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Are these fossils in a much bigger fossil?


Lone Hunter

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I ran across a pile of dumped limestone on a vacant lot in Grand prairie Texas, know nothing about it but I'm relying on the limestone experts on here for help. Most of it was shattered or blank but found one large slab about 4 ft across that was intact but cracked with some large peices left. I pried it apart and gathered up ones that looked interesting, had fossils, and large enough to maybe be distinguish as part of something else. Showing the group front and back for context. First four pics of one rock, next four pics of one rock and most interesting one, front and back of next rock, then the various fossils within, don't know if it's relevant but the ammonite was in the center of the slab and surrounding broken peices looked like it was much bigger. Last four pics of one rock, in several of the rocks I believe I'm seeing crystalized shell, the last rock most prominent, it measures 1 cm at the thickest part. I know there is a lot missing but hoping someone can distinguish if some of these were all a part of something much bigger.   Thanks ahead of time for taking the time to read all that and look at all the pictures.

 

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There are some imprints of the outer ribs of a large ammonite or maybe an Inoceramus bivalve on some of these rocks, but I can't really tell if it was within the slab. You do have a few nice fossils there anyway.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Thank you and appreciate the ID on the ribs,  I was thinking giant clam, didn't realize ammonites and bivalves could be as big as I'm imagining that was, at least not in Texas.

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I'm not sure I see a "fossil in a fossil", but it is common for smaller shells to accumulate inside a larger one.  They can get swept in there by water currents  and be prevented from being washed away.  The fibrous material in the last photo is a cross section of an inoceramid clam shell, and the third to last photo shows a piece of an inoceramid hinge. 

 

Don

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So at least I got some of the clam part right,  and I  think that's what I was trying to say, that all the small  fossils were part of a bigger one, it's hard to explain but looking at the slab, which was like the back sides of rocks, I could make out an outline of the shell showing through like in the last pic and it made a slightly warped circle with holes in it about 2 ft across.  The slab was twice that size but the rest of it was normal boring flat limestone. Most of it was so shattered when I removed a big peice the puzzle crumbled so I gathered up the biggest rocks.   I was thinking it was a giant clam with the little fossils inside.  Good grief bet I didn't clear that up at all.

 

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7 hours ago, Lone Hunter said:

I was thinking giant clam, didn't realize ammonites and bivalves could be as big

Inoceramus is a bivalve and some species can get as large as 2-3 meters and Texan Cretaceous ammonites can be huge.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Yes Im familiar with inoceramus,  there were several in the rocks,  but I have never ran across pictures of Texas fossils of any kind that size.  Can those huge ammonites still be found?

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8 hours ago, Lone Hunter said:

Yes Im familiar with inoceramus,  there were several in the rocks,  but I have never ran across pictures of Texas fossils of any kind that size.  Can those huge ammonites still be found?

 

Check out some of @Uncle Siphuncle's earlier threads.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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On 3/6/2021 at 4:30 AM, Ludwigia said:

 

Check out some of @Uncle Siphuncle's earlier threads.

The easiest path to big ammonites in TX would be to focus on exposures of the lower Duck Creek fm bearing Eopachydiscus ammonites btwn Ft Worth and Lake Texoma.  It can take a little exploring to find an active site, but once you find the first specimen, you generally bump into multiples and have to be selective in order to ration your labor and storage space.

Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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On 3/5/2021 at 12:25 PM, Lone Hunter said:

So at least I got some of the clam part right,  and I  think that's what I was trying to say, that all the small  fossils were part of a bigger one, it's hard to explain but looking at the slab, which was like the back sides of rocks, I could make out an outline of the shell showing through like in the last pic and it made a slightly warped circle with holes in it about 2 ft across.  The slab was twice that size but the rest of it was normal boring flat limestone. Most of it was so shattered when I removed a big peice the puzzle crumbled so I gathered up the biggest rocks.   I was thinking it was a giant clam with the little fossils inside.  Good grief bet I didn't clear that up at all.

 

I found several large Eopachydiscus & Parapuzosia seppenradensis, including hug Inoceramous recently in North Texas.  

Here are some of the pictures. 

 

Lake Texoma Eopachydiscus 22 inches  - Duck Creek 

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Parapuzosia seppenradensis  24 inches - Austin Chalk (found in Dallas Creek) 

 

ammonite1.JPG

 

Large Inoceramous  (30 inches) - Austin Chalk Hillsboro 

 

Hillsboro clams5.JPG

 

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Very cool!  Appreciate all the tips, kinda sounds like finding a needle in a haystack if you don't know more specific areas to look. Not something I would venture out alone on anyway.        The largest I've found so far is 12", it would be awesome to find one the size of those in the pics!  

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