. Hopefully this means I can finally scratch that shark tooth itch! 

You definitely will find shark teeth at POC. Been wanting to go myself, if not for the heat. Last trip in early June, I realized by the afternoon I was exerting more effort trying to stay conscious than fossil hunting lol...