Texas Panhandle Trip- Pennsylvanian, Permian, Triassic, Cretaceous and Miocene!

[JamieLynn]

Took a little trip up to the Texas Panhandle for a little get-away and some fossil hunting!  My parents, my husband and I rented an Air B&B near Clarendon TX (figured that would be a relatively "safe" pandemic travel solution and it worked out quite well!). We chose Clarendon (well, Howardwick, actually)  because it was midway between the places we wanted to visit, AND, it is actually a famous area which the illustrious Mr. Cope of the Bone Wars (in the mid-1800s, Mr. Cope of the Academy of Natural Science in Philly and Mr. Marsh of Yale, vied to find the best and the most dinosaurs around the US) found and named a Miocene faunal bed- the Clarendon Beds at the Spade Flat Quarries at the RO ranch (An interesting aside....my mom worked at the Yale Peabody Museum when she was pregnant with me....surrounded by the dinos that Mr. Marsh collected. I'm pretty sure that's where my paleontological bent came from...) 

 

So to start our trip, we actually stayed a night in Snyder TX, and it's funny when you travel, the things you find...like dinosaurs, everywhere! 

 

And in Spur TX, a mural that we just happened to drive by!

 

And outside of Canadian TX....on a hilltop! 

The first fossil stop was a Comanche Peak/Edwards Formation Roadcut - I had heard that you could find Pedinopsis Echinoids there...so we stopped the first day around 4pm...it was 98 degrees. I found a little echie that I THOUGHT might be a pedinopsis but was afraid it was really a Coenholectypus (which sadly, turned out to be the case. Nothing against Coenholectypuses, I just have a few of those!) . The next morning, I wanted to stop back by on our way to Clarendon, but a cold front blew through that night and the temp went from nearly 100 to 40 the next morning! Fortunately the wind was not blowing, so I got to stop back by and found a nice Engonoceras gibbosum ammonite, my first whole one of that species. 

 

Everything else was stuff I'd already found, but I did find a lovely Lima bravoensis.

 

So on to Clarendon. I did my "homework" - searching the internet for info, Texas Pocket Geology site for formations and Google Maps for likely spots to search. The lake near Howardwick was Permian, so we looked there....no luck. I found the Miocene Spade Flats area and went up dirt roads to find it....didn't quite find it, but found the right formation....but no fossils. We drove along the road to look at Miocene era roadcuts that I saw posted about here on FF and no luck.  So basically, the Miocene Clarendon Beds were a washout and the Permian in that area is non fossiliferous, apparently!  Sometimes the fossil hunting is not exactly.....lucrative. Alas. 

 

But I did get to see Caprock State Park (and the Texas Bison Herd) 

 

 

Palo Duro Canyon and its Permian (red) overlayed by Triassic (purple and yellow) 

 

And some Pronghorn Antelope

 

And then I FINALLY got some good fossil hunting in at a Pennsyvanian era roadcut near Mineral Wells! Finally! Some good new stuff!  PIcs coming....

 

Gastropod Cymatospira montfortianus  (1/2 inch)

My first find of a Crinoid "bulb" -not completely but partial at least!  1/2 inch

 

6 fragments of a Crinoid Graffhamicrinus bulb "kit" in pieces (only four pictured, obviously) 

 

And some beautifully preserved Echinoid plates

 

And finally, the last place we went was Archer City, where the Permian Red Beds are located, just outside the city. Again, I tried to find some likely looking roadcuts or places were we could go, but alas, it's all private property and nothing looked accessible. So, no Permian fossils or Miocene Fossils, this trip, but the Cretaceous and the Pennsylvanian always yield something good! 

 

So long, all you Texas longhorns! 

 

 

[historianmichael]

Your Pennsylvanian finds are really cool! I really like the Cymatospira montfortianus!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Wonderful photographs, quite an adventure reading this thread.

Nice fossils, too.

[FossilDAWG]

Nice photos and fossils!   You do seem to have an affinity for the back end of the living fauna, though.

 

Don

[Ludwigia]

Lovely scenery and fossils too! Thanks for the report.

[JamieLynn]

thanks y'all! And @FossilDAWG - hahha! good catch!

 

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Nice photos and fossils!   You do seem to have an affinity for the back end of the living fauna, though.

 

Don

Good point.

Some of the pictures of prehistoric animals are more backside than frontal as well. 

Interesting.  

[sharkdoctor]

Folks, in @JamieLynn's defense, only 3 of 10 extant mammals are featured from the posterior. The remaining 7 are full broadsides. Just saying....

And can we talk about the horns on that longhorn? Absolutely massive!

[sharkdoctor]

PS Great trip post!

[Andy B]

beautiful there

[JamieLynn]

Yes it is! And one week ago, it was 98 degrees and now its 28 and snowing..we got out just in time! hahahah

[FossilNerd]

Great report. Too bad you were not able to find everything you wanted, but sounds like a fun trip none the less! I really like the view of Palo Duro Canyon. It’s neat to see how the layers are different colors like that.

[erose]

I would also love to find some accessible Terrestrial Permian sites. 
 

Nice report.

[Chuck W]

Sounds like a great trip.  By the way, I was also out collecting in the DFW area when that cold/rain front came through!  Brrrrrr  But I went out and came up with some nice finds!

[jdp]

17 hours ago, erose said:

I would also love to find some accessible Terrestrial Permian sites. 
 

Nice report.

Most of them are apparently on private ranches that do not allow access, even to professionals.

[JohnJ]

Chris Fliss @dinodigger is doing exceptional fieldwork and research in the Permian.

 

Whiteside Museum of Natural History

[erose]

42 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Chris Fliss @dinodigger is doing exceptional fieldwork and research in the Permian.

 

Whiteside Museum of Natural History

I want to do a field trip up there just to visit the museum.

[grandpa]

5 hours ago, erose said:

I want to do a field trip up there just to visit the museum.

A Palo Society of Austin field trip perhaps? 

[erose]

1 hour ago, grandpa said:

A Palo Society of Austin field trip perhaps? 

Yes, but we are staying away from overnight trips until post-vaccine time.

[Monica]

It sounds like you had a pretty great getaway!  Nice photos, and congratulations on your first complete Engonoceras gibbosum 

[JamieLynn]

thanks!  I have to admit, it's getting harder to find "new" things...... I've been collecting long enough now that I have all the basic stuff and its getting harder to find the more unusual stuff! hahaha