A long weekend... with crocodile

[jpc]

Greetings, y'all.  Its been a busy summer.  No time to post much here, but I did get out quite a few times this year, even though I successfully turned 60 years old this summer.  Let's see what happened in my little world last weekend.   During a May trip, I went to one of my usual hunting areas in southwestern Wyoming where I have collected mammal, croc, fish, and turtle fossils from the Bridger Fm over the past two decades.  There is a lot more terrain out there for me to explore so I decided to check out a new area a few miles further down the two-track.  Here is a photo of where I ended up. 

 

 

Upon a quick survey, I found numerous turtle pieces high on this hill near the big shady area on the right of the photo.  But time was running out.  It had taken quite a while to navigate the 'road' to get here and the weekend was running out.  Time to head home.  But I knew I would try it again later.  That was back in May.  Well, 'later' was this past weekend.  I started on Friday where I had found fossils in May, then headed downhill.  The whole base of this ridge is loaded with turtle pieces from a variety of Eocene turtles of all sizes.  All bits and pieces.  I found one mammal piece and a few crocodile pieces, but then something jumped out at me... a pile of bones that suggested the bone continued into the rock.  And, bonus, I could tell this pile of bones was the articular end of a crocodilian jaw.  It was time to start digging, and digging I did.  In a short while I had a jawbone about a foot long, then ran into couple of nice teeth.  Pretty exciting.  I was so excited about this that I forgot to take photos along the way.  Here is one.  The originally exposed bone pieces are the white pieces on the left.    

 

 

For scale, the paintbrush is 2 inches wide (about 5 cm).  Just above the tip of the handle of the scraper is the first tooth I found.  The second tooth broke off as part of its discovery (but I kept it for re-glueing).  The hammer tip above points to its base still in the jaw, almost two inches to the right of the other tooth.   I camped out on site...

 

The next morning as I was eating my granola for breakfast (with coffee) I had a visitor.  Find and identify the animal...

Yes, that is a bull elk on the horizon about a half mile away form me.  he watched me for a long time, and I him.   There are many desert elk in southwestern Wyoming but it is always a treat to see them.  Especially way out in the wilds.  I certainly don't see them on every trip to this part of the state, and never in this area.  As I watched the elk north of me, this fellow, below, walked by my camp to the south, much closer.  On my drive down I counted 211 pronghorns between Casper and Rawlins (112 miles) and another 120 or so between Rawlins and Wamsutter (about 40 miles).  The latter were along the interstate highway, where I rarely see them.  But it is hunting season and these guys know that hunters are not allowed to hunt from the highways, so along the roads is a safe place to be in October.

 

I thought the jaw might take most of the day to collect and I was right, and actually into Sunday morning (about 12 hours all together). I was slowed down by a fun development after I had plastered the jaw;  the other jaw (left side) is there are well!  In the photo below you can see it below the hammer.  The articular surface is that blob of bone on the left end.   

 

Zooming in you can see a few teeth from the left side.  In the above photo they are just below where the blue handle meets the metal hammer.  Below is a close up where you can see two teeth.  As you can see, the left tooth broke upon discovery so I did not expose the left teeth any more than this, but jacketed this whole pile of bones and rock. 

 

 This almost last shot shows how far I had to haul it to the car.  I use a dolly for this (also called a hand truck; no photo).  

 

After jacketing the specimen, the next step is to jam a few wide sturdy chisels under it to split the bottom layer of rocks so I can roll it over.  Below is the thing rolled over.  That is the left jaw showing on the bottom side.  Next.. into the prep lab...

 

And last but not least... on the drive out of the desert... about 10 miles of two track at slow speed, I ran in to this critter.  This is almost the last of Wyoming's mammals I would expect to see out in the sagebrush.

 

Yes, that is a moose.  I used numerous not-for-family-viewing words when this guy showed up.  What the heck is he doing out here?  Moose like to live in watery, wet place with trees.  I have seen them in several pine tree covered mountain ranges in Wyoming, as well as in Yellowstone National Park, and the forests of Maine and Alaska, but in the desert???!!!  Apparently bulls do travel quite a ways in hopes of meeting new lady meese.   Finding and collecting my best croc jaw in 30 years was one piece of excitement, but seeing the moose in the sagebrush made my weekend.  And the moose did not make my arms and hands sore.   

 

Thanks for reading....

Happy fossiling.  

 

 

[fossilhunter21]

Awesome find!

[Nanosaurus]

Very cool JPC!!!

