Oxytropidoceras....hard to collect

[Castle Rock]

I live out in west Texas and the collecting locations out here are almost exclusively Lower to Middle Cretaceous in age.  Recently I have identified a particular layer in which the ammonite Oxytropidoceras (expealydocious )  can be found.   Aside from the very first specimen (6.5 inches in diameter), every other individual has fallen victim to the freeze/thaw cycles over MANY years.  The layer is flat-lying and found within inches of the surface.  So far, the innermost whorls of the ammonites (especially the larger ones) are completely disintegrated and the rest of the specimen is highly fractured.  For my fellow TEXANS in particular....is this a common experience in north and central Texas areas?  I would also be interested in hearing about your finds and any possible "tricks" in the collection of these specimens. THANKS!  Dave 

[erose]

Yes. There will be ten or more scrappy ones for one good. On occasion a locality will produce decent ones or at least ones in "kit form" that can be put back together.  You may have to just frequent that site often, especially after rain, and hope to get lucky with one that was exposed but not yet scattered.

[Creek - Don]

I found quiet of few Oxytropidoceras in the Tarrant county area.  Not familiar with the far West Texas ones, but some of them are nicely preserved in the creek beds, but ones found above tend to break apart when extracting from the matrix due to hard surface or due to weathering.  Nice intact pieces are on usually found in the creek beds as erose pointed out.  Picture below on the left was a complete piece, but turn to pieces after extracting, while others on the right and and below came out in single piece. You may have to glue them back with gorilla glue which works best with these  . 

[Castle Rock]

Interesting to see such a familiar assemblage from other parts of Texas. From what I have seen so far out here, the richest interval may be only a foot or two in thickness and those nearly flat disc-type clams are VERY abundant as well. Can you tell me the actual name of the formation?  It would certainly seem that the very thin profile of the "Oxys" is almost a kiss of death for truly intact preservation.  As for the glue, I seem to have almost NO bonding with the Gorilla Glue and I have started using a "construction grade" adhesive from Lock Tite....although even this product has an almost ridiculous set up time. THANKS for your responses!  ONWARD with the hunt!!   Dave 

[BobWill]

Here in the DFW area we find most of them in the Goodland formation. I believe the Kiamichi and Comanche Peak formations may have them too. Getting them out whole usually seems to involve a good measure of luck but mostly patience.  If you're looking for a strong adhesive that sets up quickly consider trying Q-Bond. It comes with a powder that fills in gaps which you then drop super glue onto. It turns rock-hard in seconds. I found it at a store that sells paint for auto body work.

[lcordova]

On 12/20/2020 at 10:52 PM, BobWill said:

Here in the DFW area we find most of them in the Goodland formation. I believe the Kiamichi and Comanche Peak formations may have them too. Getting them out whole usually seems to involve a good measure of luck but mostly patience.  If you're looking for a strong adhesive that sets up quickly consider trying Q-Bond. It comes with a powder that fills in gaps which you then drop super glue onto. It turns rock-hard in seconds. I found it at a store that sells paint for auto body work.

Bob, where you buy the Q-BOnd, can you send a pic of the product to look for it? thanks!

 

[BobWill]

On 12/23/2020 at 12:44 AM, lcordova said:

Bob, where you buy the Q-BOnd, can you send a pic of the product to look for it? thanks!

 

[lcordova]

On 12/24/2020 at 11:27 AM, BobWill said:

Thanks!