Echies of Texas (My Best Month!)

[JamieLynn]

Well, I have to say, not having a full time job due to this pandemic has been extra good for my fossil hunting! I may not be making much of a living, but I'm living it up finding fossils! Fortunately, as someone pointed out to me recently "it seems like Texas is paved in fossils". While this may not be 100% accurate....it's pretty close! Within a gas tanks drive I am lucky to have MANY MANY fossil hunting spots available to me. And when November rolls around (honestly, the nicest month in Texas- mild temps and no Cedar Fever Allergies to contend with) I try to get out as much as possible. And I was rewarded for my efforts this month...BIG TIME.  Some Epic Echies for the month of November! Added two new to my collection plus a few nicer examples of others. 

 

Heterosalenia (rykyrae) (Currently undescribed echinoid from the Glen Rose Formation.  It is joining 3 other specimens in an upcoming research paper)

(Honking my own horn here...you may have seen this first one in the Fossil of the Month contest) 

As found and in process of being cleaned up all pretty like!   13.5 mm

 

As if that weren't enough for the highlight of my month, I finally got to go back to the Waco Pit Research Area (it had been closed since March and finally reopened last moth). 

I was lucky enough to find the TWO exact things I was looking for - a shark tooth and a Goniophorus Echinoid! Granted, it's a little crushed and wonky looking, but it's MINE.  

Goniophorus scotti  Size: 12mm     Del Rio Formation

 

Those were my two new additions to my list of Texas Echies.  The rest of these are good specimens of already found genus,

 

Leptosalenia mexicana   Size 15 mm    Walnut Formation  

 

I have been trying to find a Coenholectypus ovatus  (vs. planatus)  but every one I have found the peristome is so covered in matrix that I cannot tell what they are. 

But I really loved how you can see the individual plates on this one.   

Size: 25mm    Glen Rose Formation

 

And just a nice little Pliotoxaster 

Size: 20mm   Comanche Peak Formation

 

 

And finally, a nice Tetragramma texanum

Size: 32 mm     Walnut Formation

 

[Notidanodon]

if i were you id be urchin to go and find more

(i tried)

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, will stevenson said:

 

(i tried)

And found guilty.

Goodness.

 

JamieLynn, those are great specimens and lovely photos of them. 

[jpc]

very nice finds.

[grandpa]

   What else can I say?

 

Oh yeah, Congratulations!

[JamieLynn]

43 minutes ago, will stevenson said:

if i were you id be urchin to go and find more

(i tried)

 

SNORT!!! 

[JohnJ]

 

Congratulations, Jamie!

[RuMert]

Very nice echies! Looks like you have a BIG collection of them

[JamieLynn]

10 minutes ago, RuMert said:

Very nice echies! Looks like you have a BIG collection of them

 

If I counted right, I am at 27 species 

[FossilNerd]

What a bunch of beauties! 

 

Congratulations Jamie! I am .

[RuMert]

1 hour ago, JamieLynn said:

27 species

Lucky number

[JamieLynn]

thanks y'all!!

[caterpillar]

Nice echies but I don't think your Tetragramma is a malbosi. T.malbosi has 6 tubercles at the ambitus. Your has only 4.

And I don't see if the tubercles are perforated. If not, it's a Phymosoma

[Uncle Siphuncle]

“Goniopygus” = Goniophorus?

[caterpillar]

Goniophorus is a Saleniidae

Goniopygus is a Acropeltidae

[JamieLynn]

7 hours ago, caterpillar said:

Nice echies but I don't think your Tetragramma is a malbosi. T.malbosi has 6 tubercles at the ambitus. Your has only 4.

And I don't see if the tubercles are perforated. If not, it's a Phymosoma

 

The tubercles are definitely perforate. According to the Collector's Guide to Texas Cretaceous Echinoids "T. malbosii is .reported to have transversely oriented rows of four primary tubercles per interambulacral plate".

 

1 hour ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

“Goniopygus” = Goniophorus?

OH geez...duh. Thanks for the catch.

[caterpillar]

4 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

T. malbosii is .reported to have transversely oriented rows of four primary tubercles per interambulacral plate".

 

 

Indeed, that is 8 (3 large + 1 small) tubercles on the ambitus because there are 2 interambulacral plates

[JamieLynn]

@caterpillar - Ahhhh.....I see now. OH and another thing I didn't even realize till just now....it has single pore pairs!!  Sooo....what do you think it is then? A really really big Loriolia? 

[Clint08]

Stunning finds and really great pics of them. Thank you for sharing!

[caterpillar]

I'm pretty sure it's not a Tetragramma. But I don't know the Texas fauna. You can see on your echinid that pore pairs are double on the top of the apical face. So it's not Loriola

[JohnJ]

I agree, it isn't Loriolia.  Two other Tetragrammas occur that have 4 perforated tubercles between the ambulacra at the ambitus.  Tetragramma tenerum occurs in the Glen Rose Formation, but it is typically very small.  At 32 mm, a better possibility is Tetragramma texanum from formations in the Fredericksburg Group (including the Walnut).

[JamieLynn]

@JohnJIt was from the Walnut Formation.   - So Tetragramma texanum. Cool. Thanks y'all!!!! 

[JamieLynn]

@RuMert - your question prompted me to do this (been wanting to do so, but just hadn't, so thanks for the "push"! )  So 29-30 species, depending on if that second to last Tetragramma is also a taffi or not.   And yeah, they don't have sizes. I'll add that eventually. 

 

TEXAS CRETACEOUS ECHINOIDS (that I have found...so far) 

[caterpillar]

Beautiful diversity

[RuMert]

Great collection! I've only found a couple of tiny shells (tests) and some spines. Looks like they are much more numerous in the Cretaceous