[Titan]

What an awesome find congrats, can't wait to see it prepped! The wildlife is also a huge bonus. Pronghorns are such canny animals!

[ChristineR]

2 hours ago, jpc said:

 Finding and collecting my best croc jaw in 30 years was one piece of excitement, but seeing the moose in the sagebrush made my weekend. 

That is a spectacular bull! Congrats on the croc jaw. Please share pictures after prep. 

[caterpillar]

Wonderfull JP. I'm jealous

[Jared C]

I think this is one of the best trip reports I have ever read - Trips like these are what I dream to do one day. Finding an impressive fossil, camping down on the spot in a place where you know you're completely alone, and all that while in the absolutely enchanting scenery of badlands with elk on the horizon - that's just some magnificent stuff right there. Even before fossil hunting, I've always had a particular appreciation for the beauty of badlands, despite the negative opinion of their aesthetics that some people have. What a humbling experience.

 

P.S. - great photography!

 

 

 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Wonderful trip report, JP, and an awesome find! Others have said it before, but can't wait to see the final prepped result!

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, jpc said:

I successfully turned 60 years old this summer

 

Thanks for the fantastic report! And congratulations on reaching yet another milestone

[hemipristis]

I really do enjoy the wildlife shots.  And a moose?!

 

I start construction on my retirement digs near Alton in 2 years or so, and am really looking forward to fossiling in these parts!

[RJB]

Wow!  Quite the trip Mr.  Purty cool find.  Just wish I could have been there to be your 'pointer'.   "Dig a little more over there".  "Now dig a little more over here".  "Bring me another beer please".    Looking forward to seeing this cool fossil all cleaned up and repaired. 

 

RB

[RuMert]

Great atmosphere of classical plaster jacket desert fossiling 

[Pemphix]

Cool find a nice adventure !

[Top Trilo]

Awesome find, can't wait to see it all prepped. I can only imagine the surprise of seeing a moose out there, I've only seen a few and those were in higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. Is the Bridger Formation similar to the GRF? I mean like same time period and area, just preserved not in a lake. They are both Eocene and in southwest Wyoming.

[Jeffrey P]

Wow! Excellent find! Congratulations on finding it and excavating it successfully. Love to see it prepped. You must be so excited. Thanks for sharing your adventure excursion. Those wildlife photos are stunning. I agree it is especially odd to see a moose in barren badlands area. 

[Welsh Wizard]

That’s very exciting and proper palaeontology stuff. Well done. I’m looking forward to seeing it prepped as well.

[Mainefossils]

Amazing find! I will look forward to seeing it prepped - is there any chance of a more specific identification once it is? I also enjoyed the wildlife you saw, and am quite surprised by that moose! Happy Hunting! 

[jpc]

Thanks for the comments, everyone.  It looks like I have to bring it up front for prep.  That was the plan already but probably won't get started until November.  

 

@Top Trilo... the Bridger is similar in age to the GRF.  It is, like you said, the areas that were not lakes.  I don't think there has been much work done on Bridger crocs in  a while, but they should be quite similar to those from the lake beds.   (To be looked into). 

 

@hemipristis... retirement in 'Alton'?  or Afton?  

[Troodon]

Very cool find.  So how equivalent is the fauna in the Bridger to what you see in the Green River Fm.  What county were you in?

[jpc]

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

Very cool find.  So how equivalent is the fauna in the Bridger to what you see in the Green River Fm.  What county were you in?

The fauna is similar except the Bridger is dominated by turtles.  Fish are found in fish debris beds where one can find occasional mammal pieces.  The Bridger also varies quite a bit... mammals are much more common in the upper Bridger.  Turtles and crocs are found all throughout, more or less.  Much of the upper (mammal) areas are BLM land... off limits to individuals like us.  My access is only to the lower beds... for now. 

 

County....?  The biggest one in Wyoming....  : )

 

 

[caterpillar]

If you found the mandible complete, with the teeth, it is because it was deposited without transport.

The skull is not far away

[jpc]

On 10/6/2021 at 12:52 AM, caterpillar said:

If you found the mandible complete, with the teeth, it is because it was deposited without transport.

The skull is not far away

I had the same idea, but it is not easy digging...  Maybe an hour with the pickaxe next Spring.   : )

 

[caterpillar]

I will come and help you find it

[AK hiker]

Fantastic report and find! Will be watching to see how you prepare the jaw and part two the rest of the site exploration.

[erose]

I wanna go!